Busted | |
Season 5, Episode 4 | |
Air date | October 23, 2000 |
Written by | Brenda Hampton |
Directed by | Tony Mordente |
Episode Guide | |
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"Busted" is the fourth episode of the 5th season and the 92nd episode overall of 7th Heaven. This episode includes the debut of Mike Pierce (Jeremy Lelliot), who becomes a recurring character later in the 5th season.
Synopsis[]
Exasperation reaches an all-time high in the Camden household as Eric and Annie don't know how to handle Mary's recent behavior. When Frankie expresses interest in signing up for college classes, she suggests that she and Mary should apply somewhere together, but after a revealing dinner at Frankie and Johnny's, Mary realizes some more painful truths about her new friends. Elsewhere, Simon has a hot date with a former spelling bee champion; Lucy receives an odd proposition from a classmate and Ruthie finds some extremely inappropriate inspiration for a school writing assignment.
Plot[]
Eric is feeding the twins and is interrupted by Mary coming home and when Mary asks where Annie is, Eric became unreasonably defensive, over-explaining that he could take care of the twins himself and doesn't need Annie's help. He then proposed the idea that the whole family can get together and watch a movie as a family, but Mary says that she has other plans and then tells him that she had lost her job at Pete's Pizza due to layoffs recently and is now babysitting Mercy, Johnny & Frankie's baby. Lucy enters with college brochures prompting resentment from Mary who assumed it was meant to make her look bad in comparison since she isn't enrolled herself. However, despite this assumption by Mary being made clear right away, Lucy tries explaining it was just about early acceptance opportunities. Frankie calls right after and Mary tells her that Lucy is applying to college. Frankie talks about signing up for college and offers to sign up with Mary next semester. She tells her that they'll talk over dinner when Mary comes over to spend the evening with them. Ruthie quickly rushes into her room and put a chair in front of the door. She then pulls out her diary, locked herself away inside the closet with it, and starts trying to write in it. When Annie knocks on Ruthie's door she hastily hides everything back in its place before opening the door. Annie questions why there was a chair blocking the door and asked if something had been wrong but Ruthie makes a lie and denies that anything suspicious is happening. Simon approaches Annie as she walks away and tells her his date plans with Marsha Chalker which caused some surprise as he didn't know how smart she actually is having just won a spelling bee recently too. Simon tells Annie that he and Matt were going to go pick up "chicks" but now they won't do that since one of them has a date. Annie is very offended by his use of the word "chicks" to describe women as it makes girls sound like property. Annie reminds him that dating is a privilege, not a right; and further explains the difference between a right and a privilege, and that privileges can be taken away. Ruthie thanks Simon for taking the tension away from her regarding why her room was locked. Simon tells her to stop being negative since he needs to get ready for the biggest date of his life. Eric knocks on Ruthie's door and wants to know what movie she would like to see for the family movie night. Ruthie tells him to stop thinking that they are going to have a movie night since others are involved with other things. Ruthie closes the door telling Eric that she has a school project to work on. Annie finds Eric in the hallway and tells him that Matt and Simon have plans and won't be attending either. Lucy overhears and tells them that if everyone else isn't attending the family movie night, then she won't either. Lucy asks if she can have company, Mike, another person who is trying to get early admission into college and offered to help her out. She tells them that it is not a date and they are strictly friends. Annie asks Eric how long they wait until they are making old but Eric is happy that Lucy is going to college and it will help get Mary on track.
