Annie's apartment
Bailey proposes to Annie as an alternative to going back to Jay.

Opening credits

Annie's Apartment
Bailey knows that he's young, but not any younger than she was when she married Jay. He's got a good job and a future and he loves her daughter. She says it's great, but five minutes ago he didn't think he wanted to move in with her. He says he would have waited, but isn't this the way it works? You have a crisis and it makes you see things more clearly. He doesn't want to lose her.

LA
Julia and Griffin are in bed at the motel. Julia is on the phone with Claudia. An envelope came from Stanford. She tells Claudia to open it, but Claud already has. She got in for the fall semester. There's a meeting about housing in Palo Alto the next day. Griffin gets out of bed, understanding what is going on. He picks up a strip of photos they took and smiles. Claudia asks if a black dress would be ruined if someone barfed on it. Julia asks why someone would barf on her and can't they discuss this when she gets home? She gets off the phone and tells Griffin her news. He's happy for her, she has to go. He asks what is happening tomorrow. It's about housing, but she can put it off. He says he'll call the airline, they can be home that night.

Kitchen
Claudia is on the phone. Charlie comes in with laundry and asks her to get off the phone. He has to call Daphne and he asked an hour ago for her to get off. She's inquiring about the possibility of the "Big One" happening that Friday. Charlie looks at her pad of paper, she has been checking on the possibility of any natural disaster happening. He points out that if there is an earthquake, she's not going to want to go anyway. When she questions the credentials of the person on the phone they hang up on her. He asks what she's doing. He said it himself, if anything can go wrong it will. She doesn't want any surprises. She starts scotch guarding her dress. Charlie agrees. She doesn't want any surprises. He then launches into a very uncomfortable attempt at discussing safe sex. She should worry about Jamie jumping her in the limo. Claudia is shocked by this turn of the conversation. No one is going to be doing any jumping.

Airport
Griffin and Julia look at a vending machine. It has everything: tissues, condoms, mouthwash, aspirin, even a wedding band. Julia asks who buys a wedding band from a vending machine. Griffin lays out a scenario of a couple separating. You have the tissues for the tears, a condom for the quickie in the bathroom, aspirin for the pain of course, but in the end you can't lose that person and you blow your last 75 cents on a wedding ring. Julia points out that you've wasted money on the tissues, but Griffin says you'll need them for the marriage. Julia smiles sadly. Griffin grabs their bag and heads in search of potato chips while Julia buys the ring.

San Francisco Street
Charlie is discussing the baby situation with Kirsten. He doesn't know what to do. He knows it really isn't his choice, but he knows what he would have said a couple of years ago, but now he doesn't know. Not having the baby would be the easy thing, but . . . . Kirsten interrupts him. She can't talk to him about this, about having this baby or not, this casual affair and the baby that he can take or leave. Some people would give anything in the world to have a baby. He needs to find someone else to lean on.

AA meeting
Bailey runs into Jay on his way into the meeting. Jay can't believe he proposed to Annie. Bailey says he doesn't owe Jay anything. It's none of his business. Jay asks if he woke up one day and knew he couldn't live without her, that he would do anything necessary to make her want to give him another chance? If he loves her that much, then Jay is way off base. If Bailey doesn't love her that much, then he is trying to take a wife and a daughter away from someone who does. Bailey walks away.

Plane
Julia is staring out the window. Griffin asks if she's thinking about Stanford. She's remembering the roller coaster, the way it felt like they were sailing out of the ocean. They look lovingly into each other's eyes.

Owen's bedroom
Charlie is putting Owen's clothes away. He finds a box marked "Owen-first year." He pulls out a little blue sleeper, a pacifier and a small white shoe. He smiles.

Annie's apartment
Annie opens the door to Bailey and acts a little strange. He asks if Jay is there. He isn't, but she was going to call him. Bailey he's been thinking and they should talk more about getting married. Natalie comes out and asks which toys she should take with her. She doesn't want them to get lost with the movers. "Movers?" Bailey responds. He looks further in the apartment. Her things are all packed. She's going back to Jay. She was going to tell him. This has been the longest four days of her life . . . since Jay came back. She's been running it over and over and there are all these reasons on one side and on the other side there is just him.

Charlie's bedroom
Charlie is at his desk when Daphne comes in. She can't find a way to make this work. Nobody hires a pregnant stripper and there are no fat Disney characters. In one trimester she's going to be pregnant and out of work. Even if she can figure out how to make it through 9 months, then what? She can't afford a nanny and her parents live in Dallas . . . not that they would step foot in the house of their unwed stripper daughter/mom anyway. Charlie asks what about him. She tells him not to say that. He doesn't know what he's going to be doing in 9 months or a year or 3 years. She's a flake. Sometimes she works, sometimes she doesn't eat dinner for two nights, but who cares . . . she's only taking care of herself. She's not a mom, she's not a picture of a good mom. She's been thinking about not having the baby. She's not happy about it, but she thinks she can be okay, but she needs some help from him because she doesn't have a lot of money. Can he do that? He says he will.

