Damage Control - Recap

Zeek and Drew are changing the oil when he's supposed to be in school.

Haddie says she'll be home at 10:30. Kristina asks all manner of
questions, trying to catch her in a lie. As soon as Haddie is out the
door, she announces that Haddie is lying. Max seems happy to hear it.
Haddie needs a consequence, or she's just going to keep lying. Adam and
Kristina realize he's right.

Joel, Julia and Sydney are eating breakfast when a bird hits the window
and is dazed. They bring it in for treatment.

Alex speaks at his A.A. meeting about Haddie showing him he had
something to offer. She's there at the meeting with him. As they are
walking to his car, he thanks her for coming. She tells him she feels
really lucky to be the friend he was talking about. They kiss.

Crosby and Jabbar are eating breakfast together. Jasmine asks him about
the condition of his room, it's a terrible mess. He needs to be more
responsible with his things. Crosby doesn't get it. Jabbar's a little
kid, his room is going to be messy. Jasmine tells him this is important,
and she needs him to back her up on this. He agrees to do so.

Julia is filling in her legal assistant when Sarah arrives, bearing
lunch. She has big news to share. She has decided she is never going to
date anyone ever again. She wants to have fun, but her relationships
have not been fun. She wants to hang out with her little sister.

Drew chats with his friends. He tells them Zeek let him drink beer over
the holidays and they think it's really cool. They want to come over
after school and have some brew with him from Zeek's fridge in the barn.

Joel finds out that the bird died. Sydney named her Amelia. He doesn't
tell her.

Zeek finds Drew and his friends drinking beer. He ships them all out and
confronts Drew. He tells him he's a good kid, and doesn't need to
impress anybody. This better not happen again.

Alex and Haddie go through donations. She looks up and sees Adam. It's
awkward, but Alex introduces himself. Haddie leaves with Adam, rather
than take the bus home. They start to leave, but Adam comes back and
invites Alex for dinner. He accepts. Wednesday it is.

Kristina asks Haddie what she should cook for dinner that night, but
Haddie tells her it's her thing, so it's her decision. Max asks that she
not cook anything weird, because she always cooks 'weird stuff' when
they have company. Haddie shoves Max' head on her way out.

Julia and Joel agree to tell Syd her bird died. They don't know how to
soften it. Julia wants to bring up heaven, but Joel says no. He's an
agnostic, but Julia is a believer so they're kind of stuck. Syd comes in
and says Amelia is sleeping a lot so they agree with her and don't tell
her about death yet.

Jabbar is playing with legos. Crosby tries to get him to clean his room
but he says he will 'after he's done playing'. Crosby asks him when
that's going to be, when he's 11 and starts liking girls? He sits Jabbar
down for a man talk, and Jabbar agrees to clean his room. Crosby will
help the first time, it'll be a secret. When Crosby starts cleaning,
Jabbar keeps playing.

Sarah asks Drew if he was raising trouble with his friends. He assumes
she knows, and tells her about the beer. When he realizes she didn't
know he tries to backtrack, but it's too late. He tells her Zeek gave
him a beer on Thanksgiving, and that upsets her. She confronts Zeek,
because Seth is an alcoholic and a drug addict, and Drew shouldn't use.
And Zeek should have told her he found the kids drinking in the barn.
She worries every day that the kids will turn out like Seth, so she'd
appreciate it if Zeek would let her handle it. He agrees, and she leaves
in tears.

Alex arrives bearing flowers for Kristina. Max announces that Alex is
black. Kristina tries to correct him, but Alex points out that he is
correct. Max takes the ball and runs with it, because Crosby and Jasmine
have a half-black child, so if Alex and Haddie have a baby, it will look
just like Jabbar.

Max talks his way through dinner about insects. Kristina changes the
subject to the food bank, and Alex shares how it saved his life. His mom
passed away a few years ago, and his dad never recovered so Alex had to
fend for himself. He emancipated himself at 16, which is Haddie's age
now. He wants a career in social services, but Haddie is trying to aim
him at politics. He shares that he's trying to get through his first
year in A.A., he's been sober for six months. Max announces this is very
boring, so he'll go get his bug book. Adam and Kristina look askance, so
he tells them he's a good guy. He's solid, he's learned from his past.
He wants to be completely honest with them, and thanks them for letting
him do so.

When Kristina and Adam get ready for bed, they talk about dinner. Adam
was very impressed with Alex, and Kristina agrees. But he has an uphill
battle, and they are concerned for Haddie. He'd be perfect for her if
she was 21 - but she's 16. They'll tell her in the morning ... and
she'll hate them for it.

Joel and Juliet tell Sydney that Amelia is dead. She thinks maybe if
they put water on her, she'll wake up. They tell her that won't work,
and go on to discuss death and how everybody and everything dies
eventually. She says she'll miss them when they die, and Julia tells her
about heaven. Joel is conflicted, but says nothing. Julia tells her that
Joel's mom died when Sydney was really little, and she can see her when
she dies (in 100 years). Amelia will be there, too.

Drew and Amber talk on the way to school and Sarah interrupts to tell
them about drugs and alcohol, because of Seth. Both kids say they know,
and understand. Amber reassures her.

When Jasmine congratulates Jabbar on his room, he tells her that Crosby
cleaned it and said it was a secret. Jasmine asks Crosby, and he says he
just helped, but Jabbar says he did the whole thing. Jasmine leaves him
making his sandwich and goes to confront Crosby. She tells him it was
the easy way out.

Julia and Sarah get ready to go out. She says she can drink because
despite the fact that they've been trying for four months, she is not
pregnant. Sarah fills Julia in on Seth's issues. Julia shares about
Amelia. They are interrupted by Zeek. Sarah gives him eyeball
confirmation that all is well. He tells Sarah and Julia that they are
incredible moms, and he's proud of his daughters.

Adam and Kristina break the news to Haddie. She asks if it's because
he's black. No - it's his age. He's too grown-up, and he has no parents
in his life, and no high school diploma. Mostly it's because he has his
own apartment, and they don't feel comfortable with that. She doesn't
understand why their comfort level matters. She is comfortable with
Alex. She begs them to stop, but Adam says their minds are made up, she
is not to see Alex anymore. She leaves, and Kristina bursts into tears.

Sarah tells Julia they sucked. They never even made it out of the house.
They're pathetic partiers. Zeek is fine. Julia goes home so Joel can
make fun of her. Sarah says they'll do it again next week. Zeek goes out
and finds Drew to go for a walk, and get some coffee. Zeek calls Drew
for squealing on him. He's like a little Chatty Cathy.

Joel wishes his mom was there to see how great Sydney is turning out. He
likes thinking about her in heaven. But that stupid bird - he kind of
hates Julia for that. But she loves him! They hug, and he tells her
she's sweating alcohol.

Crosby gets stern with Jabbar, ordering him to clean his room. They
won't go to the zoo unless he cleans his room. He throws his toys.
Crosby digs his heels in. Jabbar tries to get him to change his mind,
and winds up having a tantrum. Crosby takes it.

Haddie tells Alex her parents thought he was really impressive. They
loved him. He liked them too. She goes to work in the kitchen.



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