Jerry D

I found this episode to be rather lackluster in comparison to the last episode, as it followed a theme about what a burden the truth can be. We saw that theme manifest itself as we met a mechanic named Phil who sold a reluctant Ephram a car that he really didn’t like at Andy’s insistence, who felt burdened by a psychic ability that he had, and we saw that Linda Abbott was harboring a secret that in that particular time was seen as a death sentence as her feelings for Andy Brown became more and more prominent.

I didn’t like how Andy basically forced Ephram to get a car that he didn’t really like and he once again refused to listen to him, but Ephram seemed comforted a bit when Phil told him that a girl he liked would like the car. I never heard the term clairaudient before this episode as Phil told Andy what his gift (or burden) was, and it was interesting to see Phil’s predictions play out in this episode.

It was so sad to see Amy in this episode fully in the throes of her situational depression, as she couldn’t bring herself to go to school as she lingered in the parking lot and watched the students happily file in to their classes, and her situation escalated as she forged a prescription after she stole a prescription blank from Linda, who was trying to help her using meditation, and Harold and her harshly lashed out at each other when he discovered what she had done, and at that point, Amy truly was lost and despondent, but Harold’s stubborn pride and his refusal to see how sick Amy was furthered a growing rift between them as they both said some really hurtful things to each other. It was so heartbreaking to see Amy tell Linda that she wanted to feel nothing in their meditation session, and Emily VanCamp did an incredible job in depicting how deeply depressed Amy was.

There is one word that perfectly described what went on in every interaction that Ephram and Madison had in this episode: creepy. I hated every scene that they were in, as Madison vacillated with her conflicting feelings about a 16 year old boy that she shouldn’t have ever thought about in a romantic way. One minute she was making moon eyes at him as he helped her with her music, and the next minute she was talking down to him and calling his feelings for her a crush. One minute, Ephram and Madison are bickering in front of a clueless Andy and a prescient Delia, who saw what was going on, as she saw through Ephram’s offer to help Madison with her band, and the next minute, they’re kissing by his car, which, fulfilling Phil’s prediction, she said that she liked. It was creepy seeing Ephram get so upset when Madison kissed Jay, her angry and moody band member/boyfriend, because he had no right to be so upset because Madison wasn’t, and should have never been, his girlfriend. I was really revolted watching every single scene that they were in and watching all of their scenes together again just reinforces how wrong they were for each other. I also am bleeding from my ears as I was forced to her Madison’s God-awful caterwauling that the writers tried to pass off as “singing.” Madison should have listened to her own advice when she said that some maturity comes with time and she never should have led Ephram on like she did.

We saw Andy and Linda’s relationship progress as Edna, playing matchmaker, encouraged both of them to express their feelings for one another and act on those feelings, and Andy did just that as he helped Linda move. I liked the scene where Andy and Linda talked and she revealed the things that were special to her, and she told Andy that he was a kind man, but when Andy went to kiss her, she turned away from him. We then found out that Linda hesitated in expressing her reciprocal feelings toward Andy because she was harboring a secret that she tearfully revealed to Edna: that she had HIV, a disease that was still viewed as a death sentence at the time that Everwood aired, and that diagnosis would have far-reaching consequences not just for Andy and Linda, but for her entire family.

I liked Andy’s conversation with Phil, and I thought that Phil was right when she said that he felt burdened by his gift of telling people the truth, because people don’t really want the truth, and that they just wanted good news. I thought it was funny that Andy told Phil to predict an avalanche instead of a flood the next time.

I liked seeing Andy’s honesty with Linda as he expressed his feelings to her, but then he saw Delia’s death stare in his rear-view mirror as Phil’s predication about a broken promise was coming true.

Overall, this was one of the weaker episodes of the show for me, as two relationships, one that I liked and one that I truly hated, progressed and set the tone for future episodes.