Men In Trees: Nice Day for a Dry Wedding

I feared it the second that Mario Cantone slipped the barrette into Patrick's hair. In that instant, the purpose of the fierce winds and looming rain became clear. Elmo's undeniably cursed wedding would be cut short by a struck-down groom.

The resolution of the last episode's cliffhanger was a bit pat and anticlimactic. Cash lobs a few rocks at the wolves and all is good? Cop-out! I appreciate that Men in Trees isn't all about the angst, the over-dramatic cliffhangers, when it very easily could be and so many other shows are.

I wonder where they are going with the Patrick thing (assuming it's not a sitcom spin-off titled "Patrick Who?"). I feared that he would awake as a real heel, get zapped into some incongruous and Annie-unfriendly new personality, but that doesn't seem to be the plan. Yet.

Ben's now on the outs with the Mrs., and when you think about it, he is in a way responsible for Patrick's fate. Follow me here:If Ben hadn’t lost the bar, Jerome would not have gotten cleaned up, Jerome would not have wooed Annie's mom, Annie's mom and dad would not have had that heated discussion, that would not have delayed the wedding, and so on. So let's put this all on Ben, unless someone can trace it back even further.

How about Jerome? Was I the only one who did not instantly peg the guy in the bookstore for him? Extreme Makeover, indeed! Sarah and Eric almost took a dreaded and predictable turn, with him dissing her for "tainting" him, but thankfully they came to their senses. Jane and Plowman, awwww. Loved how he stood up for her in front of Annie's loutish bro.

Lastly but not least, Jack is off to his expedition, but not until his biplane circled back so he could have that last moment with Marin. Here, I believe, is where I may get some angst, thanks to new recurring player Kellie Williams as some research buddy of Jack's. I'll be curious to see how much time has lapsed. I hope I don't have to sweat out Jack's entire stint.