Everwood 11/24/03 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

"Unhappy Holidays"

Betty White stops by (as Rose's mom) with her hubby for Thanksgiving dinner with the Abbots. Harold freaks out and gives Amy's new boyfriend Tommy the 3rd degree over his seedy past in recovery centers. Amy and Harold have it out in front of everyone, and she is so over her father's ways.

Andy finds out about Ephram and Madison and goes ballistic. It takes talking to an Indian father (Adam Beach, who plays a casino manager) whose son is about to walk through fire to become a man to see that he has to let Ephram learn some lessons the hard way. Reluctantly, Andy allows Ephram and Madison to see each other, but reminds Madison what she's dealing with.

With Thanksgiving dinner ruined for each, Andy and Harold end up at the town bar, and then go to the Indian Reservation casino to get away from it all. Harold starts up well at the Blackjack tables, but ends up in the hole quite a bit...

Andy and Linda bump into one another while looking for Christmas trees, and Andy goes in for the killer liplock after Linda confesses that she did like the attention he lavished on her. Delia is so not thrilled with this new development.

Amy runs away. The police have an APB on her. Supposedly Tommy doesn't know where she is. Rose's mom rips into Harold for being a bad father (to both Bright and Amy), but Rose comes to his defense, and then Rose's dad rips his wife a new one because she's so unpleasant and judgmental (that was funny).

Stay tuned...

(I think we are in re-run season for a bit now that sweeps are over for November).

Emily Vancamp is really doing a good job with Amy, her mood swings and pain driven by her father's dismissal of her new boyfriend just pushed her over the edge, and you can see it in her face in their showdown. The scenes between Andy, Ephram and Madison were also well done, as were the one between Harold and Amy.

 

[peter_anderson]

I agree with you for the most part; I think Ephram's dialog is sometimes *too* mature and calculated even for an "old soul" 16 year-old. I think the writers are trying very hard to make it look like Ephram and Madison are a really good fit, whereas we know their conversations should be more awkward.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

I do not know if I was just desperate for some linear entertainment with my baby induced zombie like state but I thought last night's Everwood was very good. It is quickly becoming my favorite show.

Even though I do agree Ephram speaks above his age, the things his character says advances the plot and tension in a realistic way, even if his words are not.

In any case, I was thoroughly engaged by that episode, even with Betty White playing annoying. It was a very real Thanksgiving scene. I loved it when they all chimed in to correct Harold when he was going off. On many many other shows past and present, the characters would have sat there as if nothing was going on. These people are a believable family.

What was it that her father said? "Congratulations on being a parent. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The best line of the episode was Betty White's: "Hi, Edna. Still married to the black man?"

In today's overly-PC television climate, it was good to see a flash of All in the Family-esque ignorance humor.

Maybe it's just that the decision that Dr. Brown made is so radically outside my views, but I thought him accepting Ephram and Madison's relationship was a bit unrealistic. I didn't like that plot development.

I loved Betty White as Rose's mom; in an other episode she would have been the standout. There was just too much else going on for her to come to the fore, though. Tommy's reaction to Harold's abuse was great, perfect politeness in the face of extreme rudeness.

Poor Delia! After a double betrayal, it's a wonder she doesn't shoot herself. If they blow over this storyline I'll be pissed; they've written themselves into a corner and they'd better have the integrity to write their way out.

Everything else was great, and the Christmas tree scene was pitch-perfect.

 

[DeborahK]

I gotta tell you, I really, really identify with Delia. I was a younger sister (albeit a million years ago) to a very precocious and cheeky teenage brother and I remember vividly how it felt to be in the middle of a storm that was extremely upsetting without ever becoming explicit, if that makes any sense. The kid who plays Delia does so perfectly. Both the writing and the acting here are excellent.

I really liked the way that Andy ultimately handled the Madison situation (btw, any bets that he would not have caved had the genders of the two players been reversed?) and I think they are all in for a stormy time in the future. Especially poor Delia who is being betrayed at every turn and has the least amount of life experience to deal with all of this.

Sigh.

Deborah

 

[Don Black]

Sarah Lancaster...

 

[Ken Chan]

any bets that he would not have caved had the genders of the two players been reversed?

A father is probably more protective of his daughters than his sons in this regard, although Andy is more "balanced" than average. Also, if it was the guy that was older, people would be more likely to suspect that his motives were purely lascivious.

The old notion that women are uninterested in sex is wrong (thank goodness), but it still seems like the average man is more preoccupied with it than the average woman.

//Ken