everwoodfan52

Andy forgave Julia for her affair. He blamed himself for it.
What would have happened if it was Andy having the affair. Do you think that Julia would have forgiven him as easily as he forgave her? Would she have left him?
Would Ephram be as understanding about it as he was knowing it was his mom who had the affair?

Taryn74

No, I don't think she would have, because the circumstances would have been completely different.

Would she have left him?

Possibly.

Would Ephram be as understanding about it as he was knowing it was his mom who had the affair?

Definitely not.

'Tos

I like this answering in parts thing, hee. I'm totally stealing that Taryn! Great question too, Betty.

I agree with Taryn that she wouldn't have so easily with the circumstances being different, but I do think she would have ended up forgiving him at the end of the day. And I think it would have eaten at her much the same way as it ate at Andy. I mean, we see him dealing with it still in S4!

I...cannot imagine a scenario where Julia leaves Andy. I just can't. That's probably not a good thing, but I think she would stick with him through pretty much anything. Maybe because of the kids, maybe because of her love for him. I don't know, but I can't think of her ever leaving him. He probably deserves it sometimes, heh, but I think her speech at the end of "The Unveiling" about why she wouldn't leave Andy is coming back to me right now. How they wouldn't exist without the other. And Andy, for some of season one, finds it difficult to exist without her.

Ooh, which brings me to a question right in the middle of your question, Betty. I'm totally stealing your thunder.

How do you think Julia would have handled things if Andy was in the car crash? Not as a parent, because she would be awesome, but just as a person?

Because thinking about it, I think she would be even more affected by her spouse's death than even Andy was. I don't know why, just that feeling I get.

break the window

I doubt it. Already, without any infidelity, Julia put up with A LOT and that is an understatement. Julia knew they would not be able to live with such nice things if Andy didn't work all the time. She was able to forgive him for that, making sure they always had everything they ever needed. But to know that he wasn't spending all his time saving lives and making their lives better, then I think Julia would have been strong enough to leave.

I knew there was an affair in the marriage, and I just assumed it was Andy. It was easy. He was away all the time, always had excuses for not coming home until late at night, sometimes not at all. It was a no brainer to assume Andy was the one to have the affair. But to find out Julia was the one, color me floored! I never imagined that Julia would be the one to stray. But all in all, I understand it. She was married to basically an invisible husband. He provided, she had his last name, she had children with him, but he was never there.

I didn't know what the full story was with the marriage until this episode, so I didn't blame Andy. But if it were Andy, I would have had hatred towards that character. Never getting to know his son, leaving his wife to clean up his mess and then to find the comfort of another woman and lying about where he was and obviously what he was doing.

everwoodfan52

Teachers like to ask multiple part questions.

How do you think Julia would have handled things if Andy was in the car crash? Not as a parent, because she would be awesome, but just as a person?

I believe that Andy's grief over Julia's death was not immediate. As the days went on in Everwood....he felt more and more loss and more and more sadness. He realized how much he loved Julia and how important she was in his life.

Julia, on the other hand, was totally devoted to Andy (in spite of his faults). She would have been devastated from the beginning. She wouldn't wallow...she was pretty strong. She would pick herself up for her kids. Money would not be an issue...I'm sure that Andy provided his family with a very generous life insurance policy. Also, didn't he have a patented invention that was very lucrative? I'm not sure if Julia had a career before she had kids...she may want to go back to that...or....she can continue her philantropic/volunteer work. She won't have to worry about financial problems.
Even though Julia would be more initially devasted....she would bounce back from her grief much sooner than Andy because even though she's the one who had the affair...she felt less guilt.

'Tos

I think, for me, it was the opposite. Andy was at his lowest points earliest on. The visions were a big key for me. He wanted to stay connected to her, at any cost. He preferred to live in that world that didn't exist anymore rather than try and live in the world that did. At some point in the first few episodes, that changed, and he stopped staying obsessively attached to something that was no longer there, and opened his eyes to what was around him and started mourning in a more healthy fashion that didn't have Harold and Ephram questioning his sanity quite as much.

I agree with that. I think it would have crushed her completely at first. I think she may have been handling it just as unhealthily as Andy did, but would come back to reality a lot sooner. You're right, she was stronger, she wasn't as guilty, and she also knew more how to live without him with those kids. Getting used to being a parent again wouldn't have to be an adjustment that she'd have to make. She wouldn't have been failing at that as much as Andy was.

break the window

can I ask the next question?

Would Julia have adjusted as well as Andy in Everwood? With Andy giving free doctor services, including house calls?

'Tos

You absolutely can, and it's absolutely good.

