Mon, Dec 12, 2011
Julianne and Brent hit a possible obstacle in their relationship, namely Brent's dog Duchess and how well, or more precisely how badly the two females get along. Meanwhile, Erica is beginning to have a series of scattered visions which is giving her massive headaches. Dr. Tom informs her that the visions are a sign that she is now a full fledged therapist, the visions, which will become clearer as time goes on, identifying who her potential patient will be. Erica is unprepared for this news, and feels she will need Dr. Tom's guidance now more than ever in navigating through her early days. That is why Erica is even more unprepared for Dr. Tom's other news: that he has decided to retire, the implication of which is that he must sever all his therapy relationships forever, including with Dr. Naadiah and his patients. Erica is devastated by this news, and as such Dr. Tom contemplates delaying his retirement until Erica feels she is ready to live all facets of her life without him. To show Erica what Dr. Tom's delay means, Dr. Naadiah reunites Erica with someone from her past in his present situation.
Wed, Dec 8, 2010
Erica's life seems to be back on track. 50/50 Publishing's future seems bright. Brent wants to extend a permanent olive branch to Julianne - and by association Erica - due in part to their now closer working relationship. Julianne is still somewhat suspicious as Brent will not tell her why he originally stabbed her in the back. Back with Erica, she is in a budding relationship with Adam. And all of her family - Barb, Gary and Sam - are also in happy places in their lives. But Erica's life takes an unexpected turn when, after waking up after her first ever lovemaking session with Adam, she finds that she is back in the hospital during the time when she first met Dr. Tom. Populated by familiar faces in different positions, such as Julianne as a nurse, Dave as an orderly and Dr. Tom as Dr. Wexler who is her physician and not her therapist, Erica's new reality is that she has just awaken from a two week coma from her nut-allergy induced anaphylactic shock. The implication is that her therapy with Dr. Tom has been a dream. As Erica tries to cope with what she sees as this setback, she receives a visitor from her past who tries to make her understand what's going on. Regardless of if what she is experiencing is indeed her reality, Erica has to come to the understanding that she still has the lessons learned from therapy - imagined or real - to start the process of bettering her life all over again.
Wed, Apr 1, 2009
Erica's life is finally going great, both personally and professionally. But the fact that December 13th is approaching is weighing heavily on her mind, that date being the anniversary of Leo's death, which is still her biggest regret in life. Leo died at the age of 21 in a barn fire at her grandmother's farm, the fire that appears to be an accident of Leo's own doing. The farm is now the unofficial grave site where the family visits only once a year to mourn. Erica wants things to change, to make Leo's memory more of a happy thought than a somber one. Her idea is to rebuild the barn as both a cathartic exercise and a standing memorial to Leo. This task ends up being difficult for Barb, who cannot let go of how she grieves for her son. Before sending Erica back to that time to allow her to say goodbye to her brother, Dr. Tom stresses to her that her therapy does not allow her to play God to bring back the dead, and that there are dire consequences if she tries to do so. Once back, Erica finds that knowing her brother is going to die and not doing anything about it is more difficult than she could have ever imagined. Erica learns the hard way that there are extreme consequences in every aspect of her life to her decision to try and save Leo.
Tue, Dec 8, 2009
Erica is feeling conflicted about her decision to start her own publishing company with her fellow fired River Rocker Julianne, their first planned book being Seth Newman's manuscript about escaping from a cult within which his family still lives. Although the business was Erica's idea, Julianne is equally as excited about the prospect. Ethan, however, wants Erica to be more cautious in whatever her next career pursuit. Dr. Tom gives Erica a test to follow her gut feeling. As Erica is unable to complete this test, Dr. Tom sends Erica back to graduate school, when Erica mistakenly sent a nasty email to her brilliant but difficult thesis adviser, Dr. Audrey Hogan, the department head. Erica vows not to send the email the second time around. Regardless of the email, Erica feels that Dr. Hogan hates her. But Erica comes to understand what she is supposed to learn on this visit back. With this new found knowledge, Erica tries to assist Kai, who thinks that he will soon be sent back to resume his real life. But she also makes a decision to change a fundamental aspect of her own current life, and walks through a door to an unknown future.
Wed, Nov 10, 2010
Kai returns. Based on what he told her last time he saw her, Erica is certain that this trip is the one where the two of them will have sex. Because the encounter already happened in Kai's past, Erica is unsure if she has the ability to change that if indeed she does not want to have sex with Kai, which based on circumstance could not blossom into a full fledged relationship. Erica brings this conundrum up at group therapy. Beyond what Erica sees as a slight glimpse of jealousy on Adam's part to this news, Dr. Tom reacts in such a way that angers Erica and that could threaten her therapy with him altogether. What Erica is unaware of is that Dr. Tom is dealing with something in his own life out of need. Dr. Arthur has been concerned that Tom has been hiding behind work rather than take time to reflect and enjoy his own therapied life. The situation which he and his wife Marjorie are facing is the return of their daughter, Sarah, who is very much in need of help but whose actions show that she is unable or really unwilling to clean up her life. This situation makes Tom feel helpless, unlike how he feels when he is dealing with his patients. Meanwhile, Sam has gone from one extreme to another in her public dealings with Lenin, this time overcompensating for their professional disparities.
Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Things around Erica are not going well. Sam, who is still staying with Erica and Ethan, has just been served divorce papers by Josh, who wants to take her for everything. And Erica loses two important people in her life. First, Brent no longer wants to associate with her as he sees them as being on opposite sides of a Cold War. And second, Kai no longer wants to see her after her admission to him that she has feelings for him. Not wanting to fall into what he sees as the bad life he lived in 2019, Kai quits his job at Goblins without telling Erica in hopes that she can go on with her happy life with Ethan. Erica, in her regular therapy session, wants specifically to deal with the issue of Kai, which Dr. Tom refuses, he stating that her therapy is about her and not Kai. After a fight, Erica walks out of her session. Their fight reminded Dr. Tom of his own strained relationship with his street-wise daughter, Sarah, whose whereabouts he now does not know. To help him understand what is happening between himself and Erica, Dr. Tom is sent back by Dr. Naadiah to his last meeting with Sarah. This trip back may fundamentally change Dr. Tom's relationship with Erica, and by association Kai.
Tue, Oct 12, 2010
Erica receives a surprise visit from someone she never expected to see again: Kai. She figures he is on a rogue mission as this visit seems against the rules of therapy. Regardless, he has much news for her, the most important being that he looks for her in the year 2019 and can't find her. Erica believes the worst for herself, meaning death for her in 2019 at age 42. As Erica progresses through the day, she can't focus on anything else besides the possibility of dying at such a young age and wanting to find out for sure what really happens to her in 2019. As such, Dr. Tom sends Erica back on a Groundhog Day (1993) scenario, reliving a certain time of her life over and over again, perhaps for eternity or at least until she figures out what lesson Dr. Tom is trying to teach her. But as he denies Erica her initial request, Dr. Tom does exactly himself what Erica requested for herself, which brings up concerns with Drs. Naadiah and Arthur. And Barb's actions may be a role for Erica to follow as Barb tells her of her breast cancer.
Tue, Sep 22, 2009
Because Erica reneged on her vow not to try and save Leo from dying, Dr. Tom quits being her therapist. He refuses to see her. Erica in turn refuses to continue with therapy with her new assigned therapist, Dr. Naadiah. Erica feels that perhaps she doesn't require therapy anymore. She is in a committed, loving relationship with Ethan. She got the much coveted job editing River Rock's latest high profile book (much to Brent's chagrin). And her relationship with her family is the best it's ever been. But Erica learns that there is a cost to quitting therapy. That cost is helping another lost soul. The year is 1998, the place a Coyote Ugly (2000) type bar. Her down and out client is someone named Tom Wexler, who Erica knows but under a slightly different name. Before Erica can help him, she has to understand how Tom Wexler became the man he is. But what he sees as Erica's meddling in Tom Wexler's life may bring Dr. Tom out of his self-imposed silence.
Tue, Sep 29, 2009
Erica and Ethan's relationship hits a rough patch. They have been arguing a lot without Erica really knowing why. In turn, Ethan seems to be running away from her without telling her of that fact. This relationship is becoming reminiscent of Erica's previous relationship with Malcolm Abrams. Once her best friend during their senior year when they were both camp counselors, the two became romantic after which he suddenly broke up with her. The break up caused a war of one-upsmanship which Erica eventually lost. The second time around, Erica vows not to play these games with Malcolm after the break up, regardless of why he did it. However, she can't hide her disdain and her need to get back at him once the games start happening again. But when she learns the reason for the break-up, she realizes that none of this would have happened the first time around if they just talked. Dr. Tom also convinces her that perhaps the current non-communication with Ethan is a two-way street despite she believing she has been totally honest with him. Meanwhile, Josh makes a unilateral decision in his and Sam's life. Brent takes a bold step in his professional life at River Rock. And Erica decides to speak to Kai the barista about what she thinks she saw at the coffee house.
Mon, Nov 14, 2011
Beyond Rachel knowing, Julianne isn't yet ready to tell the world, let alone Erica, that she and Brent are a couple. Although Brent respects Julianne's wishes, he doesn't much like it. Erica also isn't ready to tell the world that she and Kai are now dating. Their relationship faces its own challenges with Kai being officially from the future. Being as such, Kai has certain knowledge about what will happen in Erica's life. Although he knows he isn't supposed to tell her anything about the future, the temptation to pass along monumental news may be too difficult to keep. This news does affect the way Erica deals with her present, especially with regard to an offer by Scott Galvin which Erica would have dismissed had she not known the news. However, a visit from an unexpected person from her future may shed some light on what the future may hold for her and what that means for her present. Dr. Tom, on the other hand, isn't allowed to divulge the nature of his work to Amanda, which may place a wedge between the two as him hiding parts of his life from her was the reason for them breaking up on their first go around. Meanwhile, Sam is overdue and will do anything to go into labor. As such, she makes a special request of Lenin, who isn't sure if he can accommodate Sam's request.