The four older Salingers are dealing with relationship issues. Bailey and Kate are planning a camping trip, and he wants to use his parents double sleeping bag. She says she must lie to her father about it, that she'll tell him she went to with a friend, Sarah, and her parents to Tahoe. Later, Bailey finds out that when he dumped Kate, she applied for a boarding school, Hotchkiss, in the East Coast, trying to get away from her strict father and the broken relationship. She lies to him saying it was her father's idea but when he visits Kate's mother, Mrs Remsen, and asks her to talk to Mr Bishop about it, she tells him that was Kate the one who applied. He gets mad because he just got her back and confronts Kate. She tells him not to be selfish, she wants to leave because she can't stand the shared custody anymore, her father is mean to her and hates her friends and what she does or how she dresses. He tries to understand, but soon his selfishness wins and while having lunch at Salinger's, he says he won't go for a camping trip in their last weekend together, and mistreats her saying he did eveything she wanted. Somehow forced, Kate accepts to sleep with him but at the end Bailey realizes he's being a jerk again, so he lets her go in peaceful terms. This story was interesting but it annoyed me how selfish was Bailey sometimes. He's not usually a bad guy but he acted like a jerk in the restaurant and in the jeep. Fortunately, at the end he was more like himself again.
Julia and Claudia stories are linked because Claudia copies the three bad advices Nina gives to Julia to be with Morgan. Claudia wants to get Artie's attention because after practising music, she sees he's getting bored, she wanted to play Risk, but he prefers video games, Mortal Kombat (the 90s). In the house there are no video games so he leaves saying "See you when I see you". She tries "being mysterious", using a scarf and sus glasses in the ice cream shop, but when Artie sees her, he thinks it's weird and leaves. Then she tries surprising him in karate class, but this bothers him. Finally, she wants to make him jealous by taking Will to the ice cream shop, where they talk about their favourite ice cream, and this time Artie says they shouldn't practice together anymore. Claudia finally confides in Julia about what happened, and still admits she wants to be like her, just like she said in 1x10. Julia tells her she shouldn't mess up with Artie and gives her the right advice: be honest. Claudia apologizes to Artie and tells she just wanted to hang out more with him, and he accepts. This storyline was a little funny, even with Will involved. I know it wasn't so great, but Claudia is just a child, and sometimes her stories must be like that, innocent, funny, like a comedy. In the meantime, Julia tried the same 3 ideal with Morgan, he was interested, but after he rejected her picnic offer, he was forced to tell her he has a daughter. He previously admitted that he was on drugs when he was younger but he recovered. She doesn't judge him and accepts spending time with him, but later, in the club, there's an inspector who checks the IDs of everyone around, so Julia's in trouble. This part wasn't enjoyable. Julia's lies to Morgan seemed meaningless, he is almost twice her age so I'm more in the point of view of Charlie and what their parents would say. I mean, Julia's explanation about being at the club was great (1x08), now, her issues with this man, who has a daughter, I don't get it. Also, despite her bad advices, Nina recognized that if Julia get involved or falls in love with Morgan, it would not end good or it wouldn't last.
