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The Bloom Is Off the Rose is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of The Golden Girls and the one-hundred and forty-first episode overall. Directed by Matthew Diamond and written by Philip Jayson Lasker, it premiered on NBC-TV on January 5th, 1991.
Summary[]
Rose and Miles decide that they need more adventure in their relationship and decide to take up skydiving. Blanche uncharacteristically makes excuses for her abusive boyfriend.
Plot[]
Sophia is secretly calling an advice radio show because she is frustrated and bored spending so much time with Dorothy due to her inability to find dates. The call is interrupted when the rest of the girls enter the kitchen, and they are surprised at Blanche doing the laundry for once. Blanche explains she is actually doing laundry for Rex, a man she is currently dating. The other girls remark they are surprised she would do favors for someone who has stood her up for dates repeatedly. Rose also complains about her current partner, Miles, saying he seems to fall into predictable patterns and is lately unexciting compared to her nostalgic memories of her late husband Charlie.
Later that evening, Sophia is unenthusiastically finishing a jigsaw puzzle with Dorothy as Rose returns from a date with Miles, equally unenthused with the time she spent with him. Blanche is stood up again by Rex, but before the girls could console her, Rex shows up at the door. He forcefully kisses Blanche to stymie her anger, and despite apologizing, tells Blanche it's too late to take her out and he simply showed up to pick up his laundry. He offers a date with her tomorrow evening instead, and brusquely leaves before Blanche can argue.
The next evening, Dorothy returns home angry, as her full name was heard by her peers on the radio when Sophia called to complain Dorothy did not have "a life of her own." Rose also confronts Miles about his love for her, asking if he would "jump out of an airplane" for her. When he answers he would as a metaphorical question, Rose surprises him by announcing she signed them both up for skydiving lessons that are starting tomorrow to a horrified Miles. Blanche also begins to seriously question her weight due to comments made by Rex, which worries Dorothy that Blanche is losing her self-esteem due to her relationship. Rex then shows up to take Blanche out, and chides her for not being properly dressed for the occasion and is frustrated that Blanche will make them late. As Rex waits in the car, Dorothy attempts to get Blanche to realize his verbally abusive behavior, but Blanche simply excuses him for his remarks.
When Rose returns from her date the same evening, she remarks Miles was a lot more exciting, albeit mostly indirectly from the impending skydiving lesson. Blanche also returns from her date, telling Dorothy that Rex apologized for his words and that he will make up for his mistakes with more promises. Dorothy explains she sees the signs of an abusive relationship, citing her past experiences, but Blanche simply scoffs at taking relationship advice from Dorothy.
Rose and Miles attend their skydiving lesson, and before going into the air, Miles confronts Rose about being unfairly compared to Charlie, and that he loves her just as much despite being a different person. Rose reciprocates his feelings, and admits that her nostalgia may have portrayed Charlie in a better light than how her relationship with him was really like. Miles, however, is now determined to go through with the skydiving lesson after hearing that Charlie had never done it before.
At home, Blanche readies herself for her next date with Rex. Dorothy tries one last time to advise Blanche to break it off with Rex, but Blanche refuses. As Blanche returns to her bedroom, Rex arrives at the front door and Dorothy answers. When Dorothy tells him Blanche is still getting ready, he is openly frustrated with Blanche's punctuality and asks Dorothy to hurry Blanche up, while swearing to "teach" Blanche how to be on time. Dorothy rounds on him, stating she dislikes the way he treats Blanche, and while she can't stop Blanche from dating Rex, there's no way she's going to do his dirty work for him. Angered, Rex grabs Dorothy by the arm forcefully, but backs off when a surprised Blanche and Sophia reenter the room and witness his actions. Blanche orders an apologetic Rex to leave, to which he makes the ultimatum that he would not return if he's forced to leave. Blanche simply tells him that is a promise she hopes he keeps.
After Rex leaves, Blanche apologizes to Dorothy for not seeing Rex for who he truly was until he threatened Dorothy, and the two reconcile. Rose then gets ready to visit Miles in the hospital, revealing only he went through with the skydiving, but has turned into a more exciting partner for Rose.[1]
Tall Tales[]
Clinton Avenue Memoirs[]
Dorothy recounts the time she was in an abusive relationship in high school. Sophia is shocked that Stan was abusive, but Dorothy says that Michael Tortelli was the abusive boyfriend. Michael was the captain of the football team and was incredibly handsome, but he made Dorothy feel like she didn't matter.
Back in St. Olaf...[]
Rose recounts that she didn't think she was bored for a day with Charlie. Charlie had a theory that even a trip to the bank could be exciting "if you wear a ski mask". Miles asked if Charlie said that often, and Rose rplies that he said it as often as he said "Don't shoot - it's me, Charlie Nylund!"
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak
- Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux
- Betty White as Rose Nylund
- Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo
Guest Stars[]
- Harold Gould as Miles Webber
- Mitchell Ryan as Rex Huntington
- Don Mirault as Skydiving Instructor
- Alan Baltes as Skydiving Student
Notes[]
- This is the first episode of The Golden Girls to be released in 1991.
Production[]
- Miles comments that he makes a better salad dressing than Paul Newman. Harold Gould actually starred in two films with Paul Newman; Harper (1966) and The Sting (1973).
- The storyline with Blanche is very similar to "Blanche's Little Girl", where Blanche's daughter Becky allowed herself to be mistreated by a man, Jeremy. In that situation, Blanche risked her relationship with Becky to tell her how she felt about how Jeremy was mistreating her.[2] In this episode, Blanche allowed herself to be treated the same way but she couldn't see it until her friends expressed their concern.
Goofs[]
- At Rose and Miles's skydiving class, the instructor reminds the students to tuck and roll once they hit the ground. In actuality, tucking and rolling is not a regular practice in recreational skydiving.
- In Rose and Miles's skydiving class, there are at least nine first-time skydivers equipped with solo parachute rigs and only two jumpmasters to accompany them. The main skydiving instructor informs the students that their parachutes will open automatically upon exiting the airplane. But in actuality, the vast majority of first time skydivers jump tandem, a type of skydiving where a student skydiver is connected to a harness attached to a tandem instructor. Tandem skydiving relieves the student of the pressure of having to deploy their own parachute and the pressure of having to guide themselves safely to the ground, which is why it's the most common method for first time jumpers.
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References[]
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 6, Episode 13, "The Bloom Is Off the Rose". Lasker, Phillip Jason (writer) & Diamond, Matthew (director) (January 5th, 1991)
- ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 3, Episode 14, “Blanche's Little Girl”. Speer, Kathy and Grossman, Terry (writers) & Hughes, Terry (director) (January 9th, 1988)