This episode begins with a power outage at the Bennett house. Matty goes into the basement to check the fuse box and gets startled when he sees a spider on it. Matty returns upstairs claiming that there’s nothing he can do, and they won’t be able to get the power back on until an electrician can come and take a look. So, the Bennett family has no choice but to live without power until the next morning. Blaire and Susan go into the basement to look for board games to play to pass the time. That’s when the power returns to the house.
Blaire and Susan come upstairs and confront Matty about the spider. They argue how he could let them sit in the dark all because he was afraid of a spider. Matty gets angry and threatens to storm out. Blaire uses this as an opportunity to tell her uncle how he’s always raising his voice at Susan, and how she believes they need marriage counseling. Blaire even offers to pay for their first session as a Christmas gift. They agree as Susan sees this as a fun thing for her and Matty to do, and Matty agrees because he wants to prove Blaire wrong.
At school, a girl starts making fun of their teacher, and the teacher freaks out, and has an emotional breakdown. Johnny begins to wonder about his parents’ marriage, and if it could be his fault. Matty and Susan return from their first session. Matty had stormed out because the therapist was calling him out. Matty suggests they need someone Neutral to be the arbiter in this situation. Everyone agrees on Ted.
The first session with marriage counselor Ted begins with Susan reminiscing about an early memory of her and Matty. Over the course of the session Susan reveals that she wanted to be a teacher, and she gave it up after she married Matty because she had to focus on taking care of a family. Blaire wants Susan to chase that dream and find something meaningful in her life outside of the family.
The next day at school, Johnny and Ted find out that the teacher that had a breakdown in class has been fired, and the school is looking for a sub. This is when Johnny suggests his mom and the principal agrees. Susan gets a call from the school and accepts the position.
On Susan’s first day on the job, there’s two girls giggling and making rude comments in class. Ted completely rips into one of the girls, insulting her bad nose job, and other private things about her. The girl gets upset and runs out of class. Susan chases after her and she tries to make the girl feel better, despite the rude comments she made. After school that day, Susan tells Blaire that even though she enjoyed teaching, she doesn’t think she’s going to return. She explains that the best part about her life is that she loves making people feel better, and she gets that satisfaction from her family.
The episode ends with Matty returning home from work limping. Susan immediately rushes to help him up the stairs.
Episode Five of Ted brings maybe the most laughs out of any of the episodes so far. Ted is as unhinged as ever, and Susan gets to shine in the spotlight. Alanna Ubach is truly hilarious in the role of Susan, and the show giving her plenty of opportunities to shine was one of the best decisions they made. The sitcom feel that Ted brings continues to be so refreshing and delightful.
Rating: 8/10