Rumor Has It (Season 4, Episode 4). Laura and Ted have been dating and having a really wonderful time and blooming relationship. But Ted's friends won't stop harassing him if he and Laura have gone further than just kissing. Ted gives in and doesn't say that they slept together but doesn't it either deny that they didn't either making the guys think that they did. Steve overhears this and tells Laura, Laura is furious and tells Steve that he's lying and thinks that he's just trying to break her and Ted up. Later on her and Maxine are doing their homework when Laura gets a dirty phone call, she's very upset and Maxine tells her that there are rumors about her and Ted going around the school and she realizes that Steve was telling her the truth. Harriette sees Laura crying and comforts her, Laura says she feels like a fool because any time she's heard rumors, she's believed them and now the school is going to believe that she's easy. Harriette tells her there's a solution to every problem, the problem is finding the solution. Eddie confronts Ted at school playing good cop/bad cop that he learned from Carl and Harriette and tells Ted to tell the truth right now in front of all the students in the hallway. Ted says he only kisses Laura and nothing else happened. Laura tells Eddie it's ok to back off and starts to walk away, Ted apologizes to Laura and says he feels stupid he felt the need to impress his friends. Laura tells him that she'll consider his apology but needs time considering the damage he caused her reputation.

**FAVORITE QUOTE:** 

HARRIETTE: Eddie's up to no good. He's done something wrong, and he's not telling us.

CARL: How do you know?

HARRIETTE: He's been nice to me.

CARL: Well, let's just see what he's up to. Edward! Kitchen! Now! Try a little good cop/bad cop. I'll be the bad cop.

EDDIE: What is it, Dad?

CARL: Sit down. Sit!

EDDIE: What did I do, Mom? 

HARRIETTE: I don't know, honey. But your daddy's in one of his moods. So if I were you, I'd tell the truth.

EDDIE: Okay. What's the matter, Dad?

CARL: What's the matter? What's the matter? You sit there with your bare face hanging out...and have the nerve to ask me, "What's the matter?"

HARRIETTE: Oh, Carl, take it easy. He's just a kid. A scared kid. Candy?

EDDIE: No, thanks.

CARL: Come on, Edward, talk to me. Sing.

EDDIE: There's nothing to talk about. Hardly.

CARL: Hardly? Hardly?

EDDIE: Well, there is that tiny little thing that happened at school, but...

CARL: Uh-huh. Mm-hm. You call what you did tiny?

EDDIE: No, sir. Not really, sir. But I only played hooky twice.

CARL: You hear this, Harriette? Our son played hooky.

EDDIE: Dad, me and a bunch of the guys had a chance to watch practice down at Soldier Field.

CARL: Mm-hm. The Bears?

EDDIE: The cheerleaders.

CARL: Mm-hm. What you did, son, is a very serious offense. And did you take pictures?

HARRIETTE: Carl! 

CARL: Edward, there is no excuse for your behavior. Now, go to your room. Your mother and I will decide the punishment.

EDDIE: Yes, sir. Will you please tell me how you find out?

CARL: Let's just say somebody that you know has a big mouth.

**FAVORITE MOMENT:**

When Eddie confronts Ted in the hallway. I loved the callback to earlier scene where Carl and Harriette played good cop/bad cop (my favorite quote) and Steve is being the good cop. Eddie was such an incredible big brother in this scene.

**OPINION:**

Real quick, I'd like to mention this is our first appearance of Weasel played by Shavar Ross, but kind of like Waldo, his first episode his name is actually Alex and he's a friend of someone else who does something dirty. Weasel is not a likable character, but he always makes me laugh almost every scene he's in. Weasel definitely always thinks of himself and doesn't think things through and what trouble they can cause, but Shavar's performance is what makes Weasel a fan favorite.

Back onto the episode. So, was Ted wrong? 100% yes, I can definitely relate to Laura. In jr. high I had a boyfriend and you have to love 12-13 year olds always thinking that boyfriend/girlfriend automatically means you're sleeping together. Plus, my boyfriend actually told people we did, oh that was fun to deal with for that year. So this episode is actually kind of personal for me. But growing up, of course I wished I had dealt with things differently. So while Ted was wrong in what he did, I believe his apology. Just like being a girl is tough, so is being a guy. I've mentioned here before the double standard in school (and even still in life), if a guy sleeps around, he's a stud, if a girl sleeps around, she's easy, but if a guy doesn't sleep around, he's a dork (putting the name nicely for reddit) and if a girl doesn't sleep around, she's a good girl. It is so ridicules and such a stupid standard I hope we get out of one day. So I think Ted did something stupid but as we will see in more episodes with him, he is genuinely sorry and does learn from this experience where some other guys don't. But yeah, he messed up big time, and it was sad he couldn't stand up to his friends and tell them nothing happened until Eddie forced it out of him. 

Steve was an amazing friend in this episode, he really tried to look out for Laura and he knows that Laura doesn't mess around, unlike Max which we will get to in a sec. Steve really tries to help Laura and it's sad when Laura doesn't believe him. He still comes through for Laura in the end and she of course thanks him. Was Laura out of line in not believing Steve? Not necessarily, I get it with her, Steve has always been trying to make sure Laura stays single. He has a track record of at least 2 guys that he's scared off or tried to scare away from Laura, so he's not innocent. Laura thinks that Ted is a good guy and wouldn't do something like that. And you can tell in the end she's really learned and grew from this experience. She realizes that not every rumor in school is true and it hurts when the shoe is on the other foot. She does thank both Eddie and Steve for helping her. I like Maxine overall, but man she has moments that make her not likable like in the homecoming episode where she refuses to be happy for Laura in being nominated for homecoming queen because she wasn't nominated herself and now she hears these rumors going around about Laura, not only does she not tell Laura what's going on but believes the rumors. 

Eddie is really an incredible brother in this episode. I loved how he stood up for Laura. Makes you surprised that Weasel will soon be one of his best friends just like Waldo. I also loved that conversation that Harriette and Laura had, kind of similar to the one they had in the Heartbreak Kid about her having sex for the first time, Harriette seems to have grown a little bit knowing there's a chance Laura might do it since she's a teenager now. But she approaches Laura differently and asks her if she slept with Ted and when Laura tells her she had thought about it but wasn't ready, Harriette is relieved. But you can tell if Laura told her yes, I think Harriette would have taken the news a lot better than before. 

Now onto the humor of the episode considering the serious subject matter, this one is another one where the jokes hit perfectly. I love Carl and Harriette playing good cop/bad cop, when Steve is helping Waldo put posters around the hallway saying how they need to stop putting posters up on the wall, Steve hitting Ted with the posters after hearing the lies about Laura, Laura taking Steve out of the locker and straightening him out and of course when Eddie and Steve play the same good cop/bad cop dialog with Ted. 

Definitely a very good episode with good morals and lessons. But typing this, I now have Adele's "rumor has it" stuck in my head. 

**GUEST STARS:**

* Cherie Johnson as Maxine Johnson
* Shavar Ross as Alex "Weasel" Park
* Patrick J. Dancy as Ted Curran
* Stacy Arnell as Stephanie
* Keri Johnson as Jim