7th Heaven: Season 4 - Episode 12: All By Myself

 

Annie (Catherine Hicks) is stressed out and fed up with her family's constant demands. 

Annie is cleaning up one of the twins; the other is covered in baby cereal. Ruthie comes down and tells her she can't find her bookbag and wants her mother to look for it. Simon comes down and asks his mother where his blue shirt is. She tells him she didn't get a chance to do the laundry yesterday. (What happened to the rule in their house that if you were old enough to pick out your clothes, you were old enough to do your own laundry)?

Simon: What were you doing all day?

Annie: I've got a few other things to take care of.

Lucy and Mary come down. Lucy asks her mother why she thinks Brad and Robbie haven't called. Mary asks her mother what's for breakfast, and Annie tells her whatever she can find. 

Mary: Don't you usually make breakfast?

Annie: You take the cereal; you make toast; you go get the orange juice. It's not rocket science. 

Eric comes in with Ruthie's backpack. He says he was on his way to church and saw it in the backseat. She says she put it there last night to remember to go to school today. (Was she afraid she'd forget that she does the same thing five days a week)?

Simon comes in with his dirty blue shirt. Annie tells him he's not wearing his dirty shirt to school, but he says he has to because Deena is wearing her blue shirt and wants them to match. 

Ruthie sees the girls eating cookies and is upset she didn't get cookies for breakfast. Eric starts to ask his wife why the girls are eating cookies but stops when he sees Annie's face and asks the girls instead. 

Matt comes into the house and asks if anyone has seen Shana.

Matt: A little help, please.

Annie: All right, that's it. I need a time-out. Did everybody hear me? Mommy is taking a time-out!

She storms out of the kitchen.

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

Annie and Eric put the babies in their cribs, but they fight going to sleep. Annie explains to Eric that she needs a break for a couple days because, with everything that has been happening, she's burnt out. Annie says she was thinking about going to the beach even though it's winter. She says it will be deserted. Eric suggests she take Happy, so she's not totally alone, and Annie agrees. 

Lucy and Mary are discussing Brad and Robbie not calling. They decide if they haven't heard from him by the end of the day to call him since their mother is out of town, it's a great weekend to go out.

Annie tells Eric that the older girls are waiting for their boyfriends to call, so he shouldn't tie up the phone. Eric says he doesn't want them to go out with the boys but then says he won't tie up the line. 

Matt is outside Shana's apartment when she comes back with boxes. He says he took the weekend off. She says she was out getting boxes, and Matt says he would have helped. She tells him he can still help her now.

Annie informs Eric that he will probably not see Matt all weekend since he will be saying goodbye to Shana. She says Matt will think the long-distance thing can work and asks Eric to let him think that and to call him because he will be depressed about her leaving. 

Deena (Nicole Cherié Saletta) is upset that Simon isn't wearing his blue shirt. He says that his mother didn't do the laundry, and Deena tells him if he cared about her, he would have washed the shirt himself. She says he's thirteen and, therefore, can do his own laundry. (While this is true, you're still blowing it way out of proportion).

Annie tells Eric that Deena and Eric are going into a new phase in their relationship and isn't sure what it is but doesn't think it's good. 

Ruthie is out in the hall. Ms. Arata (Susan Fukudas) asks her if she's ready to apologize to Doug, but Ruthie doesn't know what she did. Ms. Arata tells her what she did, but Ruthie says she won't apologize and suggests the school has her expelled. 

Annie tells Eric that Ruthie will get in trouble at school because she wants to go with her mother, so the school will be calling soon. She tells him the twins will be up soon and gives him the rest of the instructions for when she is gone. She asks him about his sermon, and he says he hasn't had time to write it, but he can wing it. Annie leaves, and the phone rings. 

Eric: Ruthie did what?!

Annie comes in because she forgot Happy. She asks Eric if everything is okay, and he says it is. 

Lucy and Mary are upset the guys still haven't called. Lucy says they can't call because it makes them sound desperate. The phone rings, and Lucy answers. She tells Mary it's Andrew Nayloss.

Mary: The girly man?

Lucy tells him she can't go out because her mother is out of town, so she has to watch the twins. She hangs up, and Mary asks her why she didn't tell Andrew the truth, and Lucy says she might wanna go out with him should Brad not call.

Mary: I'm really rubbing off on you, aren't I?

The phone rings again, and Mary answers. It's their mother just calling to say she got to the hotel and will call later that night. Ruthie is mad that she didn't get to talk to her mother and says she's telling her father.

