Speechless – G-A-Game N-I-Night

By starrymag | February 28, 2019

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Maya (Minnie Driver) is upset that JJ (Micah Fowler) has still not introduced her to Izzy (Kayla Maisonet) even though they have been dating for a month and makes a scathing PowerPoint listing the reasons why she deserves to meet her. The PowerPoint ends with a traumatizing video of Maya giving birth to him, and JJ relents, saying they’ll have a game night together but that everyone must behave themselves.

 

Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) makes his famous cheese ball in order to impress Izzy. Maya, however, is being less accommodating, refusing to pick up a gluten-free cake because it makes Izzy seem too high maintenance. Things go from bad to worse when she realizes she has accidentally bought a dress she saw Izzy wearing online for dinner. She panics, telling Jimmy to distract her so she doesn’t mess up this important night. Jimmy agrees to help rein her in so that she doesn’t do anything to embarrass JJ.

 

Ray (Mason Cook) gets his license and tells JJ that, since he can’t drive, they’re going to share in the experience together. JJ takes advantage of this generosity, forcing him to drive him to the store to pick up the special cake. They manage to get to the store safely and get the cake, but it’s foggy when they go to leave, and Ray is uncomfortable with driving home.

 

JJ finally convinces Ray to drive to the end of the parking lot, but Ray drives the opposite way of their home because it’s less foggy. JJ tells Ray that he told him half the license was his, and his half says to drive home quickly. When Ray still refuses, JJ guilts him by asking if he just said that about the license to make him feel better. To prove he wasn’t lying, Ray floors it and ends up running into a tree.

 

Ray gets out to inspect the damages, but JJ remains fixated on the fact that the cake is ruined and none of this would have happened had he just drove home. Ray snaps, saying it’s his license and he only said they would share it because he felt bad to JJ. Annoyed, he takes a walk in the fog.

 

After he calms down, JJ tells Ray he doesn’t need his pity. Ray promises it’s not pity–he just feels guilty about hitting milestones JJ won’t ever get to. JJ tells him that he has no control over it, so he shouldn’t waste his time worrying about it. This makes Ray feel better, and he tells him that the same thing applies to Maya. She can’t change who or how she is. They share the cake before realizing they’re just a couple blocks from home, rushing to get back there.

 

Because of all of this, Izzy gets to the DiMeo house before JJ and Ray arrive. She and Jimmy have an awkward conversation before Izzy excuses herself to the restroom. While she’s there, Jimmy reads a text on Izzy’s phone from JJ and relays the contents to Maya: JJ tells Izzy not to talk about something because his parents won’t understand. The two suspect Izzy and JJ are hiding something from them, and Jimmy gives Maya permission to be her prying self.

 

In just ten minutes, Maya has made an elaborate board game called “Revelation” with categories like “hard truths” and “future plans.” She instructs Jimmy and Izzy to put on a headband that turns red if you lie and immediately starts interrogating Izzy. Maya asks her to share a secret she has with JJ, and Izzy tells her that the biggest secret is she knows she has taped different board games together to trick her and that everything she’s said so far has been a lie. She hands Maya the dice, turning the tables and saying she has questions of her own.

 

Maya and Izzy face off against each other before Izzy puts an end to it. She realizes that Maya is afraid she now has no control over this situation, but she should trust JJ to be with someone that truly cares about him. Maya apologizes to putting her through all the obstacles, telling Izzy she seems special and that she likes her. Izzy says she likes Maya, too. Everything seems to be resolved until Jimmy accidentally brings up the text he read on her phone earlier.

 

Jimmy lets Izzy read a text about free pretzel samples off his phone to get even and apologizes profusely. Izzy still wants to go home, but they block her way to the exit. They beg her not to leave, but Izzy tells them they’re kidnapping her.

 

Meanwhile, Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) and Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) try to refrain from eating Jimmy’s entire cheese ball. The take slices off the end before smashing it back together so nobody can tell any of it is missing. They do this until the cheese ball is tiny, and Kenneth pops the rest in his mouth, destroying any evidence.

 

The two decide to try and make a new one, but Dylan doesn’t know any other ingredient in it besides love. Kenneth realizes there’s a recipe on the back of the cracker box and they figure it will have to do. They finish it, and Dylan is pleasantly surprised she can’t tell the difference between theirs and Jimmy’s. Kenneth claims he can, throwing the cheese into the sink. The other cheese tasted like love–this one tastes like fear.

 

Dylan is furious, as they have no cheese left to start over. Kenneth says they just have to make something that looks like cheese and then drop it on the floor. They bring it to the living room right as tensions are at the highest between Jimmy, Maya, and Izzy. They go to drop the ball on the floor, but Jimmy dives and catches it and serves it to Izzy. Izzy spits it out, and Kenneth and Dylan admit it’s clay and dog food.

 

Just then, Ray and JJ make it back. JJ asks how everything has been, and Izzy lies and says his parents made him feel very welcome. Jimmy admits they were awful to her, grilling her and invading her privacy. He tells them that of course they are allowed to have secrets.

 

JJ, however, says that it’s better to come clean about everything. He says that Izzy is going to college in New York and he wants to go to film school there, too. He still needs to fill out an application and make a film before tomorrow.