'Tos

Hmm. Good point. I never thought about a kind of coverup. It does make sense with how intimidating his insanity is here, and how everyone in town except for the Browns are turning a blind eye to him deteriorating.

Ephram probably speaks out mostly because he wants to see Colin get help, eh? Aw, well, now I like Ephram even more in this episode!

Taryn74

Plus I think he was probably kind of scared for Amy's sake. He didn't want Colin to go into a rage against Amy and have her end up hurt because everyone wanted to sweep the extent of Colin's illness under the rug.

serendipity or fate

I just finished this episode, and I'm honestly too drenched in emotions right now to form too many coherent thoughts on it... But it was undoubtedly brilliant.
I know I'm often alone with my opinion on Colin, but I love him. Even in this episode. When he was talking to the reporter about his first few days after the surgery and how he just couldn't do it again, it kinda brought full circle, exactly how he was so terrified to admit his true psychological state to Andy in the first place.

I loved the character so much, despite how doomed he was from the beginning. The entire story was just... so absolutely beautiful.

I'll come back with more thoughts later.

everwoodfan52

I am looking forward to your thoughts. You are not alone in your opinion of Colin. There are many on this board who loved Colin.

'Tos

So great to have you on the rewatch, Chelsea!

This was a hard episode for me to like Colin because of how he acts towards Ephram, but it's also a sympathetic episode for him because it's the moment when he really snaps and is probably beyond real help other than the surgery at the end of the season. Huge turning point for him. Sadly. So, yeah, I definitely can see why you would love him even in this one where he's kind of a jerk even when he is sympathetic, heh.

break the window

I can too, Tos. Some of his tendancies he cannot control. But he was trying and that was something he never had to do before. I can see both sides too. I just have an Ephram/Amy heart and it sorta breaks a little if I put Colin in the mix

'Tos

Oh, I know. I'm an Ephram/Amy fan too, so I definitely understand it. I just think Colin was incredibly complex for a character who was only going to exist for half a season. As you've said a few times, most shows would never even have him wake up. Not only did Everwood have him wake up, but they had him develop, deteriorate, deal with his own mortality, and die. Heavy and complex stuff for a character who only existed for about 1/8th of the show, you know?

break the window

but have an impact lasting longer than the character did

'Tos

Exactly. And that's what a death should do. Julia doesn't even last an episode and is just in flashbacks, and her impact is felt for FOUR years of these peoples lives. Colin lasts half a season and his death has such an impact on Amy as you will see. Not enough shows do that, make deaths meaningful like that. But they are. Or at least they should be.

break the window

And they have forever shaped the characters. Amy is who she is because she loved Colin and devoted her life to Colin. And she is who she is becuase she gave her full heart to Ephram. I don't think Amy ever really loved Colin like she said she did or the way she acted. I think Amy didn't know the difference between falling in love for real and just loving someone.

Taryn74

This is exactly it, and (IMO) it's an age issue. Amy was what, 15 when Colin had his accident? And they had been together for about a year by then (I think...gah as much time as I spend talking about it, I should really know this show better ), so her love for him was still a very childish love. And then with Colin being in a coma for so long, it gave Amy time to fantasize about their relationship and build it up in her own mind to the point that it was no longer realistic. So when Colin woke up, not only did he have to struggle with everybody wanting him to be who he used to be, he had to deal with Amy wanting him to be who she had built him up to be. And he just couldn't do that - nobody could.

Huh. I just realized there's a parallel there between the way Amy built Colin up to almost perfection in her mind, and the way Ephram built Julia up in his mind. It took Colin waking up for us to really get to see the real him, and it took Ephram finding out about Julia's affair for us to see she wasn't always perfect either. Good work, Berlanti.

break the window

exactly. everyday Amy thought of the moment that Colin would wake up and everything would be just like it was. You can't blame her on that. But given that she expected Colin to be the same exact person as he was...no one can expect that, no one should expect that. But then to make everyone else believe it too. if Amy really knew Colin, or really thought about what would actually happen when Colin would come home, she wouldn't have had the big pep rally at his house. There would be a breather. And then for Colin to come back as the exact opposite as he was....that was worse. Amy tried so hard to be Colin's girlfriend that she turned into someone completely different. She wanted to live out the fantasy that was Colin, in her imagination. But she fell short and that's where Ephram came in

everwoodfan52

Unfortunately, she removed from her mind the fact that they had been fighting before his accident...and things were not always so beautiful.

break the window

Amy chose to remember what she wanted to, what made her happy. She did that so long she forgot that Colin was a jerk that day to her

'Tos

I agree with that, you two. Amy seemed to put all the bad times with Colin out of her mind. It's kind of like when he came back and was deteriorating, she would just kind of...put it out of mind so that she could focus on having him back and how perfect things were. If things are going so beautifully in a relationship, you shouldn't have to try and pretend that the fights never happened.