In actuality, Maggie planned a surprise for Julio: a picnic and a day of hiking. But Julio is not enthused. He hates hiking. Julio complains the entire hike–about nature, about potential run-ins with mountain lions. Maggie gets fed up with him. She hates hiking too, but after his birthday it seemed like they would get back together, and hiking is a thing that healthy couples do together. Julio tries to appreciate the experience more after that. They eat lunch and cookies, and enjoy making fun of a couple who have a sappy engagement and photo shoot on the trail. Later, Julio complains about his stomach and asks if there was dairy in anything he ate. She asks why he can’t trust her. Maybe, he responds, because she cheated on him. Maggie stops in her tracks. She can’t believe he’s still holding against her something she did in high school. Anyway, he cheated first. They argue about who cheated first until Julio doubles over in pain. It turns out that Maggie did accidentally put dairy in the cookies, and Julio is lactose intolerant. He yells at her to leave him behind; she can’t see him like this. But Maggie knows their relationship is different from couples like the one they saw on the trail. She insists she’s not leaving him. In slow motion, she runs to him and kisses him right as he has an intense bowel movement. Meanwhile, the “romantic” couple makes it to the peak of the trail to view the sunset–right in view of a mountain lion. During their hike, Luis babysits his nephews. When he asks them about school, they reveal that they’ve been bullied by one boy. Luis takes them to the bully’s house so he can have a reckoning with the kid and his dad. The man who answers the door is huge, which makes Luis nervous. He’s friendly at first, inviting them in for dinner and calling his son down to have a discussion about bullying. The dad tells his son not to be a bully because there was once a kid named Tiny Juan who was bullied by a kid named Big Luis. Luis’ eyes suddenly light up in recognition and fear. Juan tells the story of how he dedicated his life to getting big and getting back at his bully. He tells the kids to go to their rooms and comes at Luis with a knife. He says he’s going to kill him, but he ends up tripping over a toy and cutting his own fingers off. Luis and his nephews escape, and the kids celebrate that Luis is tougher than their bully’s dad. The lesson, Luis says, is that he’s cooler than Julio. Julio gets home, covered in his own faeces. He and Maggie got back together, he informs Luis.
The Episode Review
I can’t say I was a fan of Luis’ storyline in this episode. The “Tiny Juan” gag is dragged on too long, and there’s only so many laughs Luis’ gulping and stammering can get. Although–even if it ended on an absurd note–I appreciated the way this episode highlights the unique nature of Maggie’s and Julio’s relationship. We really get to dig into how deeply they know each other and how comfortable they are with each other, even if they still need to work on communication. If anything, I wish we got to see more build up between the birthday and their getting back together. I would have liked to witness the process of Maggie coming to her decision about Julio.
