- Ricky is frustrated by his lack of improvement as a musician in the school orchestra, and after a disastrous humiliation at their concert, he turns to Edward for advice on how to reach his goals.
- Kate and Dexter return from a wildlife costume ball. Kate says she had fun, but Dexter is upset because everyone was booing him. Kate explains that it was a fundraiser for endangered species, so it wasn't a good idea to bring an alligator briefcase. When Edward enters, Dexter says he seemed a bit wallet-happy at the fundraising auction. Kate says it was for a good cause -- to provide safe refuge for the Aleutian Canadian goose.
Meanwhile, Ricky is in his bedroom practicing his bassoon. Edward drops in, and Ricky asks him what he thinks of his playing. Edward is evasive in his response, and Ricky pointedly says, "I'm terrible, aren't I?" Edward tries to encourage his son, asking him how long he's been playing. Ricky says it's been over a year. Edward asks Ricky what his orchestra teacher thinks. Ricky says the teacher encourages everybody, but when he plays, he starts to twitch. Ricky adds that he's nervous, because the soloist tryouts are tomorrow, and if he doesn't make it, he won't get to play. He adds that he wants to be as good as musician as his dad.
The next day, Edward is playing his trombone in the living room when Kate enters. He quips that he just wanted to see if he still had his lip. Kate suggests they find out, and they kiss. Meanwhile, Ricky enters. Edward asks how the audition went, and Ricky is a bit evasive in his answer, saying his teacher said he's never heard anything like it. Edward congratulates his son on making the cut.
At the concert, the orchestra is warming up with Edward, Kate, and Dexter sitting in the front row. The instructor introduces the first piece, "March from Athalia," and the orchestra plays the piece. During intermission, Edward, Kate, and Dexter compliment Ricky on how well he -- and the rest of the orchestra -- sounded. Edward tells his son that the orchestra was playing, but he only heard him. Ricky admits that he wasn't playing. He said he was so bad when he auditioned that he actually didn't make the cut, but his teacher knew how bad he wanted to be there that he let him attend on the condition that he not actually play.
Before Edward can offer any consolation, the intermission ends. As the teacher tries to introduce the second piece, Edward interrupts him a few times to talk briefly to Ricky. Finally, the orchestra begins to play "Peter and the Wolf," with Derek narrating. When Derek gets to the part of Peter's grandfather coming out, Ricky tries to play, but his playing is so off-key that everyone stops playing and the instructor begins to twitch. Seeing what just happened, Ricky stands up and stammers a quick apology before running off. Edward runs after him.
When Ricky gets home, he runs to his room, puts his instrument on the table, and dives into his bed, pulling the pillow over his head. A few moments later, Edward enters, completely out of breath from running. Edward catches his breath, then asks his son how he's doing. Ricky says he wants to be alone.
Edward tries to comfort Ricky, who says he's completely humiliated by the experience. He's also frustrated because he couldn't play despite his best effort. He says he actually played the instrument because he felt like a phony during intermission, so he had to try. Edward says this is the first time his son really poured himself into something, worked as hard as he could, and still couldn't pull it off. Ricky asks why he couldn't accomplish what he wanted. Edward says that it's possible to work as hard as possible and not accomplish your goal.
Ricky says he doesn't understand why he's not as talented musically as his dad. Edward says that nobody's good at everything. For example, he says, Ricky is really good at football. By contrast, he says, when he was Ricky's age, he was so bad at football that he ended up losing his team's homecoming game. Ricky tells his dad that nobody's perfect. Edward smiles and points to his son, who realizes that includes him as well.
Edward and Ricky share a hug, and Edward says they should go in the kitchen and make themselves a pair of the best hot fudge sundaes ever. Before they leave, Ricky gets his bassoon. Holding it, he muses over how much effort he put into it and how much a part of his life it's been over the past year. Finally, he shrugs, says, "oh, well," and dumps it into the wastebasket.
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