Life in Pieces – Babysit Argument Invention Butterfly

By: Julie Mante

Story One: Babysitting

Colleen (Angelique Cabral) and Matt (Thomas Sadoski) are babysitting Lark (Addison Carroll) because Lark’s parents Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Greg (Colin Hanks) are already starting their preschool interviews for Lark. They needed someone to babysit on short notice. Colleen is excited to spend the day with Lark. When Matt asks them if it is okay for them to play with Lark outside, Greg and Jen feel more comfortable if they stay indoors today. As Matt and Colleen watch Lark sleep, they think about their future child. Matt has a lot of experience with children because he watched his older sister’s children. Colleen does not have much babysitting experience besides the one time she became known as the “girl who flirted with a dad” after babysitting in high school. She will later admit that she actually slept with the dad and it ended his marriage. When Lark wakes up, things get boring fast so Colleen and Matt want to go outside. Since Jen and Greg did not tell them where the stroller is, they decide to use a baby carrier to strap Lark onto Matt so the trio can enjoy some fresh air. Colleen does not attach the baby carrier on well so Lark falls off. This results in a bruise on the left side of her face. Colleen wants to call Jen and tell her what happened, but Matt thinks it will make them look bad and like they could not handle babysitting or parenthood. They try to put some makeup on Lark to hide the bruise, but it does not work. When Jen calls to check on them, Matt wants to ignore the call because he feels that Jen will sense that something is wrong. When Jen and Greg return, Matt reminds Colleen to stay calm. Matt tries to stand behind the door so when Jen and Greg open the door, he can pretend that Lark just hit her head. Jen tells Matt that the jig is up. She already knows what happened because they have cameras all over the house so they saw everything on Jen’s phone.

Story Two: The Naked Truth

As Tim (Dan Bakkedahl) looks at the newspaper, he sees that the virtual health care company that he wanted to invest in years ago just went public. He complains to his wife Heather (Betsy Brandt) that if she had allowed him to invest in the company using the money his parents gave him that they would be super rich right now. Heather tells him that she does not remember saying that and he reminds her that that they had the biggest argument ever about it. They were screaming at each other at an Asian fusion restaurant. Heather left the restaurant crying and he had to ride home on a delivery guy’s bike. It bothers Tim that Heather cannot remember their fight. He talks about his frustrations to his son Tyler (Niall Cunningham) and his daughter-in-law Clementine (Hunter King). Tyler says that he and Clementine have all their fights naked. When Tyler brings up details of Tim’s and Heather’s fight, Tim wants to go home immediately so Tyler can tell Heather more about the fight. When they get home, Tyler backs up his dad by saying the fight did happen. Tyler says that Tim had told Heather that because he makes the money he should be making the financial decisions. Things get worse for Tim when Tyler says that Tim had told Heather that she can make decisions on what the kids have for lunch. While Tim wants Tyler to stop talking, Heather suddenly remembers the fight. Tim decides to take Tyler’s and Clementine’s advice by removing his clothes as Heather starts talking about the argument. At first she is confused but decides to get naked as well because she can argue with Tim with her clothes on or off. As they stare at each other, they start laughing and end up having sex. Heather apologizes to Tim for telling him he could not invest in the health care company and Tim apologizes for demeaning her as a wife, mother and woman.

Story Three: The Entrepreneurs

Sam (Holly J. Barrett) has a school business project and her Uncle Greg is helping her. As they brainstorm, they come up with Peek-a-Boots, which is a shoe that is both a flat and a heel. As they work on the project, Greg takes on a larger role and Sam feels pushed out. When the project is over, Greg stops by Sam’s house so he can find out what grade Sam received on the project. He is disappointed that she only got a B+ while Heather is thrilled that Sam did well. He feels terrible because he is a professional inventor and his skills should have warranted at least an A-. Greg cannot let this go so he interrupts Sam’s class the next day so he can discuss the grade with her teacher Mrs. Sandoval (Jean Villepique). As Greg drones on about how wonderful Sam’s project is, Mrs. Sandoval asks him if he did the project for her. All the while, Sam is humiliated by the spectacle. Quickly, Greg denies doing the project. Since Greg is a professional inventor, Mrs. Sandoval decides to ask Greg if he would mind talking to the class about his career and he agrees. When Greg tells the class about his invention CryTunes (it turns the sound of a crying infant into jazz) the students critique the app because they feel it is unsafe. The more Greg talks, the more criticism he receives. When Greg comes home, he talks about how horrible the kids treated him to Jen. Sam comes over and tells him that one of her friend’s dad invests in startups and he is interested in Peek-a-Boots. Sam says she wants him to be involved in the project.

Story Four: The Butterfly Effect 

John (James Brolin) and Joan (Dianne Wiest) stop by to give their granddaughter Sophia (Giselle Eisenberg) an early birthday gift. Sophia would rather have a gift card, but she is eager to unwrap her gift. Her grandparents gave her a butterfly kit. John tells Sophia that it will take two weeks before the caterpillars turn into butterflies. Two weeks sounds like a lifetime to Sophia as she looks at the boring caterpillars. John tries to explain the transformation process to her. John complains to Joan that Sophia wants to sell the butterflies because they are boring. Joan points out that while he is complaining about Sophia’s impatience, he is being impatient himself. Frustrated, he ignores his wife and leaves. When John talks to Sophia about selling the butterflies, Sophia shows him that one of the cocoons fell off the branch. She is worried that it will die. He helps her put the cocoon back on the branch. John makes it just in time to watch the caterpillars go through their metamorphosis. Even the caterpillar that fell from the cocoon, which Sophia names Deirdre, makes it. Later Sophia, Joan and John release the butterflies out of the cage. It is a beautiful moment. It ends quickly when a group of crows see the butterflies and pounce. John and Joan are able to shield Sophia from realizing what happened so she can keep her good memories.