| The Hook gets the Hook
Scott and Meredith are
shopping for a new prosthetic
hand. They view several,  including one
 "robo swiss army
knife" hand that is ugly and strange. There is a nice one that is high
tech, but it costs too much for someone on a teacher's salary, as Meredith
says. So she settles for the middle of the road version. Guber can
tell she's unhappy and buys the high end one for her for Christmas.
She is so overwhelmingly happy that she tells him she's beginning to fall
in love with him.
Teachers do Care
Danny finds his brightest student, Debbie, in his classroom
after school hours working on
homework. She  tells him she's afraid to go home and find a rejection
letter from B.U. in response to her early admission application. She really wants to get in,
but can't bear the let down if she doesn't so opts to hide in his
classroom rather than read the letter. The next day she  doesn't
come to class, and other students claim she's sick. Danny visits her
home and encourages her to keep working on gaining entrance to B.U.
He tells her he will make it his mission to see that she gets in.
That evening Debbie stops Danny in the hall as he and Ronnie head to see the concert. She gives him a card and gift she made for
him, to thank him for
caring and to let him how much he's appreciated.
Another Cause for Senate
In typical Harry fashion he jumps at the opportunity to
save another student from suicide when he reads a  rather realistic essay
about death written by Max Werner (Ben
Foster). Harry and
Harper meet with his mother and she tells them Max has leukemia, that he
writes about death because it is what is real to him and he needs a
release, not because he feels suicidal. Harry is apologetic and suddenly
feels very bad for the boy. He even asks Harvey to be easy on him
and not make jokes about Max's lack of hair. Harvey says he won't
change his ways. He's equally mean to everyone.
Harry meets with Max after
choir practice and asks him about his situation, and Max repeats the
same thing his mother said. He tells his teacher that he writes about what he knows, just like
all good authors. As Harry is collecting tests in class the next day,
he is disturbed to find a spot of blood on the paper belonging to Max, who apparently
is no longer in
remission. Harry talks with him again later and Max tells him he's
more aware of dying now than ever; his remission times are getting
shorter and shorter. But he hasn't told his family about the recurrence
of his illness because he wants to
have a calm and pleasant Christmas holiday.
A Wilder Our Town
 Dr. Harris has permission to
stage a performance
of "Our Town" by Wilder. What he actually told Guber is that the cast
was performing "It's Our Town Too" that's a bit wilder
than the
original. The blissfully oblivious Guber sits in on a rehearsal and
finds something all together different than what he expected: two female
students
kissing onstage. Dander up, Guber immediately moves to cancel the
the show out of fear that the Flynn Foundation will not
fund the production. But Harper says the show must go on and  that he has
no right to decide what's in good taste, to which Guber replies,
"Better me than that little peanut,...that little roach."
Dr. Harris overhears the comments and makes it known to Guber that he will not be
addressed that way. The VP later goes backstage before rehearsal to
talk to Dr. Harris, and happens upon Jeremy and another male student
kissing each other.
Harper suggests that Guber not mention it to Meredith if he wants to
maintain their relationship. (This one is still up in the air).
The Pointer Sisters Revisited
 Marilyn, Marla and Louisa sing at a small Christmas
program and are fantastic. They are asked to perform at the school
Christmas Pageant, and stun the crowd with a great rendition of "Love Train."
Christmas: Family-Style
After seeing Marilyn, Marla and Louisa perform at a
small club the Harper family stop at Brooke's house. She heads
upstairs but stays in view long enough to see her parents kiss, which
brings her to tears. The next day she is excited and tells Lauren
that her parents are getting back together. Lauren asks Harper if
this is true, but he says otherwise. Concerned, Stephen approaches Brooke
on the subject, asking her thoughts about him and her mother. As he calmly informs her they are NOT getting back
together, she denies having any thoughts in that direction and hides her
sadness as she walks away. Later she meets with both parents
and they again tell her they're not getting back together. She
responds by saying that she listens for any hint that they  may be getting along. She wants
to make them get back together but can't.
Stephen's ex asks him if he
would come "home" for Christmas so they can all decorate the tree
together. It's been a long time since they've done that. He
agrees and the family has a wonderful evening.
Brooke makes the wish "to us as a family" as Stephen puts the
angel atop the tree.
Ronnie and Matthew
 Ronnie tells Matthew she doesn't really want him as a
boyfriend: she's lonely, even when he's around. Their
and Ronnie feels they "are not right for each oth er. " Matthew tells her he is "the perfect
man," but she still insists it's time to move on. Just to
prove his point (and to make a spectacle) he sings an unscheduled song at
the Christmas pageant just for her. He certainly does sing well, a
la Robert Goulet, hamming it up as he takes center stage. Ronnie seems to enjoy it. Maybe
Christmas time just isn't the right time to break things off. (we'll
see).
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