7th Heaven: Season 2 - Episode 9: I Hate You

 

Simon (David Gallagher) and Eric (Stephen Collins) on the way to Mrs. Kerjesz's house.

Simon is trying to figure out what to talk about for his class speech. He asks his father what he was doing when Kennedy was shot and is disappointed when his father tells him he was getting his teeth cleaned at the dentist.

They arrive at Mrs. Kerjesz's house, and Simon wants to wait in the car, but Eric tells him to get out of the vehicle. Mrs. Kerjesz (Rita Zohar) wants to know if Eric could drive her and some of her friends to the Farmer's Market on Wednesday. Eric says he can. She also wanted to give Simon some cereal box tops because Simon loves Red Lightning. When she grabs the box tops for him, Simon sees the number 72936 written on her arm. She notices him looking at it and quickly covers her arm by pulling down the sweater. (I started crying right about here and continued through most of the show with periodic breaks). 

As they are leaving, Simon mentions the numbers to his father. He says he wonders why anyone would get a tattoo of a bunch of numbers. Eric tells Simon they will talk about it at home.

The opening credits come on, and the theme song plays.

Simon is looking through a book of pictures from the Holocaust with his father. Eric explains how Hitler got everyone to blame the Jews for everything. 

Simon: Why did everyone believe him?

Eric: Simple answer, because it's easier to blame than take responsibility. Hitler used one of these most successful propaganda campaigns ever created. He convinced people that there's a struggle going on between all the races in the world and that the Jews were trying to dominate everyone, so they had to be destroyed. 

He tells Simon Hitler wanted to kill every Jew on the earth. He told him he killed others as well, "Gypsies, Serbs, Polish, intellectuals, beggars, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, anyone and everyone who opposed the Nazis." He tells Simon that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Simon asks him how Hitler died, and Eric tells him he committed suicide. 

Simon: But how come no one stopped him? Why didn't the rest of the world just go in and rescue those people? Why didn't people do something to help them?

Eric: That's a very good question, Simon. People around the world didn't wanna believe it. They didn't wanna believe that something so terrible existed because then they'd have to feel guilty for not doing anything. Or they were too afraid to try to do something, or they didn't know what to do, or at worse, some didn't care. (Great question and a great answer).

Eric tells Simon that Mrs. Kerjesz didn't talk about it because it is tough to talk about. However, if she wanted to talk about it, she would have. He instructs Simon not to bring it up to her either. 

Annie comes into Eric's office, and Simon asks her what she was doing when JFK was shot. Matt asks his mother to get Mary and Lucy out of the living room because they want to see Joanne. They want to see her because she is the first girl Matt dated since Heather dumped him.

Simon enters his room and sees Ruthie colored a picture...on the wall. 

Simon (to Happy): Hold on to your hair. Mom is going to go through the roof.

The three girls are in Mary and Lucy's room when the doorbell rings. Mary tells Ruthie to go down and look for Hoowie, then they can look for her; that way, they can all check out Joanne. Joanne (Ashley Tesoro) asks who Hoowie is, and Matt tells her it's a long story. Mary and Lucy come down to get Ruthie as planned, and Joanne invites them to see her mustang that she and her father fixed up. Matt says no, and he and Joanne leave. Mary and Lucy begin making fun of Joanne.

Annie comes downstairs and tells Ruthie to go upstairs to Ruthie's room with her. She tells the older two she will get to them later. 

Ruthie accuses Simon of telling.

Simon: Like no one would have noticed that.

Annie asks Ruthie what Ruthie was trying to do. Ruthie tells her she wanted to do a mural like they have at her school because she was bored. Annie tells her she is going to clean it. Furthermore, she tells her daughter,

Annie: No coloring, no pasting, no cutting for a week.

Ruthie: I didn't paste or cut anything that's not fair.

Annie: I think it's plenty fair.

Ruthie: I hate you!

Annie leaves, closing the bedroom door. (She is visibly hurt by Ruthie's comment). Eric asks her if she's okay, and she tells him what Ruthie says and that she wants to handle it her own way.

