...with most of what's been said here. I could write several books but I'll try to stick mostly with a few things that haven't been said or only touched on lightly:
Harold has always been my favorite character on the show. That noted, I disagree with the assessment that we've seen great "character growth" in the advent of Rose's illness. This is the same frightened Harold who struggled valiently to be strong for Bright when he had a ruptured appendix in season 1. It's the same Harold who was bitching and moaning about the lighthouse next door one day, then organizing the work crew the next... when he got to thinking about the bonds between husband and wife and how fragile they could be because of the fragility of life. I had predicted a possible cancer stroyline for Rose many months ago although I had speculated and still wish it had been breast cancer. If I recall high school English correctly, in mythic tragedy, a hero's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. In Harold's case his greatest strength is his family... and, indeed, it is also his greatest weakness. So far we've mostly seen the best of Harold and while I expect to see more of that... I expect to see some of his worst as well. That's what makes us human. And it's the humanity that the writers and actors showcase so brilliantly that makes this show incomparable in its ability to be epic and real at the same time.
Amy, moreso than Harold, may have grown some over the past couple of years. And she's a teen so I hope that's true. Also because she's a teen it's hard to make a definitive determination about her "growth" - she's had her mature periods and her childish ones. Sometimes when this happens to a character it is poor characterization by the writers... making the character a slave to the plot even if that invokes out-of-character behavior. But with teens, stuck between childhood and adulthood, waffling is quite normal. In fact, we've seen it in Ephram and Bright (to a lesser extent) as well. So I'll give Amy some credit for personal growth, and I'll give her credit for looking out for Ephram's interest by pushing him away. But I really don't believe it's 100% selflessness on her part. Let's not forget that Amy has also been consistantly portrayed as being "Harold's daughter". Harold has it built inside that he doesn't want to see problems... imperfections... dangers... that relate to his family. Edna outright said as much if I recall. Harold didn't take Bright's appendicitis seriously at first. He didn't want to believe Amy needed antidepressants. He didn't take Rose's symptoms seriously. Amy denied Colin had any problems even though a part of her had to suspect when she mentioned it to her dad... And yet even after that she was in denial for a bit.
So, why do I bring all this up? Because partly I think Amy's trying to convince herself she doesn't need anyone's support. If she needs support it must be because this is desperately serious and she's not ready to accept that idea. Note that Ephram is highly concerned that the cancer is stage 2B... but Amy's reply is on the optimistic side. So, in addition to the generic "needing support means this is serious" aspect to Amy's coolness, there are 2 more Ephram-specific issues that I also see playing a role in this.
First is that, by nature, Ephram is a pessimist... and that's when his life is in a relatively "good place" - which it's not right now. I think Amy may be afraid Ephram will try to help by helping to prepare her for any and all scenarios including negative ones, and Amy doesn't want to hear it right now. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Harold tries to drag his feet about hooking up Rose with a lawyer about the will and it eventually causes a blow-up by either Harold or Amy. I think both of them would see this as negative thinking which will frighten them which, in turn, will make them angry. Remember Amy was none too pleased when she figured out the significance of Colin's trip to ballpark (graduation site).
Ephram issue #2: The writers didn't necessarily *have* to make Amy push Ephram away in the same episode where we reintroduce Julia after a long absence. Yes, it could just be coincidental but I actually had a scene pop into my head where Amy winds up apologizing for being standoffish - not that she needs to apologize, but being Amy she thinks she needs to. I imagined her reassuring Ephram that it's not because she still refuses to accept the "just friends" relationship he seems to want. After all, she can use all the friends she can get right now. The thing is, although she knows it'll change... right now, when she looks at him she sees the new kid in school in so much pain because he lost his mother too soon... before he was ready... That might be part of the reason Bright didn't confide in Ephram either. Ephram hasn't experienced the fear of losing his mother but he's keenly aware of how devastating the loss is. Right now, Ephram is, like, the embodiment of Amy's and Bright's worst fear...
I'm disappointed no one has posted details about the teaser yet. Either the audio wasn't crisp or I wasn't fully paying attention because I missed details. My recollection of the Andy/Harold exchange was something like:
Andy (sounding defensive yet also apologetic): I did the best I could
Harold: Yes, you did as well as any other doctor would have. But you couldn't let it be any other doctor, could you... It had to be you...
I also have seen no spoilers about Rose's surgery/fate. But given 1) Andy's tone and 2) the fact that Harold characterized his performance (if I heard right) as equivalent to any other doctor... not better than most other doctors... My impression was that Andy performed the operation and that it probably went "OK" but not up to the standards of "The Famous Dr. Brown". In other words, I think they'll believe they "got all of it [the tumor] but Rose will be paralyzed (at least initially - grin). Of course, it could be one of those teaser fake-outs - maybe they weren't talking about Rose at all
. But my concern is that they're setting up a tear-jerker movie-of-the-week scenario:
Rose is never gonna walk again... No wait. You just patted my leg didn't you? I felt that! Physical therapy is hell. Yea... first steps! Damn, the cancer's back, more aggressive than last time...
I think Bright's carrying Rose up the stairs was foreshadowing... Amy obviously can't go to Princeton and although Bright does have plans to stay in Everwood, we probably want plently of opportunity for him to interact with the rest of the Abbotts. So either Rose is gonna die before classes start at Princeton (which I think is highly unlikely) and Amy stays to take care of Harold... or Rose will need some tending to post-operatively which would cause Amy to defer entry into college for a semester. Again, my fear being that they'll toy with us. Everything will move toward a seeming complete recovery for Rose then, before Amy heads to Princeton for her deferred, Spring semester enrollment, the cancer will be back and it will clearly be terminal this time... so Amy will stick around first to be with mom and then to take care of dad.
I don't want things to go that way... both for the sake of the show's creative integrity and because I love Harold too much to want him to suffer through this... but it is my fear.
Although God knows that this group of actors would probably be capable of turning a cliched melodramatic storyline into compellingly artistic entertainment... But I still hope I'm waaaaaay off the mark with this prediction. However, there *was* one false note in this, otherwise, season 1 rivaling episode, which was false in a melodramatic way. That was Rose proclaiming that Andy loves her family as much as she does. My eyes got a little wide on that one. The writers went for the chaep and easy tug on the heart strings even though it was not realistic. I'm hoping that's not a forerunner of more to come... but I gotta wonder.
Sadly, one of the biggest things I ultimately walked away with at the end of the episode was a sense of disappointment that we didn't end the season right there. The "finale" feel admittedly has been discussed already but not strongly enough to reflect my own emotions. I *loved* this episode AND I felt Ephram contemplating Julia's graduation gift and her words was a perfect place to end the season. There was both the sense of loss and the sense of hope for a new and brighter future that is the essence of the human drama... the essence of Everwood at its finest. We even had wise and bittersweet narration (albeit not by Irv) from the long absent character who actually put the train of this epic on its tracks. I can't help but suspect that the actual season finale is not going to measure up by comparison. This episode had an "up in the air" feel that makes you eagerly await the next season without the use of some contrived, medical-melodrama, cliff-hangery sensibility. If TPTB cheapen the end of this season with the "real" season finale, I'm gonna spit nails, I swear.
-Aquillea