When Ephram said "Maybe...he was just having a hard time with the words. You know, sometimes people really want to say something, but, you just can't," I think he was talking about himself. He wanted to tell Amy that he loved her, but at that point, he couldn't, considering how obsessed she was with Colin. You really have to hand to to Ephram to offer empathy to a girl who was in love with someone else when he loved that girl with all his heart.

I saw the whole accident scenario in a completely different light now that I got to see this episode again. Bright really was just going along with what Colin wanted and he knew he was in no shape to drive, but he just did what Colin pushed him to do. It was also key that Colin had brought the liquor that contributed to the accident. I remember Bright telling Harold that he had been driving when they had the accident but I forgot that they both told the Harts.

I thought that this was another emotionally powerful episode of this show as we saw, in a series of flashbacks, the circumstances that led to the accident that put Colin in a coma, and some surprising secrets were revealed that put everything that happened in an entirely different light.

The opening flashback showed an idyllic scene between Bright, Amy, and Colin as they swam and relaxed at a place called Buck’s Rock, and we got to see a glimpse of Colin Hart before his accident. Colin seemed a bit cocky, and he was caught off guard when Amy told him that she loved him, but he didn’t say it back, a fact that would haunt Amy as she put her necklace, which he had playfully taken away from her on that fateful day as he dared her to jump in the lake with him, in his hand as he was being prepared for surgery.

I liked seeing Andy explain the surgery that he would be performing on Colin to the Harts, but once again I found them both a little arrogant when Mrs. Hart asked Andy for some kind of guarantee, and Andy responded that he had performed over 2,600 surgeries and he never had one where he cared more about the outcome.

I loved meeting Brian, Andy’s second in command, as he brought gifts from New York, and I loved the conversation between them as Andy expressed his fears about performing the upcoming surgery on Colin, and I loved it when Brian said “Before you took me under your wing, Andy, I never believed that there were people put on this earth to fix God’s mistakes. That’s the kind of gift that doesn’t go away. Sleep easy Dr. Brown. You’re going to be great.”

I liked seeing Delia’s concern that Andy would be working at the hospital all the time again, and Andy assured her that it was only this one time, and I thought it was touching that Ephram made Andy a mix CD for his upcoming surgery.

I liked that Amy called Ephram from the hospital, showing that she was thinking of him, but Ephram sort of said the wrong things to her in his nervousness, much to his regret.

We saw in the flashback that the ever-pompous Harold was so concerned about appearances as the whole Abbott family was dressed up in Colonial outfits, and we saw that Amy and Colin had an argument about the fact that he didn’t say I love you back to her when she said those words to him, and he still wouldn’t say I love you at the 4th of July celebration, and she left him hurt and angry.

I liked the conversation between Nina and Ephram when she told him about Colin being a charmer and that Ephram would like him and he would like Ephram. I loved how Ephram told Nina about his feelings for Amy and how she encouraged Ephram to go to the hospital to be with Amy, and that he had to decide what kind of friend that he wanted to be to Amy. I liked it when Ephram said “You know, I forgot how good women are at this stuff,” showing how much he missed Julia’s advice, and also showing that Nina was capable of at least partially filling that void with the advice that she gave him.

We saw in the flashback scenes that Colin had brought a flask of whiskey to the 4th of July celebration and that they were both drinking, and we saw that they had both taken off in Colin’s father’s truck as a worried Amy looked on.

I liked the way that they juxtaposed the expertise that Andy and Brian displayed performing Colin’s very involved surgery with the flashback scene of Bright and Colin racing their friends in his father’s truck, and we saw that it was Bright that was driving when they had the accident, and that Colin had put Bright up to driving the truck right before they had the accident. I was so moved by Bright’s tearful confession to Harold that he was the one driving the truck when they had the accident, and that they were drinking, and Chris Pratt did an incredible job in that scene.

I thought that it was very brave of Bright to confess to the Harts that he was the one driving when they had their accident, but Mr. Hart was really cruel when he lashed out at Bright and when he said “That shouldn't be my son in there.” I was glad that Mrs. Hart showed caring and understanding toward Bright, unlike her husband, as she confessed to Bright that she thought that she knew that her son was drinking and that he took the car keys, thus helping to alleviate some of Bright’s anguish and feelings of guilt.

I loved it when Ephram showed up at the hospital, much to Amy’s delight, and I loved it when Amy told Ephram that he was a good friend.

I loved the scene between Ephram and Amy when she told him that when Colin woke up, she was going to tell him how sorry she was as she related the story about the fight that they had and I loved it when Ephram said that he used to blame himself for the accident that caused his mother’s death, but the truth was is that it was what it was, an accident, offering her the kind of comfort and empathy that she couldn’t get from anyone else. I loved it when Amy said that it was kind of amazing that of all the people she knew in her whole life, he was the only one that showed up.

I liked how Brian told him that he was better than he was before and “if you finish this sabbatical, come back home. We still need the guy that can fix God's mistakes”, but Andy replied that Everwood was his home now and that he was working on one of God’s bigger mistakes, namely the way he had treated Julia and their family.

