Season 6 is proving that the drama is not over yet. Joe has been managing back the restaurant since 6x02 and he took money from it to afford the divorce from Franny, the woman 20 years younger he married in mid season 3. Bailey learns the truth from him and is a little angered but manages to solve the situation using his own money to cover the loses of the restaurant. Joe says he talked to his state agent in LA and promises he'll pay him back but Bailey tells him not to do anything stupid, and to take a time off the restaurant. Joe goes home but when he returns to Salinger's because he forgot his keys, discovers Bailey's drinking again. He says there's no problem, he is in control and that he has been drinking 1-2 beers a day for the last 2 weeks. In the meantime, Bailey meets Evie, a sober girl in an AA reunion. Later, she visits the restaurant and asks him to be her sponsor but he initially refuses. Joe questions him about Evie and how is that no one knows about his relapse, not even his siblings. Bailey responds that he doesn't want to upset them with things that are not important, that they wouldn't understand, clearly referring to Joe's money problems, besides the drinking. Then, he reaches Evie, apologizes to her and becomes her confidant for AA problems. They start dating when they meet outside a church for an AA meeting. Finally, Joe reveals to Julia and Claudia the restaurant's problems, and then, the sisters confront Bailey when he arrives, but he says everything is under control. Joe expected that Bailey would tell his sisters about his relapse, but Bailey doesn't say a word and refuses to be judged by them. They also question why the restaurant hasn't been doing as well as before, but he avoids their worries and goes alone and mad to his room. The next day, the sisters and Charlie meet with an accountant to check up Salinger's situation and Bailey doesn't show up, as he is with Evie outside the church. Of this story, the best was Joe's part. His problems, his worries about Bailey's relapse, every scene he had. And for me, it wasn't totally wrong what he did, he managed the restaurant most of his life, he kept it working since Nick died until Charlie took over, and though he is not the owner anymore, he deserves some recognition. Bailey's story was interesting, especially when he drinks, and seems that having Evie helps him, but I know it won't last long. Besides, he handled well Joe's case (he was angered, but he didn't push him away), and did the right thing to keep the restaurant open, covering the falls with his own saved money. Then, the way Bailey is drinking now is pretty different than the first one for obvious reasons. He's living in the house, and everybody knows he's an alcoholic, so for him the best way to keep drinking is measurably and hiding it from everyone. That's why no one noticed, not Owen, Claudia, Julia, or even Charlie, who surely trusted his sisters to watch him after the break up with Sarah. Now Claudia noticed Bailey wasn't at home one night (before they confronted him), but he could hide his drinking saying he came home late (this implies that he already started to lose control). What he couldn't hide was the restaurant shortfall, surely because he didn't expect Joe's loan without permission. But it's truth that he neglected Salinger's since Sarah left, obviously affected by the loss, so even if Joe didn't take the money, the restaurant wouldn't be doing as good as in seasons 4-5. To finish this part, Owen appeared at the beginning talking with Claudia and Julia, seemingly Bailey was taking him to the circus, but he didn't appear again.
Charlie, the foreman, is acclaimed in the factory by the workers when he gives them more instructions and says that their jobs are saved. Later, Gus still wants to save money so he buys pine instead of oak, but Charlie protests saying it won't be sold because customers wants oak, strong wood. The workers see it the same way, and one of them, Warren, reaches Charlie outside to express his worries. He says that he recently could take his family (a wife and two children) to dinner after 6 months, that it felt good, and criticizes Gus latests decisions. The boss actually goes to his car and sees them talking, obviously suspicious, and leaves. Charlie tells Warren he fought as much as he could, but Gus is the boss, the owner. Anyway, next morning Gus realizes what he has to do after dealing with two workers questioned him (they weren't fine with the answer Gus gave, and asked when Charlie was coming in), and decides to take a holiday, leaving Charlie in charge of the factory. Charlie says he didn't want this, but Gus says he trusts him, that maybe that's why he is there. In the meantime, Charlie and Kirsten still struggle with their long job hours. In a dinner at their apartment with the 4 together, Daphne tells them she'll leave for three days with Luke to Texas and meet his family. Because of that, Charlie has to agree with Kirsten who will watch Diana. As he is pretty busy the whole day, Kirsten, who only has free time the afternoon, takes Diana to her job early. There, she takes care of her, reading a child's story of stars and comets and tells Heather (Dr Miller's assistant), that she cannot leave Diana in the nursery of the place because she is too young. When Diana is ready to sleep, Kirsten sends to call her husband (that was a nice scene, just like every scene when Kirsten acts like as a nanny-mother). Then, at the night after dinner, sitting in the floor, Charlie tells her the news from the factory, she is initially happy because he'll have his dream job but she realizes he's worried. He says his hours will be longer, that all the decisions will go to him and that the factory still could go under, so asks her what to do, if he should take the job as the boss. She takes his hand, she knows it's his dream job, that he'll be able to produce any design he wants, but he feels bad because he won't have much time to be with her and Diana. Still, she supports him, tells him to take it and accepts spending more time with Diana. He thanks her and kisses her. This scene was great and very well written, Charlie still knows that their main target is having a child of their own, and that Diana is between them and Daphne, so he understands Kirsten's position. She knows that he had a hard decision here but probably she thought he had no choice but to take over the factory. Then, when Daphne and Luke return one morning, Charlie is holding Diana and talking by the phone with a worker, saying he'll arrive at 9, while Kirsten is getting dressed to go to work. He passes Diana to Daphne, Kirsten greets her husband with a kiss, says goodbye and leaves to her job. Daphne tells Charlie that Luke has been transferred back to Texas, that his family has been great with her, so she'll move with him, and suggests taking Diana with her. This might not seem fair, but considering how busy are Charlie and Kirsten now, doesn't seem totally crazy. Anyway, this storyline follows next episode. Then, I hope that Charlie finds a good foreman because if he wants to spend more time with his beloved wife, his future children and Diana, he can't commit himself totally to the factory. At some point in life, a married person has to choose, balance the job and the family. And their love has to be strong enough to resist the changes, the years of working. In this case, after everything that happened to Charlie and Kirsten in the last 5 years, it's obvious that their love, their bond is unbreakable. Still, they should never forget that suffering and should never put their jobs above their marriage and their family, that's why he has to find a way to reduce his working hours, as for now, she reduced hers.