The older Camden's arrive at the high school. Matt kisses Joanne as Mary and Lucy continue talking about her. They claim she has perfect hair and probably perfect grades, to which Matt tells them she does and is going to Harvard on a scholarship in the fall. He goes on ahead, and the girls make fun of her some more, and Joanne sees.

In Simon's class, Miss Marski (Alison Martin) asks the kids what topics they picked for their oral report. Larry (Jameson Baltes) says he will ask his parents about where they were when JFK was shot. The other children moaned as they were also planning to do the same topic. 

Simon says he's hoping to get Mrs. Kerjesz to talk about the Nazi concentration camp. Another girl in the class says her grandmother was in a concentration camp "and has numbers on her arm."

Larry says his father said The Holocaust was a hoax. Miss Marski tells Simon if he can get Mrs. Kerjesz to talk about her experience, he will get an A on his report. Simon puts his head on his desk, realizing what he just promised.

After school, Simon tells Eric he's (Simon) going for a walk with Happy to "no place special." (And of course, by "no place special," he means Mrs. Kerjesz's house).

Upstairs, Annie is helping Ruthie clean the coloring. Ruthie is mad because she wants to play.

Ruthie: But why can't you just clean it up while I'm at school?

Annie: Because I didn't color the wall.

Ruthie: But I said I'm sorry.

Annie: I know, but that didn't get the color off the wall. Besides, I think we need to spend a little more time together.

Ruthie: I think we need to spend a little more time apart. (Ruthie has what is commonly known as "open mouth insert foot" disease).

Annie: Fine, you want my help, you let me know. 

She leaves Ruthie to clean the wall herself. Matt stops her in the hall to find out if she's helping his father with dinner. She tells him she's not, and Matt says maybe Joanne should come for dinner another night. Annie assures him tonight is fine, and she already did everything for the meal. Eric is "just stirring and watching pots." 

Simon and Happy arrive right in front of Mrs. Kerjesz's house. Simon decides they should be good neighbors and say hi to her. He knocks, and when there's no answer, he yells through the door that he wants to thank her for the box tops. Then goes to the window and tells her if she ever "wants to talk about anything, he's a really good listener." 

At the house, Eric says he called Nigel, but Nigel doesn't know where Simon is but assumes it involves a girl. Eric heads out to look for his son, but when he opens the door, Simon is there. Eric yells at Simon for coming home after dark, then calms down and says he's (Eric) glad Simon is okay. Then he asks Simon if he went to Mrs. Kerjesz's house, and Simon says he just wanted to thank her for the box tops. 

Annie asks Lucy and Mary to help set the table to eat a little sooner. Joanne thanks Annie for having her over. Since both of her parents work, she usually just has a microwaved meal. 

Mary and Lucy go into the kitchen, making fun of Joanne. 

Eric tells Ruthie it's almost time to eat. Ruthie wants to eat in her room, and Eric says he will ask Annie. After he leaves, Simon asks her what's going on. Ruthie tells her she doesn't want to eat with their mother because she's mean. Simon points out that Ruthie was the one who colored the wall. She refers to her mother as a pretty version of Cinderella's stepmother. Simon explains "how the parent thing works." He tells her that when a kid does something wrong, a parent has to punish that child out of love so that the child will learn. Ruthie tells Simon she hates their mother. Simon tells her she needs to think about that. 

Simon: Besides, I know you don't mean it.

Ruthie: Why not? Mary and Lucy hate Joanne, and they mean it. (Oh good, Mary and Lucy are teaching their little sister that hating people is cool - and by good, I mean not at all good). 

The older girls are still talking about Joanne when Joanne walks in and hears them in the kitchen. 

Mrs. Kerjesz is watching the news, and it's all about people killing. She is distraught. 

The following day, Annie asks Ruthie why Ruthie is still in her pajamas. Ruthie says she's sick - her "arms hurt real bad." She tries to get Annie to finish cleaning the walls, and Annie explains when someone does something wrong, they need to take responsibility for it. 

Annie: Do you remember when you said you hated me? I know you hate being punished. But saying you hated me really hurt my feelings.

Ruthie looks away, and Annie tells her to get ready for school and heads out of the room. 

Ruthie: Do we still have to wash the wall when I get home from school.

Annie (not looking back): Yes. 

Ruthie rolls her eyes.

