Party of Five 6.22, Falling Forward: Stay in Your Comfort Zone! Trying New Things Is Bad!

May 30, 2015

Party of Five 6.22, Falling Forward: Stay in Your Comfort Zone! Trying New Things Is Bad!

I’m as happy as this dog because there are just two episodes left!

Summary: Business is good for Charlie and Bailey, and they’re eyeing some accounts that just came up for grabs. Bailey offers to put together an offer while Charlie takes the evening off to spend time with Kirsten. Julia’s stuck trying to find something to write about now that she’s put her book to bed. Will still isn’t living with Holly full-time, which annoys Bailey. Holly hears them bickering, but Bailey brushes it off, not wanting to tell her about Will’s feelings for her.

Todd’s mother leaves him and Claudia alone in the house, studying, because I guess she thinks they’re only going to study, or if she thinks otherwise, she doesn’t mind. They start making out, and Todd suggests that they take advantage of the fact that they’re alone. He makes it clear that he’s not going to pressure Claudia to do anything she doesn’t want to do. Fortunately for him, she wants to do it…at least at first. She decides she’s too distracted by thoughts of her educational future.

Julia’s also wondering about her future – should she stay at school or move on? A professor thinks she should meet with someone who writes for a women’s magazine. Justin tells her that Maggie called, and Julia wonders why he was hanging around the Salingers’ house all day instead of, say, studying or ending his marriage. Anyway, Maggie’s organizing some conference and wants Julia to speak. Julia’s annoyed that people only want her to talk about her book and her experiences with Ned. Griffin pops in for 30 seconds to notice that Justin and Julia are apparently back together.

Holly stuns Bailey by announcing that she’s going to have her marriage to Will annulled. She’s mad at Bailey for not telling her the truth about Will’s feelings for her. Bailey argues that he was trying to protect her. Her goal is staying in the U.S., so they need to focus on that. Charlie tells Kirsten that he’s going to have to work late a few more nights to get offers together. There’s more bad news when he learns that Mitch, the difficult foreman, collapsed at work and was taken to the hospital with heart problems.

When Charlie gets to the hospital, Mitch is in surgery to repair damage from a heart attack. His wife admits that he had a heart condition he never told Charlie about. She begged him to slow down, but Mitch worked hard to help Charlie reach his goals. Julia looks into an internship at the women’s magazine, Goddess, but is instead offered the chance to try for a monthly column. In light of Mitch’s medical problems, Charlie cuts back the schedule at the factory. Bailey objects, but Charlie won’t budge.

Claudia and Todd compare their college acceptances and rejections; she’s gotten into both Stanford and Juilliard. Todd’s even more excited than Claudia about Juilliard and urges her to go. Claudia says she only auditioned to see if she could get in. She doesn’t want to go because it’s expensive and far away. Bailey goes against Charlie’s decision to slow things down by trying to pick up some new business. Someone suggests that he get a business degree because it could bring him a lot of success.

Julia asks Justin to cancel their plans so she can work on her column. Bailey tracks down Will, who’s moved out of the Salingers’ house and quit his job without telling anyone. Will says it’s too hard to be around Holly now that she knows how he feels about her. Bailey reminds him that he took an oath. Will blasts him for not caring about his supposed best friend’s feelings. He reminds Bailey that Holly can go to med school somewhere else. Bailey needs to figure out why he’s trying to hold on when everyone else is ready to let go.

Julia’s first column doesn’t quit hit the mark, as the editor’s looking more for advice on how the readers will feel if they try to reinvent themselves. Julia realizes that the column wouldn’t really allow her to express herself. Charlie visits Mitch, who urges him not to slow down the line. He blames himself for his condition because he pushed himself to fulfill Charlie’s dreams, which would in turn help his own family.

Claudia and Todd head towards sex again, but he stops when he starts questioning the timing. He thinks Claudia’s trying to assuage her guilt over deciding to go to Juilliard. Claudia says she’s not going, but Todd knows she really wants to. Julia works on another column, taking up the little time she and Justin have together before he goes back to school. He doesn’t like that she’s “blowing off things that actually matter,” like the conference, so she can write silly articles for a silly magazine. I hope she dumps him.

Holly tells Bailey that she’s going back to London. He thinks she’s giving up, but she’s recognized that they’re not meant to be together. Staying there, with him, is just holding her back. At the factory, Charlie gets the horrible news that Mitch has had another heart attack, this one fatal. Julia tells Justin that he was right; she should speak at the conference and not write a stupid column for a dumb magazine. I hate them both.

Charlie gets emotional at Mitch’s funeral, telling Kirsten how much he loves her. Claudia tells Todd she’s going to Stanford because she’s not willing to give up everything she’d have to sacrifice to go to Juilliard. He suggests sex again. Charlie wants to slow things down again at the factory, telling Bailey that it’s more important for them to spend time with their families than to make money for them. He also wants to change the name of the company to Salinger Brothers. Bailey is noncommittal.

In bed, having just had sex, Claudia says things feel different now, but that’s clearly not a bad thing. Will has decided to go back to school, having “wasted” his year. He knows something’s wrong with his life if he could only feel useful by entering a sham marriage. He would do it all again. Bailey acknowledges what a good friend he is and promises that he understands why Will needs to make a change. Music montage! Julia speaks at the conference. Claudia considers Juilliard. Charlie spends time with Kirsten and Diana. And Bailey weighs his options for his future.

Thoughts: Claudia caught Julia’s co-dependence. It’s okay to go to school across the country, guys. It doesn’t mean you’ll never see your family again.

“Waaaah, my girlfriend isn’t 100 percent focused on me because she’s trying to get her career off the ground.” Shut up, Justin.

Claudia: “I had sex.” Todd: “I know. I was there.” THAT’S ADORABLE.

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