Cindy Breaks A Date

## Synopsis

On a typical evening, Connie is watching a movie with J.R. and Sherry that they are totally focused on, until Graham walks in. Various debates and opinions are brought up. At the same time, Cindy is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her date, Derek. At first glance, Graham doesn't approve of Cindy's "provocative" outfit, and demands that she change her clothes before going on her date. After a quick "second opinion" from Elizabeth, Cindy reluctantly agrees to wear something else.

When Derek arrives, overprotective Graham and Elizabeth grill him with incessant questions about his intentions for the evening, as well as determining his true personality. The boy remains cordial, and calmly assures Cindy's parents that he's a nice guy, and promises to act like a gentleman. Graham becomes motivated to give Derek a thinly-veiled threat of what may happen to him if he misbehaves or disrespects Cindy, somewhat foreshadowing the outcome of the episode. Everyone is in agreement, and the couple leaves on their date.

Derek ends up taking Cindy to dinner at a fancy French restaurant, where she fails to understand what anything is on the menu. After Cindy unwittingly chooses the most expensive item, the waiter informs her that she has just ordered lobster, and Derek orders the same entree. They try to have a decent conversation, but Cindy repeatedly makes various subconscious gestures of body language that Derek misinterprets as flirtation attempts.

After dinner, the couple agrees to go to the seashore to "dance in the moonlight" and witness the grunions swimming by. While out on what Cindy thought would be a romantic evening, overly aggressive Derek repeatedly makes unwanted advances toward his date, which she's forced to dodge. After he insults her by calling her a "tease", Cindy and Derek seem to be at odds enough to mutually agree to end the date much earlier than either of them anticipated. When Cindy gets home, her parents and siblings are all extremely surprised that she has returned home so much earlier than expected, and the confused teenager is questioned about the events of the evening. The other three "Lubbock Babes" seem to have contrasting opinions of what to make of Cindy's exploits. Just then, she reveals that Derek was so aggressive that she ended up breaking his arm, leaving her sisters in awe.

After her first-ever unpleasant experience of actually putting someone in the hospital with broken bones, Cindy is confused over who's actually to blame for what happened. She doesn't know if the fault lies on herself or Derek. The good-natured young woman feels bad about the whole incident, and — after agonizing over the matter for a while — ultimately goes to visit the young man in the hospital, in hopes of finally getting some closure on the matter. At first, Derek shows some remorse for his poor behavior, and he agrees to repent for his sins. However, just as Cindy leans in to hug the boy, he tries to touch her backside. His excuse is that she can't stop "sending him signals", which Cindy doesn't agree with. He also explains that his motives this time are exactly the same as those on their date. Not knowing what else to do to fend him off, she pulls on the counterweight that is holding up his arm sling, causing Derek to fall off the bed — subsequently breaking his other arm.

Now feeling even more convinced that she has truly done nothing wrong — but still holding some doubts — innocent Cindy returns home. After a heart-to-heart talk with her concerned and supportive parents, Cindy finally realizes that she, in fact, is not at fault in any way. Elizabeth advises her daughter on the key differences between men's and women's perspectives on social interaction, as well as learning to never doubt her own gut instincts and redeeming qualities.

## Guest Appearances

*Brandon Douglas* as Derek

*Braeden Marcott* as Waiter

## Memorable Quotes

**Graham**: "*My daughter will return a lady, or you will become one.*"

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**Cindy**: "*I did lead him on.*"

**Connie**: "*Oh, puh-lease! Cindy, you didn't lead anybody on. You're lucky you can lead yourself.*"

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**Cindy**: *(to her parents)* "*I can't even lead myself.*"

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**Wendy**: "*They think that Cindy's shape is a flashy neon sign going, "Open all night...We deliver...No waiting..."*"

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**Marie**: "*So what did you do?*"

**Cindy**: "*I broke his arm!*" '

*(Wendy, Connie, & Marie all gasp in shock)*

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**Graham**: "*You should've broken his other arm.*"

**Cindy**: "*I did!*"

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**Marie & Wendy**: *(in unison)* "*You ordered lobster?!*"

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**Elizabeth**: "*You're beautiful, and I don't want you to ever doubt that.*"

**Cindy**: "*I never have.*"

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**Elizabeth**: "*If I had given him that much encouragement, it would've been 'Just The Twenty Of Us'.*"

## Trivia

* Cindy and Derek going to the beach to "see the grunions run" is a subtle reference to a scene in the movie *Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead*, in which two dating teenagers do the same activity. The family in that movie also "resides" in the same house as the Lubbocks.
* Brandon Douglas previously appeared as Mark, whose character once admitted to being attracted to Marie after, initially, desiring to spend time with Cindy and Wendy.

### Breaking The Fourth Wall

* Elizabeth telling Cindy that it would have been 'Just the Twenty of Us' references the series title.

## Mistakes

### Continuity Errors

* Throughout the entire series' run, mixed messages are portrayed about the true opinions of Cindy's physique. For the most part, as in this episode, Cindy believes that she is stunningly gorgeous, and it seems that most other people would normally agree. On the other hand, there are numerous mentions in other episodes of either Cindy thinking that she needs to lose weight, or someone else implying that she is overweight. At the end of this episode, after Elizabeth confirms that Cindy is truly beautiful, the teenager replies that she has never doubted that belief, which clearly is not entirely accurate. This ongoing controversial issue is clear proof that Cindy is actually more insecure of herself than most people — including herself — realize.

### Factual Errors

* It is somewhat unusual that Graham, as a responsible father, would suggest that Cindy should have broken Derek's other arm, unless it was purely for comic relief.

### Plot Holes

* Exactly how Cindy broke Derek's arm — including the specific details surrounding how he actually ends up in the hospital — is never revealed.