Shed
Julia tells Griffin about the married student housing. She can set up her schedule so she has class in the morning, can do her homework in the afternoon and they can be together in the evening when he gets home from work. He tells her not to do that. She shouldn't have to make her schedule around him. She should live in the dorm and do things the normal way so she doesn't have to make excuses later. This shouldn't be a year when she makes a million compromises. She asks what he's saying. He thinks they should separate. He wishes there was another way, but he can't think of one. She says they work, they had the great weekend. He points out that it was an escape, not real life. It felt real to her. It wasn't . . . this is real life, having to make hard decisions, making compromises, trying not to hurt each other. It doesn't mean that they don't love each other, it just means that maybe they shouldn't be together. That weekend he saw her so happy and this is the thing that he can give her that would make her that happy in her life. He can giver her that. Griffin starts to cry

Shed
Griffin and Julia are in bed. She's playing with his ear. He tells her to stop, he needs to get some sleep. She's trying to memorize his ear, the way it curves, the scar on his chin. This is hard. She's used to him always being there so she's memorizing his face. He asks if it would make it easier if he drove her to Stanford the next day. She says it would.

Front Hall
Charlie has just told Bailey his big news. Bay can't believe it. He just keeps saying, "No way!" Charlie tells him to stop, he's not helping. Claudia calls down from her room asking Charlie to double check that there's film in the camera. Bailey wants all those hours of condom lectures Charlie made him sit through back. What was he thinking? He wasn't, obviously. Bailey asks what he's going to do. Charlie says Daphne doesn't want it. Problem solved, they'll just go back to normal like it was a mistake, an accident. Bailey asks if it was an accident. Charlie doesn't know, maybe things happen for a reason. You go through a year like he did, where you don't know if you're going to make it out alive and you make a baby. Maybe that was what it was all about . . . almost dying and becoming a father. Bay asks what he's saying. Charlie thinks it feels like a sign. Claudia walks in wearing a long black evening gown. "A sign? A bad sign?" she asks.

Stanford
Griffin and Julia pull up at the university. He points out the group on the steps. He'll pick her up at six. She kisses him and gets out of the car. She looks back at him and then is greeted by another student. She asks what high school Julia came from. Julia says she took the year off. She looks back and Griffin is gone. The girl asks if that was great. Julia says it was.

Apartment building
Annie, Jay and Natalie are loading the last of their stuff in his car. Annie comes over to say goodbye to Bailey who's sitting on the steps watching. He's going to box up her mail until it's forwarded and if Hank doesn't send her the rent she's due she should let him know. She asks if he doesn't want to say goodbye. He says she didn't give him a chance. She says it wasn't about him. It was about Nat and Jay. No, not that. She didn't give him a chance to used to her leaving. She didn't give him any time. Jay showed up and she packed and left. He starts to cry. He understands, but it sucks that she's going. They hug and she tells him that she loves him. He watches her leave.

Limo
Claudia and Jamie discover the snack bar in the back of the limo. As they crack into the chips the limo driver asks if they said "St. Alban's Prep school." They pull up in front and the building is dark and chained. Claudia wonders what could have happened . . . a bomb scare, alien abduction. Jamie pulls out the invitation. The prom is the next Friday. Claudia is not amused.

Drive home from Stanford
Julia says she'll call him every now and then, if that's okay. He agrees. She'll call if she fails an art history mid-term or is writing an epic poem and needs a word that rhymes with orange. They'll call each other Griffin says, but he can't think of a word that rhymes with orange. There isn't one so they'll have to be on the phone for a long-time, maybe all night.

St. Alban's
Claudia and Jamie are sitting on the bleachers with the limo driver between them. She tells the driver to tell Jamie that she can't forgive him yet. He says she'll forgive him soon. Jamie says he doesn't know how he could be so stupid. The driver says he doesn't know how he got so stupid. Jamie continues to berate himself until the driver tells him to ask her to dance. He does and she agrees, that is what she came here to do, but there isn't any music. The driver fixes that problem by turning on the headlights to illuminate the pitcher's mound and finding suitable dance music on the radio. Jamie asks her for that dance.

