Cougar Town Episode 2.02 Let Yourself Go

The big day is finally here. Travis is leaving for college. How will Jules handle it? We're thinking not gracefully.

Jules has mapped out a plan to ease the sting associated with her baby boy's imminent departure. She goes nostalgic by wearing a macaroni necklace Travis made for her when he was one. Okay, Jules made the necklace. But she did so by using Trav's little hands like he was a puppet. Jules intends to spend every waking second with her son until he leaves. But she's caught off guard when Travis bumps up his departure date.

Jules decides to "slap out" of her funk by accelerating their last day activities. This includes a wild motorcycle ride so Travis is forced to hold onto his mom while fearing for his life. By the way, the reason there were quote marks around "slap out" earlier is to let you know that this is another entry into Cougar Town lingo land. The popular expression is "snap out of it." But snapping doesn't have the same jarring impact as slapping, as Jules demonstrates in an open-handed smack to Grayson's face.

Travis got a brand new laptop for college, so he gives his old computer to his dad. Laurie takes it upon herself to teach Bobby the finer points of traveling through cyberspace. She says, "The Internet is like a series of spider webs that connects us to each other. Oh, except that the webs are invisible. Oh, and the spiders are nerds."

Odd neighbor Tom has taken to doing nice things for Ellie because he thinks her son died. The kid is fine but the lawn needs cutting big time. So, Tom mows away while everyone else fake mourns the untimely "didn't-really-happen" death of young Stan Torres. Grayson is appalled even though he enjoyed some of Tom's delicious sympathy lasagna last night. Tonight Tom's making Mexican!

Ellie says she never tells stories about Stan because it's unsexy. Andy agrees for the most part, but wants to tell a Stan story anyway. Ellie warns that there will be severe repercussions if he defies her wishes. Andy can't help himself. He lets a Stan story fly. As punishment, Ellie decides that she'll no longer make eye contact with her hubby. This is truly brutal retribution, as Andy lives for his wife's cold, icy glare.

Andy believes the only way he can out of this mess is to get Stan to do something so amazing that Ellie won't be able to help but tell a story about it. He decides to get his son to walk for the first time. Of course, Stan's not quite ready to take that first step. So Andy rigs an elaborate pulley system to help him along. When Grayson pulls Stan up so high that he swings off the ground, Tom believes he's seeing a floating ghost baby in the window. Boo!

Ellie worries that if she tells one Stan story then she'll have to tell a hundred. That'll make her one of those pathetic mommy types. Andy assures her that she's way too nasty and self-involved for that to happen. Laurie and Grayson wholeheartedly agree. So, when Ellie later sees baby Stan take his real first step, she knows she now has a great story which will surely bore all of her friends.

Jules gets upset when Travis says she's smothering him. A big blowout argument ensues and Travis storms off to college even earlier than expected. Jules blames Bobby for this. She figures that if he had been around they would have had the perfect goodbye. But Bobby already had his farewell moment with Trav. He says, "We had one of those good, solid man moments when everything gets said but nobody's talking. I call it a nonversation." Besides, Bobby was busy learning how to use the Internet so he could email Travis while he was away.

Jules realizes that she's not the only one who is taking this hard. Everyone is going to miss her son. Leaving is going to be hard on Travis, too. Good thing he's only going to be living 20 minutes away. It'll still be rough. But at least Travis gives Jules the nice goodbye she craves complete with a meaningful glance before he drives away.