At a deserted Outskirts, Billy is alone tending shop until Rick comes in for a beer. When Billy asks if Rick's been to a meeting lately, Rick changes his order to club soda. Rick tells him how Mel didn't invite him to Thanksgiving dinner at her parents'. Billy says he wasn't invited either. Rick tells Billy that, although Billy may not feel comfortable going to dinner at the farmhouse, he should anyway. When Billy asks him if he should even though it would hurt like hell, Rick tells him that it is better than going cold turkey.
At the farmhouse, Josh and Cassie have been preparing Thanksgiving dinner. While they lament that the veterans couldn't make it because of the snow, they wonder if anyone else would show up, namely Reva, Jonathan, and Billy. Tammy and Marah are already there, as well as a very hungry RJ. RJ asks Tammy for advice for what he should say at grace. She tells him to just say what he is thankful for. While Josh and Tammy try to put on a sunny front that all is well with this "new family" style Thanksgiving, Tammy and Marah won't cut them any slack. Tammy tells Cassie that she and Josh are pushing the situation too hard. Likewise, Marah tells Josh the same thing. Marah lets everyone present know that she is opposed to Cassie and Josh's relationship. Josh is hurt and tries to get her to understand. After RJ discovers the turkey has burned and he'd like to order pizza, what is left of the family gathering dissolves. Tammy leaves for a police ride-along with Remy just as Billy arrives. He soon leaves as well when Marah makes her exit. Before Billy leaves, he tells Josh that Josh may be able to build and name a hospital after H.B., but Josh can't pull a family together like H.B. As Marah departs, Josh is left in tears, realizing this new type of family may not work. Cassie assures him it will just take time. Josh goes outside to tend to firewood as Cassie is left looking sad.
At the Spaulding mansion, Lizzie has gone into labor. While Lizzie is upset she didn't have time to get her hair done, Reva assures her the doctors won't mind. It is pandemonium while everyone tries to get ready to take her to the hospital. Jon pulls the car right up to the patio doors, with Alan yelling in the background, "You drove up my lawn?!?" Jon rushes Lizzie off to the hospital. After they leave, Reva points out that she hopes "Little Reva" will be okay. She tells Alan that Jon whispered the news to her as he got into the car. Alan is repulsed at the prospect of his great-granddaughter being named after Reva. Reva admits it's not true, but that had she "kicked," they may have out of sympathy. When Alan declares, "over my dead body," Reva responds, "No, actually over mine."
Jon and Lizzie have gotten stuck in the snow. When Jon gets ready to get out of the car to push it out, another car slides into them. The other car lands in a ditch. Jon calls 911 to get an ambulance. Remy and Tammy, out on the routine patrol, come along the scene first. Remy leaves the trio in order to check on the car that went into the ditch. Meanwhile, Lizzie is suffering major labor pains. Jon is getting increasingly angry as he wonders where the ambulance is. Tammy calms him down so he is able to tend to Lizzie. Reva and Alan have arrived at the hospital only to learn that Lizzie and Jon were most likely involved in a car accident on their way to the hospital. While Alan is demanding a helicopter be deployed to look for the missing couple, Reva leaves to find Jon on her own.
At the police station, Coop has brought Thanksgiving dinner to his niece Marina. He tells her how Buzz is worried about her being alone. Marina insists that they should all realize that she is happily single. She thanks Coop for the dinner. She only wished there were seconds. Marina asks Coop to thank Ava for letting him come spend time with her on this incredibly slow night. When Coop leaves, Marina receives a phone call from Remy who tells her about Lizzie and Jon's accident. "So much for a quiet Thanksgiving," says Marina to herself.
Lizzie is in labor on the side of the road. Jonathan assures her they will be able to deliver the baby as a team – the three of them. She starts pushing and the baby is born. The baby is perfect – but Lizzie becomes unconscious. The ambulance arrives and they take them to the hospital.