Salinger's
Sarah finds Bailey caulking the beer tap at the restaurant. She asks if this is the wrong time or if she's the wrong person, but when he didn't come home she was worried. He tells her he's trying to avoid the building. He's bitter. After all this time he's right back where he started. She disagrees. A year ago he was on probation, couldn't find a job, he didn't know where he fit in. Now he has this great job doing what he's always been the best at . . .helping people. He got a lot from this year.

Daphne's apartment
Daphne can't believe Charlie wants to have a child with a woman whose middle name he doesn't even know. Elaine, he thought. She doesn't even know his shoe size. It's 12.5. She thought they decided this, she made an appointment. It was hard and she's trying to be okay with it. He knows that she's said all the things that say she can't fit a kid in her life right now, but he said all those same things a couple of years ago. The question isn't who you are, but who you're willing to become. If she's willing to change, to be changed by this child they can find a way to do this. They'll do it together. She doesn't know if she's willing to say that. She isn't willing to take on more than she can handle. It isn't fair to anyone. He asks her if she'll wait, until after he's born and then decide. She can figure out what she wants her role to be once he's in the world and not some hypothetical. If she can't raise the baby with him, then Charlie will raise him on his own. That way she doesn't have to know how it's going to work out to say yes. Will she please say yes?

Annie's apartment
Sarah is repainting the empty apartment. Bay thinks it looks different already. He offers to help, but she tells him he doesn't have to. He thanks her. He feels really weird there, but does she mind if he watches for a few minutes? The fumes might clear his head. He keep thinking about the last couple days, how much he wanted to fight, how terrified he was about losing her, but now it doesn't feel like he thought it would. Sarah steps in the paint tray. They laugh. He asks why she's so good to him. After all this time why is she still here with him? She says it's no big deal. It's what it always was. She's in love with him. He looks surprised. Sarah returns to painting as Bailey smiles.

Kirsten's apartment
Charlie tells Kirsten about the new plan. She doesn't seem any more enthused about hearing about this aspect of his life. She asks what he wants her to say. He wants her to be happy for him. She asks if he's ready for this. He knows it's going to change everything, but he has 8 months to prepare . . . to have the anxiety attacks and read the books and get the new research on strollers. And where the AMA stands of sleeping position, Kirsten adds, because they're always saying something new. Charlie points out that this is the kind of advice he needs from her. He wouldn't have thought of that. She still is unenthused. He asks again for her to be happy for him. She says she'll try, but it's hard. He knows it is, how much having a child means to her and how unfair it is that she can't, but she's his best friend and he needs to be able to turn to her. He knows it's totally selfish, but he wants her to love him(the baby) and have him love her. Charlie knows how incredible that feels and he wants him to have that too. She points out that the he could be a girl, Charlie could have a little girl. Kirsten will buy her first pair of Mary Janes.

Living Room
Claudia comes home and finds Julia in the living room with a letter. Julia returned the favor and opened the letter. Claudia got into Philips Academy at Andover. She didn't even know Claudia applied. She didn't tell anyone, she forgot she'd even applied. Julia says it's a good school. Claudia wonders what Jamie would think, things wouldn't have to change because they were apart, would they? Julia says things do change when you're apart. People change and when they get back together sometimes they find out they want different things. The doorbell rings.

Claudia admits Daphne. Daphne is surprised that Charlie isn't home yet, she thought she was going to be late. She is acting like she doesn't feel very well. Julia comments that Daphne and Charlie said they had an announcement for them. Daphne continues to act uncomfortable. Claudia asks if they are getting married. Daphne says they are definitely not getting married and then asks where the bathroom is. She barely gets there before she throws up. Julia and Claudia figure out the secret. When Daphne reemerges Julia asks how many weeks. Daphne says she doesn't know, about seven. She tells the girls that it wasn't planned, obviously, but Charlie is really excited about the baby, she doesn't know what she wants yet . . . Charlie bursts in. The girls look at him while Daphne signals over their heads that they know. He looks like he expects them to be upset, but they congratulate him and hug him.

Bailey and Sarah's apartment
Bailey and Sarah are finishing up the dishes. The room is fraught with sexual tension. Sarah finishes putting the dishes away with Bailey helping her put something on the top shelf, his arm running down her back. He excuses himself to his bedroom. She follows him in and sits down next to him on his bed. She takes his hand and kisses it. He kisses her. She looks shyly at him and then they begin to kiss more passionately.

Shed
Griffin is packing. She asks what they should say when people ask why they aren't together anymore. She guesses she'll say that it's a trial separation. He agrees. He's ready to go, but she pulls out the wedding band. She says he doesn't have to wear it, she's not asking him to marry her. She knows they aren't right for each other right now, but maybe someday. He agrees and put the band on, it doesn't even reach his first knuckle. They embrace. He tells her he loves her. She says she knows and tell him she loves him too.

