"United States of Tara" Recap 305: Poor Lionel! This Trane Just Got Derailed!

This week a Trane gets derailed, an uneasy alliance is formed, waters are smoothed and an angel gets her training wings. It's a week of relationship shakeups and confusing business models in the latest episode of United States of Tara!

Our little Moosh has a pretty eventful episode following his threesome with Lionel and Noah last week. The three of them, along with the fourth member of their film class group, Rory, are up in Marshall's room. And, no, this isn't a continuation of last week's sexcapades.

The group is debating whether to enter their film in a high school film festival in New York City. Why there is any resistance to this idea is beyond me since entering apparently means an automatic trip to NYC, but everyone except Lionel thinks it's a bad idea.

Marshall because he thinks the film is too terrible to be seen by guest judge David Lynch (and I love David Lynch but anyone who suffered through INLAND EMPIRE knows that there is no such thing as "too terrible for David Lynch"). Noah, however, is suspicious of Lionel's motives. "You don't want to go to New York for the film; you just want to wake up on a dirty futon with a Sudanese cab driver and Mario Cantone." Of course, and who wouldn't?

Rory doesn't really express an opinion since his job is not to opine but instead to interject humorously about almost being killed in a horrible car accident and struggling back from the brink of death. "I broke my neck." "I was in a coma." "I'm practically a robot."

Marshall and Noah want to make a new film that's personal and meaningful but Lionel dashes cold water on the idea, noting the film festival is a month away, so they either submit what they have or don't enter at all. Lionel goes for a dramatic flouncing exit but the effect is spoiled by Rory trailing after him. "You're my ride! I don't fit in regular cars!"

Noah starts to leave as well, but Marshall closes his bedroom door and plants a rather aggressive kiss on him. Go Moosh! Quite a step up from the shy boy who wanted the lights off last week.

The next day Marshall and Noah are hanging out downstairs watching their movie (which is tentatively titled Human Remains of the Day...genius) and Marshall kind of figures out that the film really doesn't work because of its repetitive "two people talking, tension, then carnage" structure. Noah notes that it works for Quentin Tarantino, but Marshall chides that just because Tarantino rips people off doesn't make it OK for them to do the same. That's ethics.

In walks Alice, who had emerged earlier in the episode (we'll get to that), and Marshall introduces Noah to her. As Alice scurries off to prepare a snack tray and a pitcher of sweet tea (Alice is Southern now?) Marshall spot-checks Noah's reaction to the crazy and gets a "meh."

Some time later Marshall and Noah are hanging out in Marshall's room doing this nauseatingly cute "give me one of your potato chips, get your own, oh come on" flirtation thing when Lionel comes in and susses out that the bag of chips may not be the only kind of "Lay's" happening on that bed. Marshall tries to deny anything untoward is going on but Noah admits that there is. Lionel storms out, taking his and Marshall's commitment symbol camera with him, saying he'll finish Human Remains of the Day on his own.

After he's gone, Noah explains to Marshall that he believes in honesty (which is why he has to say that he hates jazz, which makes me like him more because so do I). With Human Remains of the Day off their plates, Noah suggests two possible subjects for a replacement film: either a documentary about the difficulties of living with his mother or an exploration of how much Noah masturbates.