Another episode passes and the sadness streak keeps hitting the family. There's no rest. Julia and Justin find out that Libby got into Harvard when she admits it to them after a girl accidentally told them. But soon after, Libby commits suicide. Justin is left sleepless and feels guilty because what they did to her (1x16). Besides, Libby called them in Christmas, they never answered. Julia thinks it's not their fault and goes to visit Libby's mother. They find her journal and she finds out that Libby felt under much pressure and alone (also, Mrs Dwyer knows what Julia and Justin did but is too sad to say something). The journal also says that Libby initially thought that if she didn't get into Harvard, she'd die, but after getting in, she learned about how hard was going to be, she thought she could screw up and stay with nothing, unlike other people who were smarter, better and more popular than her. In the funeral, Julia gives a speech about Libby, saying that the goal (like college) is not everything in life and Libby wasn't happy, Harvard was not enough, so her death should be a reason for people to think, and stop to see if each one is on the right road in life, the road that makes each one really happy. At the end, she starts having doubts about going to college. I think Justin and Julia are partially guilty of Libby's death. The three were childhood friends and the two left Libby alone, knowing she wasn't a popular girl or with many friends. Also, Justin pointed that after him, Libby had no other boyfriend, proving how much affected her their betrayal. Now they may carry the guilt for the rest of their lives.
The Bailey-Sarah story was great. Like in Gimme Shelter, where Bailey showed he was forgetting how he was, now alcohol has changed him much more. First, she was mad at him when he didn't plan to move out of the dorm, because that Callie's place. He didn't think about that since his confession. Then, he can't give Sarah a nice gift for her birthday (he gives her a fake ID for drinking and partying, unlike last season when he gifted her a star) he can't write a lovely letter or comfort her after Libby's death, proving how he is losing himself. Sarah is forced to spend more time in the dorm until he moves out, because when Callie arrives, she can't trust them alone in that place. And she is starting to lose herself too because she is mad at him about the cheat, he doesn't apologize in the right way, so she wants to hurt him and to love someone else. In one scene, they go to a club, and while Bailey is looking for drinks, she reluctantly accepts to dance with a guy, making Bailey jealous. When they leave, she says that has been three weeks of anger and sadness between them, so she asks him how long was she suffering without knowing the affair between he and Callie (6 weeks actually). He says he doesn't know, and she still wants to hurt him. So realizing all this and after Libby's funeral, she breaks up with him before she becomes someone else (different than the sweet person she is). Bailey still loves her, deep inside that doesn't change, but she can't forgive him, so he's left alone. For Sarah was the right thing to do, Bailey did something really horrible to her and she had to end the relationship before it changes herself. Still, as the future will show, what happened wasn't entirely Bailey's fault. Before the break up, he told Callie that he wanted to give Sarah more time because he loves her. That's the real Bailey, the one who wasn't lost in alcohol. To finish this part, I highlight Sarah's question, about who is the strongest person Bailey knows. He says correctly Claudia, but he gave the wrong reasons. Claudia is the strongest not because she stands up for herself, she is the strongest because she still manages to smile despite all the bad things that happened. Anyway, her limit will be reached in season 4.
As for Charlie's story, he is still aware of living one of the worst times of his life and doesn't want to go to his 10 year highschool reunion (6 months ago received the invitation, when he was happy). Grace and Claudia convince him to go and soon he starts to feel that those highschool times were the best. But is nothing like that. In one moment at the backyard, he talks with two of his old friends, who remember saying 10 years ago that Charlie was the least likely to marry but the most likely to have kids. They somehow agree that that they were right, even Charlie, but he looks down with a sad look on his face, aware of the recent past (which clearly proved he was ready to marry the love of his life). And then, after finding out that his exgirlfriend Lori cheated on him with one of his old friends, he realizes how really were the highschool times. Also, while playing basketball with them and Claudia, he learns that the two always had hidden anger towards each other for their current jobs and the past in school. At the same time, Lori now is married with children, like one of the "smart guys" of his class, which reminds how Charlie's life would be if something horrible didn't happen a year ago (that still hurts him). While visiting Lori and her child to confirm the cheat, he tells her that now he knows that his 17s were never the best times, implying that the best times are the family moments, that he lost and one day will recover. At the end, he shares a nice scene with Owen at Salinger's. He tells him that their name is on the restaurant and asks him if he wants to run the place along with him one day, Owen says yes. That scene was great, and shows how should have been the rest of the season for Charlie. He is somehow happy managing Salinger's, hiding his deep wound in his heart, and spending time with Owen, his "first child", also raised by his lost wife. This way, he is acting like a responsible father, a good 27 year old man. This story was overall ok, pretty acceptable, except for Grace's two scenes (as I said in previous episodes, I don't like the character, I don't see the point in her appearance). To finish, I want to highlight some ideas that this part gives of Charlie's life pre season 1. When he was 17, he was dating Lori, who was his first girlfriend, the first one for whom he felt something, and the first one whom he wanted to go to bed with. But when she dumped him because the secret cheat on, seems that he started his womanizing ways, afraid of commitment, of a serious relationship, scared of feeling hurt again. That was the young immature Charlie. But when he met the love of his life, he finally took the chance, and the rest is history.
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