Little by little, seems that the sadness streak, the endless drama of the past seasons is reaching the end. Charlie and Kirsten are struggling with IVF, but they are happily married, Claudia is enjoying somehow (for now) the popular life in school and Julia is far away from sadness when she reaches Evan and writes a book. Only Bailey, who is the saddest of the Salingers, now that Sarah is gone, remains unhappy. After he and his sisters learn that Sarah is staying in New York, he thinks that a long distance relationship may work for a while until she returns. Claudia, Julia, Griffin and Will pretend to suppport him but they seem to know that is impossible. So feeling desperate, Bailey takes Will and Griffin in a long road trip to New York, carrying all the Sarah's stuff, to surprise her and convince her of return to SF. They only reach Wyoming, as the truck fails. Will and Griffin say that is over, that he can't chase Sarah, he has to let her go, but initially Bailey won't accept advice from two guys whose relationships ended so bad (he lashed out Griffin-Julia's failed, pointless marriage and Will-Hannah's month and pregnancy). Then, he realizes the distance is too long to NY City, so he sends Sarah's stuff paying by transfer/shipping (Ups). Probably, he feels that he and Sarah distanced themselves in the last months after the broken engagement, and now he can't fix their problems without letting her go. The last one was a great scene, Bailey looking at the road, giving up on Sarah. He tells his friends, "let's go home" and they drive back to SF, with the camera focusing on the signal of the 80 Interstate. The soundtrack for the last scene was also perfect. I'm not sure of exactly where they filmed these scenes, I wish there was more information (I'd like to know the same about other road trips, filming locations of 3x12, 4x11, 4x19), but the scenario was very well presented. Wyoming, Nevada are semi arid, arid weather and the land is pretty much a desert, and in this road trip, that is what you see. Lacked some sight of mountains, but still the effect is good. Focusing on the 80 Interstate signal was a nice detail too, as it crosses the country right from SF to NYC. Then, although the story was entertaining, I wished the writers made Bailey travel in plane to NY (and actually appear in the spin-off), because is wrong to finish this relationship without seeing each other. At the end, a trip without the truck wasn't worth it, but a trip on a plane, yes.
In the less interesting part of the episode, Julia chases, pushes and seduces Evan into a relationship, even when he tried to stop it, knowing it's wrong. Finally, he gives up and sleeps with her, although it's not the right thing to do, considering he is twice her age and the editor of her book (just skip it). I wonder which one of the writers had the terrible idea of getting Julia and Evan together, not only because of the age difference, also because Julia made a solitude vow 6 episodes ago. It's like the storyline with Perry Marks and the lessons Julia took from it, were forgotten. That's why it doesn't make sense and is not important. On the other hand, Claudia proves to be a better girl than her sister, and breaks up with Cameron after feeling it's wrong because of Alexa's sadness. Besides, she helps Myra in math homework by request from Charlie, and also checks out Cameron's troubles at home (his mother cheats on his father, and Cameron pretends not to care). The only thing to say it's how good that Claudia's morality is still the same, she is a good girl, who knows where are the limits in love (unlike Julia with Justin-Libby, Griffin, Ned-Maggie). And also, despite that she and Myra are different persons, she wasn't selfish, she accepted Charlie's request and helped her. As for Daphne, while leaving Diana with Charlie, she finds out about the IVF, and pretends to be happy (she is not) and lies to him saying she has a job. Then, she pleads Victor to watch Diana in her time (who is not happy that Bailey left him in charge of Owen and cleaning the house 24 hours), and for a place to stay while she sublets her apartment until she finds a job. This short part showed that Daphne accepts Charlie's situation, but that she is not really happy about it, for now she is alone and only has Diana.
Following the starting treatments with IVF, Charlie takes another job in a furniture factory (where his boss Gus is introduced) to afford the costs, while Kirsten needs hormone injections to get pregnant. For the high costs, and because their insurance doesn't cover the IVF, he takes even more hours in the factory, getting all added 30 hours a week (being paid 20 an hour for starting recently). She wakes him up early and tells he has to add more caffeine and vitamins to his diet, use frosty boxers and take cold showers to increase their chances. He says he already gave up beer, and uses baggier pants. About this, I'm not sure how regularly he drinks, wasn't showed in any episode, so I always assumed he drank normally, in moderation. Then, cold showers and vitamins can help to increase sperm count, but caffeine may not be good for it, only serves as a stimulant. Anyway, their first scene was funny, because Kirsten's search on fertility websites (she couldn't sleep for the shots) and the "bacon" she offers to Charlie. She says they need to have sex twice a day to increase the chances (according to her "keeps the pipes clear"), so he suddenly feels motivated, but before doing it she needs the injection and asks him to take a cold shower. The problems come later, when they start to realize it's not so easy as they thought. One night, when she planned the occasion with candles, music, his brief delay to get clean off the turpentine from the factory and her injection make her irritable, causing a hot flash, a mood swing. She says she's not depressed, that the doctors are monitoring her state, and reads a little before going to sleep. He's left on the lurch next to her, as he didn't expect the mood swing, but surely sooner or later he fell asleep. The other time, he arrives at midnight too tired from the job in the factory because the extra hours he asked to pay for the IVF, so he is not in the mood. He tells that is getting stressful to have a baby together, and wonders why considering it should be fun. So their problem is to find the right time, which Kirsten solves by reaching him in the fertility clinic (where curiously he called himself Charles), when he has to leave sperm samples, enjoying a happy romantic last scene. Although their story wasn't as good as in past episodes, is a new path they have to take because the current infertility, and it's good to see their fight for what is worth, a baby of their own, which is the goal. Then, I also want to highlight the first scene, where she wakes him up with a sweet whisper "good morning". Remembering where they were 1 or 2 seasons ago, feels good to see them waking up together, they are where they were always meant to be.
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