'Cougar Town' recap: Fixing a Hole

Welcome back to (All I Want For Christmas is a New Title) Cougar Town! In "The Same Old You," the Drink Tank Think Tank (or what Kirsten/Girlfriend called the Purple Tooth Crew) put all of the spare time they spend not working and not talking about work (ha! fourth wall: shattered) to good use by fixing up Bobby's houseboat. So what if it sank into the marina, leaving a thin film of cheese dust and dog hair in its wake? It's the thought, and mailing address, that counts. As Jules has been saying for at least a week now: "To get ahead, get a home." (Worst slogan ever!)

I loved the sense of the Jules-Bobby relationship, past and present, we got in this episode. There was the sappy, content-based stuff, like their heart-to-hearts about his increased confidence and general self-improvement. But they're also just so visually cute together, if not as a viable couple then as truly good friends. How sweet was it that he bothered to repeat "I'm a lucky duck, baby," after hearing that she'd kept fondly thinking back to when he said it years ago? Also great: their high-energy bear hug after Bobby sank the put in the PGA golf qualifier Jules had encouraged him to enter. And I always love when we get goofy glimpses of why these two would have been so compatible -- like when Jules openly admitted to the group, "To be honest with you, I don't even get what puns are." That's So Bobby!

Meanwhile, Laurie posed as a transfer student at Travis' college so she could join a sorority. Can you blame her? The parties rock, and sometimes she just wants to wear pearls without being judged. We've all been there. Travis' girlfriend Kirsten wasn't as amused by Laurie and Travis' impressions of each other's laugh styles (happy tugboat, cartoon woodpecker) as we viewers were. To be honest, I was surprised that these two finally had a serious discussion about the possibility of getting together. They've been dancing around that for months! I mean...Laurie's older older, you know? It'd be weird! Eventually, much to Travis' dismay but Girlfriend's delight, Laurie backed off, or "flipped out of there like a flapjack." Well, at least for a few minutes...until the end of the episode, when she and Trav were back to their usual mischief, stalking the sisters at Laurie's candlelight vigil. She died for him. That's true love. (?!)

Grayson and Ellie needed something else to do, so they waged a hilarious war of uncovering each other's embarrassing pasts. So many gems here: Grayson's "talent" video (and Jules' over-the-top imitation that followed), Ellie's caterpillar-eyebrows headshot and short-lived "shot slut" career, the mere idea of Ellie as a "power forward" in basketball at age 10, and many more. I think my favorite was her coup de grace against Grayson -- "a tearful voicemail to the girl who took your virginity" -- because it was the type of thing the always-masterful Ellie might snake out on her own. I mean, I know realistically the tape was probably just sitting in a drawer of Grayson's for her to find, but I love the idea of Ellie somehow tracking it down from the woman herself, then buying a recorder, etc. -- all for the purpose of seeing the look on his face when he finally grasped the full breadth of her sheer wickedness. Whatever! Let me have my fantasies!

NEXT: The episode's 10 best quotes/moments!

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