Chesapeake Shores – Forest Through The Trees

By starrymag | September 30, 2017

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

As Abby O’Brien (Meghan Ory) steps onto stage at Trace Riley’s (Jesse Metcalfe) club, she wonders what it’s like to perform for a crowd.  Trace tells her that he loves connecting with the crowd, but Abby feels more confident presenting in a boardroom.  She compliments his work on the club, and Trace tells her that he is happy with it despite not being Nashville.  He tells her how excited he is to be spending some alone time with her the next day without cell phones to distract them.

 

At breakfast, Bree O’Brien (Emilie Ullerup) questions Kevin O’Brien’s (Brendan Penny) desire to apply to medical school in Bolivia, but Kevin assures her it’s his back-up plan after Stanford.  She notices that he’s distracted and Kevin vents about how things seem to be going nowhere with Sarah Mercer (Jessica Sipos).  Connor O’Brien (Andrew Francis) suggests that he talk to her about it face to face.  Kevin asks Connor if he’s told Mick O’Brien (Treat Williams) about quitting his job and he admits that he hasn’t.  Kevin suggests that he talk to him about it face to face.

 

Bree is frustrated about having to avoid Simon Atwater (Oliver Rice) after Megan O’Brien (Barbara Niven) brought him back into her life, and Connor insists that she talk to him face to face.  Bree expresses her frustration that things with Simon are complicated, and Nell O’Brien (Diane Ladd) tells her that relationships shouldn’t be complicated.  However, Bree insists that O’Briens overcomplicate everything.  Abby prepares for her camping trip, and both she and Bree are in disbelief that she’s actually going through with it.  Mick tells her to have fun, but Abby is worried about leaving her daughters behind.  Bree comments that the first trip makes or breaks a relationship, and Kevin agrees with her until he sees the worried expression on Abby’s face.  He assures her that she and Trace will be fine, and Abby says goodbye.

 

As Connor asks to talk to Mick, Abby finds Trace waiting for her outside.  She is still hesitant about the trip, but Trace assures her it’s going to be great and that he’ll protect her from a bear if necessary.  They climb into his truck, and Abby comments how excited he is.  At the Inn, David Peck (Carlo Marks) expresses his frustration about the number of kids running around to Jess O’Brien (Laci J. Mailey).  David insists that they talk about their kiss, but Jess avoids the subject.  She sits down and asks Simon for relationship advice.  She tells him what happened, and tells him that she changed her mind about the kiss.  Jess approaches David and tells him that the kiss didn’t happen despite his disbelief.

 

Connor tells Mick that he quit the firm since it wasn’t the right place for him.  Mick tells him that he’s dissapointed because the firm was a good opportunity for him.  Connor asks for advice on what to do next, and Mick tells him that it’s up to him to decide.  Mick answers a call as Connor asks for some guidance.  Bree finds Simon waiting for her at the bookstore, and asks him how he likes the inn.  He mentions that Jess kissed David, and Bree is shocked.  Simon is able to tell that Bree has feelings for David, and she explains that she allowed Jess to pursue him.  Simon asks why Megan emailed him instead of her, and she tells him that Megan is trying to save her from herself.  Bree asks him to leave, and tells him that she’s trying to focus on herself.  Simon tells her that it’s too late since his family is known to overcomplicate things.  Bree tells him that O’Brien’s are the same way, and they agree that it isn’t the best thing to have in common before Bree invites him inside.

 

Kevin sees Sarah outside Sally’s and asks to join her.  Nell and Thomas O’Brien (Gregory Harrison) watch from inside and he comments that all of Mick’s kids turned out great.  Nell tells him that Connor quit the firm, and Thomas is happy to hear that.  He asks if Mick knows, and presumes that he didn’t understand Connor’s decision.  Nell encourages him to focus on solving his problems with Mick, but Thomas tells her that Mick saving him from the rigged forum doesn’t change anything.  Kevin comments that Sarah didn’t ask how his exam went, and then tells her it went great after she asks.  He asks if he did something wrong, and she explains that it’s complicated.  He comments that going to dinner would be simple and talks her into going with him.

 

Abby and Trace hike through the woods, and Abby mentions that they walked past an inviting hotel.  He tells her that camping will be worth it and Abby complains about the lack of cell service.  Trace demands that she hand over her phone and tells her that she will enjoy this if it kills him.  They arrive at the campsite and put down their bags.  Jess and David clean up the crayon drawings off the floor tiles and David tries to talk about their kiss.  Though Jess continues to deny it happened, David tells her that he doesn’t regret it.  She tells him that she will mess this up and she doesn’t want to lose him as a friend.  David asks what they do next, and Jess suggests getting Bree involved.

 

Trace teaches Abby to fish and tells him about the times he spent with his Dad.  After Trace tells her to reel in the line a bit, Abby believes that she’s getting the hang of it.  Abby gets a bite and Trace helps her reel in a fish for dinner.  Megan talks to Mick about her upcoming art festival but finds that he is distracted.  Once pressed, he admits that he found out that an old friend died.  He reminisces a bit, and then offers to sponsor Megan’s event.

