The underlying theme in this episode was all about being in touch with
yourself and knowing what you are humanly capable of. Brian was
confronted with a moral and legal issue when Mel showed up and told him
that Ted had a living will and gave Brian the power to keep him on life
support, or not. It was interesting that out of the entire group, he
chose Brian for that task. Seems as though Ted knows his friends pretty
well as Brian is indeed the only one who would be able to make that
tough decision, and tough it was even for him.

Lindsay is one of the few people to see beneath the surface and know
the real Brian that he masks from the rest of the world. It’s clear
that there is a deeper level of knowing and understanding of one
another between Brian and Lindsay. She always understands what he’s
going through and thinking and that intimate level of knowing most
likely makes Melanie a little jealous. Mel can get downright vicious
where Brian is concerned, though you can’t blame her as Brian takes
every opportunity to bait her. Lindsay left Mel with the thought, how would you feel and what would you do if you were in his shoes with this decision?

While cleaning up Ted’s place before his mom came, Michael and Emmett
found out he has a secret crush – Michael! Who has not had a secret
crush at some point in their lives? Mine happened to be a co-worker at
a place where being gay wasn’t an option. But like all secret crushes,
it didn’t last or work out. When I sit on benches I tend to hold on to
the beach seat on either side of me and swing my legs, if it’s high
enough. I remember sitting next to him on a bench once and didn’t
realize how close he was sitting to me as I, out of habit, reached to
grab hold of the seat. He was wearing shorts and my hand brushed by his
knee as I was grabbing the seat. He practically jumped out of his skin, got
up and step away and didn’t sit back down. I didn’t intend it to
happen, wasn’t even thinking about touching him. Our friendship cooled
after that and he eventually faded out of my life. But for Ted, his
secret crush is very much in his life and now knows his secret.

After regaling Justin with a tale of her first boyfriend, Jennifer used
a shopping trip as an opportunity to bring up the subject of Justin’s
sexuality in a non-judgmental manner by simply asking, “So, do you have
a boyfriend, Justin?” But no matter how non-confronting it was, just
the thought that his mother knows that deep hidden part of his life
freaks Justin out. You can feel his panic and the fear that was running
through him in that instant. He chose to seek out Brian for help – not
the best choice of people to go to for help in that matter – but it
landed him at Debbie’s house which is the best place he could’ve gone.

Debbie is such a colorful character and you can just imagine what
Jennifer thought when she opened the door and found her on the
doorstep. When Jen’s husband asked who it was, I don’t think she even
gave it a thought to say no one, not as insult to Debbie and Michael but merely as a way of keeping her husband out of this situation which
he would not deal with very well. Unfortunately, it did feel as a
slight to Debbie and just goes to show that you can’t judge a person by
how they appear. However, Debbie didn’t let it bother her and imparted
advice to Jennifer as to how to deal with Justin. She just wasn’t ready
for it, but she will be at some point and Debbie knew that. Sometimes
the things she says are so incredible that you do a double take… did she really say that? But as outrageous as a lot of what she says is,
equally as much are sage words of wisdom. When she and Michael were
leaving the Taylor’s he made a snide comment undermining his own self.
She whapped him upside the head and told him, “Know thyself!”

Its origin is Greek and it’s quite interesting to note that “gnothi
seauton,” the Greek for “know thyself,” is inscribed on The Oracle of
Delphi, a temple devoted to the Greek god Apollo. Apollo, the son of
Zeus, once had a love affair with a young man called Hyacinthus. It’s
believed that Zephyrus, also a god, was jealous of their relationship
for he too vied for Hyacinthus’ attention. One day Apollo and
Hyacinthus were playing discus and Zephyrus in jealousy raised a fury
of wind and cast the discus away, but it flew so hard and fast off
course and struck Hyacinthus in the head. Another version of the legend
tells that as they were playing, Apollo threw the discus with such
might that it flew so high and furious that it bounced off of the earth
and back up into the air, striking Hyacinthus in the head. Either way,
the tale is tragic. Hyacinthus lay dying in Apollo’s arms and the god
out of anguish decreed that he shall never be forgotten. From the blood
dripping on the ground will sprout the most fragrant of all flowers in
his remembrance, thus giving us the strongly fragrant spring flower we
know today as a hyacinth.

Knowing yourself is one of the most important things you can do and accomplish. In this legend, not even gods knew the ramifications of their own power. In the use of it without fully knowing themselves, struck down their own lover by accident. Through that tragic tale we learn the paramount importance of truly knowing ourselves and what we are capable of.