It’s not the easiest of episodes to pull off, but Cougar Town admirably ventured into the past on "Flirting With Time," as we witnessed the beginnings of Ellie and Jules’ friendship, along with Andy and Bobby’s ever-lasting love for each other.

A flashback story isn’t the most necessary of episodes for Cougar Town since the generalities of the characters have been filled in pretty rigorously over the past few seasons. But for the continuity nerds like me, tonight not only helped complete some fun gaps, it also continued with the theme of this sitcom: love and friendship.

Each character’s first looks with one another played well to the relationships on the show; particularly with Andy literally falling into Bobby’s strong arms and Travis seeing Laurie at her best by fighting her cousin in a fountain. Additionally, it was wonderful to watch Ellie verbalize her feelings occasionally and to find out she was the one who had doubts in her relationship with Andy before he proposed.

Aside from Laurie reenacting a .gif with Wade that’s probably older than Cougar Town itself at this point, there wasn’t much more to say about the comedy. “Flirting with Time” was far more about being warm and gooey - and it certainly melted my bitter heart.

The moment that completely got me was seeing the first time Jules and Grayson met. It’s such a hard scene to play out because continuity is key. Jules and Grayson can’t be like they are now, nor could they really act like friends. There needed to be an invisible set of rules or boundaries that the characters need to respect.

Cougar Town did the scene beautifully. I was in tears.

Jules and Grayson bump into each other and Grayson ends up being the one who brings one of the cruxes of the show together: friends and wine. As they pick up their groceries and head back on their way, they share a glance that conveys so much: hope, destiny, love, friendship. Everything that works about Jules and Grayson is shown in that moment, it’s far better than a plunger story and it lays the foundation for the sometimes-storybook relationship they have.

Other Thoughts:

• Cult wine was shown on the show today. It’s the same brand of wine they handed out to fans.
• Player Tom and Creepy Tom do not mix.
• “Penny toss!” doesn’t have the same ring to it.