Father Figure Part 2
Emma is shocked when she finds out Shane is a patient in the mental ward. He has a baby picture of Emma sitting on the desk in his room. When Emma tells him who she is, he is confused at first "You can't be Emma, Emma's just a baby"...but then he realizes that 11 years have gone by and Emma isn't a baby anymore. Elated that she's come to visit him, he quickly embraces her and welcomes her into his life with open arms. Emma is hesitant to make physical contact with him and initially pulls away, but eventually hugs him back. "Why didn't anyone tell me this?"...she utters to herself as Shane hugs her. Shortly after their reunion, a nurse from the hospital comes in. She pulls Emma aside and tells her that she can't just show up in Shane's room whenever she wants. Shane has striict routines he must follow daily, showing up unexpectedly may disorientate him. When the nurse asks Emma to leave, Shane throws his food tray across the room and starts to panic..."No she can't leave, she has to stay". The nurse gives Shane his knitting kit to calm him down. Emma gives shane her address and tells him to write her everyday.
When Craig and Emma leave she is outraged that her mother kept Shane's whereabouts a secret for all these years. Craig believes Spike had a good explaination for doing so and thinks that Emma is overreacting. However Emma is still upset. Craig tells Emma she should be grateful that she not only has one father, but two. (A reference to Craig recently losing his father in the Season 2 finale, Tears Are Not Enough"). When the two arrive at the train station to go back home, they realize the last train has left for the day, and they have to call Joey to come pick them up.
When Emma gets home, Spike is angry that Emma skipped school. When Emma tells her where she went, Spike is shocked. Emma accuses her mom of leaving Shane in the psych ward, which she refers to as a "prison". "How could you leave him there?" she asks. Spike tells Emma that it was Shane's parents' decision to institutionalize him. But Emma refuses to listen. Spike tells her to sit down, but she doesn't abide. When Snake chimes in, "Emma, SIT!", Emma responds "You can't talk to me like that, you're not my dad1"'. Still distressed, Emma runs to her room in the basement and begins crying.
The next day at school, Snake pulls Emma aside to talk to her. He tells her that she's being to hard on her mother and should give her a chance to explain. He tells Emma what happened to Shane and how he ended up in the mental ward. Apparently, when Shane found out that Spike was pregnant with Emma, he wanted to be apart of Emma's life, but his parents wouldn't let him. Distressed about this, he took acid one night and jumped off of a bridge, consequently leaving him brain damaged. Spike took Emma to visit Shane in the hospital once when Emma was a little girl, but quickly realized that Shane may be too unstable to have a relationship with Emma. Spike hid the truth about Shane from Emma all these years because she was trying to protect her. Emma decides to go home to talk to her mom after school.
Meanwhile at Spike's house, Shane shows up on her door step. When he enters her home he sees pictures of Spike and Snake all over the living room. Shane responds "He doesn't have to be your husband. If he wasn't I could be, this could be our home, and (touching Spike's pregnant belly) this baby could be ours." Spike then tries to pick up the phone to call for help, but Shane snatches it out of her hands. Spike tells him that he should go, but he refuses. Shane instantly becomes outraged and starts knocking all of the pictures on their mantel over. Spike begins to panic...and in the midst of all of this her water breaks and she goes into labor. Emma walks through the door just in time to help her. She tells Shane "If you hurt my mom, I'll never speak to you again". She gives Shane Spike's knitting to calm him down. Shortly after, she calls Snake and the midwife over to deliver the baby.
After the delivery, Shane and Emma sit on the porch together to have a heart to heart. Emma gives Shane the picture that Craig took of the two of them in the hospital. The nurses from the psych ward come to pick Shane up and take him back to the hospital.
Emma goes back inside with Snake, Spike, and the new baby -- her new little brother, Jack. The midwife takes a picture of their new family, and Emma tells the baby she looks just like their dad (Snake). Cue freeze frame.
In the sub-plot, Shane will go to any extent to get Paige the perfect locker.
This was an interesting episode. Part 1 of this premiere was great. It was well written, emotionally charged, and full of impact. Part 2 started out just as promising...until Shane arrived at Emma and Spike's doorstep. This is when a seemingly good episode turned into a campy Lifetime movie. The last 15 minutes of this episode are so over the top and unrealistic that it almost ruins the episode as a whole. That mental hospital must have some pretty lax security for Shane to be able to escape so quickly and so easily. The episode loses a shred of believability there. And when Shane shows up causing mayhem and destruction to Spike and Emma's home, that's when the episode becomes slightly preposterous.
