Everwood "Enjoy The Ride" Review

“Enjoy the ride” as a phrase has become a tired cliché that means nothing, so one shouldn’t expect an episode titled “Enjoy The Ride” to be much, and it isn’t. It is a transitional episode.

The writers wrote Reid out of the story after his suicide attempt before he started to deal with what trying to end his life meant. Everwood did a similar storyline with Amy in season two, as the character told Reid during their heart-to-heart. Would Justin Boldoni have returned in season five? I do not know. He’s a CW star now, though. The character didn’t fit into the show. He was tangential, as most new characters become the later into the series they’re introduced.

Nina played married couple with Andy to help him with a middle school dilemma concerning Delia’s Bat Mitzvah. Jake remembered he cared about Nina being in his life, and he remembered how threatened he felt by Andy’s affection for her before the writers switched his problems with Andy to relate to his recovering addict issues. In “All the Lonely People” she realized she loved Andy too. Now, she has a choice. Jake’s story will take him back to LA for his counseling career. Will she go with him or stay in Everwood with Jake? The answer is already clear, if you watched any primetime drama ever.. Nina’s happier with Andy than she is with Jake, but they can’t get together until the last episode because of an outdated TV writing habit involving two characters destined to be together.

The writers contrived a happy ending for Rose and Harold by introducing an expecting mother who’s incapable of caring for her daughter because of schizophrenia, and a dying father. The audience learned Harold treated the woman since age fifteen to establish trust between the Abbotts and the couple. This storyline so transparently telegraphs the endgame for Harold and Rose. They’ll have a new baby. Their story has repeated through season four. The adoption storyline could be interpreted as a way for them to forget their next challenge as a married couple as empty nesters (sort of).  This latest chapter ended as previous chapters have for them—with vows of commitment.

Bright and Hannah inched toward a friendship, but Hannah told him she didn’t look forward to the day when they told each other about other dates as if they never meant so much together. Fortunately, Amy’s annoying college centric storyline has disappeared. Her and Hannah are friends again, but Amy’s been a drifter in the narrative this season. Ephram’s a drifter too. I wonder what will happen to those two.

Natasha Billawala wrote the episode, her lone writing credit. She worked as Marti Noxon’s assistant on Buffy during season seven. Not bad. Charlie Stratton directed the episode.