Jeffrey is packing when he's visited by Frank and a drunken Doris Wolf. She delights in telling Jeffrey the governor is rescinding his appointment as acting mayor. Frank confirms Doris' story. Olivia meets up with Doris and they toast to Jeffrey's demise. Jeffrey drowns his sorrows at Outskirts. A drunken Jeffrey tells Olivia they can never take back that night – looking up to see Eva and Coop listening to them. Eva wants to make sure Jeffrey is ok and offers for her and Coop to take him home but he refuses. Coop tells Olivia to leave Eva alone – that the proposal doesn't change anything. Olivia realizes Buzz was going to propose and runs out.
Josh and Cassie try to salvage Thanksgiving by going to chop down a Christmas tree. They wander into the woods to pick out a tree. RJ picks a tree and Josh cuts his hand with the ax and they go to the hospital.
Reva falls while waiting for a taxi – only to have Alan help her up. Beth, Lillian and Mel come across Alan when he tells them Lizzie is in labor and they've been in a car accident.
Lizzie and the baby arrive at the hospital. Lizzie regains consciousness. They take the baby to NICU. Rick tells them Lizzie has lost a lot of blood and they're trying to stabilize her. The baby is fine and Jonathan gets to hold her. Rick comes out to tell the family Lizzie has stabilized and the bleeding has stopped. Jonathan takes the baby in to see Lizzie – while Tammy watches from the doorway.
Remy brings food for the clan from Company – where they all spend Thanksgiving outside Lizzie's room.
Inside the Light: Like the Corner of my Mind
Olivia frantically searches for Buzz after she learned from Coop that he should have already proposed to her by now. She finally finds him strolling out of the movie theater on Main Street with a tub of popcorn. Olivia reveals that Coop spoiled the engagement surprise. Popcorn flies as Buzz can't believe Coop told her. Olivia defends Coop's unwitting announcement. He believed it had already occurred when he mentioned it. Buzz explains how much he loves Olivia. She suggests that he gets on his knee as he says this, but Buzz tells her that he has changed his mind about the proposal due to her rage over the past. It seems that Olivia hates Jeffrey more than she could ever love Buzz. After her tirade about Jeffrey, Buzz believes that she is not only angry, but she has become anger itself. It's like acid on their relationship. Olivia tries to convince him that she can let it go, but he sees that the anger building, not abating. He can't have a marriage that way. Olivia hugs him, and determined, she asks him not return the ring just yet.
Back at The Beacon, Olivia asks Emma to be good for Jane. She admits she wants to be good, too, and that's why she's getting on a plane. She laughs, seeing Jeffrey on TV. Instead of getting angry, she turns it off. She professes her love for Emma and Buzz. Nothing will keep her from loving them even more.
Olivia returns to her old home in San Cristobel. It's for sale and has been on the market since 2000. Olivia lived there even longer ago than that, she recalls. The realtor comments that no one seems to want the place. Alone in her former bedroom, she tosses back a tarp that covers her old vanity table. Slowly Olivia sinks onto the bench. She peers into the mirror.
Suddenly the screen colors grow pale (not gray, just barely colorized) and we hear "Wake me up Before You go go" by Wham. Young Olivia sits at the table excitedly applying makeup. As she bounces around getting ready, Older Olivia stands in the room watching. Her mother bangs on the door. Young Olivia snickers until the banging grows really loud. She turns off the enormous boom box by the window and lets her mother into the room. They argue about where she's going. Older Olivia agrees with her mother's assessment that the men at the party are out for a good time and could take advantage of her. She begs her younger self not to go, but no one can hear her. Her mother forbids her to go, but Young Olivia sneaks out.
The pale colored scene continues to the embassy as Young Olivia arrives at the party. Her name is not on the guest list. Nervously she lies about coming with a friend who couldn't make it. Duran Duran's "Rio" plays as the host encourages Young Olivia to go on in—even without proper ID. She spots Young Jeffrey leaning against a wall with a drink in hand. In this version, he already he looks as if he wants to devour her.
