"I got it at Williams-Sonoma."

Franny is on the spot when Claire finds an, um, "potato masher", in her closet. Though Franny could do the mature thing and tell Claire what she already knows it to be, she instead insists that it's a potato masher. Claire runs with it and has Franny make mashed potatoes with it. Things come to a head when Claire, determined to get her mother to spill, buys the same for elderly Mrs. Lockard, who's retiring from a long career of giving A's to girls just because they're too pretty to say no to. The Tolchuck (yes, I'm only just spelling this correctly now) women have a change of heart but are too late to get the gift back from Mrs. Locard, who seems willing to believe it's a potato masher just like they said it was.

See, now this is what I'm talking about. A hilarious look (and poke) at censorship and book banning, with a nod to "Superbad"? Bring it on.

Well it can't be. It's a dover classic.

When Justin hears from the town "moral authority" Sandy Shermer that "Madame Bovary" is dirty, he puts down the Cliffs Notes and picks up the text to find the smut. Mme. Bovary's sexy adventures reveals that Justin's a bit of an artist. As a child, he drew rainbows. As a teenager, he drew big titty ladies. For serious. We see quite a few examples of his work. I mean, a lot. Just pages and pages of ladies (and the ocasional building) with ginormous knockers. When Franny and Gary happen to find his illustrated "The Adventures of Madame Bovary", Justin takes off.

You wouldn't know it by the fact that this recap is a few weeks late, but seriously, I'm gonna miss this show. While it tended to paint the people of Medora with an overwhelmingly ignorant brush while making Raja look like an overly virtuous stick-in-the-mud, the show was willing to engage race in a humorous, non-preachy way. And there isn't a lot of that going on elsewhere on television. If this show could find a new home elsewhere, maybe on the new on-line iteration of The WB that's scheduled to go live later this year, that would be cool.

This may as well have been called "Everybody Hates Raja".

The cold, brutal winter has the Tolchuks in a foul mood.They're not shy about taking it out on each other, though Raja gets the brunt of it. Is Justin right when he says that Raja's novelty has just worn off? They aim to get back in to better spirits on a family vacation to Vancouver (a trip won by Franny at Justin's choir recital auction), which is much warmer (and way more Canadian) than Medora. They only make it so far as the airport, where Raja's prayer gets them booted out of the airport, where the whole "people are uncomfortable with Muslims" thing gets booted up a notch. Their Canadian adventure is off, and it appears as though Raja is to blame.

Justin lights Franny's candle.: Wait a second... ew!Franny's calendar tells her that Justin leaves for college in 500 days, which is barely enough time to get them registered for mother-sun yoga. Missing the connection they had when Justin was small enough that she could get wear him in a sling while doing her gardening, she convinces Justin to join the crew for a community theater production of "Rent" while she joins the chorus of the same. Which pleases Gary, as being on the crew is less gay than being in the cast. Hold that thought, Gary.

I don't know about you, but I don't remember ever taking a career aptitude test like Justin and Raja did in this week's episode. Maybe if I had, I'd be flipping pancakes somewhere on the eastern seabard, or fishing for Alaskan king crab. Instead I am the new recapista for "Aliens", which this week sends the boys towards their future, and Gary to the emergency room with an arrow in his ass.

They say you should appreciate the here and now, because you never know when your mom is going to get you tickets to the "Sound of Music" sing-a-long in Milwaukee. Justin is cheesed about that, but is powerless to stop Franny, especially when the 90 year old Wilsons are still ateending. And why is Franny driving them to school that morning? Raja didn't want to ride in the dirty schoolbus, but Justin would rather suffer some dirt than incur the wrath of Trey, the school's worst bully and its best crafter of obscure weaponry. Before he can let loose on Justin with his tonfa, Principal Duncan stops what doubtless would have been quite an assault to see

While shopping for some baseball memoribilia, Franny dings a hybrid in the parking lot. There is no damage, but she leaves a note anyway, having been chastened by raja's moral authority. Which, apparently, extends to the DVR -- no fast-forwarding through commercials. Which I kinda get but if that's how you feel about it, you can always turn down the sound during the adverts (which my former roommate Molly got me doing).

As anyone who is not an orphan knows, the holidays can be a stressful time for everyone. Ok, technically, they might be stressful for orphans as well, but that's not the point. Family can both bring out the best and worst in all of us at the holidays. This week we see the Tolchucks in the build-up to the holidays and we do see the best and the worst. Not naming names, but I can say that Raja is definitely not the worst.

Ok, I'm going to come out of the closet and let you all know that I am from Wisconsin. It's true. Total cheesehead. Haven't lived there in 10 years, but still. You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but...blah....blah...blah. So there are a few things about Aliens in America that shouldn't sit right with me, right? I mean, they MOCK the Midwest in a serious way. Like for example, Gary's endless wardrobe full of Packer gear. I'd like to say that's not realistic, but sorry, very true. Or Franny's love of exclamatory sayings, said in a deep nasally accent, that involve cheese in some way? Yup, still rings true. Intolerance of other countries? Perhaps. But the one thing I can say with confidence, is that no Midwesterner in their right mind would buy Alpacas as an investment. Not when cows exist! That's just going a bit too far, writers of Aliens in America. Too far!

This week, we see our two favorite Tolchuck men struggle to find their place in the world. The elder, searching for meaning beyond a career that no longer exists, and the younger, exploring new ways to expand his horizons. While wearing a fish suit. Yup, that seems about right.

Let's face it, Gary Tolchuck is at a loss. If he's not some middle-manager at a company of undefined origins and purpose, then what is he? Unemployed, that's what. But, depending on which member of the Tolchuck clan you ask, you might find that he is an annoying wake-up call (Justin), a terrible cook (Claire) or someone with the best of intentions who is getting in the way of a perfectly run household operation (Franny.) I guess we're not going to ask Raja since he usually has only nice things to say. Or so we thought.