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EPISODES ~ Season 2 |
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| The show begins with Syd dreaming that her family is making a production
of a Hansen Christmas, and her mother is the director, yelling "cut" when performances aren't up to par.
When she wakes and goes downstairs, she realizes she's expecting a traditional Hansen Christmas, like her mother
used to organize, but that the others aren't as interested. She has found some treasures in the attic, including
her mother's gold angel for the top of the tree, and wants to share them on Christmas eve the next day, but the
others have plans: Jim is going to attend the party of Mrs. Blake; Robbie is busy with a money-making scheme of
selling suspiciously-obtained "Floovies" (strikingly similar to Furbys!); and Joannie decides to spend
Christmas eve with Richie, Hannah's father, who has separated from his wife. Syd is concerned that Joannie wants
to get back together with Richie, but Joannie insists that isn't the case. At the clinic, Izzy (the new manager she hired) is forcing Syd to take a realistic look at the business side of things. A medical care management company representative stops by, trying to talk Syd into signing a contract with them to handle the patient care administration. Syd takes his card, but is not particularly interested. She is more interested in attending to her patients, such as a little girl who has sprained her ankle, and a regular patient who has emphysema and has developed pneumonia. He owns a pawn shop and is getting lots of business at this time of year, but he says he holds onto the items they bring in in case they have a change of heart, because expensive department-store gifts aren't what Christmas is about. Back at home, Syd is still upset that the others aren't interested in spending Christmas eve together. She decides to put the angel on the tree herself, but slips off the stepladder, breaking the angel and hitting her head. She applies an ice pack and settles down to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" when she envisions her mother with her. Syd tells her she shouldn't have bothered moving back, but her mother insists things wouldn't have been better for anyone had she stayed in California. When Syd is skeptical, her mother tells her her wish has been granted: she never moved back. Sid awakens in California, and is married to Jerry, her shallow ex. She has a diamond the size of a golf ball. He tells her to get up and get pretty - they're hosting a holiday party for important clients. She gets ready, and comes into the party wearing what appears to be a burgundy colored bra and skirt - daring but presumably stylish [I wouldn't know, I'm afraid!]. She makes conversation with some typically shallow guests, then finds her mother, who takes her back to see how the others are doing in Providence. First off, she goes to the house. She walks in and alarms the girl whose ankle had been twisted earlier - this is her house now, because Jim sold it and everything in it. She goes to the Barkery, and asks for the owner, but it's a rich girl whose Daddy bought the business for her; the girl does know Joannie, though: Joannie is their night-shift baker. Her mother explains that Joannie didn't have the courage to follow her dream without Syd's support. She finds Joannie in a rather cramped apartment, pregnant with child #2 and fighting with Richie, who divorced his wife, Kris, after spending Christmas with Joannie and Hannah. Joannie says life may not be what she had envisioned, but it is better than things with Robbie! Linda takes Syd to see Robbie, and he's in jail! He was arrested for selling stolen Floovies. Syd talks to him, and he tells her he should get out on parole before too long for good behavior, but then the guards take him back to his cell. Next she goes to see her father, who is at Mrs. Blake’s party. Mrs. Blake tells her she's not Mrs. Blake anymore, but Mrs. Hansen... but Syd can call her "Mom"! She finds her dad, who looks resigned but not happy. Syd asks what happened, and he says he had to sell everything to put up the money to bail out Robbie. Then she goes to the clinic, where a doctor is sending her pawn shop-owner patient home with instructions to buy a cough syrup with expectorant. She confronts the doctor and tells him that, if he'll let her run a CBC and chest x-ray, she can prove he has pneumonia and needs antibiotics, but the health care management company representative steps in and tells her he's running this place and they cannot spend money on expensive tests. She awakens on the couch. She sees Mrs. Blake coming to the front door, and tells her she saw her dad go off down the street looking for a dog who ran off; her dad comes from around the side of the house and she shoos him back the other direction. He asks about her head, and she says she's okay. She tells him he shouldn't go to that party tonight, because Mrs. Blake has designs on him and she refuses to call Mrs. Blake "Mom"! He looks stunned, but she has more work to do and leaves. She goes to the Barkery and tries to discourage Joannie from going off with Richie for the weekend, but she insists it's fine and that the Hansen traditional Christmas never was that great anyway. She goes to find Robbie, who is selling the Floovies on the street; Syd tells him to stop selling them, which he refuses to do since he's maxed all his credit cards buying them. She tells him she'll buy them all, just not to sell any. He goes back to his customers. At the clinic, she finds the health care management representative and his colleagues, waiting to take over the place. She tears up his contract and says no way. Her pawn-shop owner patient is there, and he gives her a gift from his shop: a beautiful glass angel. Back home, she is admiring the tree when her dad comes in. She asks why he isn't at the party, and he says he put in a polite appearance, but wants to spend Christmas eve at home. Joannie comes in next; she has helped Richie and Kris get back together, so she and Hannah are spending Christmas at home. Last, Robbie comes in, also joining the family, and presenting Syd with a bill for all the Floovies. She shows them the treasure she found in the attic: the old movie projector, which she has had restored. They watch a film of their childhood Christmas together: Joannie and Syd hugging, Syd with her toy stethoscope, and Robbie in his cowboy outfit with lasso, knocking over the tree onto their dad. Then their mother talks directly to the camera, saying she hopes when they're all adults they'll find this old movie and watch it, and she tells them the secret of a great Christmas: make an organized plan, but it won't go according to plan. Just enjoy being with each other. And she tells them how much she loves them. They watch, smiling through their tears. |
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