'Swingtown': Brownie Points

'Swingtown' recap: Three-couple weekend

Let's do some word problems, Swingtown-ers: First, how do you fit three couples into two beds? Second, describe the subjective nature of time. And third, when two people in a group of three pair off, what becomes of the third wheel?

I thought this week's episode, ''Cabin Fever,'' telegraphed a lot of its twists early. I knew, for instance, that as soon as the Thompsons weaseled out of a trip to the Millers' cabin, the Millers would turn right around and invite the Deckers — and that the Thompsons would then show up after all, at the most embarrassing possible moment. I knew that Laurie and B.J. would take advantage of their parents' absence to spend time with their own crush objects, and that their respective evenings wouldn't go as planned. I knew that the woman enjoying a mile-high quickie with Tom would turn out to be his own wife. (It's like nobody on this show has watched a single episode of TV from the last 30 years. Oh, wait...) Still, the geometry of the adult sextet recombined for some unexpected angles that should develop in interesting ways over the next few episodes. (All right, no more math metaphors.)

First, a hat tip to the sharp readers of this column, who've caught a few nuances I've missed. One is the suggestion that Rick might be gay. His jealousy over B.J.'s increasing closeness with Samantha grew more apparent when they broke into the Deckers' home, with B.J. and Samantha splashing in the pool while Rick sulked, drank the Deckers' liquor, and listened to his new Kiss cassette. (What, no 8-track? By the way, I like Rick's new nickname for Samantha: ''Rapunzel.'') But is Rick jealous because he doesn't have a romance brewing, or because he's not getting to spend as much time as he used to with B.J.? And does his jealousy mirror that of his parents, who don't get to spend as much time as they used to with B.J.'s parents, or is it because he has a crush on his friend? Also, his boasting about sexual experience that he doesn't have (which earned him a beating from a girl in the pilot episode) and his crude and homophobic sexual slang (his greeting to B.J.: ''Hey, gay wad!'') suggest he's trying awfully hard to prove to someone — maybe to himself — that he's really as straight as the next guy.

NEXT: Roger's secret love