So, where does the Abbott family crisis go wrong? In theory, the storyline should work. Last season, the Abbotts were the model family. They had the perfect children. The wife is mayor of Everwood. The husband is the long-time doctor of Everwood. The Abbott family has been treating the citizens of Everwood for decades. Harold perceived the Brown turmoil as impossible for his own family. He was proud and prideful. In season two, the model family slowly detoriated. Initially, the detoriation felt natural. Harold and Rose didn't know how to help their grieving daughter. The show introduced the anti-depressants angle. Amy decided to fall for a boy from the wrong side of the Everwood river because no one understood her. Harold and Rose still didn't know how to help their daughter. Rock-bottom happened last week during Thanksgiving dinner. The idea of a family finding themselves in a 180 of what they used to be and dealing with it had potential. The study of the nuclear family is worth exploring and telling. Of course, the manner of exploring the nuclear family is important. Unfortunately, TV writers opt for the least interesting direction; the direction which is full of needless melodrama, out-of-nowhere marital strife, wayward youth, etc.
The storyline plunges off of a cliff when Rose angrily asks Harold if he'd risk their marriage for their daughter. The previous episode happened less than a week ago. "Family Dynamics' begins an hour or so after Amy's reported missing. The night before, Rose passionately defended her husband against her mother, citing Harold's excellence as a father and husband. Edna lets everyone know Amy stayed with her. Rose and Harold feel angry because their daughter disappeared after wishing death for herself. They thought Amy killed herself. Later on, Amy's given an ultimatum: she either drops the boyfriend and comes home or she keeps the boyfriend and doesn't come home. Rose has opted for tough love. "Unhappy Holidays" showed two parents making the hard choice to knowingly let their child make his own mistakes and learn from them. Rose decides Amy needs to learn the hard way if she wants to act like an adult and treat her parents like wardens. Harold wishes for his daughter to be home and safe. Their difference in opinion results in a horrible scene about the fragility of their marriage, which is inconsistent with #210.
The Abbotts agree to a meeting mediated by the local priest. Rose expected her tough love mantra to cause Amy to cave. Harold needs to prove he can put aside his daughter for his wife. The meeting doesn't end well. Amy refuses to lose Tommy Callahan. Harold sticks to terms set forth by Rose, informing Amy that he won't risk his marriage to have her home, which is simply preposterous line in and of itself, and more so because it's completely out-of-character for family. Harold's certainly capable of loving his daughter to a fault. The man overlooked every mistake Amy made previous to Thanksgiving, and he's even willing to sweep the dinner argument under the rug. Rose shouldn't crucify him for loving his daughter too much because of what she said in #210. The condemnation is inconsistent with the character. Of course, the circumstances could push someone over the edge. After all, they thought she was dead. Still, the potential breakdown of the marriage was overkill. I'd accept an intense fight, but not the prospect of the destruction of the marriage.
Amy, meanwhile, shows no signs of her former sad self. The anti-depressants are working and actually transformed her into an entirely new character. Amy loses the qualities that make her lovable during the course of "Family Dynamics." She's changed for the purposes of the narrative. Amy tells Tommy about her need for freedom and plans to use Edna to get the freedom her parents wanted to restrict. The transformation doesn't work, but, whatever; it's not going to change just because I complain about it eight years later. She questions her parents' unconditional love, convinced they love who she used to be, not who she is. Amy feels this way because she doesn't love herself, though. The story is going somewhere specific and designed to conclude a very important arc for her. Berlanti didn't need to create this Lifetime version of Amy to get her to this place, though. I know it's tougher to communicate a character's feelings on TV. Amy's characterization is a product of the writers being unable to think of a dramatically interesting way to make those feelings known.
So, yes, the entire storyline is a disaster, and it's just begun. However, the Brown family are a delight to be around in "Family Dynamics." Parent and child have conflict but the conflict is discussed in a calm manner. Delia dislikes Andy breaking his promise not to date Linda. Ephram's uncomfortable with his dad dating a new woman two years after Julia passed. Andy succeeds in listening and discussing the situation with Delia and Ephram. Andy explains away Delia's greatest fear--that Julia will be mad at her for liking Linda. Andy assures Ephram that no one will replace his mother. Ephram's ease in confiding in his father is another sign of progress in their relationship.
Andy's aided by a woman who made a promise to her husband, who died, to have a baby with the sperm he left behind. Both characters made promises they can't keep. The woman, Helen, is in a new marriage. Helen breaks in the fourth act when she tells Andy about the look on her deceased husband's face when he wanted her promise. Andy gently explains to her, "Letting go doesn't mean forgetting." The B and C stories are great. There's nuance in the stories; they feel real. I don't know why the writers missed on the A story.
Other Thoughts:
-Kellie Waymire portrayed Helen. She died before the episode aired. Her death added a different kind of sadness to her story. She was so good in her last scene with Treat.
-Merrilyn Gann is terrific in "Family Dynamics." She turns lousy material into gold. Amandes, as always, is terrific as well.
-David Hudgins wrote the episode. Michael Schultz directed it.
UP NEXT: "Controlling Interest"--Dr. Brown tries to intervene when a bulimic high school champion wrestler puts his life in jeopardy for an important tournament. Ephram is convinced that college student Madison is embarrassed to be seen with him. Watch it on Amazon.com.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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