Story 1:
Tyler and Clementine have a pregnancy scare, which leads to Tim and Heather discussing when they will become grandparents. Sam tells them that she never plans to have kids, and Sophia tells them that she plans to adopt, meaning that they will never have grandchildren that are biologically theirs. This prompts Tim to start talking about having another kid that can make them grandparents, despite the many challenges (including Heather's age and Tim's vasectomy). After Heather agrees to give it another go, Tim goes to the doctor to discuss getting his vasectomy reversed, but the doctor tells him that his vasectomy was badly botched and that it will be extremely painful to have it reversed. Tim decides to wait until after he finds out if Heather is even fertile. She is, which means he has to get that vasectomy reversed.
Story 2:
Matt & Colleen and Jen & Greg both stop by John & Joan's to ask Joan to babysit their kids. Despite a conflict over which kids she'll watch, they decide for Joan that she can watch them all. John had been planning to go to the theater, but Joan convinces him to stay and help out with the kids. The next day, Jen & Greg's kids are still there, and Heather also drops Sophia (who may have pink eye) off to "help" with the kids. During a therapy session, Joan falls asleep, and then Lark interrupts the session. Her patient was feeling ignored in the first place, and Joan does not help. She loses the patient, and then Matt & Colleen drop Lucas off. To top it all off, Joan is starting to develop pinkeye.
Story 3:
Jen and Greg have to pretend that Lark lives at John & Joan's, in order to get her into the good school district. Joan goes along with it easily, but their cover is immediately blown since the principal was in the living room the whole time with John and overheard their entire plan. Jen looks for private schools, but they're all extremely expensive. They decide to look for houses that are actually in good school districts. They don't like the first house they go to (well, Greg does but Jen doesn't and that's what matters), but their realtor takes them to a house that isn't on the market yet but the owners are considering offers. That house turns out to be John and Joan's home. John and Joan tell them that they were considering a single-floor home and wanted to see how much they could make on it. Greg is devastated and wants the house to stay in the family, and Joan also thinks that is a good idea and wants Greg and Jen to move in.
Story 4:
Matt tells Colleen that he heard back about a job in Germany, and it's good news. They don't want to tell the family until after his birthday party, which will be a problem because Colleen made Germany the theme of his party. Tim tells the family that they're having another child, John and Joan tell everyone that they're selling the house, and Greg and Jen tell everyone that they're buying it, even if John isn't completely sold on the idea. With that, Matt lets it spill that he got a new job, and everyone's mood is significantly brought down when he tells them they're moving to Germany. Colleen tells him that they can't take Lucas out of the country, and he won't be able to take the job. Colleen tells Matt to take the job anyway, because the job is too important to turn down. He decides to take the job and move to Germany.
Wrap-Up:
This wasn't a bad episode, but it's not the way I'd have liked to see this show go out. So much more could have been done with the show. As a regular season finale, it would have been very good. Mainly because I doubt Matt would have moved away for good, which was one of the biggest problems I had with the show. It was just a sad ending, one that didn't feel very in-character for this show or for Matt. After all that he went through to get his family, it just seems hard to believe that he could leave them, even if they would join him soon enough. The other stories were all fine, and two of them featured interesting developments that would have been fun to see where they went in season five. Even though we won't get to really have endings for those stories, I'm fine with that. I obviously want more of the show, but most of the characters on it got endings that I'm content with (aside from, of course, Matt and Colleen). So goodbye Jen, Greg, Lark, Tim, Heather, Matt, Colleen, Tyler, Clementine, Sophia, Sam, John, and Joan, who I think I'll miss most of all. And goodbye Life In Pieces. It's been a hell of a ride.
Grade: 7.5/10
Score: B-
