Jen asks the boys to help out with the house as her focus right now is getting Judy better. In her absence, they must step up to take responsibility. Henry hands over the paper cranes to Jen to assemble and she reluctantly puts them in her purse. It is Judy’s first day of chemotherapy and Jen drives her to the hospital. Their conversation oscillates quite smoothly between jokes about Jen’s mother’s head shape and Judy’s “spiritual treatment”, and the macabre reality of the challenge Judy faces.
The ladies are determined to beat stage 4 cancer, but the uphill battle does not present enticing odds for success. Nick brings his Eureka discovery to Perez and he has guessed everything right. In the plastic bag, he keeps in front of Perez, there are numerous unpainted wooden birds just like the one Ben showed him. Perez tries to play it down and says that she will be handing it over to Moranis. Jen and Judy sit together and the nurse, Francine, gets on with the work. When Jen mentions the paper cranes, Judy volunteers to help her out and one by one converts the pieces of paper into beautiful cranes.
Jen has flashbacks to the time she spent in the hospital with her mother when she sees a young girl with her mother. Judy’s condition is getting worse because of the chemo. She has a table full of medicines to sustain her through this. Charlie tries giving her emotional support and Judy feels loved in the presence of a family around her. A montage shows Jen & Judy doing the chemo and soldiering on. Perez has kept the evidence, as we suspected, as Nick wonders if it has solved the case or not. ..
Judy is one of the patients in the cancer treatment center. Francine, one of Judy’s nurses, suggests that Judy might be “chosen” for a different purpose than having kids and raising a family. Jen burst out when she meets Perez and mentions the bird. The two women have a moment of bonding but Perez reminds Jen of the reality they must face in the future. The next day, Judy discovers that Francine has died out of the blue due to a heart attack. Jen also reveals what Perez said about the bird to her.
Judy and Jen have an episode of a drug high and do crazy things together. It definitely takes the pressure off. Jen suddenly has to be rushed to the hospital when she gets freaked out after seeing an image of her mother in the mirror.
This is the second time this season that something has happened to Charlie. The first time was when he saw his mother completely out of her senses and she called him “Second mother”. He wished for something as his high showed her the paper crane bird turning real and flying away. At the hospital, Jen discovers that she is pregnant. Nick spots Charlie driving the beaten-up car that day (when he was driving Ben) and concludes he is the one responsible for the hit-and-run.
The Episode Review
The double whammy of cancer and pregnancy has created a unique story for us all. Ben’s uncle, Jen, was bludgeoned to death in her own swimming pool when he was just a baby. This has added an extra layer of emotional stress to the already difficult season.
The reveal of the pregnancy in this episode was a funny and unexpected twist that added to the suspense. The scene where Judy mentioned mushrooms in the car was also very funny. This episode had a lot of humor and it was great to see it throughout.
This season’s episodes were all about the team working together to beat a problem. “We’re Gonna Beat This Thing” was the perfect balance of seriousness and comedy, which made it one of the best episodes so far.