Simon: Get off the phone, so Deena can call.

Lucy: Oh yeah, you need to know what to wear to bed tonight, right?

Simon: That's not funny.

Mary: Yes, it is! (Yeah, it was). 

Eric asks about all the yelling, and Simon says he's waiting for Deena to call. Ruthie walks past them as she tells Eric, "your wife called," and slams the door in her room. Simon tells his dad Deena thinks he's not committed to the relationship because he didn't wear his blue shirt to school. Eric gives a non-committal "oh." 

Annie is at the beach with Happy watching the sunset. Then she goes to sleep, deciding to miss the family tomorrow, not tonight.

Shana tells Matt about NYU. Matt looks sad, and she goes over to him. 

Shana: I can still love New York and still hate being there without you. 

They start kissing, and Shana asks what they're doing. Matt tells her he wants to be close to her, and she asks how close.

Matt: This close.

He lays her back on the couch and continues kissing her.

Eric is feeding the twins. Sam has a pancake on his head while he eats. Eric decides if they are eating. That's all that matters. The phone rings, and Eric answers; it's Annie. He asks her how she is, and she says she misses them, but she's great. She asks how the twins are, and Eric tells her about the pancake hat. He tells her Ruthie is in the bath and will call her when she's done. She asks him about the phone calls, and he says he's been too busy to track phone calls. He tells her Matt and Deena had a fight but forgot why. She asks him about Matt, and Eric says he hasn't heard from Matt. She reminds him he was supposed to call. Eric acts like he was just about to do that when Annie called, so he will do it when he gets off the phone with her. They hang up, and he calls Matt's apartment and gets the answering machine. 

Mary and Lucy come downstairs, and Eric asks them to clean the kitchen while he takes the babies upstairs to get cleaned up. 

Lucy: Just for the record, cookies for breakfast makes a lot less mess.

Eric: Clean.

He takes the twins upstairs. Lucy and Mary are discussing the guys still not calling. The phone rings, and they race to the phone. Mary gets it, but it's Brad (Sam Page). She gives the phone to Lucy and goes upstairs. Lucy tells Brad she didn't remember him saying he would call.

Simon asks Mary who called and tells her to stay off the phone. 

Mary: Are you still waiting for Deena to call? Why don't you just call her? That's what she's waiting for,  you know? For you to call. That's all women do. We sit and wait for our stupid boyfriends to get a clue and pick up the phone. Tell me, why is it that a guy will sit at home waiting for a girl to call when he knows she's sitting at home waiting for him to call, huh? I mean, why is that? Why? Tell me.

Simon: Are we still talking about me?

Mary: Men!

Sam comes out in the hall while Eric is drying off David. Simon asks him why women can't admit they are wrong. Eric says he doesn't know but will talk to him about Deena if Simon helps get the twins dressed. Simon isn't interested. 

Lucy tells him she has a date with Brad. She leaves again, and he calls her to come back because she wants to hear about Brad. 

Ruthie comes over to her father.

Ruthie: Did your wife call?

Eric: Oh, yes, and I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. 

Ruthie: That's okay. I didn't want to talk to your wife anyway.

He tells her they can call Annie after he gets the twins dressed, but Ruthie is not interested. 

Matt calls the house, and Eric, Mary, and Simon all answer. Mary and Simon get annoyed and hang up. Eric asks him how the packing went, and Matt starts babbling, and Shana tells Matt that Matt's father will know Matt slept over. (Babbling: almost invariably a clue something is up). 

Eric tells the twins, "he wouldn't," but if he would, "she wouldn't." But he's not too sure they didn't. 

Lucy is in the laundry room taking towels out of the washing machine, but she can't put them in the dryer as it has some bedding, so she puts the wet towels on top of the dryer. 

Mary, Simon, and Ruthie are in the living room, sulking.

Eric asks Lucy if she can watch the twins while he showers, and she happily agrees. He asks her if she's in a good mood because of her date with "Chad." Lucy's all like, "Whatev, Dad, it's Chad." Lucy walks into the nursery and sees powder all over. She ignores the mess and takes the boys to her room. 

Eric goes into the living room and tells Mary, Simon, and Ruthie that there are no clean, dry towels. But he was going to shower without the towel but discovered there was no hot water either. So, while waiting for the water to heat up again, he thought they could all clean. The kids say they're not in the mood, so he says they won't clean, and sits next to Ruthie and turns on the TV.

