''The Hills'': Possessive Cases

Back in Speidi land, things weren't nearly as hunky-dory. Abominable Snowman (which is how I plan to refer to scruffy-bearded Spencer from here on out; without the beard, he's back to being Beavis) got riled up over Heidi ''choosing'' to do work instead of going out for their belated anniversary dinner. Although we'd already seen a million times in the previews the moment when Heidi said to Spencer, ''Oh, I'll be at work. Why don't you try it?'' I still got a kick out of hearing her talk back (no matter how contrived it was). Now, after seeing the situation unfold in its entirety, it all just feels so overly dramatic and scripted (as most Speidi situations do) — especially the moment when Beavis rolled up to the Bolthouse offices and asked for Heidi, and the front-desk assistant asked him, ''And you are?'' As if that entire office doesn't watch the show every week and/or read about it in the tabloids. And as if the camera guys behind Beavis didn't give her any kind of clue.

At least we finally got to see Heidi show off her well-honed PR skills in this episode. She pretended to make sure new Bolthouse employee Kimberly (''the new Elodie,'' as she doesn't like to be referred to) was doing her job correctly at a NASCAR event by looking over a list. Congrats, Heidi, you know how to use a clipboard; you're well on your way up the corporate ladder. (On an unrelated note: Would any of you agree that Kimberly looks exactly like Jacinda Barrett from The Real World: London?)

So, TV Watchers, what do you think? Why is it that Brody's cast and Spencer's horrific facial hair keep popping in and out of episodes like some sort of Where's Waldo game? Do you believe that Lauren and Brody have true affection for each other, or do you think MTV just does a stellar job of editing? Finally, were you as irked as I was that Speidi used the California brush fires — a very serious emergency — to get press?

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