Simon comes back into the house after watching Happy. He asks Eric to talk to Mrs. Kerjesz. Eric says no, and Simon tells his dad what Larry said about the Holocaust being a hoax because Larry's dad said so. 

Eric: Larry's dad obviously has a problem. If he can deny that what happened happened, then he's making that choice out of his own hatred. (And the sad thing is there really are people who think the way Larry's dad does). 

Simon asks what they are going to do about it.

At the high school, Matt stops at Joanne's locker. She breaks up with Matt because of Mary and Lucy. 

Eric goes to Mrs. Kerjesz's house to apologize for Simon stopping by. She says that she knew Simon wanted to talk about the numbers on her arm. However, she was concerned that Simon couldn't understand it. She tells Eric she talks about it with other survivors, but those who didn't survive it "don't hear us so well or not at all." Eric tells her he wants to talk about what happened in Simon's class.

That night, Matt comes into the girls' room to ask Mary and Lucy if they hate Joanne. They both deny it. He says he probably "picked a flake to go out with." Then Matt suspects something is up and accuses them of actually hating her. They claim they don't hate her; they just don't like her. 

Matt: Yeah, why not? What did she ever do to you?

After he leaves, the girls realize they have no idea why they hated Joanne in the first place. They decide they need to apologize to Matt. 

Matt tells Annie what happened, and she says she's going to yell at the girls first, but their dad can as well when he gets home if he wants. 

The girls come down and apologize to Matt and claim they were kidding around. Annie asks how, and Mary explains how perfect Joanne is. Annie tells them they not only owe Matt an apology but also Joanne. They want to call Joanne, but Annie tells them they will apologize face-to-face. 

Matt asks his mom about Ruthie as Ruthie comes down the stairs. She overhears her mother saying, "it's like my heart hurts."

Simon and Eric are leaving Mrs. Kerjesz's house. Simon has tears running down his eyes as he thanks her. He tells her he's sorry that it happened and then hugs her. 

Ruthie comes downstairs the following day and gives her mother the bucket and water because she finished cleaning the wall. She tells Annie she loves her and is sorry for what she said. Then asks Annie if her heart still hurts.

Annie: I wish I could tell you that it didn't, but my heart does still hurt a little even though I know you don't really hate me. 

Ruthie: But I want your heart to feel better right now.

Annie: I know you are a very little girl, and this is a very big lesson, but once you say something, the words seem to have a power all their own. And even though you might want to take them back, you can't. And even though you apologize for them, it doesn't always fix things. At least not as quickly as you'd like them to be fixed. So you just give me a day or two, and my heart will be fine.

Ruthie: Oh, then I guess it's just my mouth I should worry about. 

Mary and Lucy see Joanne at the high school and apologize to her. Joanne tells them that it's unfair, but she cannot date Matt because she will never feel comfortable around them again. The girls decide to live with themselves and never do anything like that again. Matt is upset that they learned a lesson at his expense.

Simon's class is doing their presentations for the parents. Simon gets up to do his report and tells them what the Holocaust was. Then he tells them he thinks Mrs. Kerjesz needs to tell the story herself. He tells his teacher he is willing to take an F because it's more important for Mrs. Kerjesz to tell her own story. Simon then introduces Mrs. Kerjesz to his class and their parents. 

Mrs. Kerjecz tells them what it was like to be in a concentration camp. (I will not write it out here, it's better to watch this episode). She ends with, "If only we could stop hating each other. If only..."

The words, "This is the true story of Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor ELISABETH MANN who allowed us to create a fictional character to portray her in tonight's episode. Special thanks to her and to The Simon Wiesenthal Center for their assistance." 

The real Elisabeth Mann. 

Then the closing credits come up. 

(This is my favorite episode of the entire series. Incidentally, David Gallagher said this was his favorite episode of the whole series, also. It is so poignant and so well written. The Holocaust is a difficult topic to discuss, especially for Jewish people. Yet, Rita Zohar, who herself was a survivor, albeit very young, was willing to play the part to tell the story of Elisabeth Mann. I thought they handled the topic excellently. The subplots of Ruthie saying she hated her mother and the older girls hating Joanne complimented the story very well).