To finish, Julia keeps hangin out with Adam, and they even dance in a bar mitzvah. Then, she realizes he feels something for her and tells she doesn't want to start a new relationship considering all her past failures. He initially lies and says he's not interested, "Not every boy wants to marry you", but next day, when she hugs him saying he was accepted in CFA, he finally admits the truth. Anyway, after a bad kiss he stole, he accepts friendship, giving up his feelings. She seemed reluctant but also accepts. It's good that Julia can stop herself from making more mistakes, she made the right choice today and her words were reasonable. Also, it's great that she accepts that she has bad boyfriend habits. On the other hand, Claudia had barely three scenes here, maybe because Bailey, Julia and Charlie had too many.
Charlie, the foreman, is acclaimed in the factory by the workers when he gives them more instructions and says that their jobs are saved. Later, Gus still wants to save money so he buys pine instead of oak, but Charlie protests saying it won't be sold because customers wants oak, strong wood. The workers see it the same way, and one of them, Warren, reaches Charlie outside to express his worries. He says that he recently could take his family (a wife and two children) to dinner after 6 months, that it felt good, and criticizes Gus latests decisions. The boss actually goes to his car and sees them talking, obviously suspicious, and leaves. Charlie tells Warren he fought as much as he could, but Gus is the boss, the owner. Anyway, next morning Gus realizes what he has to do after dealing with two workers questioned him (they weren't fine with the answer Gus gave, and asked when Charlie was coming in), and decides to take a holiday, leaving Charlie in charge of the factory. Charlie says he didn't want this, but Gus says he trusts him, that maybe that's why he is there. In the meantime, Charlie and Kirsten still struggle with their long job hours. In a dinner at their apartment with the 4 together, Daphne tells them she'll leave for three days with Luke to Texas and meet his family. Because of that, Charlie has to agree with Kirsten who will watch Diana. As he is pretty busy the whole day, Kirsten, who only has free time the afternoon, takes Diana to her job early. There, she takes care of her, reading a child's story of stars and comets and tells Heather (Dr Miller's assistant), that she cannot leave Diana in the nursery of the place because she is too young. When Diana is ready to sleep, Kirsten sends to call her husband (that was a nice scene, just like every scene when Kirsten acts like as a nanny-mother). Then, at the night after dinner, sitting in the floor, Charlie tells her the news from the factory, she is initially happy because he'll have his dream job but she realizes he's worried. He says his hours will be longer, that all the decisions will go to him and that the factory still could go under, so asks her what to do, if he should take the job as the boss. She takes his hand, she knows it's his dream job, that he'll be able to produce any design he wants, but he feels bad because he won't have much time to be with her and Diana. Still, she supports him, tells him to take it and accepts spending more time with Diana. He thanks her and kisses her. This scene was great and very well written, Charlie still knows that their main target is having a child of their own, and that Diana is between them and Daphne, so he understands Kirsten's position. She knows that he had a hard decision here but probably she thought he had no choice but to take over the factory. Then, when Daphne and Luke return one morning, Charlie is holding Diana and talking by the phone with a worker, saying he'll arrive at 9, while Kirsten is getting dressed to go to work. He passes Diana to Daphne, Kirsten greets her husband with a kiss, says goodbye and leaves to her job. Daphne tells Charlie that Luke has been transferred back to Texas, that his family has been great with her, so she'll move with him, and suggests taking Diana with her. This might not seem fair, but considering how busy are Charlie and Kirsten now, doesn't seem totally crazy. Anyway, this storyline follows next episode. Then, I hope that Charlie finds a good foreman because if he wants to spend more time with his beloved wife, his future children and Diana, he can't commit himself totally to the factory. At some point in life, a married person has to choose, balance the job and the family. And their love has to be strong enough to resist the changes, the years of working. In this case, after everything that happened to Charlie and Kirsten in the last 5 years, it's obvious that their love, their bond is unbreakable. Still, they should never forget that suffering and should never put their jobs above their marriage and their family, that's why he has to find a way to reduce his working hours, as for now, she reduced hers.
To finish, Julia keeps hangin out with Adam, and they even dance in a bar mitzvah. Then, she realizes he feels something for her and tells she doesn't want to start a new relationship considering all her past failures. He initially lies and says he's not interested, "Not every boy wants to marry you", but next day, when she hugs him saying he was accepted in CFA, he finally admits the truth. Anyway, after a bad kiss he stole, he accepts friendship, giving up his feelings. She seemed reluctant but also accepts. It's good that Julia can stop herself from making more mistakes, she made the right choice today and her words were reasonable. Also, it's great that she accepts that she has bad boyfriend habits. On the other hand, Claudia had barely three scenes here, maybe because Bailey, Julia and Charlie had too many.