7th Heaven: Season 5: Episode 3: Losers

 

Annie (Catherine Hicks) talks with Eric in the kitchen. 

Annie suggests her husband go out tonight alone for a bit and Eric likes the idea and says he needs some male bonding time. Annie tells him she has to go see her professor at seven to talk to him about her term paper so she can get it approved. Eric does not trust this professor, who claims he can only see Annie at this time. She tells him the meeting will be thirty minutes or less. 

Annie suggests that Mary, Lucy, and Simon can babysit just as Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie are coming downstairs. Simon says he can't babysit because he is going out with a girl name Lu Lu, or at least he hopes he will be. Lucy tells her parents Simon is talking about Lou-Ellen Almire from their church. Eric asks when she got hot, and Simon tells him that it happened during the summer. (Yep, summer break is a good time for kids to grow up). Lucy says she can babysit. Simon tells his mother he will find another guy and double-date, but Annie says that won't work unless she and Eric know the guy. 

Ruthie comes inside and asks everyone why Mary's car is parked outside. 

Ruthie: Isn't she supposed to be at work? Or did she get fired again?
Lucy: Time for school. 

She and Simon leave. 

Mary comes downstairs and her parents and Ruthie question her. She tells them she got a job at Pete's Pizza. She claims the prefers the nightlife and goes back upstairs.

Ruthie: Is it me, or is she starting to spin?
Eric: I think I need a parent time out.
Annie: So we'll take the night off.
Eric: And we'll regroup and refocus when we're refreshed.
Annie: 'Cause she is starting to spin.
Eric: Spin.

The opening credits come up and the theme song plays. 

Mary is in her room dancing when Ruthie comes up. Ruthie is impressed watching her and says she wishes she could dance like that. Mary asks her why she isn't on her way to school, and Ruthie explains she is in a carpool and she and other girls go to school in a wagon and get to know each other as they ride to school. Ruthie then says while the girls are nice they are not her big sister and asks Mary if they can do something tonight. Ruthie asks if they can do something then and Mary suggests she could bring a pizza home, and wake Ruthie up so they can have a midnight snack. Ruthie suggests Mary and her have a sleepover in Ruthie's room, and Mary agrees. The horn beeps and Annie tells Ruthie her ride is there, and Rutie leaves. 

Eric is in his office and calls Lou (Alan Fudge) to see what he is doing and suggests they hang out. He suggests he brings the other guys from the church but Lou says he can't because he is busy. After hanging up Lou tells his wife, Alice (Sandy Freeman), what Eric wanted. Lou says he doesn't feel comfortable with Eric on a personal level, and she says she doesn't want him hanging out with Eric either.

Alice: Trouble just comes to him. What if it just comes to him and he's with you.

Eric continues to try and find someone to hang out with but is not having any luck. He finally called Glen Oak Hospital and calls Matt and has him paged. He asks Matt to go shoot pool. Matt immediately thinks something is wrong at Chez Camden. Another call comes in for Matt on another line at the hospital, and it's Simon. He wants Matt to drive him and Lou Lou. Matt tells his younger brother to tell the family not to call him at work, and that he isn't driving Simon and his date. He tells Matt he will pay $20.

Matt: Wait, wait, wait a minute. You two aren't going to be making out in the back seat, are you?
Simon: Thirty bucks. 

Another call comes in for him and this time it's Lucy. Matt becomes angry and says they all need to stop calling before he gets fired. She says she is just calling to see if he can babysit Sam and David because she was supposed to but now has a date. She explains that she has to pretend to be married to a guy and raise an egg with him. 

Lucy gets off the phone and sees her lab partner (Brandon Tyler) and says Matt can't babysit, but maybe the partner can come over, and they can watch the egg together while watching a movie at her house once the twins are in bed. 

Lu Lu (Katie Stuart) tells Simon not to make out with her in front of Matt because she doesn't want "some old guy" watching them make out. 

Meanwhile, at the pizza parlor, some men are harassing Mary, asking for her phone number and even her underwear. Her boss, Johnny (Nathan West) tells her that his wife Frankie (Chyler Leight) will deal with them because she is good at it. Mary is surprised to learn Johny and Frankie are married because they look so young. Mary tells him she thought about getting married last year but decided she wasn't ready.

