One Day at a Time – Perfect

By: Gladys Luna

Elena (Isabella Gomez) is freaking out over the Yale essay she has to do since she chose a lot of topics and now she is not so sure about which is the right one to do. Penelope (Justina Machado) suggests she send the whole board and take her chances, but the girl assures her that the college has been pretty clear they are not allowed to do that. Alex (Marcel Ruiz) walks right in asking for an update about his quinces party preparations, but Penelope doesn’t seem to understand quite well what he is asking about. He explains that given that his sister already had one, it would be good to have one himself in the name of gender equality. Lydia (Rita Moreno) seems to be very happy about the idea saying that it would be great to have a day to focus only on her Papito. Elena is also excited about it since she believes that it would be a major break for gender norms to have a “quinceañero.” When Alex realizes that everyone has taken his suggestion very seriously, he says that if they have nothing prepared yet he would like five hundred dollars instead. Penelope laughs out loud and questions him about the reason why he needs all of that money, but he refuses to tell. Abuelita tells him that he should never expect to ask for that much from his mother and not to be questioned about it, so she says she will just give it to him and attempts to take the money out of her bra. Surprisingly, she finds a ketchup pack instead. Alex feels disappointed that he didn’t get what he wanted and walks away.

Dr. Leslie (Stephen Tobolowsky) shows up at Schneider (Todd Grinnell) and Avery’s (India de Beaufort) apartment with a gift for their unborn baby. He recognizes that even though is still early, but he wants to give them something that has been meaningful to him over the years. The couple is excited about it, but that changes very quickly as they find out what the actual gift is when Dr. Leslie introduces them to “Ruckus,” a creepy clown that he refers to as his caretaker, the greatest big spoon and confident that has been with him through the worst times ever since he was just a child. Avery shows her discontent about the gift, but Dr. Leslie doesn’t to seem to care about it. He expresses how happy he is of seeing them so full of joy and hope since it takes him back to the way he and his ex-wife were before their first baby was born. He then expresses how he remembers that after the baby was born everything went to waste leaving a very bad taste about what may come for Schneider and Avery.

In the meantime, at the Alvarez apartment, Alex returns from school and is scared by Penelope who has been hiding behind her mother’s curtains waiting for him. As it is expected, the woman won’t let slip away the fact that her son asked for five hundred dollars without an explanation. So, in an attempt to understand what he might need the money for, she decided to Google for different options only getting very disturbing results. He tells her that there’s nothing she should be worried about and he explains that he wants to take a fashion design course but he didn’t tell her because he thought she would think it was stupid. Lydia interrupts them saying that she actually finds it to be stupid since he doesn’t have to pay that much money for a class when he has someone who can actually teach him for free, referring to herself. Alex does not appear to be quite convinced about it. Penelope comforts him and tells him that she will give him the money for his class since she sees it as an investment in the future of fashion, making Alex very happy about her decision. On the other hand, Lydia is not thrilled about her grandson rejecting her assistance and says that she’ll go to her room to find some thread and needle to mend her broken heart.

The next day Elena shows up looking even more confused than the day before in regards her topics board that now is double filled with cards. Alex returns home from his first fashion design class looking very proud of his first work. Penelope gets excited to see what he just made. He shows her and his Abuelita a pair of shorts he made. It makes Penelope very happy. She says that eventually he has to make some skirts for her. Lydia doesn’t seem very excited about it since she is still hurt that Alex had rejected her help. Alex leaves and the two women are left checking out the guy’s creation. Lydia says that, to be the first piece he made, it has very clean lines, the stitching is pretty and apparently it’s also “made in China.” She jokingly expresses that she didn’t know he had to go that far for his class.

Schneider and Avery are sitting in the living room and between them is Ruckus. Both of them are looking very disturbed about the gift. Avery is also surprised about the clown bathing instructions they have been given while Schneider is concerned about what the Dr. Leslie said about how his marriage fell after their first kid was born. Avery tries to comfort him saying that they don’t have to go through the same situation as Dr. Leslie did since they are very in love with each other. Schneider appears to be convinced by her words and decides to take the clown to the baby’s room, but Avery suggests him to throw it away and cover it so no one would see it. Schneider seems pretty offended since he appears to actually like the clown. So, he refuses to get rid of him, which incites a fight over whether they should keep it or not.

Penelope enters Alex’s room to discuss why he lied to her about his class, but the boy tries to avoid the conversation. Finally, he confesses that he quit the class since he realized he is not so good at it, but he loved every part of it. He also tells her that the reason why he didn’t tell her the truth is because he is ashamed of himself for failing. He keeps comparing himself to her, Elena and Lydia and everything they have accomplished. He is disappointed to find out that he is just a dude with a cute smile. Penelope comforts him and tells him that he is good for a lot of things and needs to keep trying until he becomes very good at what he loves. Right in the middle of their conversation Elena walks in looking disoriented and saying that she’s been hearing voices. Penelope goes after her to try to stop her from doing something crazy.

Schneider and Avery go to their first ultrasound appointment and now they can be found fighting over the groceries. Dr. Leslie enters the room and gets Avery ready for the ultrasound. As soon as they see their baby on the screen, all of their disagreements disappear and they apologize to each other. Schneider confesses to Dr. Leslie that they were left with a very bad feeling after he departed their apartment given the story he told them about his marriage. He apologizes saying that the reason why his marriage ended was not because of the birth of their baby, but because his ex-wife slept with the pediatrician. Later that day, when Dr. Leslie enters his office, he sees the clown Ruckus sitting there on a chair with a note saying that he is home sick and needs him to take care of him. So, he takes it with him saying that he missed him too.

Lydia puts a note on her curtains asking “not to touch them,” but Penelope makes fun of her saying that a piece of paper won’t stop her from doing it. Alex returns home from his class wearing a blue jacket and saying that he made it himself making Penelope very happy about it. Lydia says that even though she cannot be his teacher she agrees to be his model in case he needs one. Elena enters the place announcing that she finally wrote her essay and had a very good review about it. Finally, Penelope says that since they won’t have a quinceañero party she won’t miss the opportunity to dance with him. She holds him by the arms and the jacket sleeves are ripped off. Lydia comes running telling Penelope that there’s a ticket in her car. The woman runs outside the apartment. Lydia confesses that she lied just so Penelope would go and she could dance with Alex instead.