"Take the Vicuna" was a departure from what we're used to seeing in Bunheads Season 1. Practically the entire episode took place within the dance studio, with only a few scenes straying beyond that set. I can't say that I enjoyed it.

I do not know for sure whether the episodes we are watching now were conceived and written prior to the hiatus, or if that happened after it was picked up for the second half of the first season. What I do know is we've been experiencing erratic storytelling, a drift away from the more magical and fanciful feel we experienced when Michelle got to Paradise toward a less cohesive and fractured world of of teenagers living as adults and adults acting as children.

Ginny broke up from a 10-year relationship as a 16-year old girl. Sasha is living alone, in an apartment, showing more maturity than Michelle did after Hubbell died and left her an entire estate. Boo and Carl are acting as a married couple, often watching the children while juggling their school work, jobs and after school activities. Cozette and Frankie moved to town, seemingly without parents, sporting worldly personalities and wardrobes to match.

Fanny and Michelle are incapable of taking care of their own finances to the point they invited Milly, a frenetic lunatic with delusions of grandeur and a God complex, to come to their rescue to build an amphitheater on their own land. The one time they could have done something successful for themselves utilizing their own resources, they chose a person neither of them could possibly get along with. It would have been wiser to consult the teen bunheads who are capable of making decisions far above their respective ages.

Can someone tell me why Boo is considered responsible enough to watch her three toddling brothers but not so much that she can spend the night alone with Sasha at her new apartment? That somehow defies the laws of all things normal. My favorite part of the episode was when Sasha and Roman had a typical teenage argument about her fear of being alone with him in her "sex palace" apartment and they decided they wouldn't break up. That scene made the most sense out of a completely whacked out episode.

Liza Weil may be a Gilmore alum, but I really didn't need her on Bunheads. Milly's a pain in the ass, and not of the fun variety. She's more nerve wracking than Paris Geller was when we were first introduced to her in Gilmore Girls and she took years to become palatable. Her Milly is grating and the nonsense of her thinking she would be a patron of the arts just by providing her opinion was over the top and offensive to Fanny. I was kind of angry that Fanny lowered herself to helping her just to get her money.

Finally, I'm still not a fan of Scotty. In fact, I'm even less inclined to like him now that he dragged Michelle across California to see unwittingly see her mother, a woman she had been avoiding for 12 years. If he had wanted to do it right, maybe I could understand it. Under the hood of darkness, in the middle of the night, at a diner, while expecting Michelle to sit in the car? Nothing about that scenario smelled right to me, and he seemed to be setting her up. Especially when mom said "Michelle, I just wanted to see your face." Certainly that meant she knew Michelle was coming.

In a series usually rife with them, there weren't a lot of great lines that I caught this week. I don't know if you're aware, but you can add your own to the Bunheads quotes page, so jump on over the page and fill it up with your favorites!!

How are you feeling about Bunheads lately? Does it have the same magic for you that it did before the winter break? Hit the comments, especially if you think I'm off my rocker.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.