Presently, Older Olivia leaves her childhood home and she goes to the embassy. The moment she opens the door to the empty building, the party seems to happen all over again. Again the screen colors blanch. The room is full of congregating people, music, and laughter. Drink after drink appears in Young Olivia's hands. Young Olivia twirls the dance floor with Young Jeffrey. She swigs from a Jack Daniel's mini bottle in her purse, dances and teases, drinks from a punch glass, dances and laughs, and she drinks from a champagne glass. All around her the room brims with laughter and dancing and music. It spins on and on, dance after dance with Jeffrey. The camera speeds it up faster and faster until Older Olivia spirals back into the present.
Her memories are hazy. To refresh them, Older Olivia retrieves the diary from her bag and continues to read it aloud. "Rio" of Duran Duran fades in as Older Olivia reads Young Olivia's plans to gain entry to the ball. With no invitation or fake ID, she intends to act as they do in movies. She'll portray herself as older and talk her way in.
We see Young Olivia lowering the cleavage on her fitted pink dress. She swigs from the mini whiskey bottle as Older Olivia looks on. Older Olivia suddenly she remembers this; she remembers thinking she had to show a lot of skin. She tells Young Olivia that it doesn't make her look sexy; it makes her look cheap. Young Olivia can't hear her as she implores the girl to just go home. Unlike the previous memory, the host isn't so willing to let Young Olivia into the event. Coquettishly, she leans on the host stand, perking up her breasts. When that doesn't work, she sits on the table. Legs crossed, she plays with his tie. He finally agrees to let her in as long as someone in the party vouches for her. She immediately sees Jeffrey. The lyrics to the song "Rio" sing, "I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking..." Young Olivia winks at him and gives him a seductive smile.
"Oh, my God..." Older Olivia utters as she watches her younger self explain to the host that she has spotted a friend who can vouch for her. As Young Olivia prepares a glass of punch to take to Young Jeffrey, Older Olivia urges her to leave that man alone. When she says, "Turn around, walk out the door NOW," Young Olivia quakes as if she really heard her. She shakes it off, and talking to herself, Young Olivia wonders if her mother rented a space in her brain or something.
Ignoring the doubts in her head, Young Olivia takes Young Jeffrey the punch. He already has a champagne glass. She comes onto him, admonishing him for starting to drink without her. Touching him and smiling closely in his face, she coaxes him to vouch for her with the host and to be her date for the evening. El Debarge's "Rhythm of the Night" plays as Older Olivia begs her younger self to stop.
Young Olivia thinks she is in control of the reserved Young Jeffrey. She charms him into a dance. He seems shy, admitting that he isn't a good dancer, but Young Olivia grooves with him and compliments his dubious moves. She shows him a seductive hip-swaying dance. Admiring her from behind, Young Jeffrey says he can't dance like that but loves watching her. Older Olivia pleads with Young Olivia to stop, to understand that Young Jeffrey doesn't know her age and is receiving the wrong message from her flirting. The young couple kisses on the dance floor as Older Olivia begs her former self to go home to mommy.
In the present, tear smeared Olivia drops the diary beside her. With her head bowed in wistful resignation, she drags herself to her feet and walks to the door of the empty embassy. At the threshold, she glances up to find Jeffrey standing right in front of her.
Snidely Olivia she orders him to get out of her way. She insinuates that he followed her, but Jeffrey had no idea she'd be there. Jeffrey doesn't believe she heard him when he explained to her that this incident twenty years ago also destroyed his life. For his own peace, he desires to sort out what happened, how it happened and why. Olivia bitingly asks if his mind is playing tricks on him. He admits that the mind can do that. He's heard his "handler's" version of the story and hers, but neither matches what he remembers. He seeks the truth for himself. Whatever route he takes down memory lane, Olivia knows the view will be ugly. He wonders if she's there for the same reason he is, to discern the truth from the blurry memories. Olivia walks out on him without an answer.
