I thought that this was one of the most emotionally powerful episodes of this show that I’ve ever seen, as decisions were made that would alter lives, and a ticking time bomb was set off by Andy’s decision to tell Madison not to tell Ephram that she was pregnant with his child.
We saw Irv, as the narrator, say in the opening scene that dreams are our world turned upside down, and we saw that one particular dream haunted Andy Brown, a dream where Julia hadn’t died and he walked in to a restaurant and saw his family in the present day happily laughing and celebrating as his beloved Julia looked back at him and smiled, and in this dream, he looked so happy. One thing I noticed in this dream was when Andy looked at his reflection, he saw that he was clean shaven, but that Ephram and Delia were the age they are now, and not the age they were three years ago, and he seemed to feel disconcerted and confused about what that dream meant, but as we saw later, the continuation of that same dream took on a very different meaning.
I liked the talk that Andy and Ephram had when he told him that he had a “weird dream” as adults couldn’t call them nightmares, and Ephram suggested that they all get ice cream sundaes, and he told him the story of when he had a nightmare when he was a kid, Julia and him would get an ice cream sundae, and when Andy said that he didn’t remember that, Ephram gave him a knowing look and Andy, in sad resignation, said “I know, go figure.” I loved it when Ephram said “Hey Dad, they’re just dreams. That’s what Mom used to say,” showing the progress that this father and son had made.
It was hilarious seeing Harold announcing at the Abbott breakfast table that he was opening a bagel shop in Everwood and that he bought the old donut shop on Main Street and that he was going to become a multi-millionaire before he was 60 by running this “Bagel Enterprise,” much to the amused delight of Bright and Amy but to the bewilderment and consternation of Rose, and it was funny when Bright told Amy “Dad has gone mad crazy. I dig it!”
It was also very prophetic when Bright said half the people in Everwood wouldn’t know the difference between a bagel and a donut!
I loved it when Amy came to see Ephram and she told him that he shouldn’t go to New York and she wanted them to have the Summer together without the pressures of school and that that there was some great energy surrounding them, but Ephram said that he had to go to New York because the opportunity at Julliard was something that he couldn’t pass up, and Amy, disappointed, left.
The scene where Madison went to see Andy was sad and surprising as initially, Andy seemed glad to see her and he caught her up on how Delia and Ephram were doing, and he told her that Delia really missed her and that she was irreplaceable. I didn’t like how Madison acted like she knew Ephram so well when Andy told her that he got into the Julliard Summer Program, saying that he played better when he was worried, because if she knew him so well, why did she cause him so much heartache? Andy’s entire demeanor changed however when she told him that she was late and she took a pregnancy test, and he looked shocked and he immediately started to ask her if she knew that Ephram was the one who got her pregnant, but before he could even ask the question, Madison said there was no one else, and he offered to have her tested there in his office.
I cracked up seeing Harold running the bagel shop as he talked down to Thurman, who was wearing a sign advertising his shop, and Thurman asked what kind of bagel he was, and Harold disdainfully answered “You’re a garlic bagel.”
Then he frantically barked orders to Louise about what an “everything” bagel was, showing how much he was in over his head. It was hilarious seeing Mr. Benson order “a dozen glazed” making Bright’s earlier statement come true, and when Harold told Mr. Benson that it was a bagel shop and not a donut shop, he asked “do you have any jelly filled ones?”
I liked that Andy confided in Edna about Madison’s pregnancy, and he rightfully blamed himself for the whole situation for not putting a stop to the two of them, but he should have thought of that long before all this happened.
I loved the scene where Bright chided Ephram for turning Amy’s request that he stay for the summer down, telling Ephram that she was his “soulmate for life”, recognizing what all of us saw from the start, that they were meant to be together, and he told him that he should stay so that him and Amy could have their chance to figure things out.
In a pivotal scene we saw that Andy couldn’t bring himself to tell Ephram about Madison’s pregnancy as he saw how happy Ephram was and he didn’t want to ruin his happiness.
It was sad to see Harold’s dream of running a bagel shop enterprise fade away as it became very obvious that Everwood wasn’t the place for such a venture, and I loved how Rose offered him her quiet support as she let Harold rant and rave but she told him that she loved him.
In a decision that would have far-reaching and dire consequences, when Madison came to see Andy again, Andy told her that he didn’t tell Ephram that she was pregnant and that he had no intention of telling him, and when she reacted in a shocked and hurt manner, he said that Ephram had lost enough of his childhood when his mother died, but that he got lucky and Ephram got lucky and he managed to salvage that innocence, and if he heard this now, all that innocence would be gone and it would be the end of a childhood that isn’t finished yet. I thought that this was a ludicrous and cruel thing for Andy to say, because any “innocence” that Ephram had was lost as soon as Andy allowed him and Madison to date, which led to them having sex, which led to her becoming pregnant, so how would his asking her to keep her pregnancy a secret from Ephram preserve his innocence? He then asked Madison not to do this to him and when she told him that it was a mistake, he told her that it would be his mistake, and that he would see to her comfort and security while she made up her mind concerning what she wanted to do, and then, in an incredibly callous answer to her question over how she could keep her pregnancy from him, he said “you go.” The question I have is “go where?” Didn’t Madison live in Everwood? Didn’t she have a family? So, she should just “go” because Andy asked her to? It goes without saying that I can’t stand Madison, but I hated how Andy put all the blame for her pregnancy on her and how he didn’t want Ephram to face any responsibility for what he did, and his actions would have severe consequences in the future when a vengeful Madison revealed that she had Ephram’s baby and gave that baby up for adoption without telling him at the worst possible moment, and Andy had to admit to Ephram that he had ordered Madison not to tell him which destroyed all the progress that Andy had made with Ephram and set Ephram off on an emotional tailspin.
