Prequels of Love

On Valentine’s Day, Bernard stops at the Electric Palace for a card for Maude, while Marvin searches for one for Tamika. Marvin has hurt his sister by saying he would rather suffer a terrible accident than listen to her talk, and Ed has told him to begin practicing love with an apology. Whit arrives for light bulbs just as a tornado warning sends everyone into Bart’s basement.

While they wait for the storm to pass, Bart mocks Valentine’s Day as a holiday invented by greedy shopkeepers, though he still charges Bernard full price for a card. Whit encourages everyone to remember that the day can celebrate genuine affection. This leads Bernard, Bart, and Whit to compete over whose romance began most memorably.

Bernard first sees Maude beside a Chickadoodle’s restaurant, dressed as its chicken mascot and waving an advertising sign. He is impressed by the costume but more interested in lunch until he chokes on a chicken sandwich. Maude gives him the Heimlich maneuver and saves him, allowing the purple-faced customer to learn her real name before she returns to work.

Bart meets Doris at the funeral of a man neither of them knows. Bart is there to sell life insurance to the grieving family, while Doris hopes to talk someone into giving her the deceased man’s car. When the dead man’s angry son discovers their schemes and throws them out, Bart and Doris admire each other’s boldness and leave together for coffee and doughnuts.

Whit plans a carefully staged proposal to Jenny Morrow. He writes her a poem, seals it in a bottle, and places it on a pile of rocks beside the beach, expecting them to find it at sunset. His secrecy makes him rush their walk, and his romantic plan begins failing when he recalls a Ferris-wheel outing that Jenny correctly identifies as a date with his former girlfriend Eloise.

At a diner, Bart and Doris discover that neither has brought money. Instead of ending their interest, their matching excuses convince them they would make an excellent team. They create a telephone scheme called Beagles Are Really Terrific, chosen because its initials spell Bart, and ask people for money to save supposedly endangered dogs.

Bernard learns that Maude studies counseling at the community college and enrolls in her class merely to see her again. Paired for a practice session, Maude interprets his jokes as emotional barriers, while Bernard calls her a quack. Their argument sounds so strange to the professor that he believes Bernard may think he is several barnyard animals and orders him to undergo psychological testing.

Police eventually trace Bart and Doris’s telephone scheme. Bart urges Doris to escape while he stalls the officer and denies knowing her. She has a clear chance to leave but returns and identifies herself because she would rather go to jail with Bart than eat Cheetos alone. Their shared arrest becomes the moment they declare their love.

Maude visits Bernard during his psychological examination and once again tries to analyze his behavior. Bernard finally drops his joking defenses and admits that he enrolled in the class because he has not stopped thinking about her since Chickadoodle’s. Maude responds by writing a “prescription” that is really her telephone number and suggesting that they have dinner.

Whit persuades Jenny to climb the slippery rocks despite her reluctance and the rising tide. She falls and must be taken for medical care. Realizing that his insistence has made the day dangerous instead of romantic, Whit abandons the hidden bottle and proposes in the hospital. Jenny cannot hear him over the medical activity, so he shouts the question until she understands and joyfully accepts.

When the tornado danger ends, Bart and Bernard hurry to call the wives they have been describing. Whit explains that Valentine’s Day matters because people should appreciate those they love while they still can. Since Jenny’s death, he has wished he had expressed his gratitude more often. Marvin calls Tamika and admits that he would miss her constant talking because she can be very funny. His apology is awkward, but he ends it with a sincere wish for a happy Valentine’s Day.