MAKRO

I reacted differently to almost every scene in last night's episode. To me, they ranged literally from the ridiculous to the sublime.
ANDY: One has to wonder what Treat Williams thinks about how his character is being written this year. I'm guessing he couldn't be too happy. Beginning with the series pilot, we saw a man that, although blinded by his obsession with work and possessed of a more than healthy ego, was in his own ineffective way a loving husband and father. Shocked out of his work obsession by Julia's death, his whole life became about his children. His determination to be a better father brought him to Everwood in the first place. His heartwrenching struggles to become a man his kids could admire not only were the crux of the show, but demonstrated the type of basic goodness that made us root for him to succeed. He also demonstrated a wry and sharp wit, which made him even more appealing. So, what happened? Are we supposed to root for this depressed, stressed, ansgt-ridden Andy who seems to have tossed out his basic principles, risking his personal and professional reputations to pursue an immoral and doomed relationship? Does anyone who saw the emotional effect Julia's affair had on him believe he would pursue this course? Who is this guy?
ANDY/AMANDA: Regardless what anyone thinks of this relationship, last night's scenes did absolutely nothing to advance this storyline. At the end of the previous episode, they were having an affair. At the end of this episode, they were having an affair. Nothing happened. It just served to check off another one of Anne Heche's ten episode story arc. The screen time would have been better served in advancing the Edna/Irv situation.
DELIA: The "Delia becomes a woman" scenario was pretty much inevitable. Seeing her on-screen is always a pleasure, but, I could have done without the whole hockey thing. Not that I think there is anything bad about young girls excelling in sports, but because it didn't make sense. When did she practice? Who took her back and forth all the time? Other than a few seconds on rollerblades a long time ago, have we ever even seen her skate? Other than some hat wearing, have we ever seen her display any enthusiasm for hockey? Vivien can obviously skate, and that's great. But the whole "first period" story could have been framed by any number of other scenarios.
JAKE: We learned more about Jake this time around, both personally and professionally, than we had learned in all his previous appearances combined. His emotional paranoia about hurting anybody, and the resulting professional disaster were both believable and affecting. Learning all of this after seeing how well Jake dealt with Sam's injury; you can see why Nina melted. And, since Andy is acting like such a jerk, it's not like he deserves Nina right now. However, I believe there is still more to learn here.
AMYS DANCING: I don't think many of us believed professional dance was in Amy's future. That said, I liked the way this issue was brought up and dealt with in one swoop, allowing her to move on to new passions. It was fun to see Emily display her dancing talent, and she acted the hell out of those scenes, capturing the longing, the fear, and the disappointment perfectly. Another ten out of ten for EVC.
AMY/HAROLD: Although he demonstrated his lamentable lack of tact, Harold was spot-on in his bewilderment and skepticism about Amy's sudden obsession. He knew that for her to compare her situation with Ephram's piano gift was absurd. And his line about ballet having been only one of several childhood dreams about her future Amy had harbored was perfect. Although Amy's dancing has been part of her story since the third episode in Season 1, does anyone remember any inference before last night that she harbored any dreams of a dance career? This was brought on directly by her sudden epiphany last week about having "sacrificed" everything for her relationship and her fear of being left with "nothing" if she and Ephram didn't work out.
AMY/EPHRAM: The E/A scenes in this episode were some of the most enjoyable I've seen in a long time, in fact two of them were among the best ever. I was left with a strange feeling after last week's E/A scene in Ephram's studio. My uneasiness related to two things: 1) Although she said she didn't want to lose Ephram, her statement struck me as lacking any emotional depth. Yes, there were a couple of intense looks, but the lack of physical affection made me think that she really hadn't begun to appreciate Ephram again in any deep sense. There were too many "we'll see's". And, 2) I was left feeling afraid that her sudden panic about needing to undo her "sacrifices" and "get her life back" would send her off too far in that direction to the complete detriment of their relationship. During the first half of Monday's show, I was very afraid I was right. Although they were back to the easy banter stage, and while it was obvious she was enjoying Ephram's over-the-top dedicated boyfriend antics, I still felt any deeper appreciation of him was missing, as she was completely focused on herself and her ambitons.
And then, lo and behold, the writers smashed two home runs! The last two E/A scenes were complete classics. To me, the key scene in the context of their relationship was the one in the Abbott kitchen. Despite her amusing statement to Hannah earlier in the season about usually feeling secure with herself, the fact is Amy has always lacked self-confidence regarding her talents and abilities. This may explain why she became so completely absorbed in her relationships; she felt like she had nothing else to offer. To put it another way, Amy has demonstrated chronic self-absorbtion, but not much self-awareness. I think that's why she seized on the dance thing as the first way to "get her life back". It was the only thing she thought she had. But then Ephram, at his most caring and insightful, FINALLY made her realize that she had the talent and drive to become almost anything, including the President. And that, contrary to her panic last week, it was him who had only one basket to put his eggs in, not her. Ephram's actions here constituted just about the most loving gesture anyone could give their partner. You could almost see the appreciation of him, the true and deep kind, return to her eyes at that moment. This moment, not last week, was her true epiphany; the one which will allow her to move on to a new dream and still allow their relationship to grow. There could have been nothing more important to their future. The last scene confirmed this. Everything about their posture, their tone, and their words conveyed that E/A were truly back.
AMY/DELIA: This scene was close to perfect. I was surprised earlier that Delia didn't want to talk to Nina about "it". But we found out. I've been one of the most vocal advocates for more Amy/Delia interaction. Not only was their one scene in "Is There A Doctor In The House" completely charming, but it makes sense in the context of the E/A relationship that these two become almost sisterly. And Delia needs a big sister figure in her life. Their interaction was wonderful.
AMY/EPHRAM, PART II: As great as it was to see Amy begin to develop her relationship with Delia, that part of the last scene was also a convincing demonstration that Amy was truly at peace about moving on to new dreams. As important as the first "I love you's" of Staking Claim and the first sexual explorations of The Reflex were, the last two E/A scenes of this episode constituted the most significant indication we could have wanted that these two may just have a future in spite of the bumps about to cross their path.
MISCELLANEOUS: 1) Wasn't it nice to see Amy and Ephram spending some alone time in each other's houses instead of locked away in his studio?
2) Amy's remark about having to go off the Pill if she got into the dance class was interesting; not in that context (I knew it caused bloating and made it difficult to diet), but in the context of their relationship. I took it as an indication that they had continued their sexual relationship after The Reflex (which makes sense), although probably not since the big fight. But it also seemed to indicate that Amy felt they had a real future.
3) Jake's ex-girlfriend was beautiful (in Bright's eyes jawdroppingly so) in a "Hollywood" way (zero percent body fat? hee hee), but she didn't do a thing for me standing next to EVC. The writers should have done the poor girl a favor and not put the two of them in the same frame.
All in all, an enjoyable episode; most importantly because it got E/A firmly back on track.