Party of Five (TV Series)

Hitting Bottom (1997)

James Sloyan: Avery Baltus

Quotes 

• Avery Baltus : Claudia, please. I really don't...

  Claudia Salinger : No! Because I know what you're doing. You're trying to protect me, but see, you're not.

  Avery Baltus : How does it help you to think bad things about your father?

  Claudia Salinger : I don't want to think bad things, Avery. I want to think good things, but I can't because whenever I try... whenever I remember him posing us for one of those stupid Christmas cards, as a human pyramid or something, it seems fake, like I'm remembering something the way he wanted me to, but not how it really was.

  Avery Baltus : He drank too much, Claudia. What more do you need to know?

  Claudia Salinger : I want to know what he was like. What he was really like.

• Charlie Salinger : [to Avery]  Why did you tell Claudia all that stuff about our father?

  Avery Baltus : Well, she came in all upset, and I just...

  Charlie Salinger : Exactly. Exactly! She's upset. She's upset about drinking in our family, so you tell her that her father was some kind of abusive drunk? Why would you do that?

  Avery Baltus : Charlie, wait...

  Charlie Salinger : Because this whole alcoholism thing, the way it works, she's gonna think that whatever happened to Dad is gonna happen to Bailey!

  Avery Baltus : She asked me what I remember. All I did was...

  Charlie Salinger : The fact of the matter is that Dad was never that bad! I remember him from back then too, you know, and I don't remember any of the stuff that you told Claudia. I mean, he drank too much, sure, and there was some yelling, definitely, but he got his act together pretty quickly and Bailey will too. So as far as all this stuff you told Claudia, I don't know. Maybe you have your own reasons for believing it, but we don't need to hear it, okay?

  Avery Baltus : You think I'm carrying out some sort of old grudge against Nick?

  Charlie Salinger : Everyone knows you were in love with her, so of course you're going to blow up every flaw he had. You didn't want to believe that he belonged with her.

  Avery Baltus : That's not it.

  Charlie Salinger : You're just trying to get back at him.

  Avery Baltus : That's not even close, Charlie. Because there's so much worse that I could have told her.