Fourth seasons of TV shows are a mixed bag. By season four,
a show has grown beyond the initial vision of the creator and/or the show
runner. Changes in setting inevitably occur in the fourth season. Everwood in
season four is different from its magical first season. Greg Berlanti created a
show about a grieving doctor, broken by his wife’s death, making a great change
in his life, to re-locate his family to the place his wife imagined she’d be
when she died in an attempt, to reconcile with the son he lost touch with as a
busy New York City brain surgeon. Andy Brown moved to find his heart, his son’s
heart, and to find a replacement for his family’s heart, something to fill the
hole Julia left in their lives, but he also found a Hart, Colin Hart,
Everwood’s center, their golden boy, who he fixed once but couldn’t fix twice.
If he saved him a second time, the story of Everwood would’ve been completed.
The TV industry doesn’t let shows end so soon.
Everwood, of course, continued for three more seasons.
Season two dealt with the effect of Colin Hart’s loss on the town, on Amy, and
on Andy, but it moved away from the central theme of season one, which was the
loss of one’s center and the hope to regain it. Greg Berlanti and his writers
needed to find new depths in the story of Everwood. They found that depth in
Bright, Rose, Ephram’s first love, Amy’s depression, and they, the writers,
gradually moved beyond the loss of Colin Hart. Everwood’s second major theme is
restoration and hope: the hope to love again after loss, and the hope to
restore damaged or broken relationships. Seasons three and four focus on those
prominent themes. Amy and Ephram have their chance in the third season, Andy
experiences a meaningful romantic relationship since Julia’s death, and Nina
finds a love after her marriage ended. Everwood’s different in season four, not
in a bad way, but in a way that’s unique to television: it captures how it is
to live.
The build to “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” concerned the
mysterious marriage teased in the teaser. Rina Mimoun revealed that a wedding
would happen in the premiere to spark speculation about a marriage between Nina
and Andy, who were last seen kissing in “Where The Heart Is”. Edna and Irv were
the mysterious couple renewing their vows, a welcome development after their
discord in season three.
The final Everwood premiere primarily concerns the fallout
from the kiss between Andy and Nina. Andy wanted their kiss to be the
foundation upon which they built a life together. Nina did not know what she
wanted, so she stalled by going to Hawaii with Jake and Sam. Andy needs the
whole episode to accept his role in her life. She won’t leave Jake after
finding stability with him. Harold told Andy he needed to accept his
humiliation and disappointment if it meant remaining close with the woman he
loved, because if he broke their friendship, she’d never have the chance to
sort out whom she wanted.
Of course, the love triangle’s a conventional trite plot to
delay their inevitable union. Everwood often embraced the tempting plot
machinations of night soaps. “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” hasn’t aged well in
ten years. The scenes in which Nina tells her side of the story to Edna and
Andy tells his side to Harold provides the viewer with the whole story worked
on first viewing, even though it’s a cheap exposition device, but it’s a slog
to re-watch (and re-re-watch).
The writers used sudden weeks-long trips to other cities and
countries to justify why the characters didn’t deal with numerous issues during
the time-jump. Nina left for Hawaii after the kiss. Andy left for Mexico before
Nina returned. Hannah, who wanted to define her relationship to Bright, left
for Minnesota (or a cruise) to be with her mother, which meant they never
discussed what their kiss meant. No character knows where Ephram went because
he only sent postcards to Delia. There’s a lot tropey and unnecessary plot
stalling that makes this premiere easy to skip if you ever want to re-watch
season four.
“A Kiss to Build a Dream On” has the typical premiere
season-building components. Amy crushes on a new character named Reid, a
medical student and potential roommate of Bright’s, who may or may not be gay.
Bright told Reid he wanted to save the spare bedroom for whenever Ephram got
his head together and came home. A Bright/Reid/Ephram triad sets up a
quasi-triangle for Reid, Ephram, and Amy. The writers had their triangles
mapped. Meanwhile, Rose completed chemo, which took her away from season three’s
late cancer storyline.
Season premieres for network television haven’t changed in
ten years. They’re wasteful episodes full of information that could be intuited
by the audience in a couple lines of dialogue in a more engaging episode. A
season’s second episode always improves on the premiere, because the premiere is,
often, a slumbering bore.
Rina Mimoun wrote the episode. Arvin Brown directed.
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