Sarah and Bailey's apartment
They are in bed after making love. He asks if she's okay. She says she is, but is that all there is? Is that what she waited all these years for? He takes a moment and then figures out she's kidding. He doesn't believe her. This can't be the first time she's done it. No she hasn't done it before, but it isn't that complicated. She says she's seen it in movies and practiced in her mind many times. He asks who she dreamed about being with. Can't he tell? Couldn't he always.

Doctor's office
Daphne is having an ultrasound. The doctor says it may be too early and they can come back in a couple weeks, but eventually she's able to locate the baby's heart. Charlie holds Daphne's hand while the doctor looks. Daphne looks over at the screen watching the heart beat. Charlie looks and then walks over to the screen putting his fingers up and touching the baby's heart. He is amazed.

Happy summer!

If you love something set it free . . . . This is the perfect illustration of Griffin and Julia's relationship. Griffin has made the ultimate sacrifice in letting/making Julia go. He knows that going to Stanford is her chance to experience life as a 19 year old. The thing is, I don't think she wants to experience it alone. In those few short days in LA they seem to have rediscovered something in their relationship that they haven't had since Julia left for Europe last summer. I feel pretty confident saying that we haven't seen the last of this pair.

I have to admit I wasn't sorry to see Annie or Natalie go. I believe Paige Turco and Allison Bertolino performed admirably, but these were never characters that had much chance of finding a permanent place on the Salinger canvas. Bailey's shock at their departure was just that . . . shock. It wasn't so much that he was sorry they were gone, but it was very sudden.

When I heard that Sarah and Bailey would finally sleep together I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I have thought that this couple had no chance to be together and I am not sure about their long-term possibilities, but everything that happened in this episode seemed to make sense. Bailey's sensitivity to Sarah's first time was touching. Her humor caught me a little off-guard, but it was this very type of banter that made this couple appealing that long, long time ago before the drinking, Callie, the accident, Annie, or any of the other terrible things that have happened in this relationship.

How does anybody not know what night their prom is on? My little brother went to three this year and he knew which night they were all on! Weren't the kids at school talking about the big night? All of this nonsense aside, it was really nice to see Claudia have some normal 15 year old experiences. I guess we do have one little cliffhanger, but the chances of Claudia heading to Andover seem pretty slim. I would hope that when she makes the decision to stay it's because the reason she wanted to leave (Charlie's potential demise) doesn't exist rather than the ties of a teenage love affair.

I can't believe that Owen was not in this episode at all! Word to the producers: if the Caverno twins cannot do the job and I'm not saying that they can't . . . recast. Owen is too important a character to just not have him be in the picture. He is way too young to head off to boarding school and with Charlie's lack of a career I sure hope they aren't just leaving him in day care all the time! The scene where Charlie found the box of Owen's baby things would have been more meaningful if he had turned around and seen Owen there.

Charlie. He's been through so much this year. I don't blame him for taking this baby as a sign of good things to come. I felt that this couple dealt with their situation in a very responsible manner. When Daphne talked to Charlie about having an abortion, he didn't pressure her. He thought about it, tried to discuss it with a friend and then went back to her with an alternative. He's the best person to help her think about becoming a mother because he has had parenthood fall in his lap very suddenly. He offered her support and a safety net. I like Daphne and I hope that she decides to stick with this baby and Charlie.

Speaking of Daphne, I am so pleased with her scene with Julia and Claudia at the end of the show. She told them how happy Charlie was about the baby and they reacted appropriately when he came home. You could tell that he was expecting attitude. How nice for him to receive what seemed like a genuinely happy reception from his younger sisters.

Charlie's relationship with Kirsten is very complicated. They are best friends who have shared so much. They have gone through some of the most difficult things a person can experience. This has made the bond between them very strong. I appreciate Kirsten's aversion to getting involved in this situation, but I also understand Charlie's need to have her support. It is going to take a lot of personal strength for her to be a part of this child's life, but in the end I think they both win.

Finally, the best theme of the episode had to be the safe sex topic. In the Party of Five discussion circles the topic of the Salingers' inability to properly wear a condom or take a birth control pill has come up more than once. The scene when Charlie told Bailey about the baby was a classic. Nice of him to throw it back in Charlie's face about the condom lectures. I also enjoyed Charlie's uncomfortable discussion with Claudia. It's too bad the characters can't watch the show so they know why their siblings are acting the way they are and say the things they do.

This was a fitting end to another great season. Thanks to the cast, crew, writers and producers for bringing this show into our homes every week. We've been on quite a roller coaster, but it was worth every minute.