Mary arrives at Johnny and Frankie's trailer to find the baby crying with them trying desperately to calm it down and yelling. When they see Mary, Johnny gives her a hug in welcome before inviting her inside. Matt drives Simon over to Marsha's house so he can pick up her for their date; when she opens the door, his jaw drops as he is stunned by how beautiful she looks prompting him to exclaim "wow". Marsha, being a spelling bee champion, responds back by spelling the word wow as "w-o-w." Back at the house, Lucy and Mike walk into the kitchen and Lucy tells him that her father likes him because he is getting her to go to college. Mike reveals that despite coming over under the premise of looking into college applications, what he actually had in mind was something different entirely leaving Lucy puzzled. Eric enters the living room informing Annie that Sam and David are peacefully sleeping upstairs giving them some much-needed privacy which leads Annie to propose The Graduate as a movie. Annie also feeds Eric some chocolate-covered strawberries - both enjoying each other’s company until realizing that all the kids are occupied, allowing themselves time alone together without interruption which leads to them passionately kissing on the sofa. Meanwhile, Ruthie is listening from the kitchen stairwell writing in her diary whilst having eavesdropped on a conversation between Mike & Lucy discussing a deal, where Mike will help her with her college applications and Mike, will receive in return a date to every school function. Simon's girlfriend is sitting in the car and talking with Matt at the movie theater before going in. Simon gets angry and has to practically kick her out of the car so that she would stop talking to Matt. Johnny enters the house and informs Frankie that the fire is ready for them to cook the steaks. Frankie becomes irritated that he isn't doing the cooking, which makes Johnny upset and he reluctantly goes outside to cook the steaks. Mary proposes that they look at some college brochures, but Frankie refuses to do so before eating. She encourages Mary for her to drink a beer, but Mary declines. Eric and Annie are cuddling on the couch and Annie tells him that she is going to check on the twins. After she tells him again, he finally understands what she actually means, and Ruthie pops up asking what they are doing. Eric inquires what her secret project is, but she does not answer and leaves for her room. As Annie is leaving the twins' room, she runs into Lucy. Eric meets up with Annie on his way upstairs, he also runs into Lucy and he tells her he just wanted to "check up on her". Ruthie and Lucy's friend, Mike, are in the kitchen talking about him kissing Lucy when Lucy walks in and tells Ruthie to mind her own business. Lucy realizes that she is writing something for school and that is her secret project but Ruthie says she doesn't have anything to write about, so Lucy suggests they give her something to write about, hinting at a kiss between her and Mike. Mike tells her he just wants to finish writing the applications before doing any physical contact, as part of their deal. Outside of the movie theater, Matt is sitting by himself when Simon and Marsha arrive. And when Matt asks how the movie was, Marsha immediately tells him that the movie was “insipid” and spells out the word letter by letter. Simon expresses his desire to go eat pizza with just Marsha but she insists that they invite Matt along to not be rude. Simon says that Matt wouldn't want to “intrude” and spells the word out incorrectly and Marsha corrects him. Matt just laughs and Simon invites him to join them for pizza. After Eric and Annie finish their “fun” in the bedroom, they agree to watch the rest of the movie so no one gets suspicious. Eric wonders if the door was unlocked the entire time, but Annie just tells him he's being paranoid. Meanwhile, Ruthie is in her closet, writing in her journal about what she saw Eric and Annie do. At the trailer, Frankie gets mad at Johnny for not checking on the baby and Mary offers to check on the baby instead. Frankie starts yelling at Johnny for being lazy and immature, trying to tell him he should help out more around the house. Johnny storms out of the house in anger and Frankie tells Mary that she wants her to stay with her. Frankie takes out some marijuana and starts to smoke it. Mary tells Frankie about her past mistakes and arrest, as well as her still being on probation. Mary suggests that they go to college and change their lives for the better. Frankie decides that they will look at the college brochures some other time, but Mary is a bit disappointed. To try and reassure her, Frankie promises they will look at them tomorrow and try to pick one out. She tells Mary that Johnny is actually not a bad guy and that had plans for his life, like going to college and becoming a writer. Mary says that there is still plenty of time to do something with their lives and that they can change for the better.
Lucy discusses the school events that Mike and she will attend together and then Mike discusses the college admission processes. Eric comes down after Lucy tells Mike to kiss her and tells him that he is welcome at any time at their house. Lucy admits that she likes Mike and Eric says that he thinks he will be good for her. Mary walks into the kitchen and gives Lucy back her brochures for the colleges that she borrowed. Eric asks if his night could get any better and Ruthie interrupts and tells him that she hopes not. Eric goes upstairs and then Lucy asks her what she meant by her comment with Ruthie not answering. Simon walks Marsha to her door and Marsha tells him that she appreciates the date and meeting Matt in particular. Marsha then kisses him but looks at Matt while in the middle of the kiss. When Simon gets back into the car, Simon is disappointed by the date, so Matt tells him that the night is young and they can do something else. Back in the kitchen, Lucy tells Mary that she smells like smoke but Mary tells her that it is none of her business and she is not smoking, her friends do. Mary says that smoking is not as bad as dating a mental patient leaving Lucy confused and then Mary proceeds to tell Lucy that Mike was in Mary's class but had to take a year off of school to be hospitalized because he tried to kill himself. Lucy runs into Ruthie's room and asks her about what she heard. Lucy wants to know what she has been writing in her diary but Ruthie won't let her read it. When Lucy leaves, she looks under the door to see where Ruthie hides her diary. As Eric and Annie are cuddling on the couch, they receive a call from Marsha who is asking to talk to Matt. Annie is confused as to why Marsha was asking for Matt's number and they are concerned that they dropped her off an hour ago. Meanwhile, Matt is trying to help Simon find a girl with no luck. A random girl comes by asking for directions and Matt encourages Simon to show her instead of telling her. At the house, Eric answers the phone again and is startled when he receives a call from a police officer about Mary's new friends getting busted for marijuana. Lucy confronts Eric and Annie about Ruthie's diary but they are so upset about Mary's friends that they tell her that they don't have time. Lucy then tells them that Ruthie wrote about her watching her parents having sex and they quickly get up and run after Lucy to see the diary. Eric paces in the kitchen and when Mary comes downstairs, he asks her if she smokes pot and tells her that Johnny and Frankie got arrested for possession of marijuana. Mary tells him that she knew they smoked pot but never tried it. Eric explains that if they got caught while Mary was there, then she would be arrested. Mary explains that Frankie's mother keeps their baby when they work and she probably doesn't want her mother to know about the arrest. Mary wants Eric to bail them out of jail and he wants to know what else Mary wants him to do. Eric tells her that he isn't bailing two irresponsible people out of jail but Mary continues to defend them and their actions because they have a lot of stress between working and being parents. Mary thinks that she can persuade them to stop smoking pot but Eric isn't so sure about that. Mary says that she will help them but Eric points out that she doesn't have a job and requires help for herself. Mary yells back that she doesn't need any help and she will find a way to help them herself. Eric tells her she will not see them anymore and will go down there and do what he can do but not give her money to bail her out. As Eric is about to walk out of the house, he runs into Mike, who tells him that he knows that Mary saw him while he was walking out and she told Lucy about his missing a year of school. Eric asks him to leave but Mike wants to really talk to Lucy and tell her about his past. Mike's therapist is a doctor who Eric knows and respects and finally decides to let him talk to her.