When Jeffrey is alone, the music comes back to him. He recalls Young Olivia asking him to kiss her again. Older Jeffrey looks on, calling his younger self an idiot. Older Jeffrey follows the couple to the refreshment table. This time, Young Jeffrey hands Young Olivia a glass of champagne. Young Olivia toasts to lousy dancers. Young Jeffrey says he's not lousy at everything. Older Jeffrey implores Young Jeffrey to realize that she's already drunk. He urges him to put her in a cab and send her home.
Older Jeffrey spots Young Ditkins and approaches him. Though Older Jeffrey doesn't recall seeing Ditkins at the party, he accuses him of spying on the unsuspecting young couple all evening without stopping them. Young Ditkins stares at the couple as Young Olivia becomes disoriented. Young Jeffrey takes her empty glass and asks if she is okay. She thinks everything is fuzzy all of a sudden and she needs to lie down. Young Jeffrey suggests they find a room. Young Olivia laughs as she stumbles, bearing heavily on Young Jeffrey as they exit. Older Jeffrey cries out for them to come back. He surrounds Young Ditkins, cursing him lying in wait for Young Jeffrey to make just one more mistake in order to trap him. Again and again, Older Jeffrey desperately utters that Ditkins could have stopped this whole thing from happening.
But he didn't, Young Ditkins speaks back. Maybe that makes him scum, he says, but Jeffrey's the one who got that girl loaded. Jeffrey's the one that took advantage of her. No one forced him into it. So he's only got himself to blame. In the background the lyrics to the song sing, "This will be a night like you've never known..."
Jeffrey follows them to a private room. Young Olivia releases his hand and scoots higher on the bed. Young Jeffrey removes a suspender from his shoulder. He comes down on her and they kiss.
In the present, Older Jeffrey wonders why he didn't stop. Back at the party, Young Jeffrey stands in the doorway and answers, "Because she was hot. Dude, come on. With a chick like that, nobody'd stop." Older Jeffrey admonishes his younger self. She was just a kid. Unfazed, Young Jeffrey replies that she didn't look like one, she didn't sound like one and she definitely didn't kiss like one. He reminds his older self that it was her idea to lie down—not his. Sardonically, Older Jeffrey asks if he would have jumped in front of a bus at her request. Probably so since he was drunk, Young Jeffrey replies. She was drunk, too, Older Jeffrey lashes back. He calls his younger self an idiot, explaining her intoxication is what made her want to lie down. She wanted rest, not sex. Young Jeffrey proffers that she must have changed her mind because she kissed him instead of saying no. He wonders what Older Jeffrey would have done had he been him. Then he smiles, saying, "That's right; you are me." He knows what he would have done because he never put the breaks on with any woman. Older Jeffrey says the younger one doesn't know anything. "Face it Dude," Young Jeffrey says with an arrogant smile. "If the chick doesn't say no, neither do we." Older Jeffrey tries to hit the young one, but he disappears, leaving Jeffrey alone in the present.
Olivia comes back because she forgot her diary. Jeffrey immediately apologizes to Olivia for the past. She doesn't want to talk to him, but he insists that he must say this. He admits he was young, drunk, stupid and self-centered then, only concerned about what he could get away with. Olivia sobs. Jeffrey breathlessly apologizes and reaches for her. Olivia pulls away. Jeffrey knows he made a terrible mistake. Olivia whimpers that they both did. She apologizes for going to the party, for not telling him that she was only sixteen, and for kissing him. She's even more sorry that she wanted to kiss him. Olivia confides in him about her desperation to be grown up and free of her mother. Barely able to speak through her tears, she reveals how she believed her mother was trying to keep her trapped in her poor life. She explains to him all the feelings that made her behave that way at the party. She wanted to prove to herself that she could make things happen. And she did make things happen. "I went to that room with you, but I couldn't make it stop..."
