IMHO: "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (1.18) "Making up is hard to do"

Gay couple Leon (Alex Polis) and Donovan (Larry Sullivan) show up towards the end of this week's episode of the odd ABC Family soap The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which means we have to endure lots of teen chatter about sleeping with step-siblings and using birth control pills as a high school status symbol.

When we do see Leon and Donovan, things don't go how they (or we) thought they would ...

Leon and Donovan are taking the final steps towards adopting the unborn child of teenager Amy, and now they only have to get permission from the father of the child, the aloof Ricky.

As Amy, Ricky, Leon, and Donovan meet to discuss the situation, Ricky tries to sabotage things by acting like, well, a typical high school lunkhead. It's obvious he wants to get the gay couple to change their minds about going through with it, but it has nothing to do with their sexuality ... he doesn't want anyone adopting the baby.

Ricky's plan appears to have worked, as Leon and Donovan leave, and discuss their reservations about the adoption. They've been foster parents to kids for years, and are afraid if they adopt this baby, there's so much baggage that will come with it that they won't have any time to devote to providing a home to other kids.

I'm giving this show an up arrow because at no time is the sexuality of the couple brought up as a concern by anyone (amazing, considering the father of the baby is a typical high school jock), and because Leon and Donovan are frankly the only sane, rational people on this show.

Right now it looks like the adoption may not happen, but the door is certainly left wide open. With the wonderfully matter-of-fact way the show has treated this couple, I'm hoping they can find some way to bring them back ... baby or not.