Lucy comes downstairs and tells Eric that she doesn't want to talk to Mike because he had been a mental patient, but Eric explains that he had become ill and the doctor had helped him to get better, just as they would for anyone else. Matt and Simon come walking into the house after Lucy leaves, and Simon hands Eric a piece of paper with a girl's number on it, which Eric then puts in his mouth and chews on it. Eric informs Simon that he shouldn't be hanging out with Matt and picking up "chicks". Annie returns the diary to Ruthie, but with a missing page, and suggests that she write something about her own life. Ruthie tells Annie that sex is funny, but Annie emphasizes the importance of married people having sex and that it should be kept private. Ruthie expresses that she never wants to see it again anyways. On her way out of Ruthie's room, Annie runs into the boys, and Matt apologizes to her for staying out so late, while Simon informs her that Marsha was a good speller but a bad date, and he had needed to blow off some steam afterward. Annie then tells them about Mary's problems and reveals that Ruthie had seen her and Eric having sex. Annie is mortified, but the boys explain to her that it was bound to happen, as all of the kids have seen them being intimate. Matt mentions the signal that they use to have sex when both Eric and Annie say they got to check on the twins and Annie gets upset and tells them to go to bed. Annie runs into the closet to fix the lock on the door. Meanwhile, Mike explains his experiences to Lucy and tells her that he wants to be more normal. Lucy agrees to give him a chance and suggests that they go on one senior event date at a time and see how things go. They then shake on it. Mary is in her bedroom when the phone rings and it's Frankie. Frankie thanks Mary for her father's help in getting them out of jail. Frankie tells Mary that she is lucky to have parents that are always there for her.
Notes[]
- This episode introduces Jeremy Lelliot as Mike Pierce who plays a recurring character later in the 5th & 6th seasons. He was last seen in the short-lived WB drama Safe Harbor which was also created by Brenda Hampton. Safe Harbor was canceled early in the 1999-2000 season.
Trivia[]
- Jeremy Lelliot who stars in this episode, also was a recurring character in Safe Harbor, who also had Chyler Leigh (Frankie) as a recurring character who also stars in this episode. Additionally, Chyler Leigh is the sister of actor Christopher Khayman Lee, who guest starred as Jack in the episode All Dogs Go To Heaven, as well as a character in Safe Harbor.
- John Hamilton (Chaz Lamar Shepherd) does not appear in this episode.
- Brooke Anne Smith won a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Drama Series" for her guest role in this episode of "7th Heaven."
Goofs & Errors[]
- When Mary is at Frankie's and Johnny's trailer and then when the scene shows up where Frankie and Mary are alone discussing college brochures, Frankie momentarily leaves the room. Out the window, you can see someone walking by. Most likely a member of the film crew.
- There was no point of having the blue chair blocking the door when Ruthie's bedroom has a dead lock right above the door handle.
- Eric tells Marsha that Matt doesn't give them his number, but Eric has called Matt and John numerous times.
- At the beginning of the episode, Frankie was on the phone with Mary while in the kitchen; the phone was not cordless. Later, after Eric got them out of jail, Frankie was talking to Mary on the phone again but this time it was located in the living room.
Opening Credits[]
Featured in the opening credits are:
- Stephen Collins as Eric Camden
- Catherine Hicks as Annie Camden
- Barry Watson as Matt Camden
- David Gallagher as Simon Camden
- Jessica Biel as Mary Camden
- Beverley Mitchell as Lucy Camden
- Mackenzie Rosman as Ruthie Camden