Olivia stands before Jeffrey, vulnerable and wrecked with anguish. Her tear laden eyes are unable to meet his. Jeffrey grabs her. She meekly fights him for a moment, and holding each other, they sink to the floor. Olivia cradles in a ball around him. She moans and cries through the pain as he consoles her.
After they compose themselves, Jeffrey dearly wants to go back and change things. Olivia tells him that they can't changes it and they can't change that it killed someone. It killed the person Olivia hoped to be, Jeffrey guesses. It killed her mother, Olivia replies.
Back at the house, Olivia places a photo of her mother and her as a teen on the vanity mirror and talks to it. Flipping through the diary, she realizes how she filled it with hatred for her mother's rules. Once her mother died, Olivia became the mother. That's when she learned how hard her mother really had it. She admits that her mother was right when she called Olivia a difficult person. Her ex's can attest to it. All her life she believed a man would magically appear and rescue her from her pathetic life, but instead she has only succeeding in driving all the good men away or going after all the bad ones instead. Now that she is screwing things up with Buzz, she thinks that she might really be toxin to men.
Jeffrey enters the room and says that perhaps she is just punishing herself. Olivia orders him to leave. Having spent his whole life running from his guilt, changing his name, his addresses, and face, he knows how it feels to loathe one's self. He asks her why she blames herself for her mother's death. Olivia believes her actions that night led to the shame that caused the stroke. All the shame in the world doesn't cause a stroke, Jeffrey says. To him, Olivia is not a saint but she's not a killer either. Hesitantly holding his Saint Jude necklace, he offers it to her. He says that it is supposed to remind him that no matter how bad things are, there is still a chance for him to turn them around if he keeps trying. Olivia tells him how he could have been a good mayor. He gives good speeches. She decides she's going home and leaves him alone holding the charm.
Back at the Beacon, Olivia demands that Jeffrey leave her alone. He took the same flight as she did and he followed her cab. Now Olivia has had enough. Sincerely, Jeffrey expresses his desire to help her get over what happened between them in the past. Olivia cynically deems that nice of him—if he were really doing it for her and not for himself. She suspects that he just wants to make himself feel better. Jeffrey retorts that not everything is a ploy. She decides that he can do one thing for her: Stay away from Ava.
Jeffrey doesn't feel that Ava wants to be around him. Because Ava is softhearted, Olivia knows that their daughter will eventually want to know Jeffrey. After carrying the shame of her pregnancy all her life, Olivia doesn't think Jeffrey has the right to waltz in now, twenty years later, and reap the benefits of a relationship with his full-grown daughter. He never wanted to be a father anyway, Olivia conjectures. Jeffrey agrees to stay away from Ava if it will help Olivia move on. He steps toward Olivia, perhaps for a hug, but she stops him. Despite whatever moment that they shared in San Cristobel , they are not friends. They are nothing to each other, she tells him and goes into her room.
Emma and her sitter await Olivia inside. Olivia apologizes for being gone. When Emma forgives her, she hugs the child, hoping Buzz can forgive her, too. Meanwhile Jeffrey wanders upon Ava and Coop tossing candy and popcorn in each other's mouths at CO2. He watches for a moment and then strolls away. Olivia calls Buzz one more time after putting Emma to bed. He doesn't answer. There comes a knock at the door. It's Buzz. He hasn't gotten any of her messages, but he begrudgingly admits that he showed up to see how she was feeling. Olivia pulls him into her arms and hugs him tightly. She needs him so much and begs him not to give up on her. Buzz wants to know what has happened. Olivia says she had a revelation that she doesn't have to go on being the person she is. She admits that, "I'm angry, too angry and I still hate—" Looking into his eyes, she continues, "—But I love you more, Buzz. I love you more." They embrace.