Annie is sitting with Happy on the beach. She hugs her and cries. A woman (Irma P. Hall) comes over and asks if she's Annie. She says that Annie's husband called and just wanted to say hello, and let Ruthie talk to her. The woman says her name is Hattie and asks Annie if she's okay, and Annie says she's tired. Hattie says she understands that a husband and a little girl can tire you. Annie tells her that she has seven children and a dog. Then she goes on to fill her in about Eric's heart attack, Mary's arrest, and her dad's Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Annie: I just don't know; I don't know if I can keep it all together anymore.

Hattie: Then don't. Just let it all go, honey. 

She hugs Annie and lets her cry. 

Matt tells Shana he has to go home and get clean clothes, but she asks him to stay so they can be together until she leaves. However, she tells him if they keep making out, she won't get packed. Matt throws a book in a box, and she says they should have just said goodbye this morning when everything was good. He tells her that he can't fake being happy about her leaving. 

Shana: Maybe you should go home. Change your clothes and your attitude. This isn't easy for me. Don't make it any harder than it has to be.

Matt: Okay, I'll go home. But I'm coming back.

Shana: With a new attitude?

Matt: I'll do the best I can.

He kisses her on the cheek and leaves.

Eric, Mary, Simon, Ruthie, Sam, and David are in the living room, which is now a mess. Eric asks Ruthie if she wants to call her mom again. Ruthie says she didn't want to try before. (When this child gets mad, she doesn't let it go. I remember back in season two when she told her mother, "I hate you," in the "I Hate You" episode). Mary tells her to stop being mad at their mother as she deserves a break. Ruthie tells Mary that perhaps Robbie needs a break from her. Simon laughs, and Mary reminds him that Deena hasn't called either. Eric tells them he's going to go into the kitchen. (You are wise, Reverend Camden). 

Lucy is in the attic trying to figure out what to wear on her date. Eric returns to the living room with two baby bottles. He tells the kids they must clean up the mess before Annie returns. They decide to clean it up tomorrow before she returns. Ruthie says she's hungry, and Eric suggests ice cream for lunch, Simon chooses to have potato chips, and Mary just wants to eat peanut butter out of the jar. The kids expect Eric to get the food.

Ruthie: Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to be mommy this weekend.

Lucy continues searching for the perfect dress for her date. A dial tone can be heard as she finds the right dress. Lucy pulls the phone out from under a dress she tossed on the floor earlier and puts it back on the receiver. 

Lucy comes downstairs and asks the others what they are watching. Ruthie says he doesn't know. Lucy asks them what they are eating and looks amazed at how they are all acting and eating now. 

Hattie asks if Annie got in touch with the rest of the family. Annie tells her the phone was off the hook earlier, and now she feels better. She says she felt guilty for taking off but realized there was no need because they were all doing well.

The doorbell rings at the Camden house. Lucy asks someone to get it, and Simon tells her to do it. It's Deena. She tells Simon that she's been trying to call all day. She notices the mess and asks what's going on.

Simon: Nothing.

Deena: So, you've been doing nothing all day, and you didn't even bother to call me?

Simon: Yeah. (He's rather smug in this episode).

The doorbell rings again, and it's Brad. Lucy tells them she's leaving. Eric reminds her to be home by curfew. 

Eric asks Deena if she'd like to join them, but she says her dad's outside waiting in the car. 

Deena: Aren't you even going to walk me to the door?

Simon: It's three feet away. 

Eric motions for Simon to get up and walk her to the door. Simon rolls his eyes but gets up anyway.

Hattie tells Annie that she's going to head home. Annie asks her to stay, and since Hattie has no one to return home to, she can stay.

Brad and Lucy are at the movie theatre. Andrew (Will Estes) is there and sees them at the ticket booth. He's upset that Lucy went out on a date after telling him he had to stay home. Brad asks her if she's ready to go in, and Andrew says to wait for him. Lucy tells him he can't go in, and Andrew tells her it's a free country. And Lucy is like tcha, watev, dork. 

Matt returns to Shana's apartment. He has the paper hat from the Dairy Shack that he wore when he first showed up at her apartment that first time in "It Happened One Night" during season three. She asks what she owes him, and he says nothing. She tells him she owes him everything. (Aww). 

Shana: If your father hadn't gotten me this apartment, I wouldn't have ordered burgers from the Dairy Shack that night. You wouldn't have delivered them, and we wouldn't have gotten together and...fallen in love.

She suddenly tells him she wants to say goodbye while everything is good. He doesn't want to leave, but she says she'll call him tomorrow when she is in NYC. He still doesn't want to go, but she says they need to part on a happy note for the sake of their future. They hug and say goodbye. She kisses him on the cheek and closes the door. 

