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The Third Thing ~ Season Premiere
#201 ~ September 24, 1999
by PapaC
Mrs. Hansen has been gone a year now, and baby Hannah is almost
one. Robbie wonders why Hannah isn't walking yet, which makes Joanie concerned. Sydney's friend, Kyle, is about
the start chemotherapy. And Helen, the director of the clinic, is contemplating leaving the clinic to take a job
back to her small hometown. Sydney, meanwhile, is busy trying to help everyone.
AT THE CLINIC ~
A former patient named Molly shows up at the clinic. She
lost a baby two years ago, a traumatic event from which she has yet to recover. She believes that the baby is at
the clinic, and insists that they give the baby to her. Sydney and Helen calm her down and are about to go to lunch
when a car comes crashing through the clinic wall. No one in the clinic is hurt, but the driver is seriously injured.
Sydney and Helen are successful in resuscitating her.
Later, Sydney inquires at the hospital how the driver is doing. She will be fine, but she was eight weeks pregnant
and lost the baby. She was apparently having a miscarriage and had the car accident in her rush to get to the hospital.
Back at the clinic, Sydney relates this to Helen, who is tending to Molly. Molly appears to be asleep, but after
Sydney and Helen leave the room, we realize she was awake.
After things have quieted down, Helen tells Sydney she has decided to stay at the clinic: the small town life isn't
for her, at least right now. Sydney is relieved. Helen leaves for the evening.
Molly suddenly appears and holds a gun on Sydney. Agitated, she demands that her baby be brought to her. Sydney
tries to reason with her, and Helen comes back in, having forgotten her keys. Molly shoots Helen, and flees while
Sydney attends to Helen.
Sydney visits Helen at the hospital. Helen will be okay, but is shaken, and has decided to leave the clinic and
take the other job.
KYLE'S CHEMOTHERAPY ~
Sydney takes Kyle for his first chemotherapy appointment.
When they arrive at the hospital, Kyle tells her he'd rather go alone. She leaves him there, but instead of going
inside, he gets in a taxi and leaves. Later that evening, Robbie finds him at the bar. Robbie tells Kyle it isn't
a good idea to be drinking while on chemotherapy. Robbie arrives home the next morning, meeting Syd outside the
house. He tells her about running into Kyle at the bar. He had stayed with Kyle all night, as Kyle had been determined
to get drunk and needed someone to look out for him. They had gone to a batting cage, where Kyle proved he could
still hit.
Sydney confronts Kyle later, and tells him that it's okay to be scared. She has made him another appointment, and
he is willing to keep it.
AT THE BARKERY ~
Joanie is still upset about Hannah not walking, and her
day doesn't improve when her clerk not only comments on this, but insults a customer. When she tells the clerk
she cannot be rude to the customers, the clerk quits. Thus begins a search for a replacement. She has trouble finding
a suitable applicant, one man in particular being strange and downright scary.
When two dogs have an unfriendly and disruptive encounter in the shop, a man comes to her aid and intervenes, calming
both dogs with a kind manner. He compliments her on the Barkery, and she inquires if he'd like to work there. He
tells her he doesn't have much of a job history, but she says she understands and would be interested in hiring
him. He accepts, and eats some of the dog treats when she isn't looking. Having found someone "normal",
things are looking up for Joanie.
However, she's still concerned about Hannah. She talks to Syd later, who dismisses her worries, saying children
learn to walk at different ages. Joanie says she heard Hannah's hip click when she was diapering her earlier. Sydney
looks worried, and says for her to bring Hannah in and she'll examine her thoroughly and run tests, just to make
sure. Joanie is grateful and says that she may worry excessively, but she would shoot herself if something happened
to Hannah. Syd smiles and says that Hannah is her only niece, and if she missed something important, Joanie would
have to fight HER for the gun.
BACK AT THE CLINIC ~
Joanie has brought in Hannah, and it turns out that everything
is normal. She and Sydney are both relieved. Joanie had been thinking of their mother's saying about bad things
happening in threes, and thought that something being wrong with Hannah might have been the third thing. Sydney
hears something and leaves the room.
Molly has returned. She holds a gun on Sydney again. Joanie and Hannah come out of the examining room; Molly thinks
Hannah is her baby and demands that she be given to her. Sydney tells her Hannah is not her baby, and tells Molly
to give her the gun - surely she doesn't want anyone else to go through what she went through. Sydney slowly grasps
the gun, and Molly collapses in tears.
BACK AT HOME ~
Syd dreams of her mother, and they talk about Hannah. Her
mother holds Hannah and puts her down, telling Syd she has taught her to walk. Hannah walks along happily in a
field. Sydney awakes, and Hannah walks into her room. She calls to Joanie, and both watch with delight as Hannah
walks across the hall.
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