Johnny: Yeah, neither was I, but a baby changed all that.

Frankie tells the guys that Mary is the minister's daughter and if they don't stop harassing her, they will go to Hell. 

She comes over to Johnny and Mary. Mary asks her what she said, but she doesn't tell her. They suggest Mary hang out with them after the place closes and have a beer. Mary says that she's underage, and doesn't want to get Johnny in trouble for selling alcohol to a minor. 

Johnny: I'm not going to sell it to you. I'm going to give it to you. 

That evening Simon is talking to his parents about his date. Simon leaves them, and Eric tells Annie that no one wants to hang out with him.

Annie offers to cancel her meeting with her professor and go with him, but he tells her to do that first and then come to the pool hall. They agree to meet at the pool hall at eight. 

Lucy tells her dad about having to pretend to be married for twenty-four hours.

Eric: He's not sleeping over.
Lucy: 24 hours total, not consecutive. But thanks for trusting me. 

He asks her if she can handle Ruthie, the twins, and an egg all at once. She assures him she can. She notices the twins have disappeared, and Eric says they crawled back upstairs. Lucy runs after them.

Ruthie is ready for bed, and Eric is surprised. She explains Mary is coming home at midnight to wake her up and hang out. Eric offers to put an alarm clock in the room, and Ruthie tells him he's the "best dad ever." 

It is busy at Pete's Pizza. Frankie and Johnny are still trying to get Mary to hang out after they close the place. Mary is surprised they don't have to get home to their baby, but Johnny says that Frankie's mom thinks they are open until 1 am on Friday nights. Johnny tells Mary he thinks Frankie really needs a friend, and Mary agrees to stay around long enough for the pizza but isn't sure if she wants any beer. 

Matt leaves his apartment because he doesn't have any food in the fridge.

Annie arrives at her professor's office and has a note to go to the Gypsy Café on Broxton. Annie tries to make a call on the pay phone but can't get through. Simon is on the phone trying to reach Matt who was supposed to pick him up at seven. 

Frankie tells Mary what a great baby Mercy is. She tells her that she started smoking when she was twelve and that after she got pregnant, she quit, but when Mercy was born, she started again.

Annie gets to the café where Professor Hatch (Jeff Yagher) is waiting. He tries to get her to eat with him and asks about the kids and is surprised she has seven. He asks her if she plans to have any more, and she jokingly tells him the dining room can seat twelve.

Eric is at the pool hall. A group of women are flirting with him, and they all play pool together.

Matt sees some blonde dancing at a party (Kim Heeskin) inside some building. She motions him in but when he says he can't, she walks away from the window. Matt is like, "Ugh."

Simon is still trying to reach Matt. He hangs up and asks her where Lucy is since she is supposed to be watching the twins.

Ruthie: I think her husband just got here.

Sam and David are on the floor making a mess of the floor and themselves with flour. Lucy comes in and looks at Ruthie.

Ruthie: Well, don't look at me. I found them that way.

Lucy: Oh, come on, it's bath time.
Lab Partner: Have I told you how lovely you look tonight, dear?

They each pick up a toddler.

Lucy: Shut up.

Annie and the professor are eating lasagna even though she said she wasn't hungry. She says it is good to eat someone else's cooking. Professor Hatch says he'd like to try her cooking. She says he'll have to come to dinner sometime, but he tells her he doesn't like children. She is surprised because she teaches Early Childhood Education, and he explains he teaches adults. She suddenly remembers she was supposed to meet Eric at the pool hall and frantically calls on her cell phone. Eric doesn't seem too concerned and tells her to take her time and get there whenever she can.

Lucy's date asks Simon about his date. Simon told him that Lu Lu told her to call back when she has his license. Simon wonders if Matt was in a horrible accident because he cannot imagine what could be more important than Lu Lu. 

Matt is now dancing with the blonde at the party. 

Lucy and Steve are putting the twins to bed. Annie calls to check in, and Lucy tells her mother that everything is fine. She tells her that Matt forgot about Simon. Annie asks about Lucy's "baby" and Lucy hangs up as she and her partner frantically search for an egg. (It's never good when parents lose their eggs). They find it with Ruthie who doesn't want to return it and tells them that if it were a real child they left alone all that time they'd be in trouble. She tells them they need to report that because they were working they found a responsible babysitter. Lucy's lab partner thinks that sounds good, but Lucy says they are supposed to spend time with the egg. 

