The mating rituals of Laguna Beach

Of all of my, what, few dozen readers, I know that most of them skip right over anything television-related, and of those remaining, all but one will be scratching their collective head at my love for the sublime reality-verité “Laguna Beach,” (on the ol’ MTV, Mondays at 10p)—but I have to relate a captivating moment at the end of last week’s episode.

(For the uninitiated, LB films the day-day social interactions among an affluent cluster of blond SoCal teens, with an emphasis on the trials of young love; the scenes are captured with a long-distance lens so that the camera is minimally intrusive, and, as a result, an unusual quality of “reality” is found on this lightly-scripted show.)

From the Television Test Card Gallery,
which includes a test pattern FAQ (courtesy Coudal).

From the episode guide summary,

Finally, Jessica confronts Jason about the relationship warnings she’s received from her friends. When she asks Jason what he talked about with Alex M. the night before, Jason is quiet, and swears on his relationship with Jessica that nothing happened between he and Alex M. But Jason admits that he very well could be forgetting all that they talked about . . .

After the discussion, Jason invites Jessica to grab a bite to eat, in the tentative way that all boys on the show have when venturing into the lioness’ den. What follows can only be appreciated by querying Jessica’s facial expressions directly as she replies by asking him whether she should drive separately, and after Jason diffidently indicates that that’s his preference. No acting is required on Jessica’s part.

See also: Playa-hatin’. [cws::27 Oct]