Pressure
Directed By: Mark Piznarski
Written By: Ellen Herman
Jordan wants to have sex with Angela, and she's not sure she's ready for it, even after talking with Sharon and her doctor about it. So when Jordan takes her to a party where they can have sex, and Angela sees Rayanne there, she uses her worry about Rayanne as an excuse to not have sex with Jordan, which drives a wedge between them.
Elsewhere, Patty and Graham invite Hallie and her fiancée Brad over for dinner, and they tell Graham they'd like to open a restaurant together with Graham being the chef.
This episode contains examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch Comment:
- When Angela is trying to ask Sharon about sex:
Angela: So, you and Kyle broke up? Was there like a reason?
Sharon: I guess I'd have to say it was my beliefs. I didn't feel I should give up my beliefs. Even for Kyle.
Angela: [voiceover] So Sharon had beliefs. Sharon decided to stay a virgin. [back to talking with Sharon again] So, how do you, like...I mean, you just told him that you didn't...wanna...have, um, sex with him now matter how much he was, like, expecting it?
Sharon: Oh, no. Oh, no no no. We, we had sex. I'm saying I had a belief that he was being a butthead, which was true.- When Rickie expresses his feelings about sex to Angela (that it should be special), Cynthia, Jordan's ex-girlfriend, comes out of a bathroom stall and compliments Rickie on what he said, before turning to Angela:
Cynthia: I know we don't, like, know each other or anything, but could I just ask you something?
Angela: Sure.
Cynthia: Did you ever work at Big Guy Burger? - Call-Back:
- Sharon brings back the chafing dish she had borrowed for her mother.
- Sharon also tells Angela she should talk with Jordan about how she feels regarding sex with him because, as Sharon knows, Angela has a tendency to shut people out.
- When she leaves Jordan at the party, Angela claims she's doing so because she's afraid of Rayanne going off the wagon.
- The Cameo: Mary Woronov plays the doctor on the sex tape Angela and Sharon, Graham and Patty, and Brian and Rrickie watch at various points.
- Dramatic Irony: Angela has long, heartfelt discussions with Brian and then Jordan in her house, completely unaware Graham is lying down on the couch (in an attempt to take a nap) and can hear everything she's saying.
- Foreshadowing: The restaurant Hallie wants to open with Graham becomes a major part of the rest of the season.
- From the Mouths of Babes: When Patty and Graham speculate about what Angela and Jordan could be doing, Danielle pops up, "Did you mean, like, foreplay?" Patty and Graham both cough loudly in response.
- Genre Savvy: Zig-zagged - When Angela says she's skipping dinner because she's not hungry, Patty predicts Angela will come downstairs in the middle of the night and raid the refrigerator. Angela does go downstairs in the middle of the night, and she does eat from the refrigerator, but the main reason why she came down that night is she heard Jordan sneaking in.
- Head-Tiltingly Kinky: Both Brian and Rickie tilt their heads when they watch the sex tape that was in Angela's backpack.
- I Was Just Joking: When Angela refuses to sleep with Jordan in his car, Jordan asks where they can sleep together, to which Angela replies, "How about in my room tonight after my parents fall asleep." Later that evening, Jordan comes over and gives Angela's answer as the reason. She tries to tell Jordan she was just kidding.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Jordan certainly comes off as feeling like he's entitled to have sex and that Angela is expected to have sex with him, but he's justified when he calls out Angela for not telling him the truth about her feelings about sex at first, pointing out to her he's never lied about that.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: When Rayanne and Sharon are talking in the bathroom about how Angela seems to be afraid of sex, two other girls in the bathroom are talking about sex. Rayanne decides to have a little fun with them by talking about the famous scene in 9½ Weeks involving Mickey Rourke rubbing an ice cube down Kim Basinger before the food and sex scene, and pretending Rourke did it to her as well. As Rayanne and Sharon are leaving the bathroom, one of the girls asks her, "Mickey Rourke - does he, like, go to this school?"
- "Shut Up" Kiss: When Angela is driving Jordan's car, she stops and attempts to tell Jordan this is only her second time driving, but he kisses her before she can finish.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Jordan gets angry at Angela for not only running out on him when he thought they would be having sex, but also lying about why.