 

Bree comments that men are more complicated than the O’Briens, and Simon scoffs at the idea.  She asks him if he would be truly happy for her if she wrote a better novel than him.  He says that he’s be supportive, but then admits he would be sad.  They agree that writing is hard, and Simon admits that he would also be jealous.  Bree is triumphant that she was right about men not being able to handle a woman being better, but Simon says that he would be jealous that she would end up with a more accomplished writer than him.

 

Thomas approaches Connor as he plays basketball.  He congratulates him on quitting the firm, and Connor is surprised.  Thomas tells him that it’s not a place for individuality and that he previously turned down a similar opportunity.  He asks Connor if he’s busy, and Connor reminds him that he has plenty of time now.  Thomas asks him to help with a case, but Connor turns him down.  He reconsiders and tells Thomas that he’ll help him.

 

On their date, Sarah and Kevin discuss the popularity of pistachio ice cream.  He asks if she became a firefighter to help those that can’t help themselves and she confirms before asking if that’s why he joined the Marines.  They kiss, and Sarah pulls away declaring that she can’t do this.  Sarah breaks down and admits that her husband died in the Marines.  She describes what happened, and Kevin tries to comfort her.

 

Trace jokes that Abby wouldn’t last a week in the woods, and Abby responds that Trace wouldn’t last in New York.  He admits that he hated New York the last time he was there.  Abby apologizes for leaving Chesapeake Shores without saying goodbye.  Trace confesses that he didn’t understand why she would leave like that, and Abby tells him she didn’t intend to hurt him.  He tells her that her pursuing her dream encouraged him to go after his.  She admits that it would have been hard to leave if she tried to say goodbye to him.  He tells her that they’ve both changed and that it brought them back together.  Trace invites her to dance with him, but Abby reminds him that there’s no music.  He tells her that music is all around them and they slow dance and kiss by the fire.

 

The next morning, Abby wakes up to the smell of coffee and breakfast and compliments Trace on his room service.  She asks what the plan is for the day and he jokes about a twenty mile trek before suggesting that they have some alone time.  She votes for alone time and they snuggle on the log.  Sarah approaches Kevin on his run and apologizes.  He tells her she has nothing to apologize for, but she believes she does.  Kevin tells her about losing his best friend, and admits that he got lucky.  She says that she can’t do this again, and he understands.  They hug and Sarah thanks him for the date.  Mick shows Thomas the house, and they sit down with Nell to discuss their property dispute.  Thomas suggests compromise by scaling down the development.  Mick agrees to try and negotiate, and Nell is glad that they’re trying to work out their problems.

 

Jess, David, Simon, and Bree sit together and they tell heartbreak stories to figure out who’s is the worst.  Simon, Bree, and David share their stories and Bree prompts Jess to tell her story.  Jess tells them that she doesn’t have a story, but Bree insists that everyone has a story.  She tells them that she met a guy and that he made her feel something she’s never felt before as she looks at David.  Jess declares that’s the end of the story, and Bree criticizes it.  She realizes that the story is about David and declares that everyone won before Simon makes a toast to the four of them.

 

Kevin tells Mick what happened with Sarah, and he admits that it must have been rough.  Kevin breaks down as he recounts that he allowed his friend to sit in the front seat when they were patrolling in Iraq.  He describes the bomb that hit the front of the car and how he survived.  He breaks down admitting that he misses his friend and that it should have been him in the front seat.  Mick tells him that him losing his friend helped him realize that they need to live for the ones that they lost.

 

Abby admits that she had a good time camping and it was good for them.  As they load up the car, Abby tells him that she needs to know if Nashville is a possibility for him since she has to think of her family as well.  He promises that he will continue to make her a priority and gives her the phone back as they climb into the car.  Abby meets Bree and Jess at the nail salon, and her sisters are jealous of her romantic trip.  Jess and Bree tell her about their romantic issues, and she asks how their love lives changed so much.  Bree and Jess tell her they noticed that her ring was turned around, indicating that she is in love and they tease her about it.

 

Thomas compliments Connor on his excellent work, and Connor admits that he enjoyed it.  Connor refuses Thomas’ attempt to pay him, and Thomas suggests he pursue environmental law.  Kevin shows Trace that a video of his Nashville performance has gone viral.  Bree offers to let Simon read the novel that she is working on, and he is thrilled by the prospect.  He kisses her,and she hesitates before kissing him back.  David works on fixing the sprinklers and tells Jess that the guy she talked about in her story feels the same way about her.  They kiss and the sprinklers douse them in water as they continue kissing.  Abby asks Trace what he wants to talk to her about and he shows her the video, declaring that he’s not done with Nashville yet.  He hugs her, but she is clearly not happy about it.