Season 2, Episode 18 – Orientation

Amy’s at her condo gathering her bags for a trip to Katie’s college orientation in Chicago (Northwestern). Jake says she still has three months until Katie leaves for college, so it’s probably May, which makes sense if we are seven months out from Amy’s October accident (notwithstanding the fact that Katie jumped a full school year between Season 1 and Season 2, but let’s go with it). Amy says it’s so weird how quickly the time goes between having a baby and them going off to college. Jake pretends to be hurt, saying he still hasn’t gotten over Mia’s first day of school. Amy says that in the boyfriend job description, commiserating about these things is near the top of the list. Jake wonders out loud if honesty is even higher on the list, referring to what happened in Season 2, Episode 17 when Jake didn’t tell Amy that he was spending time with Rachel. Amy smirks and insists they are fine. She kisses him goodbye and says she’ll see him in a couple days. 

Amy, Katie, and Michael drive together to Katie’s college orientation. Amy connects her phone to the car to play music, and a text message from Jake accidentally gets read out loud. It’s clear that they are a couple. Michael says he suspected they were back together. Katie wants to know what’s going on, so Amy tells her that she’s dating Jake. Katie is not thrilled, but Michael tells her Jake is a good guy. Katie wants to know why she hasn’t seen his stuff at Amy’s condo. Amy says she wanted to keep something for herself, which explains why she hasn’t pushed to include their families in their relationship. Katie puts her ear buds in and stops talking. 

Driving through a remote area with no cell reception, they pass a familiar campsite. Katie wants to stop because she has good memories with Danny there, which Amy doesn’t remember, of course. They decide to hike a familiar trail, and Katie runs up ahead of her parents, giving Amy and Michael a chance to talk. Amy tells Michael how grateful she is that he was there for Katie when she couldn’t be. Michael tells Amy that he’s going to sell the house and they can clean out Danny’s room together when the time comes. Amy supports Michael, saying he can’t move on in that house. 

Amy, Katie, and Michael come across a critically injured man in the woods and carry him into a cabin nearby. They all agree that Katie will go for help so that there are two doctors to available to treat the man. Michael and Amy work together to stabilize their patient. She is geniunely proud of how he takes charge and handles the situation. 

Michael finds an engagement ring in the man’s backpack and shows it to Amy. They realize the man must have been with a girlfriend. Michael goes to look for her. The man wakes up while Michael is gone, and Amy explains that her husband went to find his girlfriend. She stumbles over the word “husband” and is about to correct herself, but she doesn’t. When the man worries that Michael won’t be able to find his girlfriend and bring her back, Amy says that her husband never gives up. If something is important to him, he’s relentless. The man says she must really love her husband. Amy responds that there’s nothing better than a good marriage. 

In flashbacks to med school, we see Amy and Gina hanging out at the bar where Michael works. Gina goes up to Michael and boldly asks which one of them he likes. He says Amy. The next flashback shows the first time Michael proposed to Amy in a hospital waiting room. They’d only been together six months, and she thought she was pregnant. Amy walks out of her doctor’s office and tells him she’s not pregnant. She’s sad about it, even though she was never actually pregnant. Michael proposes to her right there. Amy says she doesn’t want him to marry her just because he’s a good guy, reminding us of things Nora has said to Michael, too. Amy doesn’t say no to the proposal, she just says not right now. In the final flashback, we see Amy and Michael buying the house that Michael still lives in. Amy is very pregnant. She says she can’t believe she’s really going to have this life with a husband and family, but she’s worried about making the same mistakes that her mom did. At this point, we don’t know Amy’s backstory, but are starting to realize that she didn’t have a happy, stable childhood. 

Back in the woods, Michael manages to find the injured man’s girlfriend. She has a seriously injured leg and is dangerously cold. He carries her back to the cabin. Michael and Amy stabilize both patients. Michael feels guilty that they lost so much time before he realized there was a second person out there. Amy reassures Michael, saying that he saved the woman. She puts a hand on his shoulder, reminding us of Season 2, Episode 15 when Michael said Amy hadn’t touched him in two years…not even a hande on his shoulder. 

Katie shows up at the cabin with paramedics in tow. Both patients are going to be ok. The injured man tells Amy she has a beautiful family. Amy looks proudly at Michael and Katie.  

After arriving in Chicago, Amy and Michael drop Katie off at Northwestern and go to dinner. They talk about the difficulties of Michael’s job. Amy says it’s even harder because she’s his achilles heel. She correct herself by saying “in the job department.” He says it’s not just the job. They look at each other…for a little too long. Amy says she wishes she could remember why she ran away (from Michael). He says a part of her was always afraid she couldn’t do it, presumably referring to marriage and motherhood. 

Amy, Michael, and Katie arrive back at Michael’s house. Based on the text message Jake sent earlier in the episode, it seems like Jake and Amy had dinner plans upon her return from Chicago, but Amy decides to stay for dinner with Michael and Katie. Once Amy’s in bed for the night, she calls Jake. He asks how the weekend went. She says it’s a long story and she’ll tell him when she sees him. He playfully asks if he should come over. She says she’s actually so tired and will see him tomorrow. He looks devastated.