Ruthie: Yeah, yeah, but like all parents, who are supposed to spend time with their kids, you two got a little over-committed, and had to get some help. No harm done. As long as you realize teenagers aren't meant to be parents. That's all you really have to put in the report. It's the purpose of the whole thing, isn't it?

The lab partner looks at Lucy.

Lucy: She goes to private school. (And this apparently explains Ruthie completely). 

Annie meets Eric at the pool hall and is a little jealous of the girls playing pool with Eric. However, she admits, she was flirting with her professor at her meeting too. Then they stay and have coffee.

Matt is still dancing when he suddenly remembers he was supposed to take Simon somewhere. He asks her to call him, and she chases him outside and tells him that she doesn't have his number. They start kissing. Eric and Annie see them kissing. Matt gets ready to leave, but the girl reminds him again she needs his number. He writes it down, as he notices his parents. The blonde leaves as they come over. 

Annie: So that's why you forgot about Simon.
Matt: How mad is he?

Annie says she doesn't know because she hasn't seen him, and Matt says he's headed over to talk to Simon now. Eric asks Matt to make sure Lucy's date leaves by midnight and that Mary doesn't keep Ruthie up too late. Matt asks him where they will be and Eric doesn't answer his son but then asks his wife if she wants to get a room. 

Mary orders an all-meat special for Ruthie's pizza. After Frankie leaves, Johnny asks Mary what kind of beer she likes. Mary tells him "Something light." He pops a cap off of a bottle and hands it to her. She looks at it nervously at picks it up.

Matt apologizes to Simon explaining that he forgot. He explains he saw a woman.

Simon: And your woman is more important than my woman?
Matt: Yeah, but not more important than you man. 
Simon: Yeah, nice try. 

Matt hugs Simon and sees the egg "baby" that Lucy and Stephen are taking care of on the table. Matt is tossing it up in the air when Lucy comes in. (Matt, you're a doctor, don't you know that can cause scrambled egg syndrome). 

Lucy: You can't take your eyes off them for a second. 

Mary, Frankie, and Johnny are talking. Mary says she has to leave. Johny asks Frankie if Mary is okay to drive.

Frankie: She's had one beer, and we've had more than one beer so you're not driving her home, but nice try. (Frankie and Johnny were really odd, but at least Frankie had the sense not to let Johnny drive. And nice job with their names, writers). 

Matt goes into Ruthie's room. He tells her it's 12:30 and she should get some sleep. Ruthie explains she needs to wake up because Mary's coming home with pizza. 

Eric and Annie are in a hotel together. Eric asks her if she called the children. She says Simon forgave Matt, but Matt has to drive him on a date next weekend for free. Also, Matt dropped Lucy's egg. And Ruthie is still waiting for Mary.

Eric: Why am I not surprised?

They decide to go home.

Mary gets pulled over by an officer (Christopher Daniel Barnes) for running a stop sign. He lets her off with a warning. When she gets home Eric and Annie are in the kitchen sitting in the dark, at 1am. They tell her that Ruthie is asleep but expect her to wake her up. She says she was running late at work. 

Annie: And so you must be punished.
Mary: What? For being late for work?
Annie: And the penalty is two slices of pizza.
Mary: So...you're kidding?
Annie: About your being punished, yes. About the two slices of pizza, no. 

She gives them each a slice and they say goodnight. 

Eric points out the pizza is cold, and she smells like cigarettes. Annie points out she also has used breath spray. They decide they are going to have to watch her closely as she continues down her path of self-destruction. 

Mary goes to Ruthie's room and wakes her up. 

Ruthie: What time is it?
Mary: It's really late.
Ruthie: Some other time.
Mary: Okay. Some other time. Now, go back to sleep. I love you.
Ruthie: If you loved me, you would have been home at midnight. (Ooh, that burned). 

Mary looks at her sister who has gone back to sleep, then she leaves Ruthie's room as the closing credits come up. 

(I wasn't fond of this episode. It seemed rather disconnected and pointless)