With that being said, Madison had ignored Andy’s repeated pleas to first not to get involved with Ephram and then to be careful with his heart because he was still a boy, so why did she decide to not ignore his request now and tell Ephram after she had his baby and given that baby up for adoption on the eve of his Julliard audition just to get back at Andy? I don’t blame her for the pregnancy, because Ephram shares equal responsibility for that pregnancy, but I do blame her for not doing the right thing and telling Ephram that she was pregnant much earlier. She owed Andy nothing at that point because he was no longer her employer but she did owe Ephram the truth.
I really wish that this whole storyline had never seen the light of day, because it haunted the show and the characters for the rest of the time that Everwood was on.
I loved the scene with Ephram and Amy on their picnic, and she asked him “is this supposed to be a sexy picnic?” and he answered “maybe.” I loved how Ephram poured his heart out to Amy and said that if he stayed, everything would be the way he always thought it would be between them: perfect, and that she was the one that he wanted to be with and that there was no questioning it or holding back, but he had to go to New York for so many reasons, and right now he had to make himself a priority, but he wanted her to wait for him and they shared a tender kiss.
I was so happy to see Andy go to see Harold and that Harold finally had gotten over his anger towards Andy, and they had a wonderful heart to heart talk, illustrating the deep respect and affection they had for each other underneath their verbal sparring. I loved seeing Andy tell Harold that he missed him and their love/hate relationship. I cried when Andy told Harold about his dream where he was in New York, and Julia, Ephram and Delia were there laughing, and he felt so happy, and no matter how hard he tried, the tragedy of losing Julia would always eclipse whatever good comes to him, and that he would take back the life he lost in a heartbeat. I loved how Harold said that dreams aren’t meant to be understood any more than tragedy can be averted, and that life happens and that the only certainty is that it keeps happening. I also thought that Harold was right when he said that Andy’s dream wasn’t based on reality as he had patients that he didn’t care about and a family that he neglected, and these words proved prophetic when Andy had his final dream at the end of the episode.
I loved that Andy then offered Harold a partnership in his practice which allowed him to return to the profession that he loved, and that Harold accepted that partnership in his usual curmudgeonly way, saying that he would live to regret this and refusing to shake Andy’s hand or hug him, but deep down, you know that he really appreciated Andy’s magnanimous gesture.
I loved seeing Ephram’s goodbyes at the bus station with Delia and Andy, as an upset Delia tried to act cold at first but then she shared a warm embrace with her brother, and Andy told Ephram that he was growing up and in words that had a lot more meaning than Ephram knew that he wanted to do the right thing for him as they also shared a warm embrace.
I also loved how Bright and Ephram said goodbye and Bright gave him another fake ID to use, but he warned him to stay away from the women there, and I loved seeing the progress that they had made as friends in the last year.
I loved seeing Delia ask Bright to go to a movie as they both were missing Ephram, and their friendship on this show was so sweet.
I absolutely loved it when Ephram got on the plane and saw Amy in the seat next to him waiting for him and I cracked up when Ephram said “You weren’t at the bus stop,” and Amy said “I was going to go because I didn’t want Bright to get suspicious, but then I remembered . . . .” and they both said “It’s Bright,” and Amy answered “exactly.”
I loved how Amy said that she had made up her mind to go with him to New York after their picnic and that the waiting for him thing was very romantic in a Victorian kind of way but then she realized that she’s not very Victorian, so she was coming to New York with him. I loved how Ephram said “so you’re coming to New York with me” twice, and the sheer joy and bliss on his face was so wonderful to see.
It was sad to see Andy’s final dream that started out the same joyful way as his initial dream, but then when he interacted with Julia and Ephram and Delia, he saw that he had missed their celebration for Ephram getting into the Julliard Summer program and that he had forgotten about it entirely, and Ephram disdainfully sneered at him and left immediately, and Julia told Delia to leave and have Ephram hail them all a cab. We saw that if Julia had lived, Andy would have remained the too busy for his family workaholic and neglectful father he had always been, and Julia told him “Don’t feel sorry for forgetting Andy. Feel sorry for yourself. There’s a whole world happening and you’re just asleep, and it scares me so much to think what it would take to wake you up,” and then she left, and Delia, Ephram and her rode off in a cab, and Andy was left alone. I feel that this dream was so key to everything that Andy’s had gone through since Julia’s death, and her death truly became the tragic event that finally did wake him up.
Overall, I feel that this was an incredibly powerful episode that would have momentous consequences in the future as the stage was set for Andy to once again lose everything due to the decision that he had made.