The camaraderie of the slightly bigoted Suzanne and Anthony with the memory of his unfortunate incarceration begins when they are stranded together in a highway motel while driving to St. Louis in a snow storm. Meanwhile in their hotel, the rest of the women are stuck with the flu, unable to attend the opening of the design expo. Suzanne, having snarked at him for a year, treating him as a complete unequal comma begins to confide in him, that is after she breaks down and lets him into the room. He had been banished to the van where he was freezing and had to beg to come in to get some warmth.
It's really nice to see Suzanne start to come around, and thanks to the Thomasons, the subject of bigotry is dealt with in a funny and subtle way. You can tell that Suzanne's issues with race is something that's been embedded into her brain and this is the start of her deprogramming. When she tells Anthony that she finds she can really truly be herself with him and describes her relationships with other women, you begin to see a different dimension of her and Delta Burke is truly excellent.
As for Meshach Taylor, he gets to show off a silly and subtle effeminine side as he dresses up in some of Suzanne's get up to keep warm. Obviously Taylor had a very open mind in doing what it took to get laughs yet make a point, and he really has a great comment timing that had been evident in the movie "Mannequin".
When they finally do make it to the expo which we never see, the look on the other women's face, particularly Julia's is very funny as their obvious perfection over the situation and change between them because obvious. while a lot of times the writing on "Designing Women" could be sanctimonious, this is an episode that with a handful of others, they can be truly proud of as standing the test of time and being an educational tool for the ridiculousness of systematic racism.
It's really nice to see Suzanne start to come around, and thanks to the Thomasons, the subject of bigotry is dealt with in a funny and subtle way. You can tell that Suzanne's issues with race is something that's been embedded into her brain and this is the start of her deprogramming. When she tells Anthony that she finds she can really truly be herself with him and describes her relationships with other women, you begin to see a different dimension of her and Delta Burke is truly excellent.
As for Meshach Taylor, he gets to show off a silly and subtle effeminine side as he dresses up in some of Suzanne's get up to keep warm. Obviously Taylor had a very open mind in doing what it took to get laughs yet make a point, and he really has a great comment timing that had been evident in the movie "Mannequin".
When they finally do make it to the expo which we never see, the look on the other women's face, particularly Julia's is very funny as their obvious perfection over the situation and change between them because obvious. while a lot of times the writing on "Designing Women" could be sanctimonious, this is an episode that with a handful of others, they can be truly proud of as standing the test of time and being an educational tool for the ridiculousness of systematic racism.