I'm glad the storyline involving Emma's father was addressed and finally resolved. I thought this plot was handled well for the most part, that is until the last 15 minutes or so of the episode. However, the rest of this hour long two parter was good enough to compensate for a weak second half of the episode.
Overall grade: B (could've been an A with a better ending).
When Craig and Emma leave she is outraged that her mother kept Shane's whereabouts a secret for all these years. Craig believes Spike had a good explaination for doing so and thinks that Emma is overreacting. However Emma is still upset. Craig tells Emma she should be grateful that she not only has one father, but two. (A reference to Craig recently losing his father in the Season 2 finale, Tears Are Not Enough"). When the two arrive at the train station to go back home, they realize the last train has left for the day, and they have to call Joey to come pick them up.
When Emma gets home, Spike is angry that Emma skipped school. When Emma tells her where she went, Spike is shocked. Emma accuses her mom of leaving Shane in the psych ward, which she refers to as a "prison". "How could you leave him there?" she asks. Spike tells Emma that it was Shane's parents' decision to institutionalize him. But Emma refuses to listen. Spike tells her to sit down, but she doesn't abide. When Snake chimes in, "Emma, SIT!", Emma responds "You can't talk to me like that, you're not my dad1"'. Still distressed, Emma runs to her room in the basement and begins crying.
The next day at school, Snake pulls Emma aside to talk to her. He tells her that she's being to hard on her mother and should give her a chance to explain. He tells Emma what happened to Shane and how he ended up in the mental ward. Apparently, when Shane found out that Spike was pregnant with Emma, he wanted to be apart of Emma's life, but his parents wouldn't let him. Distressed about this, he took acid one night and jumped off of a bridge, consequently leaving him brain damaged. Spike took Emma to visit Shane in the hospital once when Emma was a little girl, but quickly realized that Shane may be too unstable to have a relationship with Emma. Spike hid the truth about Shane from Emma all these years because she was trying to protect her. Emma decides to go home to talk to her mom after school.
Meanwhile at Spike's house, Shane shows up on her door step. When he enters her home he sees pictures of Spike and Snake all over the living room. Shane responds "He doesn't have to be your husband. If he wasn't I could be, this could be our home, and (touching Spike's pregnant belly) this baby could be ours." Spike then tries to pick up the phone to call for help, but Shane snatches it out of her hands. Spike tells him that he should go, but he refuses. Shane instantly becomes outraged and starts knocking all of the pictures on their mantel over. Spike begins to panic...and in the midst of all of this her water breaks and she goes into labor. Emma walks through the door just in time to help her. She tells Shane "If you hurt my mom, I'll never speak to you again". She gives Shane Spike's knitting to calm him down. Shortly after, she calls Snake and the midwife over to deliver the baby.
After the delivery, Shane and Emma sit on the porch together to have a heart to heart. Emma gives Shane the picture that Craig took of the two of them in the hospital. The nurses from the psych ward come to pick Shane up and take him back to the hospital.
Emma goes back inside with Snake, Spike, and the new baby -- her new little brother, Jack. The midwife takes a picture of their new family, and Emma tells the baby she looks just like their dad (Snake). Cue freeze frame.
In the sub-plot, Shane will go to any extent to get Paige the perfect locker.
This was an interesting episode. Part 1 of this premiere was great. It was well written, emotionally charged, and full of impact. Part 2 started out just as promising...until Shane arrived at Emma and Spike's doorstep. This is when a seemingly good episode turned into a campy Lifetime movie. The last 15 minutes of this episode are so over the top and unrealistic that it almost ruins the episode as a whole. That mental hospital must have some pretty lax security for Shane to be able to escape so quickly and so easily. The episode loses a shred of believability there. And when Shane shows up causing mayhem and destruction to Spike and Emma's home, that's when the episode becomes slightly preposterous.
I'm glad the storyline involving Emma's father was addressed and finally resolved. I thought this plot was handled well for the most part, that is until the last 15 minutes or so of the episode. However, the rest of this hour long two parter was good enough to compensate for a weak second half of the episode.
Overall grade: B (could've been an A with a better ending).