Splitting Up Together – Welcome Home

By: Ariba Bhuvad

On the Season 2 finale of Splitting Up Together, Martin’s (Oliver Hudson) father unexpectedly comes into town when Milo’s (Sander Thomas) school has a Grandparent’s Week. But before that happens, Milo is flustered at dinner because he thinks Lena’s (Jenna Fischer) dad, Henry (Geoff Pierson) is a dud. Or in his words “a walking golf shirt.” To put it bluntly, Milo thinks Henry is not exciting in any way, shape or form.

He says he wishes Martin’s dad wasn’t dead and Martin chimes in to say that he’s not dead. It seems no one remembers Grandpa Brock (Ron Perlman), but according to Martin his dad is no longer a part of his life. It is how things have always been between the two of them. In fact, it goes back generations. Mason (Van Crosby) begins to wonder if this will be the case for him and his dad and as well and Mae (Olivia Keville) chimes in to say it’s not the worst thing. Mason thinks that Martin should call his dad, but he doesn’t seem on board with the idea. Lena tries to remind everyone that Henry isn’t that bad and her dad does have his cool moments.

Lisa (Monica Barbaro) is doing her finances and realizes that they’re in the negative. It’s not looking too great and she conveys that to her parents when they call. She informs them that she’s going to move in with them and then tries to reassure the baby that she’ll love Idaho, only to say the opposite moments later.

Thanks to Lena, Maya (Diane Farr) begins listening to a podcast about a serial killer named “The Silver Stalker.” But as she listens to it, the description of the stalker sounds a lot like Frank (Travis Schuldt) and she begins to look at him suspiciously. Later on, she confides in Lena about what she thinks. Lena isn’t too sure that Maya is onto anything, but is more concerned with how Maya feeds her baby. However, Maya believes in letting her baby pick the type of food he wants.

After their conversation at dinner Lena felt like she needed to do something about Martin’s relationship with his father. She calls his cousin’s second wife and gets Brock’s contact information. However, before she can begin to convince Martin the doorbell rings and it appears that Brock is already there. This is all because Milo called him over on his own and it turns out that Brock is just as surprised that Martin is alive. He ends up staying for dinner and tries to embarrass Martin by telling childhood stories. When Brock learns that Martin works for Forager, he begins making fun of him. Milo insists that Brock stays for Grandparent’s Day so Lena offers to let him stay in the garage.

After spending the day with Brock, Lena tells her father that he is not nearly as bad. Despite that; however, Lena doesn’t want the kids growing up thinking it’s okay to turn back on family. Completely uninterested, Maya is busy listening to the podcast and is convinced that she fits The Silver Stalker’s victim profile. Lena disagrees with Maya and says that she is just trying to sabotage her relationship with Frank because it’s going so well. Unfortunately, her paranoia continues to get the best of her when she finds out Frank is scared of dogs just like The Silver Stalker. Really, it’s just that he’s allergic.

While she’s walking around the park with Henry, Lena sees Lisa packing up her car with things. She hesitates to go over and tells Henry that he got into her head about Martin and Lisa. When she finally approaches Lisa we see Lena finds out that Lisa is moving to Idaho because, even with the support from them, it’s not enough. Lena tells her to stop by the house to say goodbye to Martin because she owes him that.

Back at home Martin is frustrated that Brock is still around. It doesn’t help when Lena tells him about Lisa moving away to which he is annoyed that Lisa never said anything directly to him. Lena reassures him that it’s because she was probably working up to it and needs time.

Speaking of Brock, he continues to be a jerk towards Martin when he shares a baby picture of him dressed up as a girl. Mason isn’t happy that Brock goes out of the way to make fun of Martin and makes sure to tell Martin that he’s nothing like his father. He even goes as far as to say that Martin would do anything for his kids and will always fight for them. This prompts Martin to make a decision about Lisa and his baby.

Maya’s paranoia is finally squashed when Frank tells her that The Silver Stalker has been in jail. This makes Maya realize that Frank is actually a nice guy that wants to be with her.

On his way out Brock tells Mason to tell Martin that he thinks Forager gloves are decent. It’s his way of saying something nice without being nice. Meanwhile, Martin comes home to talk to Lena about the plan he came up with. He says that Lisa will move into the garage for a short while just until she can get back on her feet. Although she is surprised, Lena gives her support and says “Welcome home” to Lisa.