And the best of the episode without doubt: Charlie and Kirsten's reconciliation. As in Much Ado, the only thing that can help Kirsten get over Charlie's crime is a health problem, this case affecting her. First, she waits him at the restaurant and when he arrives, she says Hi. He's happy to see her and says he called her to thank her for helping them with the social worker, and asks if she got the message. She seems distracted but says yes, and asks him for a date, to have lunch. He says he'd love to but now he has to work, so she asks for dinner. He happily accepts and then she kisses him. That night, they go to her place, he gave her flowers, and asks "how are you?". She tells she finished her course work and that she now she has to do her dissertation, but she isn't sure. He asks why and she tells she'll do it, obviously to not mention her worries. She seems distracted, saying she meant to cook but he tells it's ok, that he really missed her, and knowing what she wants, they sleep together. In the morning, when he wakes up, he notices that she took a shower, that her hair dryer is broken, and that she's prepared to leave, so he tries to make her stay to start the day together. She accepts his kisses, but she coldly tells she can't stay and that she has to go. He knows something is going on, but she says that nothing is going on, and leaves. Later, at Berkeley, he waits for her, surely taking advantage that he had to go there for an Architecture class, and confronts her. He thinks it's payback, that she used him because he cheated on her, but she says that's not what she's doing (she's not that kind of person). He asks her what's going on then, because he was trying to make their relationship work again, so she apologizes saying that wasn't her intention. She tells him to forget last night, but he insists he won't leave her like nothing happened, and again asks why. Kirsten finally gets in tears and tells it's getting dark earlier (late november), that she didn't want to be alone, and confess she might be sick. They go again to her place and she tells she felt pain, went to gynecologist, and she found a mass. She's afraid because could be the "big thing" (cancer), but he doesn't seem to understand what she means. She realizes that he doesn't know what to say, so she tells him to go home. Charlie's worried because she'd be alone, but she says it's ok, she'll just take a bath and go to sleep. He accepts to leave, and gives her a kiss in the forehead to express he cares about her. The next day, Charlie's lack of experience in this stuff gets in the way of helping Kirsten. While having lunch, he forgets the name of the study she'll have, laparoscopy, and also suggests going out, when she said she wanted but that she's tired and not in the mood. She knows this is the last day without bad news, and can't take it out of her mind. He kisses her to distract her but she obviously is not in the mood, is the last thing she wants now. She thinks that reaching him wasn't a good idea and lets him off the hook, saying that she called her family and her sister will come. He feels bad because he wants to help her but doesn't know how. Later, he tells Bailey (who asked advice to sleep together with Kate) that the sex is the easy part, everything else is hard. So probably for the first time in his life, soon Charlie realizes he loves a woman, this woman. In the market, while buying things for his siblings, he buys her a hair dryer, tuna fish (because she likes it) and a green tooth bresh (that she needed and matches the bathroom walls) and goes to visit her with the presents the next day. Despite their previous argument, now she seems happy to see him, he lets her go back to bed, and tells her, for the first time, that he loves her (I'd say in the right moment of their relationship) and that he won't leave her, whatever happens. In a emotional scene, she tells that she went to the doctor and found out that it's not cancer, but that there's a malformation in her fallopian tubes, so she can't have children (likely one of the worst news of her life). He knows how great she was with Owen, and that she wants kids, so he stays with her all night while she cries.
I admit that for the writers was a risk to do this, considering Kirsten is the most "maternal" woman in the show and likely the first to ask for a baby to take care of. In the pilot was said all the experience she had in taking care of children so this was a very dramatic turn out. Later will be revealed that she actually has endometriosis, and considering future seasons, the damage wasn't easily fixable. Seems that laparoscopic surgeries weren't very safe in 1994, and she was told not to take any risks. And that's why seems she can't have kids, like there's no chance. Anyway, the fact that Charlie holds Kirsten in this sorrowful moment of her life, strengthens their bond and their love, which is one of the reasons of why she'll love him so much (now he was with her when she needed him, no one else was). On the other hand, i knew she (Paula Devicq) would be back for the rest of the season (she's in the main credits), and the story for her to return was very well written. Since Much Ado, both Charlie and Kirsten have been alone: he's changing, leaving behind his womanizing side and still missing her, and she probably rejected any new date after the failures with George, Charlie and some previous ex boyfriend. But in this case she needed someone, she thought she could have cancer, and being alone every night wasn't a good feeling. A common friend couldn't really comfort her or accompany her all the time. And the closest man in time was Charlie, besides he showed her in Private Lives he still cares about her. She may have thought that Charlie, being an orphan who recently lost his parents, could know how to deal with bad news. He struggled not because he didn't know, he struggled because he doesn't know much about medical issues and because he never had a long term girlfriend to take care of, he never really loved a woman. But he realized that he loves Kirsten, and that now he has to take care of her. He has been taking care of his siblings moreless, so he knows he can be there for her. For all this reasons, the story is great so far, proving how great is the season.
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