Colin's story resonates far more in "The Price of Fame" than Evelyn's because Colin's a major character in the major arc of the season. The first act opens with somber piano chords as Colin awaits his ride to school. He looks sad and out-of-place, uncomfortable in his own skin and in the town. At school, Colin's supposed to remember faces that he's forgotten and experiences that don't exist in his memory anymore. In the bathroom, he introduces himself to Ephram. Afterwards, Colin invites Ephram to hang around him and his friends whether it's a ride to school or sharing the same table at lunch. Bright even picks Ephram first in the pick-up basketball game during gym class.
The new friendship between Ephram and Colin unnerves Amy (and annoys Bright). Amy suspects Ephram of sabotaging her attempts to rebuild her relationship with Colin. At lunch, she lies to Colin about her friendship with Ephram. As foretold by Bright in the pilot, Amy doesn't care for the boy from New York now that Colin's back. She doesn't believe that Colin wants Ephram as a friend because he's so cool and Ephram's not. Ephram escorts her from his house following that insult. I alternately like and dislike Amy during season one because her behavior's so different from episode to episode. One episode, she's positively angelic towards him; the next, she's as cold as a Siberian night. And, oh, is she cold in this one. She hurts Ephram's feelings so much so that he takes his frustrations and hurt out on Colin, declaring that he refuses to be a charity case. Amy watches silently, satisfied that Ephram burned that bridge.
However, Colin apologizes to Ephram the next day for using Andy as the reason he wanted to be friends. The truth, Colin reveals, is that he relates to Ephram's sense of being out-of-place because that's how he feels surrounded by those who remember who he was without understanding who he is presently. Ephram forgives Colin and the two resume their friendship. In the distance, Amy watches uncomfortably. She's uncomfortable because of she and Ephram kissed twice. She has unresolved feelings for the guy. More importantly, she fears Colin learning about her history with Ephram. One would think the girl would encourage anything positive for Colin but she's a teenage girl, and teenagers don't think clearly. Amy Abbott's a frustrating character, especially with anything Colin.
I've always liked the friendship between Ephram and Colin. The friendship's great because it feels natural that Colin would relate to Ephram, and because the friendship causes problems between Ephram and Amy. Ephram's clear-headedness and level-headedness is important in future episodes because no one else acknowledges the truth about Colin at any point in the series--only the Browns.
The Evelyn story falls flat, in my opinion. The character's not as layered as she's perceived by other characters. I don't buy the immense love and admiration that the town feels for this woman, and Edna's friendship with the character doesn't make the story any more effective or emotional. Evelyn's a successful theater actress and director who came to Everwood to die 12 years ago, though no one but Andy knows that. The woman's leukemia returns and she decides to hide the truth from the townspeople because she doesn't want people's idea of her. In her mind, the idea's more important than the actual person. Whereas Colin wants to belong, Evelyn wants to stand out. She only tells Edna about her sickness, and we're to believe that Evelyn doesn't beat the disease for a second time.
Edna's in the shadow of Evelyn when she's forced to become the director of the community production of The King & I. Edna fails as a director because she ostracizes her cast by working them as a drill sergeant works his or her troops. Edna doesn't want to fail her friend. Fortunately, Evelyn gives her permission to run her own play and be her own director.
One could argue that the episode's about playing parts as much as it is about the price of fame because the backdrop of the episode is the play, in which our characters adopt roles to play for a night. Evelyn wants to play the role of the successful artist and auteur. Colin cannot play a role because he's clueless about his former self. Amy adopts the role of her former self, pre-accident, when she had no idea Ephram existed. Irv romanticizes this kind of role-playing at the close of the episode when he describes 'the holy moment'--that moment before the curtain opens and people become who they were always meant to be. The sentiment's nice but most of the characters behave terribly in the episode. If the sentiments supposed to reflect the events of the episode then only Colin, Ephram, Delia and Andy emerge unscathed.
Overall, though, I like this episode. The timeline's confusing. I think the episode spans several weeks because of the change in Evelyn's appearance so it feels disjointed and scattered; however, even disjointed episodes are good in Everwood's near perfect first season.
Rina Mimoun wrote the episode. Sandy Smolan directed it.
UP NEXT: "Colin the Second"--Colin continues to struggle in what is a world full of strangers for him. Andy hopes to convince Ephram to resume the piano lessons he abandoned following his mother's death. Nina's husband's return to Everwood's more bittersweet than expected. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SLSFVA
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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