A melancholy piano tune plays as Young Olivia and Young Jeffrey dance. The clip fades into Jeffrey sitting alone in dim light. We hear the voice over of Young Ditkins: "No one forced you into it, so you've got no one to blame, but yourself." The music continues as the young couple strolls out of the embassy party. Next we see Coop and Ava playfully teasing each other on Main Street. Buzz makes himself a drink and then kisses Olivia. Young Olivia grips the Saint Jude Necklace in her hand as she cries. She walks home barefoot. Her clothes and hair are disheveled. The song's lyrics, "...who's going to catch me when I fall..." sing as Buzz and Olivia sit in front of the sofa, holding each other.
Lizzie and Jonathan share a tender moment with their baby in the hospital. Lizzie tells Jonathan the baby erases all their past mistakes - they start anew - just then in walked Tammy. She came to see the baby. Tammy sees the love in Lizzie's eyes as she looks at Jonathan. Tammy becomes uncomfortable and leaves. Alan and Beth come in to see the baby, much to Jonathan's dismay. Beth and Lizzie talk about where their "home" is and Lizzie asks Beth to ask Alan to understand their home is with Jonathan. Meanwhile, Alan gives Jonathan papers that he has intentions of getting custody of the baby. Lizzie blasts Alan for fighting with Jonathan, when Jonathan shares the papers with Lizzie. Jonathan offers his solution - the three of them will move into the mansion. Alan has no choice but to agree.
Ashlee surprises Mallet and Dinah by informing Mallet she now works for him on his show. Vanessa is involved in this new twist. Dinah confronts Vanessa on her plans to make Mallet a star. Vanessa figures out that Dinah is the one who wants the attention.
Mallet meets up with Dinah where Dinah tells him she got him off the hook - by getting her own show to replace his show. Mallet is furious about what she's done. Vanessa shows up to tell them she's going to air both shows on the same night and let the audience decide which show stays on the air.
Harley and Gus are trying to figure out what Blake knows about him. They find a CD labeled "GA", open the file on the computer and find a picture of a woman named Bailey Brook - but Gus doesn't know her.
Tammy goes to the farmhouse, puts on a CD and cries. Marina visits with Tammy, trying to convince her she needs to move on with her life. Remy joins them. They both take Tammy out to cheer her up. They go out where Marina leaves the two of them alone. Remy gets coffee just as Jonathan walks by with some packages and shares a look with Tammy, yet keeps walking.
Lillian comes in to tell Lizzie and Jonathan the baby has a heart murmur, and there is a specialist in Chicago. Jonathan tells Lizzie they're not moving into the mansion and they're not going to Chicago. Meanwhile, Lillian calls Beth to tell her about the baby and that they're taking her to Chicago. Lizzie and Jonathan sneak out of the hospital with the baby.
When Jeffrey asks Ditkins for a job, Ditkins refuses. Ava and Alan-Michael enter, and Jeffrey tells Ava that he thinks it's best that they don't try to do the father-daughter thing. Ava asks Jeffrey if they could try to, at least, be friends. When Jeffrey volunteers his services to help Alan find Lizzie, Ava tries to stop him, but he brushes her off. Marah tells Reva she finally realizes her parents are not getting back together, and leaves for Paris. Meanwhile, a veteran comes to thank Josh and Cassie for building the veteran's hospital, as it gave him his life back. Josh wants to be proud of his accomplishments, but he can't help but feel like something is missing. Alan realizes that Jonathan ran away with Lizzie and the baby. Alan presses Tammy for answers, but she denies knowing anything. After Alan leaves, she checks her messages, only then realizing Jonathan has left town for good. Alan presses Reva for answers on Jonathan's whereabouts. Josh enters as Alan tells Reva she is the most selfish human being he knows. Josh runs at Alan, and Reva is touched that Josh defended Reva's decision to hide her cancer. Cassies goes with Alan to look for Jonathan and Lizzie, as Remy tells Tammy that he is not about to wait around for someone who is pining after someone else. Josh tells Reva he finally realizes that her sacrifice allowed him to finish the Veterans Hospital, and they share a touching moment.
