The balance is essential in "Sick." Linda being HIV-Positive is no longer a secret. Delia found Linda filling her pill box with a variety of pills and innocently asked her why she takes so many of them. Linda didn't lie to the child; she explained her disease, what it meant, and kindly asked that their talk remain a secret. Delia told her best friend Brittany because she was sad and trusting of her best friend to keep the secret. Brittany didn't. Her parents stormed into the Abbott practice, demanding answers for why the two doctors failed to disclose Linda's disease. Edna, Harold, Linda, and Andy, gathered in an office and game-planned for the town's reaction. The citizens of Everwood are often described, in times of crisis, with apocalyptic language. Edna expects Salem witch trial-like behavior, and Rose urges her husband to listen to the demands of the people to avoid catastrophe. Last season, in the abortion episode, according to Harold, the discovery of a doctor performing an abortion would end in the town massacring the doctor and his family (I'm embellishing for effect).
Harold will not bend to the town, and he is prepared to fight for his sister until they win their case. The citizens intend on taking the doctors to court for 'emotional distress' and 'fraud' because they opted not to disclose Linda's condition. Linda's silent during the impassioned parts of the episode. Harold's determined to fight for family and to not let the town win again. Slowly, though, Harold finds himself on an island. Linda doesn't want to fight; Rose advises Harold to listen to the town's demands to avoid court; Edna wants to respect what Linda wants and urges Harold to let his sister do what she wants and move on and continue to practice medicine. The words that echo throughout "Sick" are 'move on.'
Linda's disease was something no one really acknowledged or contemplated. Andy contemplated the disease before their relationship began but never really considered how the reality of the disease would affect his children. Harold disclosed his sister's to disease to everyone but the people she treated. They wanted to forget the reality. The town won't let them forget or act like everything is normal. The town's involvement is a minor part of the episode; what matters is the degree to which everyone must finally confront Linda's condition. Bright, Amy and Ephram are told about her disease. Ephram gets so worried he asks Andy to stop seeing her; Bright and Amy are sort of shell-shocked, but they'll just try to make Linda feel as normal as possible, and when people use that line of thought, it means life isn't normal.
The melodramatic flair of the episode involves the town versus the Abbotts, the threat of the practice losing its malpractice insurance, and so on. The deeply felt human drama is with Linda, who subdued in every scene. Linda isn't mad or upset. The character's written like she expected the truth to come out eventually and that nothing surprises her; you know, she expected it. Linda doesn't fight the town, but she fights Harold for wanting to fight for her; Linda doesn't fight Andy when he tells her their relationship can't go on. It's like Linda knew life in Everwood would be temporary. Linda doesn't struggle to keep the roots she planted in Everwood in the ground. She exhibits a quiet strength and resolve in all of her scenes. She'll be moving on now.
Ephram asks his father why he's dating a woman who could cause him and the family so much pain. He wants Andy to imagine a day when Linda's disease isn't dormant and Delia experiences the loss of another mother. The initial question, about why Andy chose to be in a relationship with Linda, isn't actually answered; the same question attaches itself to the other women Andy will date before the series ends. Andy's a complex character, and the writers don't shed light on his specific motivations until the season finale. Ephram's words about being terrified of losing him lead to Andy ending the relationship with Linda. Ephram inevitably feels guilt after he watches Linda and Delia talk, but Andy's mind is made up. Andy doesn't answer the question about how he's able to go on while still loving a woman who he's not with. Andy's carried around his love for Julia, and the love he felt for Linda will linger in the same way.
The Abbott practice does not escape the situation unscathed, despite adhering to the town's demands. Indeed, the ethical matter is dealt with in absolutes; there is no middle ground: the practice should've disclosed. Harold's met with a terrible surprise when a rep. from his malpractice insurance informs him that the insurance has been pulled while they investigate the practice for 'failure to disclose their intent of non-disclosure.' Harold cannot practice medicine without insurance. So, sadness and disappointment are plentiful around Everwood in "Sick."
The teenagers aren't having as bad a week as the adults. Ephram's moping around about Madison. Amy's feeling good about being off her medication. Bright rebounded well from the college disappointments. Bright's mood sours when Amy admits to possibly feeling a shift in feelings for Ephram. Amy felt for him early on in the season but then she let him go because she didn't want to deny him happiness with Madison, and she felt like she couldn't make him a priority. Seasons changed. Amy changed. Ephram is her guy now. Bright opposes the romantic union because he doesn't want to see his boy get crushed so soon after Madison crushed him. Amy's feelings for Ephram are re-introduced as set-up for the final three episodes.
The A story overwhelms any other story in "Sick." The episode succeeded because of the balance between melodramatic flair and deeply felt human drama. The balance separated Everwood from other family-dramas and is one of the reasons it was hailed as 'one of the best family dramas in years' by the Detroit Free-Press in 2003.
Other Thoughts:
-Delia beats Brittany up for telling her parents the secret. Arnie also makes a rare re-appearance and, of course, he's being bullied around by the girls. Brittany tells him to run because she wants to play dodgeball. He runs. Brittany and Delia talk about Linda. I assume Arnie just kept running and running.
-I'm going to write about Everwood on Tuesdays until the re-watch ends, starting this Tuesday.
-Michael Green wrote the episode. David Paymer directed it.
UP NEXT: "Do or Die"--Linda thinks it may be time to leave Everwood; Ephram and Amy go to prom with Bright; Dr. Douglas returns with a request for Andy. Watch the episode on Amazon.com.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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