Matt goes to his parent's house and sees the huge mess. He goes to the fridge where his father is and asks if everything is okay, and Eric says it is and asks Matt how he is. Matt asks his father if he's been drinking. 

Eric: No.

Matt: You can't be sober and standing in this kitchen.

Eric: Oh, well, you know, when your mother leaves, I usually try to do everything she does exactly the way she does it. This time I just decided to let it all go.

Matt: Oh, you let it go with a vengeance.

Eric says he's surprised to see him since Shana leaves tomorrow. He also asks Matt if she stayed last night at Shana's. Matt asks why his father is not upset, and Eric says he figured out that Matt slept on the couch. Matt asks him how he figured that out.

Eric: I'm Superdad.

Matt tells him to look around, and he's not Superdad. (I remember a time when Eric believed the worst about Matt in every situation). 

Eric: Okay, maybe I'm not super-clean dad, but I'm super-smart dad. 

Matt chuckles, and Eric puts his arm around his son's shoulders.

Matt: You know Mom's gonna kill you.

Eric: Yeah, I know.

Annie and Hattie are talking and laughing. Annie says it's the first time she has spoken of her mother without crying. Hattie tells her that it will get even easier as time goes by. Annie tells her that Eric's heart attack scared her big time because he could have died.

Hattie: But he didn't; it wasn't his time to go. 

She says Annie's now thinking about her father. Hattie says that Annie's dad will not die yet and that it will be okay when he dies one day because death is a part of life. She then quotes parts of Ecclesiastes 3:1-2. 

Annie realizes it will be okay, and Hattie says it's still okay to take a break because if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others. 

Ruthie is in the nursery where the boys are asleep. She tells the boys she likes them better when their mother is away. Their sister tells them if they need anything to cry, and she will come running. She tells them goodnight. (I love this scene. It's so sweet). 

Eric is outside the nursery and tells Ruthie he heard what she said. He thinks she likes them better when she isn't pressured to like them. 

Eric: You're just free to like 'em. Or even love them.

Ruthie: Oh, I love them. I just don't want people to know. 

She asks what movie they are watching. Eric tells her it's late, and she says since they slept all day, she figured they could stay up all night. Eric says he has to stay up and right his sermon. 

Ruthie: Great! That'll put us to sleep. (Haha). 

Matt goes up to the attic and talks to Mary. He tells her that he has already said goodbye to Shana. Mary tells him she thinks it will work out for him and Shana. He tells his sister he feels the same for her and Robbie. 

Matt: So, is Lucy under the clothes.

Mary: You know, she could be.

Lucy tells Andrew that Brad gets jealous, so he should leave. Andrew tells her it won't work out between her and Brad because they don't have chemistry. However, he says they have chemistry and reminds her of the kiss they shared after their date. He kisses her and then leaves. Brad comes out, and Lucy tells him to kiss her. He kisses her and asks if he can come over tomorrow. She says they should take a break. 

Simon calls Deena, and she is surprised and asks why he's calling so late. He explains he missed her and wanted to apologize to her. He promises on Monday he'll wear his blue shirt. 

Simon: I'll call you after church tomorrow. 

Deena: You're the best.

Simon: Thanks. I mean, you're the best too.

Simon goes to the living room, where everyone is watching a movie. Lucy comes in, and Eric asks her about his date with Chad. Mary corrects her, but Lucy tells him it doesn't matter if he calls him Chad instead of Brad. The phone rings, and Eric answers. It's Annie, she tells him she misses him, and he says they miss her and then passes the phone around so the kids can all say goodnight. Ruthie is half-asleep when she says goodnight. Eric then tells her again he misses her. He hangs up the phone, and the kids start laughing. 

Eric: What?

Matt: You two make us sick.

Annie checks out at the beach house and asks the man where Hattie is, but he doesn't know who Hattie is. As she is about to leave, she sees Hattie outside. Annie says she thought it was a dream or that Hattie was an angel. Hattie explains that Hattie is a family nickname, so the man doesn't know her by that name. 

Hattie: I'm no angel. Just a friend.

Hattie tells her that angels, family, and friends are all the same thing. Annie agrees, and they hug. 

The closing credits come up. 

(I am not sure what I think of this episode. It wasn't superb, but it wasn't horrible. It had some touching moments, some funny moments, and annoying moments. None of the regulars really stood out to me, except Ruthie briefly when she talked to the twins that night. I think Hattie stood out the most. So overall, it's so-so).