1.2 "The Kominsky Method" - "An Agent Grieves" Quiz

Answer: Eileen, Norman's wife

In the first episode of "The Kominsky Method", we get a glimpse into the friendship between acting coach Sandy Kominsky and his agent Norman Newlander. Norman's wife Eileen was sick with terminal cancer, and it was clear that she didn't have much time left.

At the end of the first episode, Eileen is rushed to the hospital and sadly passes away. Sandy drives Norman home, which leads to the beginning of this next episode, in which the first thing we see is the two friends arriving home. Norman is saddened to note that Eileen is no longer waiting for him at home.

Answer: Run him over

Sandy's daughter Mindy is driving Lisa (Sandy's date) back home, since they had to change plans and go to the hospital when Eileen was taken there. Mindy calls her father from the car to check in. Even though Lisa is still in the car, Mindy lies and says she has already dropped her off. Sandy then asks Mindy to "talk him up" the next time she sees Lisa because he wants Lisa to like him. Sarcastically, Mindy asks if she should tell Lisa about the time her mom (Sandy's ex-wife) tried to run him over in the Gelson's parking lot. Mindy then jokingly tells Lisa that having her overhear the conversation was "payback" for Sandy not being around when she was growing up.

Answer: Zero

Norman says that he will call his daughter Phoebe in the morning to let her know that Eileen (Norman's wife and Phoebe's mom) has died. Sandy tries to convince him to call her about this "important" news immediately, but Norman replies that it's 1:00am in New York. Getting angrier, Norman also notes that Phoebe didn't visit Eileen once while she was sick, or even called her on FaceTime or Skype once. Further, Norman describes Phoebe as a "selfish, pill-popping mess".

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

Sandy waits until Norman is in bed to leave the house and go back to his home. However, as soon as he exits, Norman opens his bedroom window and asks "Are you going home?" Immediately, Kominsky starts reciting Romeo's famous soliloquy from Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". Kominsky completes the quote by uttering: "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun".

In the play, the full quote is meant to show how Romeo thinks the light coming from Juliet's window emanates from Juliet herself. In the context of "The Kominsky Method", perhaps the meaning is less romantic and more sardonic in nature. Norman doesn't play along, but instead, another back-and-forth ensues on whether Sandy should stay the night at Norman's house. Eventually, Sandy does end up spending the night at Norman's, though he did have to use the back door after getting locked out.

Answer: Lady Marmalade

Norman wakes Sandy up at 4:30am to start planning the funeral. Eillen left a very specific list of things she wanted to happen at her funeral. For example, she wanted Patti LaBelle to sing "Lady Marmalade", a song that became famous partly due to the refrain "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" The song also gained notoriety at the beginning of the 2000s when it was recorded by Christina Aguilera, Mưa, Pink, and Lil' Kim for the soundtrack of the "Moulin Rouge!" movie. Eileen's planning didn't stop there; she even selected the font type she wanted for the programming: Palace Script MT. Later in the episode, Patti LaBelle does make a special appearance at the funeral to sing the song!

Answer: Sunglasses

Sandy and Norman have an exchange while shopping for caskets to bury Eileen in. They both note that they are all quite pricey, which leads Norman to call the coffin industry a "monopoly", just like the sunglass business, because it's "one company controlling the whole thing". Norman also describes it as a "travesty". Norman was perhaps referring to Luxottica, an eyewear company that at the time "The Kominsky Method" first aired, owned almost all of the important sunglass brands, such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. To make things more complicated, Norman requests that the coffin be made either entirely out of driftwood or out of timber from a sunken ship.

Answer: Pepper Jack

After two of his students perform a rather uncomfortable scene, Sandy goes back to his office to think while he fixes himself a drink. Lisa walks in to make sure he's OK, which he says he is, though he is disappointed by the current generation of young people.

While Sandy and Lisa talk about how times are changing, Sandy prepares himself a Pepper Jack, a drink consisting of Dr. Pepper soda and Jack Daniel's whiskey.

Answer: Jay Leno

Early in the episode, we find out that one of Eileen's specific requests was to have Jay Leno "emcee" the funeral, though not for longer than five minutes because he'd "overstay his welcome". Just like Patti LaBelle, the real Jay Leno actually showed up to the funeral and made a speech about how being friends with Eileen was one of the "greatest joys" of his life. Leno tells a story about how Eileen encouraged him to start his career in comedy and set him up with her husband Norman (who happened to be a renowned agent).

Answer: No

Though the real Patti LaBelle and Jay Leno did show up, Barbra Streisand did not. Eileen wanted Streisand to perform at the funeral, and Sandy even used her as an incentive to get Lisa to come with him. Following Leno's monologue, the music for "The Way We Were" started playing, and everyone thought Streisand would come out.

As Norman quickly noted, the person who came out singing and dressed like Streisand was a man (played by Eddie Edwards). The performance was received positively, and even Norman commented about the Streisand imitator: "he's magnificent".

Answer: Lisa Edelstein

After a heartfelt speech by Sandy, it is Norman's turn to say goodbye to Eileen. Norman delivers a beautiful eulogy emphasizing how important Eileen and their 46 years of marriage were to his life. Just when he is about to be done, he is suddenly interrupted by a woman wearing sunglasses rushing into the temple. It turns out to be Phoebe, Norman, and Eileen's estranged daughter, who simply says "Sorry Dad, continue" as she tries to gather all her belongings from the floor. While everyone else is shocked by the interruption, Lisa turns to Sandy and thanks him for inviting her, since she's having a great time.

Phoebe is played by Lisa Edelstein, a prolific American actress known for her roles in "Relativity", "Leap of Faith", and "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce". However, she is perhaps best known for portraying a hospital administrator, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, in the award-winning Fox show "House", starring Hugh Laurie.