Ep 14. E-i-- Eighteen

In the latest offering of the highly acclaimed sitcom Speechless, we see the DiMeo family celebrate JJ’s 18th birthday. The episode is titled E-i-- Eighteen. JJ is shown to be excited about turning 18 as there are a lot of things on his bucket list that he wants to accomplish. He shares this with his family and demands that they help him fulfill his wish list.

Maya, who is always eager to please her son, asks him about the things he might want to do on his special day. JJ shares a heartfelt list with his mother which includes activities like skydiving, driving a car, and proposing to his girlfriend. There’s also a mention of playing video games with his family while eating pizza. Maya promises to make all this happen.

To make sure that JJ has the perfect birthday, Maya sets up a meeting with a teacher to discuss JJ’s driving lessons. She accompanies JJ on his first driving lesson. It turns out to be a disaster as JJ drives wildly and almost causes an accident. Maya immediately panics and questions the teacher, who asks her to take the next six lessons with JJ to monitor his progress.

Determined to make JJ’s birthday memorable, Maya ignores the caution and takes the lesson with JJ. Maya instead ends up bickering with JJ, which leads to them losing control of the car and crashing into a telephone pole. They escape unscathed, and Maya is determined to make up for the mishap.

While Maya and JJ are out, the rest of the family prepares for JJ’s surprise birthday party. Ray takes charge of organizing a video game themed party. It’s going perfectly until Dylan, who is known to be competitive, invites some not-so-popular kids to play, and things start to spiral out of control. Ray somehow manages to calm down the situation and make sure that everyone has a good time.

In another part of town, Jimmy takes Kenneth to a lavish birthday dinner to celebrate JJ’s passage into adulthood. Over dinner, Kenneth shares a story about his boss who used to take the winter off every year. The two of them are floored by this knowledge and start considering the same for themselves. It leads to an impromptu decision to take a winter vacation that will be paid for by Kenneth’s side hustle.

Back at the party venue, Maya offers JJ a special birthday gift- a chance to propose to his girlfriend Claire. JJ gets down on one knee and proposes to her. She says yes, and JJ is over the moon.

Overall, E-i--Eighteen is a heartwarming and comical episode that revolves around JJ’s milestone birthday. The episode ends with everyone in high spirits, and JJ crossing off another goal in his bucket list.