No Tomorrow 1.10: "No Soup for You"

“Strap in, fire it up, and tackle this Xavier thing with some cold, hard Evie logic.”
-Hank

Shocker of shockers, “No Soup for You” was not at all a good episode for Evie and Xavier (the worst, really) . . . or should I say Hamish, but I didn’t hate it. I actually kind of liked it. All of the characters went from low points at the beginning of the episode to having important realizations or getting some real wins. In several cases, the characters’ personalities let them solve their problems in a way that was unique to them. It was an entertaining show to watch, once the tension of the Evie and Xavier breakup in the beginning of the episode was past. We also learn quite a lot about Xavier’s past – more than we ever had a clue about before. We now know what happened to both of his parents and why he is estranged from his father. Even though this information hasn’t (yet) resulted in Evie and Xavier getting back together, I think it is all good stuff to know.

The early part of the episode is mostly devoted to Evie trying to figure out what to do about the Xavier situation. She confronts him with the information Timothy gave her, including the fact that his name isn’t Xavier – it’s actually Hamish. Which I kind of like better, actually. She feels betrayed because Xavier so thoroughly lied to her, although Xavier doesn’t seem to think it’s all that big a deal. He’s committed to being Xavier now. Hamish is in the past. He also doesn’t think Hamish’s criminal record (public disturbance type stuff) is all that big a deal. Evie, however, needs some time to think. Hank encourages Evie to apply her logic to the situation, and she is finally able to reach a conclusion. She breaks up with Xavier, not specifically because of the lying, but because she thinks he really needs to confront his past, and he won’t let her in on what actually happened. Even a White Snake cover band called Albino Cobra (which cracked me up!) wasn’t enough to get her to stay.

Evie isn’t the only one with relationship issues in the episode. There are relationship issues all around! Kareema is freaking out because INS is going to be asking her a lot of questions as part of their investigation of Sophia. Timothy and Hank are also both just coming off of breakups with Fern and Deirdre respectively. Kareema decides to deal with her problem by trying to be the best CyberMart employee she can possibly be, in hopes that the company will give INS a glowing report about her. She’s super friendly and helpful to everyone she speaks to on the customer service line. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect to what she expected. She gets counseled that her work habits have really slipped. Apparently management liked that she kept her call times short and rarely allowed returns. This throws Kareema into a bit of a tizzy, as she’s worried about what management will say to INS.

Meanwhile, Deirdre is very sick with a cold or the flu or something, and instead of her new (for the third time) fiancé, she calls Hank. Hank is reluctant to be taken advantage of like this, but Deirdre explains that she asked for his help because he has taken so few sick days. She figures he must have a trick up his sleeve for warding off nasty viruses. He does indeed have a secret family formula cold remedy (they call it Vitamin B13), and he offers to cook up a batch for Deirdre. The result is disgusting, however, and even worse, it contains kumquats, and Deirdre has an allergy. She’s even worse off after taking it. The most strict fire inspector, Archie Fieri, is scheduled to visit the warehouse, and Deirdre is the only one who knows all his tricks. Hank offers to Cyrano it (meaning Deirdre would communicate the proper answers to him via earpiece.

Timothy sees the current situation as a great opportunity to get back in Evie’s good graces. He secretly sends her an invitation to an adventure, and Evie of course immediately assumes it’s from Xavier. She’s pissed off about that because she told Xavier she needed some space. It’s Timothy though, and she’s happy when she finds out that he has arranged for them to be contestants on Grocer’s Blowout, their favorite television show. They both compete fiercely, but Timothy ultimately wins by answering a question with “legumes” instead of “beans.” This means that Evie gets a vat of soup poured on her head. Evie’s pretty happy in the moment because she got to be a contestant on her favorite show, but the incident lands her in trouble at work. She’s been tasked with bringing a splashy new charity into CyberHugs in time for a visit from corporate, but the soup kitchen she was going to partner with is offended by the waste of soup during her Grover’s Blowout appearance.

Simalarly, Hank’s attempt to get through the fire inspection starts off on a positive foot. Deirdre is able to feed him all the correct answers to Archie’s questions. Deirdre’s voice is extra husky because she’s sick, though, and it’s very distracting to Hank. Eventually, he decides he needs to just try to make it through the inspection on his own. At first, he fails miserably and manages to rack up several thousand dollars in fines. Then, however, Hank just tries to be his usual personable self. He manages to bond with Archie, who has alopecia, by telling him about his own cousin with alopecia. Eventually, Archie feels bad about the idea of fining a nice guy like Hank, so he waives all the fines. This was the first example of the crew solving problems by being themselves. Evie solves her charity problem in her typically chipper way. She comes up with a better idea. On the fly, she pitches to the representative from corporate the idea of having customers use CyberMart boxes to send in donations of things. He loves it, naturally.

Meanwhile, after a little prodding by his buddy at the coffee shop, Xavier seems to take Evie’s instructions to deal with his issues around his parents seriously. He finally crosses off that bucket list item and calls his dad. Their first in-person meeting doesn’t go well. We learned what caused the estrangement. Apparently Xavier’s father had been having an affair with a woman named Rose while his mother was dying of a terminal illness, and they later got married. It’s actually Rose who helps them make some progress, though. She stops by to see Xavier, and she explains how she and his father met at a support group for people with loved ones’ with terminal illnesses. She says that what she and Xavier’s dad have is special, but his mother was the real light of his life. This makes Xavier feel a bit better. Xavier ends up hanging out with both his father and Rose a bit more, and eventually he says that while he’s not ready to bury the hatchet, he’s ready to start digging the whole. He tries to give Evie the good news, but she’s otherwise occupied making out with Timothy. That can’t possibly end well for any of them.