So, yes, my philosophy professor with the hard to remember last name (actually, hard to remember how to spell his last name) had an impact on nineteen year old Chris. The class taught me the value of critical thinking, of opening my mind to a world of different ideas and perspectives and avoiding the tendency to get trapped in a strict belief system. I could go on and on about other things he said throughout the semester, but I'm writing about Everwood, not a memoir on my community college years. Truth is a major part of "The Burden of Truth." But I specifically recall my professor pointing out the exchange between Jesus and Pilate when Pilate asks, "What is Truth?" which just absolutely struck me as a young student, because I never thought about the exchange in that way, as a legitimate and probing question, as a question that reflects an age of strict ideologies, as a question that basically says truth is relative. Jesus' silence was doubly striking, and it changed a great deal for me as a spiritual young man.
The residents of Everwood are all in search of some sort of truth about themselves. This truth can be seen by the town 'seer.' The 'seer' is Phil, a mechanic, who happens to possess a gift that tells him about the future. When Phil correctly diagnoses a young boy with meningitis, it creates fervor in the town. His car shop is full of people who want to know what the future holds for them. Phil tells the Brown men things about the women they love. For Ephram, who just got a used car from 1988 and is bummed about the car, Phil decides let him know that the girl he likes, and who likes him, will think the cool's car. Andy's going to get a kiss and he's going to break a promise, according to Phil. Phil's not a con-artist or anything; he's a simple mechanic who makes the mistake of preventing an epidemic and pays dearly by dealing with annoying neighbors and townies. No one actually likes what Phil tells him. People either scold him or race towards a doctor's office. Andy's pissed when he tries to force what Phil saw and it fails; Phil tells the bearded doctor to wait and let fate run its course. Harold's enraged that his practice has been bombarded by hypochondriacs emboldened by Phil's sight, and then he's really enraged when Phil tells him that someone he's close to is sick, because how dare he talk about his little girl, his dear little girl, except only, the sick person isn't Amy. You see, it's not that clear.
Phil the mechanic is a simple plot device at the end of the day. I won't harp on Phil. As a sixteen year old, I thought "The Burden of Truth" was a magnificent episode. I patiently waited for Amy to tell Ephram how cool the car is, refusing to recognize that Phil meant Madison when he told Ephram about a girl. The Abbotts, namely, deal with very uncomfortable truths, unsettling even. The sick woman Phil heard about in his head is Linda, but it's also Amy, too. Both are sick, but in different ways, and I think the writers meant for Phil to refer to Linda because her scene with Edna follows shortly thereafter. Amy's still emotionally sick, stuck in her grief, looking more despondent each episode. The girl drives to Wyoming randomly. Desperate to get anti-depressants, she forges her aunt's name on a prescription. Harold and Rose yell at their daughter, unable to grasp what would make her take such actions. Amy plainly tells them that she had asked but they said no. The scene doesn't end in domestic harmony. No, Harold loses his temper, writes the prescription for an Amy Abbott, but this Amy isn't his daughter. Indeed no, he doesn't know what's happened to his daughter.
The Abbott storyline slowly made its way to this place throughout the season. I wrote about this weeks ago. Harold and Rose have an idea of their children, especially Amy, who they perceived to be someone destined for absolute greatness. Their unable to deal with the situation because of the ideas they had for Amy. Now, she's so far from the girl they thought she knew. She's terribly sad. Just opining that someone is sad doesn't get to the heart of the matter. I think the word sad is too simplistic a term, too easy to use, because it doesn't convey the depth of the sadness, of the overwhelming sadness that will cripple a person. The Abbotts were a portrait of the idyllic suburban family in season one; now, they're a family in crisis. So it's interesting to watch how the writers portray this shift in their family dynamics. Sadness is one of the most difficult things to write about and get right, and Everwood had the ability to get sadness and grief right. The Amy storyline isn't the greatest depiction of sadness on TV. In fact, a long digression is about to happen, but the storyline ends well (that of course is weeks away). The Abbotts don't hit bottom with Amy, but Amy's as alone as she'll ever be in "The Burden of Truth."
Linda, the other sick Abbott, reveals that she contracted HIV in Africa. She tells her mom the truth after Edna annoys about the reason she won't pursue a relationship with Andy. Again, it's an unsettling truth, a burden even, as the episode title suggests truth can be. I admire the plotting of Linda in this episode. Television writing can be very simple sometimes. Andy hears he'll get a kiss he's been waiting for; he actively tries to get the kiss; Linda rejects him; the rejection leads to Linda bearing the truth to her mom. Phil is definitely a plot device. Edna urges Linda tell others. Linda won't. "But you're sick," Edna says. Linda feels confident she'll never be symptomatic. The importance of the scene is Linda's confession that she's able to tell someone about what happened in Africa. Linda wants to protect Andy from it. Edna feels she shouldn't let the disease keep her from being with someone she considers special. Linda's story is far from over and at least it started.
So, by the end of the episode, Phil's thinking about moving to Arizona because the town burned him out. Andy actually confronted him for giving him bad advice, but Phil doesn't give advice. Andy then helps the mechanic solve the problem of everyone thinking he has the Truth about them. Phil cynically observes how people long for the truth but, really, all they want is good news. The truth has a way of bumming people out. Phil just wants to fix cars, not people. Andy helps him think of a lie to tell everyone to make them think he's a fake. But a lie can't wipe away what the characters learned in "The Burden of Truth." The episode ends on a montage set to a version of "O Child." Edna cries into Irv's arms; Amy stares into space. Things will get easier. It just takes time.
Other Thoughts:
-The Ephram-Madison relationship sucks but it's not going away anytime soon. Anyway, they kiss again. Madison means the kiss this time. Ephram nearly destroyed his chance by telling Madison her band sucks. Of course, the band DOES suck. Madison's an awful vocalist. If Sarah Lancaster actually sang then, uh, sorry. Jay, the band's douchebag, says their band sounds like every alt-rock group from Everwood to Boulder. I'd love to know what that scene was actually like in late 2003. I still don't know what Ephram saw in her. The best guess is to ascribe it to the Desert Island theory. But, yeah, the relationship is ON.
-Great scene between Harold, Thurman and Nelson. Thurman and Nelson are my favorite secondary characters in Everwood. Tom Amandes plays comically annoyed fantastically.
-J.K. Simmons portrayed Phil. The show never found a way to bring Simmons back. Maybe he didn't want to return to the show. I always thought Phil's words would have a grand payoff down the line, not realizing at the time that Phil's words had payoff in this very episode.
-The entire town completely moved on after last week's mining heroics. Similarly, the mass exodus after the avalanche prediction isn't brought up again. Everwood episodes move through days or weeks. I never followed the timeline. Perhaps I should be paying attention to the timeline of the show. Perhaps not. Not much time passes though. The season began during Labor Day weekend. The holidays are nigh. So, the town seems mighty forgetful.
-Vanessa Taylor wrote the episode. Michael Schultz directed it.
UP NEXT: "Just Like in the Movies"--Andy continues to pursue Linda; Amy meets Paul Wesley. Watch it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030FAS18
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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