House Rules

Tasting notes

Home from college, he walks into a warm welcome from Veronica, his stepmother, with Dad off on business. She lays down house rules at the front door: first, obey her commands, and second, no calls to his girlfriend. He phones the girlfriend anyway and promises a visit tomorrow, which changes Veronica's mood considerably. Episode 2 begins at breakfast, with a robe, a lingering conversation and rule four, about pretending not to have heard her the night before. Meanwhile the girlfriend has arrived, and the doorbell is ringing.

Flavor profile

She writes the rules, he obeys or breaks them, and either way she wins. Control is the whole flavor, along with the clock ticking toward the girlfriend's arrival. Free episodes stick to commands, near misses and a robe.

Allergy advice Contains: bossy ground rules, steam and a stepmother with a very flexible definition of hospitality. May contain traces of girlfriend panic.

Best enjoyed Pairs with an empty weekend and a head full of rules you plan to break.