I liked the final scene between Ephram and Andy, and the final idyllic flashback scene as Irv narrated and Colin, Bright and Amy relaxed at Buck’s Rock, before the fateful accident that changed all their lives.

Overall, I thought this was another excellent episode of this wonderful show.

Great review!

I think one of the biggest points to take away from this episode was a sort of test for Andy Brown... NYC, both professionally and even personally with the coffee and food was brought to Andy... after Andy performed “a miracle” would he have a taste for that glory as a world famous neurosurgeon again and be tempted to take the family back to NYC? Not even for a second. He passed the test. Everwood was his home, he confidently told his partner. It was a terrific demonstration of the real evolution of Andy.

I’m not a huge fan of flashback episodes but this one was needed I think. We needed to know more about Colin. Unfortunately, he didn’t come off in a great light imo. They painted him to be pretty reckless, a bit of a bad influence, and also a bit inconsiderate of Amy’s feelings. It makes you wonder why she was so in love with him. But I do like that he wasn’t written to be this perfect guy and he had flaws too.

OT but Emily’s body is so nice

And that ending scene was sweet/sad.

I did like that we got to see bit more of Bright in this episode finally. And it was understandable why he was so hesitant to see Colin at the hospital and wait for him to wake up. You can tell how guilty he felt for the accident and the fact that he had been keeping this huge secret for so long adds to the guilt. Not sure why he decided to tell his father now. Good for Bright doing the right thing but ugh, such a complicated situation because revealing that truth now is not gonna go well for anyone. That had to be hard for his parents to hear. The mom was wrong though, I mean, it does change everything! IF Colin dies, it’s Bright’s fault. He was drinking and could go to jail for manslaughter.

Ephram worrying about Amy in the episode was so sweet. And It was adorable that he went to the hospital to see her and asked to share the twix AWWWWWW. I also loved him bringing lots of games to keep Amy entertained. Ephram making a cd for his father was also adorable. He had a great episode. + Amy saying Ephram was the only person that showed up was great.

I liked “uncle” Brian and felt he was a nice and genuine character. Wish we got to see more of him. His role in the episode felt a tad pointless.

Good job Andy doing well with the surgery. The scene with Ephram at the end was great.

Overall I’d rate the episode pretty high due to the importance of it. Probably a low 9. (Ill list my favorite episodes at the end of the season)

Best characters this episode: (not necessarily my favorite but just how important they were in the episode)
1. Ephram
2. Bright
3. Andy
4. Amy
5. Brian

Mrs. Hart actually had a great episode for her character too, her forgiveness was huge. And of course, we finally got to see some of Colin but I’ll wait to add him to any list until we really get to see him in the present.

Here's my ranking of the episodes so far:

1. Pilot
2. The Great Doctor Brown
3. We Hold These Truths
4. Deer God
5. The Doctor Is In
6. The Kissing Bridge
7. Friendly Fire

I put We Hold These Truths up high because it was a pivotal episode that revealed how these characters got to where they were at that point.

I saw in this episode that although Amy idolized Colin after he had his accident, she seemed frustrated with him before his accident, and if Colin really did love Amy, he would have said I love you right back to her as soon as she told him she loved him, so the fact that he didn't say those words spoke volumes and she knew it.

I’m not a huge fan of flashback episodes but this one was needed I think. We needed to know more about Colin. Unfortunately, he didn’t come off in a great light imo. They painted him to be pretty reckless, a bit of a bad influence, and also a bit inconsiderate of Amy’s feelings. It makes you wonder why she was so in love with him. But I do like that he wasn’t written to be this perfect guy and he had flaws too.

100%. We've talked about Amy idolizing Colin and thinking that he was perfect while ignoring his flaws. Really, those flashbacks indicated the opposite. She still held tight in thinking they were meant to be as far as the town thinking as much. She thought this was almost expected. But when she was actually interacting with Colin, she did not come across as clueless and forgiving. She was pissed and wanted a proper explanation from him. But like Nina said to Ephram, Colin was a charmer and we saw this very clearly in the flashbacks. He charmed his way out of the fight since she agreed to meet him for the fireworks. But she was still not happy or content, you could very clearly see this. When he got into the accident, all of Amy's down to earth thinking flew out the window because she obviously didn't want him to die. It kept her less grounded during this time period, she just wanted him to live. We know if Colin would have survived they wouldn't have lasted long because Amy had completely fallen for Ephram by this time period. In addition, hopefully Amy would have found out from Laynie (if Colin didn't remember) that Colin gave up on the relationship way before the accident.

Excellent points Michelle. We also saw that once Colin was fully back, Amy was really getting tired of his attitude, especially toward Ephram, before he collapsed and a second surgery was going to be required. It was just a matter of time before she broke up with him, but then he didn't survive that second operation, which sent her into an emotional tailspin and a deep depression.

While writing up a DC post on our thread I just thought of this Everwood episode and Colin referencing Katie Holmes. Berlanti had to get that in there. LOL. I wanted to jump through the screen and tell Colin he had EVC which means you don’t think about Katie Holmes for even a second.