I thought that this was an emotionally powerful episode as long-festering resentments between Andy and the Father-In-Law who despised him came to a head. In this episode and the previous episode Jacob did everything he could to undermine Andy’s relationship with Ephram in an act of revenge for, in his mind, taking his daughter away from him and Ruth and neglecting her, and now he was threatening to take Ephram away from him completely. Emotions were really raw in this episode, but many of the characters said things that needed to be said, and the acting in this episode, as always, was first rate.
I liked the opening scene with Andy, Jacob, and Ephram but the tension between all three of them was palpable as Jacob was basically disregarding Andy’s wishes to have a say in whether Ephram would go back to New York, and he acted like Ephram’s return to New York was a done deal and he purposely didn’t consult Andy and ask for his opinion.
It was hilarious to see Edna storm into the diner inspiring fear as Irv explained to Delia that Edna hated her approaching birthday, and it was so sweet that Delia wanted to throw a party for Edna with Ruth’s help.
I loved Nina and Andy’s interaction in this episode as she was a true friend to Andy and she showed a tough side to her character and she wasn’t afraid to tell Andy when he was wrong and that he was feeling sorry for himself and give him some sorely needed advice and “tough love” at just the right time.
I liked seeing Harold, Bright, and Amy’s interaction as Harold took delight at the prospect of his mother being miserable at her birthday party, and his resentment toward his mother as well as a desire to see all this happen at Andy’s house really manifested itself in an amusing way.
I loved seeing Ephram’s conversation with his grandmother as Ruth explained how both Andy and Jacob were stubborn and how they both wanted to drink each other under the table from the moment they met and Andy came over to their house to ask for Julia’s hand in marriage, and they had been competing with each other ever since.
Delia was absolutely adorable and so sweet as she acted as the hostess of Edna’s Birthday Party, and it was so cute to see how smitten she was with Bright when she met him for the first time as she took off her baseball cap and fussed with her hair.
I also loved it when she pleaded with Ephram to stay in Everwood telling him that he
did fit in there, despite his explanation that he felt that Everwood didn’t fit him just like the sweaters she had outgrown didn’t fit her, and my heart broke for Delia when she asked Ephram why him and his father hated each other so much.
I loved seeing Jacob playing a Gershwin tune at the party (it was one of his Preludes) and I liked seeing the pride he had in his gifted grandson.
I liked Andy’s talk with Ruth, who was a lot kinder and more understanding than Jacob, but she did have a point that Ephram (at that point) really was miserable in Everwood and that him and Jacob got along great, and that a lot had been dumped on him before he could handle it, which really was true at that point, but of course we knew why Ephram was miserable, and it had more to do with Amy’s rejection of him than it did with him truly being unhappy in Everwood.
It was really difficult to watch the heated conversation that Andy and Ephram had in front of everyone as they both gave in to their anger and resentment and lashed out at each other, but I feel that Jacob had egged them both on and he helped give rise to that very heated conversation.
I loved Ephram and Amy’s conversation outside on the porch as she asked him why he didn’t tell her that he was thinking of leaving, and Ephram, wearing his heart on his sleeve, said like it or not, she tended to have an effect on his moods, which was so true, because he was so in love with her. I had tears in my eyes when he said “When you’re nice to me there’s nothing I can’t do and when you’re mad at me, it’s all I can think about,” and that she was in his head, and as we all knew, she was in his heart.
I loved it when Amy admitted that she didn’t have a history of being cautious with his feelings, and that she wanted him to stay, saying that Everwood had really good snow, but Ephram’s attempt to be humorous when he said “That’s your pitch?” seemed to be the wrong thing to say, and he looked hurt once again as he didn’t get the reaction that he had hoped for. I can so remember being totally infatuated with a girl when I was a little older than Ephram, and I hung on every word that she would say, so I could completely relate to how Ephram felt in that scene.
The confrontation between Andy and Jacob was so intense and heated, as years of resentment and dislike of each other came to a boiling point as Jacob said that Andy was only half a man and he took Julia away from him and Ruth and he neglected her, and it all promised to get worse until they were interrupted by Bright’s medical emergency.
I loved the confidence and presence of mind that Andy displayed as they discussed Bright’s situation as Jacob was unable to perform the emergency appendectomy that Bright required due to tremors in his hands, and Andy won the respect of both Harold and Jacob as he coolly took charge of the situation and performed the necessary surgery on Bright. I also loved it when Harold told Bright the story of how he had broken his arm when Linda had dared him to jump off their bunk bed pretending to be Superman, and he showed a tender and caring side to his character that we rarely saw, especially at that point in the show, and we also got to see his love and concern for Bright in that scene.
I loved seeing the conversation between Amy and Delia as they compared notes over who had the worst brother, and it was sweet to see them bond like they did in that scene, and I wish that we had gotten to see more scenes between them like that over the years.
I loved the final conversation between Ephram and Andy as Andy spoke from his heart and he told him that when Julia died, Ephram was the only one who said that everything was going to be okay, and that he wanted him and needed him to stay, not just for Delia, but for him.
I loved Edna’s conversation with Bright as she showed how much she loved him in her own gruff way, and it was so sweet to see Delia come and visit Bright and she echoed what Edna had said when she told him that he had really scared them and not to do it again.
The final scene between Ephram and Amy was sweet, and I loved how she nervously told him that she had gotten into a fight with Colin and he ended up in a coma and she bitched at Bright and he had a burst appendix, and she had sort of needlessly bitten his head off the other night for no reason and she hadn’t said sorry yet and she didn’t want Ephram to end up in the hospital before he left, and he said that “You are, without a doubt, the strangest girl that I've ever met,” and Amy responded “I know. But you've been a good friend to me, despite it. You've been different,” and she really seemed happy when she told him that he was staying in Everwood, and when she said “I thought New York had everything,” and he responded “almost,” we all knew what he was talking about, and so did she.
I loved the final scene between Andy and Jacob as Jacob had found a new respect for Andy and the man he had become, and I cried when he told Andy that Julia would like who he is now and then he related the story of how they had gotten stuck in the snow on a train in some town (not knowing that the town was, in fact, Everwood) and how Julia loved the place where they had stopped and she couldn’t stop talking about it, and Andy knew that he truly was honoring her wishes by moving to Everwood with Ephram and Delia.
Overall, I loved this episode and I feel that it was one of the best episodes of this season so far.