Father Figure Part 1
Spike's pregnancy is causng chaos around the houeshold. She is drilling Snake and Emma around the clock with pretend delivery scenarios to prepare them for the home birth that she is planning. The stress surrounding Spike's pregnancy is beginning to take a toll on Emma, as she feels like her feelings are taking a backseat to the baby's. Spike and Snake have even turned Emma's room into a nursery for the baby, forcing Emma to move to the basement. Emma's home and family life seem to be changing drastically -- and Emma doesn't quite know how to deal with it. When a teacher at school accidently calls her Emma Simpson during attendance, Emma is outraged: "Just because Mr. Simpson married my mom, that doesn't mean I automatically take his last name" she argues. All of these familial changes cause Emma to question her biological father's whereabouts. Spike refuses to tell her anything about him, and she also forbids Emma from finding him. Emma tries to seek information about her father from other people who knew him; like Snake and Caitlin, but they feel uncomfortable telling Emma the truth as well. Emma knows that her father's name is Shane McKay, and the only memory she has of him is one that took place 11 years ago when she was only 3 years old. She recalls visiting him at a hospital, and witnessing a conflict arise between the doctor (who Emma assumes is her father) and Spike.
Emma decides to take it upon herself to track him down. She looks up his name via online research and finds a location for him. She is ready and eager to go to the location the next day during school, so she decides to ditch class to travel there. She asks Sean to come with her, but he says he doesn't want to skip class. However, Craig agrees to accompany her instead. However when they arrive at the location, they find an African American Shane McKay answering the door. Emma quickly realize she's got the wrong person. She does a bit more research and tracking; tapping into Snake's address book, and she eventually finds a location for the real Shane McKay. Emma and Craig travel all the way to Stauville to reach the address. When they arrive they see that it's a psychiatric hospital. However, to Emma's surprise, her father isn't a doctor at this hospital...he's actually a mentally unstable patient.
In the sub-plot Spinner tries to find Paige the perfect locker to give to her as an anniversery present.
This is a good opener to Season 3. Emma's father's whereabouts have never been discussed in detail on the show, so this episode answers a lot of mysterious questions surrounding him. The timing of Emma's sudden interest in her father's whereabouts makes perfect sense. With her new step-brother arriving and Snake becoming a more prominent male role model in her life, it only makes sense that Emma would become more curious about her own father. We can understand all of the character's motives here. We understand Emma's desire to know her dad, as well as Spike's desire to protect Emma from the truth. As we understand these character's motives, we begin to sympathize with them too. The reveal at the end of the episode of Shane being a patient in the mental hospital is both shocking and heartbreaking.
This was an emotionally charged episode full of impact.
Grade: B+
Emma decides to take it upon herself to track him down. She looks up his name via online research and finds a location for him. She is ready and eager to go to the location the next day during school, so she decides to ditch class to travel there. She asks Sean to come with her, but he says he doesn't want to skip class. However, Craig agrees to accompany her instead. However when they arrive at the location, they find an African American Shane McKay answering the door. Emma quickly realize she's got the wrong person. She does a bit more research and tracking; tapping into Snake's address book, and she eventually finds a location for the real Shane McKay. Emma and Craig travel all the way to Stauville to reach the address. When they arrive they see that it's a psychiatric hospital. However, to Emma's surprise, her father isn't a doctor at this hospital...he's actually a mentally unstable patient.
In the sub-plot Spinner tries to find Paige the perfect locker to give to her as an anniversery present.
This is a good opener to Season 3. Emma's father's whereabouts have never been discussed in detail on the show, so this episode answers a lot of mysterious questions surrounding him. The timing of Emma's sudden interest in her father's whereabouts makes perfect sense. With her new step-brother arriving and Snake becoming a more prominent male role model in her life, it only makes sense that Emma would become more curious about her own father. We can understand all of the character's motives here. We understand Emma's desire to know her dad, as well as Spike's desire to protect Emma from the truth. As we understand these character's motives, we begin to sympathize with them too. The reveal at the end of the episode of Shane being a patient in the mental hospital is both shocking and heartbreaking.
This was an emotionally charged episode full of impact.
Grade: B+