This was the blackout episode. Where was showed that some people were making mistakes with the lights off, and with the lights on, the things returns to the normal. Bailey fights with the new manager of the restaurant, Lauren, who turns out to be a control freak, like him. During the blackout, they make a connection while talking and almost kiss, but suddenly, lights on, to remind Bailey that he has Sarah waiting for him in the loft. Meanwhile, Claudia is uncomfortable when some guys from the hockey team shows up for her 16 birthday party in the loft, so is up to Sarah the talk and comfort about being with a guy. Also, Owen is present with them. On the other hand, Griffin and Julia gets stuck in the elevator (what a coincidence) because the blackout. After two episodes, Julia thanks Griffin for what he did for her and says she was embarrassed about how she treated him. He doesn't act friendly but after a failed attempt of escape, they seem to reconcile and sleep together. When lights are on, they go to Claudia's birthday, but Griffin is insecure about what happened. It's obvious that Griffin is still hurt for what happened, no matter what Julia says, and he is right to feel that way.
Charlie has been angered at Bailey in the last 2 weeks I guess, because 3 or more would be too much considering the course of events. In that time, he only visited Owen at school, refusing to go to the loft or to talk to Bailey when he visited to pick up the kid's stuff. Anyway, now, he seems to leave aside all that for Claudia's birthday, that will be celebrated in the loft. Honestly, this part felt weird. After all the things that happened, all the words said in Judgment day, Charlie should have been mad at everyone, minus Diana, and Kirsten of course. It's like there was no episode to see some regret or some anger between the siblings. In just matter of minutes all was forgotten. What they did to him is a little unforgivable, all the younger siblings, including Owen, behaved like ungrateful children. Although I consider Bailey's push for a custody fight a mistake, the writers chose that road so now to be coherent, big damage was caused and the bond between Charlie and Bailey should need a long time to be repaired. Anyway, that's not what matters the most here. During the blackout, Charlie is stuck in the truck with Diana without diapers (he accidentally left them in Mrs Walsh's car earlier when he explained her what happened with Owen), so in the road he reaches his hospital. He finds Paul there, who tells him that the floor where he got the cancer treatments changed right after Christmas, that he can get diapers and the needed stuff for Diana in pediatrics, and asks him to donate blood because there's a shortgage. A couple of hours later, they meet again and Paul is surprised for two things: because Charlie considered him a friend, and because he learned that Charlie is still alone with Diana. Charlie says he hopes he is ok considering the divorce from Kirsten, so he is surprised too by this, but still with lights out, he doesn't say nothing and leaves when a nurse calls him. But when the lights return, Paul (guessing that Kirsten suffered because Charlie ignored her after the divorce from Paul) reaches Charlie outside the hospital and tells him that he belongs together with Kirsten. This is the most interesting part of the episode. Charlie says that he believes that he only made her unhappy (which explains he is still traumatized by Kirsten's words in Desperate Measures and her marriage with Paul, so that's why he ignored her in 5x15), that they can't be together and she just wanted to move on. But Paul reassures the opposite, she always loved him, still loves him and always will. He admits he was a big idiot by marrying a woman with the heart already taken, that he should have seen it coming from the beginning. He explains that when they first got together in 1997, they only talked about him, and how hard was for her letting Charlie go, but they thought it was for the best, considering her chronic illness. He also says that he thought that he was helping her to get away from Charlie, that she could stop her obsession about him, but it was him all along He tells that Kirsten was always heading to Charlie, and that implies the main reason of why Kirsten moved back to SF. At the end, Paul tells him that he's not alone, asks him to think about it and leaves, probably a little sad but relieved because he did the right thing and once again helped Kirsten. This explanation backs up a big part of my guessed off screen story in 4x06. But also answers another question. Kirsten casually found Charlie near the house in that episode, right when she was moving back to San Francisco. She had doubts of contact him then, reluctant to tell him that she got married. But today Paul implied that no matter what happened, she would have reached Charlie sooner or later, and that's why she was walking near the Salinger house in september 1997. She was always heading to him, no matter what the therapist said, if she married someone else or how much Gene hated him, one of Kirsten's deepest wishes of her heart was to see him again and eventually get back together. It's like I said in Falsies, she married Charlie unofficially when he accepted a lifetime together without children of their own but with Owen as their son. And in 2x06 she said that she knew how her parents felt because to be happy she just needed him next to her. That deep love for him never changed and never will. Why? Because in season 1 Charlie gave her all what she needed, all what she wanted to fullfil her life. He gave her the comfort in one of the saddest days of her life, the baby she couldn't have, plus a little sister/kind of daughter, and together they built a marriage, a family. For all that and for all the care, honor, cherish and love he gave her in early season 3, she will always love him. I think that in season 4, during his battle with cancer Charlie still knew all that, but since her denial to make a second road trip together in 4x20, he slowly started to forget. He told himself that he lost her for good by seeing her married to someone else and surely in 5x12, when she seemed excited thinking she'd adopt a baby with Paul, he lost any hope left. Fortunately now (a little late yes, but better late than never), someone, Paul in this case, opened his eyes to the truth. If I imagine the deep wound, where the true and deep love for Kirsten remains in Charlie's heart since Desperate Measures, explained by him in 3x13, I think that here that place was with lights on, after a long time of darkness. So when he looked at her in Claudia's party, he holding Owen, and she holding Diana, he finally started to heal his wound. She still was thinking that he doesn't love her anymore, so she wanted to be with Diana and went to the party because she loves Claudia. Anyway, she was happy to see him and noticed that he was looking at her in a different way than the last months. Then, the cake is carried by Bailey, so while Claudia looks all her family around, Kirsten says "make a wish", and considering what will happen next episode and that Claudia always wanted Charlie and Kirsten to be together, I can guess the wish she asked.
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