Most Moving Moments: Everwood, 1.02 "The Great Doctor Brown"

Quick Recap:

Andy and Ephram are still trying to figure out how their lives will function without Julia. It's hard for Andy to not revert back to his old ways of putting his patients before his family, skipping dinner on his children in order to take care of the Dudleys, a family living in unfortunate circumstances. Ephram takes Andy to task, knowing how unfair it is to Delia that she will have to grow up without a mother. Both of them realize that they are all Delia has now.

Amy continues to befriend Ephram; however, Bright warns Ephram that she won't give him the time of day as soon as Andy helps Colin recover from his coma. Confirming his fears, when he lies to Amy and says that Andy won't help Colin, Amy gives him the brush off. Ephram feels like a giant douche for lying to Amy and squashing her hopes of helping someone she cares about, as he should.

We also get a glimpse into Harold and Edna's frosty relationship. Harold himself is a product of grief, holding a grudge against his mother for remarrying so quickly after his father died. He admires and loves his father so much that he wants to be just like him -- a beloved town doctor. Unfortunately, warm and friendly is not in Harold's nature, and he's got to reconcile his love for his father with his acceptance of who he can and cannot be.

Most Moving Moments: Everwood, 1.01 "Pilot"

I've been thinking a lot about how to write about Everwood. I've tried liveblogging, I've tried recapping, but none of those formats were really able to capture what it was that I wanted to convey about this show -- how I felt while watching it, and how I wanted readers to feel when reading about it. I concluded that this was the best way to accomplish that.

When you get down to it, the main reason I love this show so much is for its realism in emotional drama, often stemming from the basic tragedies of life. So many of the characters' conversations have mirrored my own in my life, and while there are some plot lines that may seem a little unlikely, the reactions and growth of the characters are always organic. Everwood is really a show about death, and how people in all walks of life deal with that simple truth of mortality. Some find in themselves a spirit of resilience; others, just brokenness. Death is what really motivates us all in the way we choose to live, affecting our relationships with everyone around us. And with just a hint of snowy magic, the sleepy mountain town of Everwood, Colorado leaves us with a sense of hope, and an understanding that, too often, tragedy and joy go hand in hand.

After my own mother passed away, this show became all too relevant, and watching grief being handled with such pathos and elegance on this show was, for me, a cathartic experience.