Ephram inherited his tragic flaw from his father, Dr. Andy Brown, which is an inability to change. Andy Brown gets in trouble a lot in "East Meets West." First, he hires a babysitter named Madison, which pisses Ephram off, and indeed, she'll be way more trouble than she's worth, so Ephram yells at his father for hiring a babysitter because her presence embarrasses him and makes him less like an 'adult' and more like a 'child.' Nina considered filing for divorce with Carl. Andy's opinion was straightforward: file for divorce and don't look back. Andy doesn't think about the nuances of the decision, the effect on not only Nina but Sam, and his insensitivity gets him trouble. Andy told her to file for divorce in the midst of a phone call. Nina then behaved passive-aggressively (especially after Ephram commented on her divorce to her which should've been a private matter between the adults), which pissed Andy off, and his anger pissed HER off, and she called him out for failing to follow his own advice i.e. telling people how to live their lives or move on without ever moving on himself. In a particularly harsh line, Nina wonders why he still wears his wedding ring two years after Julia died. Andy, hurt, says, "It's not the same." Nina fires venom back, saying, "Of course not because it's YOU." Delia's mad at him when he wants to fire Madison for lecturing him about being a good, supportive and attentive parent for his daughter because he clearly hired her to do the job he isn't doing. Andy Brown loses throughout "East Meets West."
Andy works to correct his mistakes in the fourth act. No, Madison won't be fired. No, he shouldn't have told Ephram about Nina's divorce. No, he won't yell at Ephram and project blame onto him because of his own guilty feelings. Andy communicates clearly with Ephram about the reason he hired Madison to baby-sit Delia: Ephram's homework doubled, and he needs to practice the piano when he's not doing homework. Ephram briefly thinks Madison will be shown the door
after her lecture; however, Delia puts both men in their place by calling them out for never doing the things Madison does with her, like playing or talking about cool stuff. Madison helps Delia feel included and special in a way the men in her life fail because they're too busy worrying about the woman next door and the girl at school; they need to focus on the little girl in their house, Andy's daughter and Ephram's sister. Now, I hate Madison with a passion, and the character destroys the season a good bit, but I loved her takedown of the Brown men. My response to the scene absolutely surprised me, and it'll be the only time I compliment Madison.
Andy fails to impose his will on Mike Hart, Colin's father. Andy usually succeeds whenever he wants people to do something e.g. the mother-daughter from "Extra Ordinary." Mike Hart is an alcoholic and much worse with Colin gone from his life. Andy witnesses Mike's inebriation and immediately develops a plan to combat it. His plan includes placing Mike in a program run by an old Med School buddy of his in the hopes the disease will be cured. Andy blows off Nina to help Mike even though Mike never asked for help. The persuasive speeches of Andy's don’t move Mike one inch. The man wants to drink to forget about the reality that his son is gone. Andy tries to connect with him by sharing his own experiences with grief; but Mike counters Andy, stating, "You mourned for what you had; I mourn for what will never be." Andy doesn't fight him anymore. Mike Hart won't have a happy ending. If I recall correctly, he makes one more appearance for disappearing, and he never cures his alcoholism. The death of his son broke him.
The lessons keep coming for Andy Brown; this won't change as the series continues. Andy's a terrific character when he makes mistakes. The best characters learn from their mistakes and grow and change. The Madison hire will be a massive mistake, but Andy doesn't know this yet, and the audience didn't know this in the fall of 2003 after "East Meets West" aired. I didn't know what to expect after it aired. Boy did I loathe what's to come though.
The Abbott siblings began sharing the family practice in "East Meets West." The title is derived from the differing treatment philosophies of Harold and Linda. Linda believes in eastern healing whereas Harold learned the westernized practice of medicine. Linda re-decorated her office to create an eastern atmosphere; soothing oriental music provided the soundtrack to her acupunctures and other treatment methods. Louise achieved peace and tranquility thanks to Linda's influence on the offense. Harold, as one expects, reacted poorly to the change. Eventually he comes around to his sister's way of treatment after she cures his neck pain. Harold's most fearful of her effect on the patients; he stresses how it took too long to convince the people to stop paying in livestock and vegetables (another fantastic Dr. Abbott line), so he doesn't want Linda to discount people and give them the wrong idea. Their storyline is played for laughs a week after their storyline was played for drama. The back-and-forth is enjoyable. The story effectively showed the other side of their relationship.
Ephram shines throughout "East Meets West." But it's not because he performs any good acts or deeds; rather, he's embarrassed a whole lot and it is outstanding. Madison treats him like a child. He tags along to mini-golf with the babysitter and Delia, runs into Amy with her dates, and mutters, "Kill me now." Ephram's the hero in school, though, when he gives Amy his homework to copy because she forgot. Amy is depressed about Colin. She doesn't talk much, and anyone who engages her seems to take her out some fog. She hugs Ephram because of the assignment, but it's a different kind of hug, like there's a sadness in her embrace, and she presses into him but it's not sexual or romantic, just sort of an instance of the girl needing someone to hug, assignment or not. I don't think the hug's about the assignment either as much as it is about Amy reacting this caring gesture by her friend; but she's too sad to do anything but hug and then walk down the hall, alone.
The season is still young and the storylines continue to form. "East Meets West" is very good. The tragic flaw narration is terrific, as is the accompanying montage. John E. Pogue's script is excellent. David Petrarca did a fine job directing.
UP NEXT: "Daddy's Little Girl"--Delia doesn't react well when Andy invites Linda over dinner. Amy wants to take anti-depressants. Watch it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030FG0R4
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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