Trama

Joel misunderstands where to pick up Victor from baseball and old feelings of abandonment overtake his thoughts. Sarah is anxiously awaiting a response from the ad agency on her final project. Amber tries to talk Drew into taking his life back. Max goes on a class trip and struggles to understand his classmates.—Anonymous

PREVIOUSLY



Drew finds Barto sleeping with Natalie. Adam and Christina recognize that Max is starting to be ostracized by his classmates. A real estate agent tours the house with Zeek and Camille. Julia is frustrated with their separation agreement for having the kids bounce between two places. Sarah asks Hank if he could work with her. Hanks psychiatrist asks him if hes able to tell Sarah how he feels about her.



NOW



On the computer, Sarah obsesses over her work even though Hank tells her that its good. As she continues, he clears her screen and walks away. She looks bemused.



Max is packing for a class trip to Sacramento. Kristina offers to put his excess stuff in her suitcase, but Max says thats not possible since he doesnt want her to go as chaperone. She asks him why and he says he doesnt know.



Drew is at Ambers playing his guitar. She likes what she hears but he stops, embarrassed. She realizes he is stoned. He accuses her of not being at work, she accuses him of not being in class. It turns out he has been avoiding classes he has with Natalie.



The agent comes by with news she has found a buyer. Camille is worried because she hasnt finishing renovating the house. The agent says the buyer doesnt care. Jabbar is surprised they are really selling the house.



In the afternoon, Victor is the last kid at the baseball field. He is very anxious, wondering what will happen if no one comes. His coach assures him that his parents will pick him up soon. The coach calls Joel; he is there but at the wrong field. Dusk, now, Joel makes it to the field. Victor is not happy.



Kristina tells Adam about Max. Shes worried that this trip will include many new challenges for Max including a long bus ride, a hotel stay, and a group of kids which is new to him. Adam tells her Max is not a kid anymore, that he is a teenager, and that they had agreed earlier in the year to give Max a larger radius. Kristina still considers Max her baby.



The buyer goes through the house with his agent and Zeek and Camilles agent. Zeek and Camille are worried that they left the house cluttered but the agent had assured them it was okay. When they come back, the buyer seems indifferent. Zeek tries to make conversation but their agent makes the throat-slashing sign.



Joel drops the kids off at school. Victor obsesses about who will pick them up after school and IF they will be picked up after school. Sydney tells Joel that she will be going out with friends and that makes Victor even more anxious. Joel leaves a message for Julia but that is not enough for Victor and he asks Joel to call her again.



Adam and Kristina drop Max, floppy hat, rubber galoshes, canteen on his belt, by the bus for the field trip. Mr. Knight is there.



Julia is waiting at the front of the school. A mom confronts her and reminds her that although there is no set rule, that the moms had agreed not to give kids cell phones until the sixth grade. Julie says Victor doesnt have a cell phone. Victor comes running out, waving the cell phone Joel gave him.



Drew runs in to Natalie on campus. She mocks his attempt to avoid their classes. She accuses him of dropping everything, his friends, her, when Amy showed up. Drew walks away.



Sarah calls Hank to ask if theyve heard from SurfSport yet. She asks him how to deal with the waiting before he hears from a client.



Julia drops Victor off at Joels apartment. Victor is still obsessing over the phone. Julia yells at Joel for buying the phone. Joel explains about the other day, so when Victor was anxious in the morning, he felt he had to reassure Victor. She berates him on everything from choosing to move out and now trying to bribe Victor.



Drew is sleeping on Ambers couch. She tries to get him up, to go to the one class he does not have with Natalie. After she pours a glass of water on his head, he confesses he doesnt want to go to class to avoid Natalie and Berto, and that hes been feeling bad about Amy. Amber apologizes for being insensitive and tells him to go back to sleep.



At the shop, Sarah goes over her client package again, still obsessing about what went wrong such that they havent called her back yet. She jokingly says she could break out in tears at any provocation. He gives her a shoulder massage and it starts getting uncomfortable for Sarah. She tells Hank she doesnt want to give him the wrong signals. He asks, with all the Bravermans out there in the world, why she always comes to him when she has a problem. She says its because she considers Hank a friend. Her cell rings and the client wants to meet with her. She asks, rhetorically, what that means, and Hank says, that he cant be there for her anymore, that its too hard.



The agent tells Zeek and Camille the buyer made an offer just below asking. The agent says thats a great offer since its all cash and no banks will be involved. They both thought he wasnt interested and Zeek is hesitant, and says they want the full ask. Camille asks the agent for time, since they are probably in shock over the fast offer.



Adam and Kristina are at home watching TV. Mr. Knight calls from the hotel. Max had a meltdown before dinner and is now sitting on the floor in the middle of the hotel lobby. He hands the phone to Max, but Max doesnt even move. Mr. Knight asks Kristina to come pick Max up.



At dinner, Julia asks Max to stop texting. Victor says hes texting his dad so it is okay. Sydney tries to get the phone and it escalates with Julia screaming for them to shout. Sydney yells back saying the Julia never yelled before Victor came, and that her parents never fought before Victor came, and that its all Victors fault. Julia grabs Sydney and drags her upstairs.



At the hotel, Mr. Knight is sitting on the lobby floor next to Max, reminiscing about his schooling. He then asks Max what happened but Max does not respond. Adam and Kristina show up. Max promptly leaves with Kristina and Adam stays behind to talk to Mr. Knight. He doesnt know for sure but he thinks some of the boys may have been teasing Max, which usually doesnt bother him, but this time, something set him off into a shouting and swearing rage. Adam apologizes, saying he thought Maxs tantrums were over. Mr. Knight confides that some of the students are jackasses and that things will get better for Max.



Zeek and Camille are sitting by the firepit. He wonders why he didnt build the fire pit earlier in their 44 years there. They reminisce about what the property use to look like. Zeek confesses he had lied about the oak tree being diseased so that he could chop it down and build his barn. Shes worried that everything is happening so fast, and that Crosby and his family are living there, and that Victor would still want to finish the car. Zeek says hell do whatever she wants. Camille says they should wait and put it on the market like they had planned to, which will buy them a few months.



On the drive home, Max asks why the kids hate him, if they think hes weird. Kristina says they just dont understand his Aspergers. He says that if Aspergers is supposed to make him smarter, why he doesnt understand why the kids laugh at him all of them, even the nice kids, even Mika. Kristina moves to the back seat and despite his protests, hugs Max. Adam drives on.



Hank is waiting outside when Sarah arrives for her meeting. He tells her not to cry because her work was phenomenal and that hes proud of her.



Amber comes in as Drew is playing his guitar. She encourages him to play the song she likes.



Victor returns the phone to Joel. Victor asks if Julia will stop being mad at Joel now that he doesnt have the phone. Joel says its not Victors fault. Victor tells him what Sydney said about how things were better before Victor moved in. Joel says Victor did not move in that they took him in as their son.



Sarah comes out from her meeting. Smiling, she hugs Hank.



The agent comes back, they buyer has come in over asking. She gives them three days to decide.



NEXT



Julia and Joel talk about their situation. Joel has dinner with Pete. Sarah and Hank spend time together. Mark calls Sarah and asks to meet with her.