The 2012 Summer Re-Watch: Everwood "Forget Me Not" Review

Irv tells us what young people in love tend to do: forget. Young people in love forget about family, friends, and even themselves. The loved one becomes their whole universe. Everyone else falls away. TV writers also forget when they introduce new characters, new stories, and get distracted. They forget old relationships and old stories. "Forget Me Not" is as much an episode about how newfound love has damaged other areas of Andy, Ephram, and Amy's lives as an episode about the writers remembering the friendship between Andy and Nina, and the friendship between Amy and Ephram.

I re-watched the final two seasons of Everwood last fall. I remembered how prominent Nina became in the show, so the recent stretch in season two where Nina disappeared struck me as odd. Of course, it shouldn't have, because the character lacks a prominent role in seasons one and two. Everwood needs Scott Wolf to turn Nina into an important character worth her own storytime. Still, her absence was strange. The holiday episode passed without Nina. I can't recall the last time we saw her. The audience is a bit like Andy, then, because he doesn't realize how long it's been since he's seen her until Harold basically says, "Hey Andy, it's been a long time since you've seen Nina. Work on that." Perhaps the writers room randomly realized the lack of Nina and then broke a story for her ASAP. Nina didn't stop existing off-screen. Sam's still a handful to deal with. She's working more shifts at Mama Joy's and took a job as an evening telemarketer to make ends meet. Carl's still gone; in fact, the former couple's on the precipice of divorce. Andy is ignorant to it all, which creates a rift between the friendly neighbors. Nina takes Sam to Harold for a doctor's appointment in hopes Andy will realize how distant he and she have become.

Andy realizes the issues at hand after the enlightening chat with Harold over Mama Joy lunch. Harold, a rational man, advises Andy to make amends by being a friend: cook a few meals, baby-sit Sam, etc. Help without being asked to help, in other words. Andy doesn't listen. Part of the character's charm is his grandiose gestures of romance and/or friendship. Andy cooks a chicken smothered in garlic that Nina didn't ask for; volunteers Madison to baby-sit Sam for a night and then proudly stands before Nina, confident of his great friendship and well-meaning intentions. Nina sends Sam to bed before telling Andy to shove the chicken up his ass. Andy's a brilliant neurosurgeon, but he's an idiot most of the time. His years as a neurosurgeon conditioned him to treat relationships like patients, which doesn't work in day-to-day life. There aren't set directions for fixing a friendship like there is for fixing a part of the brain. What Andy perceives as a warm gesture of friendship actually hurts him because his perception is wrong. He's clinical and cold in his approach, but he's well-meaning; he simply gets it wrong. Andy always needs someone to tell him where he went wrong and how to fix it. This person is usually Nina. Without her, he's screwed.
Linda steers Andy in the right direction by reminding him friendship is coming over to drink and coffee and listen to a friend. Being There for a friend is the most important act of friendship. Andy decides to go over after his date's over to apologize; however, they soon meet when Sam took the car keys out of a sleeping Nina's pocket book and crashed it into a pole. Nina blames herself; Andy blames himself for forgetting about her while she performed the duties of three people. The friends don't have a long conversation about what happened between them. Andy shuts up, hugs her for awhile, and tell her he's not leaving, because he's her friend and the hospital is where he needs to be right now.

A similar situation happens between Ephram and Amy. Bad grades on an essay for Spanish class motivates the two to pair up for extra credit. The former friends need to make an authentic Mexican dinner for the entire class. The project forces them to spend a good deal of time with each other before the weekend ends. Ephram's already in a bad mood after Madison lied to him about a love song he wrote for her. Amy and Tommy fight after Tommy learns she went to his house and lied to his mother about the reason she stopped by. As always, Ephram and Amy take out their personal hurts and frustrations on one another. Old tensions boil to the surface. Amy's pissed he left her for Bright's friendship and even madder he dropped out her life just when her life fell apart and she lost her home and sense of self. Ephram's mad because she disappears whenever a boy gives her the time of day. Amy makes a dig at Ephram being a worthless high school boy in Madison's eyes, and Ephram retorts by calling Tommy Tommy Crackhead and lets her have it by telling her how pathetic she is for throwing her family away for a boy.

Ephram and Amy brush aside the ugly parts of their argument during their reconciliation scene. The ugly parts are the most interesting parts of the argument. Amy addresses why she's behaved as she has in a refreshingly honest scene. Ephram shouldn't be crucified for disappearing during her crisis, because she pushed him away, as she pushed away her entire family. Amy's behavior is rooted in her grief for Colin rather than an all-consuming love for Tommy. Tommy makes her feel better temporarily, but he's an after-thought during her cathartic yelling match with Ephram (cathartic because she finally says she things she repressed). Amy's self-critical, evidenced in the letter she sends her father following the birthday dinner she missed. Amy feels shamefully bad about her forgetfulness because of the hurt she inflicted on her father's soul. Amy didn't want to forget him; she just did and she explains the lack of thought as a pattern she's developed of messing up. Harold reads her letter, a sadness overwhelming his face, and he tucks the letter away as he sits down for a movie with Rose and Bright.

Ephram doesn't learn anything. Whereas his father and former crush re-learned the value of conscious and active thought about the people they love and cherish, Ephram learns his song did IN FACT suck. Madison actually boosts Ephram's ego by writing lyrics for the song. Lyric writing took her whole day which explains why she didn't return his numerous phone calls. I had a new thought about Ephram and Madison, knowing where the relationship goes. The relationship seems destined to fail and viewed through such a lens it becomes about 2% more interesting. Madison feels overwhelmed by Ephram's commitment and activity in their courtship. Ephram promises to only give 850% of his energy, and Madison bites her lower ship before nodding that such commitment is acceptable. The age thing is the zebra in the department store, though.
Despite the kisses and dates and songs, they're just wrong for one another. Love is blind, though.
In fact, the three central characters of "Forget Me Not" forget about friends, family, and themselves, not knowing the people they forget everyone for will be people they, in fact, will forget about in time.

Other Thoughts:

-Delia is the ignored member of the Brown family now. Ephram barely hangs around the house. Delia states how she liked it more when Ephram and Madison hated each other. Me too, kiddo.

-Tommy swears he's reformed and no longer a drug addict. Tommy's a liar. Ephram spotted him dealing to Madison's band members. Tommy's Blackberry goes off constantly. The most damning evidence against him is the mere fact he's able to afford a blackberry for Amy. Amy doesn't know. Stay tuned.

-Wendy Mericle and Patrick Sean Smith wrote "Forget Me Not." Michael Schultz directed it.

UP NEXT: "No Sure Thing"--Sex is on the minds of Ephram, Amy and Andy. Watch it on Amazon.

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