The Cold Turkey
Season: 4
Episode: 3
Characters: Ryan, Seth, Summer, Sandy, Kirsten, Julie, Che, Neil, Taylor, Kaitlin, Veronica.
Editors Choice Quote: “Who knew, out of all you kids, Summer would turn out to be the young Sandy Cohen?” - Sandy
Episode Guide
Kirsten and Sandy worry that Ryan is becoming too detached. Sandy isn’t as worried about that as he is that Ryan is drawing closer to Julie. Perhaps disinviting Julie from Thanksgiving dinner this year will send a message. At the same time, Seth is leaving yet another long-winded message on Summer’s machine, and Summer is yet again listening to it instead of answering the phone.
The boys come into the kitchen for breakfast and everything is nice and awkward. Finally, Kirsten snaps and orders the family to come together and make Thanksgiving a happy time. First mission, a grocery store trip for the boys. Second mission, everybody cooking the bird together. Except for Sandy, who just got a call and has to duck out on business for a few hours first. The call was from Volchok.
Sandy meets Volchok at the beach and Volchok hops in his car. Volchok thanks him for the help, but Sandy wants to keep this as a simple lawyer/client relationship. They’re not friends. Meanwhile, Seth heads up to his bedroom, where he finds Taylor, who has been sleeping under his bed recently. They chat about Summer and Taylor possibly reveals more about Summer’s view of their relationship than Seth knew. But everything will work itself out soon because Summer is coming home for Thanksgiving.
Or…is she? She’s currently on the phone telling her father that she doesn’t think she’s up for turkey in Newport when their chat is interrupted by a barking dog. The dog belongs to Kaitlin. Dr. Roberts orders her to take the critter back, so she quickly asks how his conference went. Knowing that she knows what he doesn’t want Julie to know, Dr. Roberts backs down. Sometimes blackmail can be so simple. Dr. Roberts returns to the call and Summer can tell from his voice that he needs her there. So she’ll get on the plane after all.
The boys are at the grocery store where they just happen to run into Julie. What a wild coincidence that followed a few cell phone calls. Julie pulls Ryan over to the cheese samples area where she informs him that her PI will have a new location for Volchok soon. In the meantime, Ryan has to make happy with Sandy to get him off their trail.
Kirsten’s at home trying to get in touch with Sandy when she finds Taylor in her kitchen. And the Cohen kitchen, again, is not located in France. Taylor explains the whole French marriage fiasco and that she’s still afraid to tell her mother what happened. Kirsten thinks Taylor needs to tell her mom and Taylor thinks maybe Kirsten could help set a frame for their discussion. Kirsten reluctantly agrees to set the table, but Taylor will have to do all of the cooking.
Seth greets Summer at the airport and the long time couple isn’t sure whether they kiss, hug or shake hands for a greeting. So they bump noses. Elsewhere, Sandy sits in his office with Volchok. Sandy hangs up with the DA and tells Volchok that he will be doing some time, but turning himself in was a good step. Volchok actually expresses some relief that this will all be over soon. Ryan heads down to the office to catch up with Sandy, and that’s when he sees Sandy and Volchok driving away in Sandy’s car. It’s not a pleasant surprise.
Seth and Summer arrive home, so Kirsten puts them in charge of dinner prep and takes Taylor out to come clean to her mother. Meanwhile, Ryan drops by the Roberts-Cooper home to see Julie, but Dr. Roberts answers the door and refuses to let him in. Down at the Yacht Club, Kirsten and Taylor finally enter Veronica Townsend’s presence. Kirsten tries to soften the woman up but only gets so far before Taylor steps out of the shadows.
Sandy arrives home and tells Kirsten about Volchok. Ryan walks into in an impeccable bout of timing and expresses concern that Sandy is actually defending Volchok. Sandy makes it clear that he’s only negotiating a surrender and doing that only to help out Ryan. Ryan tells them that if they really want to help him, they should leave him alone.
Ryan sets off to find Volchok, quizzing all of his old friends. And Sandy sets off to find Ryan. Taylor returns to the Cohen house in tears after her mom called her immature and irresponsible. Oh, and kicked her out of the house. Kirsten assures her that they’ll find somewhere for her to stay. Then Seth and Summer return, leading a brigade of homeless men that Summer has rescued from the soup kitchen and invited to dinner.
Sandy calls Julie in search of Ryan. When he mentions that Volchok is now in custody, she completely falls apart. Ryan, meanwhile is searching every motel in Newport in his Volchok quest. When he exits the lobby of one, Sandy is waiting for him and persuades Ryan to come with him to see something.
Julie continues her meltdown and orders Kaitlin to get that damn dog out of her house. So Kaitlin decides she’s going to spend Thanksgiving at the Cohens’, where maybe things aren’t so insane. Dr. Roberts tries to stop Julie from leaving and talk to him, but she claims he’s the one that pulled away from her with his affair. She wants him out of the house when she returns. He artfully points out that it’s his house, and she thinks they’ll have to see about that later.
Sandy takes Ryan to the motel where he’s stashed Volchok. Sandy points out the room and Ryan is all too happy to barge inside. Volchok is none too happy to seem him. Ryan launches into berserker mode, crunching Volchok with a few punches, then shattering a bottle before holding the jagged edges to his neck. Volchok yells for Ryan to finish him off because he simply doesn’t care any more and that’s enough to get Ryan to stop.
The police arrive at the motel, but Sandy has them wait outside to give Ryan a few more minutes. He’s betting that Ryan will talk through this with Volchok and finds the closure he’s after. And his ploy seems to be working, as that’s exactly what Ryan and Volchok are doing. Ryan and Volchok finally emerge from the room and Volchok is taken into custody.
Summer arrives at her home to find Julie sitting at an empty dinner table. Over at the Cohens’, the house is starting to fill up. Dinner starts, with the Cohens joined by extended family and friends and a bunch of homeless guys. One of which Sandy recognizes as a former client from the public defender’s office. Kaitlin and Taylor make fast friends and Summer leaves a voicemail for Seth informing him that she’s heading back to Providence. Her dad, with her at the airport, sees her off.
During dinner, the doorbell rings and Sandy gets up to get it. A tearful Julie is standing outside. She apologizes for what’s she done and Sandy realizes that this is the first time he’s ever heard her say that. He invites her in to join the feast. After dinner, Julie joins Ryan in the pool house and tearfully begs Ryan to tell her all about Marissa. He’s happy to share his memories.
SpoilerFix
+ After months of not talking about it together, Ryan and Julie talk about Marissa's death. Everyone is at the Cohen's for Thanksgiving, including Taylor, Kaitlin, and a band of misfits. Source: SpoilerFix.com
+ It's Thanksgiving morning at the Cohen house and the family is still dealing with what happened in Mexico. Sandy makes a deal to help Volchok but lets Ryan intervene and finally settle the score. As Summer packs to come home to be with her family and Seth, she wonders if she can deal with Newport. Meanwhile, Julie can't deal with Kaitlin or Dr. Roberts and finds herself alone for most of Thanksgiving. Special Guest Star: Chris Pratt. Guest Cast: Cam Gigandet as Volchok, Michael Nouri as Dr. Roberts. Source: FOX
+ Ryan, Seth, and Julie, go to a sample table where they taste cheese. Julie and Dr. Roberts are still together and living in the same house but things seem iffy. Julie tries to divert conversations on potatoes and preparing a meal instead of really talking with Dr. Roberts about what is going on. Summer and Seth meet. Sandy meets Darryl, one of Seth's new friends, and remembers that he represented him a few years back... Kaitlin and Taylor also appear.
Rating
10 / 10