You know, I think for Julia, it wouldn't matter where she was, what was going on. She would pretty much just make things work. As Betty said, Julia was very strong. I actually think she would have thrived in a small town just as much as she did in New York. I think she liked the lifestyle of being in New York and running charities, but I don't think she needed it. She wasn't like Nonny. She could handle small town people and a small town very nicely. I mean, that would be a show right there. Just a New York family adjusting to a small town with people like Harold and Edna. I would watch that. I would just greatly prefer what we got. Because I like things dark.

everwoodfan52

I agree with that, 'Tos. Julia was sophisticated...but she was down to Earth and warm...wasn't an elitist....I believe that she would fit in very nicely in Everwood.
She's be involved in the PTA...she'd be a class mother....she's go on field trips....she'd find charitable causes to raise money for.
Her first order of business would probably be to find a way to bring a Rabbi and Synagogue to Everwood. Her second order of business would be to find enough Jewish people to move to Everwood in order to fill the new Synagogue!


If Andy and Julia moved to Everwood....they'd make sure that all their children had pale faces and wore black Tee shirts.

'Tos

She's do just as much in Everwood as she would in New York. It would just be on a smaller scale. Especially finding people to join some of these things with her. You know how stubborn the townies could be. I can imagine her going to Harold's Lodge trying to organize something or fund-raise, and Harold would roll his eyes right out of his head.

Exactly. Oh, she would be at those council meetings fighting Rose for a Synagogue, even if Rose was pointing out how little they needed one. Hee. Oh, that would be so much fun. Julia doesn't take no for an answer, and neither does Rose.

break the window

always wanted to ask this question....

If Ephram had moved back to New York, gotten what he wanted and left Everwood. How different do you think his family and the Abbott's family's lives would be?

Taryn74

You know, I know that they had Nonny being all snobby and elitist when she was in EW, but I really never believed that's who she was at heart. I think she just was so afraid that Delia wasn't going to remember Julia at all, plus she felt threatened by Edna and her bond with Delia, that she went overboard trying to remind Delia of her big city roots. I don't think Julia would have turned out the way she did if her parents had really been what they seemed to be when they were in EW.

Louisa C

Well, we wouldn't have had a show after "Is There a Doctor?" if Ephram had left to return to New York with his grandparents when they left. The repercussions on Andy, Delia & Ephram & Andy's relationship especially, would have been massive. Andy would misguidedly put his needs below Ephram's blaming himself for being a crappy dad & for not being able to take care of Ephram properly or form a decent relationship with him, Ephram would believe his dad was better off without him and they'd have drifted further & further apart, seeing eachother more & more sporadically. Delia most definitely would have suffered too, as it's evident how much she needs & loves her brother, especially as when Andy wasn't there, he'd subconsciously taken on the role of man of the house. Amy & Bright would have been affected too, as Ephram was pretty awesome to them as a friend when they went through their difficult moments in Season 1 & 2. Bright I think would have suffered a lot in Season 2, as he lost all his jock friends & popular status when he got kicked off the team, and would probably have got rather depressed and possibly given up on working hard to improve his grades. Ephram was awesome towards Amy in Season 1 & 2 as well, telling Bright when she was going to go to the rager/college party thing with Laynie and just generally looked out for her & tried to comfort her & help her when things got tough. I can't see either of the Abbott kids turning out the way they did without Ephram's friendship.
So I, for one, am really glad Andy got the excellent advice he did from Nina & told Ephram what he did, as I think it took a lot of courage on his part to admit he needed his son... That whole exchange is probably one of my favourites in the show as it was perfectly written & brilliantly acted by Treat & Greg!

'Tos

I agree with your take completely on that question, Louisa. I believe it was Berlanti who said in one of the commentaries that part of what the show was about was all the good that could come out of a horrific tragedy, Julia's death. I think if Ephram left at that point, you would see all the bad that could come from that moment. To Bright (love that point), Delia, Amy, everyone. Andy, especially, would fall apart. I think without Ephram, knowing that Julia always envisioned them together and that was kind of her wish, he would be devastated. Devastated that he had failed as a father. So much of S1 is him trying to prove that he can do this. To Ephram, to Julia, but mostly to himself. That he's capable. If Ephram left, it would prove to Andy that he wasn't capable. True or not. And I don't think he could have handled yet another blow like that that early in the season.

break the window

I should've asked the question after thinking about it. Maybe if asked if Ephram moved away for like a month or maybe they did something where was gone for a long time, like a few months. I don't know. I'm just wondering what would happen if Ephram got what he wanted. Got to move back to his grandparents and decided that he wanted Everwood too, like Everwood may not be so bad, what would happen then? We know that Amy didn't want him to move, but she would never come out and say that. So, I guess that might be a new question. I don't know. But I do have a new question since the previous one, that didn't make entirely a lot of sense


If Bright didn't try to get Ephram away from Amy in the first few episodes, do you think Amy would have told Ephram about Colin on her own? With Bright getting in the way, it seemed she was forced to tell Ephram the truth since Bright constantly called her out on it in front of everyone.