Friends from College season 2, episode 5 recap: Old Habits
The last episode of Friends from College saw Max reluctantly participate in an Atlantic City bachelor party crafted by Nick. Sam and Ethan reconnected a bit more. And Lisa couldn’t stand to see Sam having a good time.
Episode 5 of Friends from College opens with Lisa and Charlie in bed after having sex for the sixth time in the past 24 hours. She wants to keep going since she’s ovulating and she wants to have a child, but Charlie is way too tired.
After they try one more time (unsuccessfully, because Charlie is so exhausted), Charlie suggests they should get married. The logic follows for him—since they’re going to have a kid, why not get married too?
Sam is reluctant, she doesn’t want to have to plan a wedding. So Charlie suggests they just go down to city hall. Sam again is hesitant and tries to say they should worry about having the kid and worry about other things later. She finally admits she’s not ready to get married.
Charlie thinks they shouldn’t be having kids if they’re not getting married, but Sam, biologically, can’t sit around and wait until she’s ready to get married to have kids. After a short discussion, Sam and Charlie break up.
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Elsewhere, Nick, out of whatever doghouse he was in with Merrill, joins Merrill at her cottage for the weekend. Nick is going to have to meet some of Merrill’s extended family. After meeting Merrill’s grandmother, Nick meets some of Merrill’s cousins (all named either Merrill or Morgan, because “comedy”).
Back in the city, Ethan and Sam sit down for coffee—as friends. As they catch up, Ethan mentions that he and Max will be presenting a proposal for a sequel to his centaur novel. Sam is immediately interested and starts asking incredibly specific questions about the novel and what could happen in the sequel. She clearly read, retained and enjoyed his book.
Taken by how much she cares about his work (and, you know, two seasons worth of feelings for her), Ethan goes in for a kiss. At first, Sam backs away because they’re in public, but eventually accepts that that doesn’t matter.
They go to the bathroom together to try to have sex, but it’s too disgusting and Sam won’t touch anything in there. She also declines to go back to either of their apartments and instead books them a hotel. Ethan, clearly hoping for a step forward in their relationship, looks disappointed in that decision, which harkens back to their old days of being a fling.
Lisa is now crashing with Marianne after the breakup with Charlie. But Lisa isn’t Marianne’s only houseguest. Tag and his base jumping friends are also staying at Marianne’s place while they’re in town.
Lisa calls Nick and tells him that she and Charlie split. She asks him if he wants to go out to eat, but, of course, he’s out of town. He jokingly suggests she can be his and Merrill’s third wheel at this cottage, and she (much to his surprise) accepts.
Merrill is understandably annoyed that Nick would invite someone to her grandmother’s house without consulting her. Nick doesn’t apologize for his mistake and Merrill storms off.
Ethan meets Max for the book presentation and is late, clearly because he was with Sam. Max had to write the whole presentation himself. Max presents a whole new idea for a book and Ethan has to just go along with it. The books get picked up.
Max vents to Felix later about how Ethan gets all the credit even though he didn’t do the work. Felix thinks Max should stand up to Ethan and ask for credit. Felix equates it to a schoolyard bully taking a kid’s lunch money.
Lisa, after arriving at Merrill’s grandmother’s cottage, talks to Nick off to the side. It’s obvious that Merrill is not happy Lisa is there, though Nick tries to brush it off. Lisa says she’s going to make herself scarce.
Just then, Merrill’s son stumbles in about to throw up. He’s drunk. Nick takes him to the bathroom so he can throw up. In the bathroom, Nick rubs his back as he vomits into the toilet.
Merrill and Nick talk about it a little later and Merrill reveals that her ex-husband never came to these gatherings, so it was nice to have Nick there. Nick finally apologizes for inviting Lisa. Merrill thanks him and admits that Lisa is a lovely person.
Ethan visits Max’s apartment to give him a gift for making sure Ethan didn’t look awful in their meeting. He got Max a virtual reality headset. In the background, Felix keeps motioning to Max to be honest with Ethan. Max does, saying that it’d be nice for him and Ethan to write something together. Ethan suggests that that could happen on a future project. Max is looking for something more immediate but doesn’t come out and say it.
After breaking a vase, thanks to being lost in a virtual reality world, Max is pulled aside by Felix to find out why Max didn’t stand up for himself.
Sam, in her therapy session, tries to explain to her therapist why she chose to go to a hotel with Ethan rather than have sex in either of their homes. As the therapists points out, they’re both single, so there’s really no reason to hide. It’s as if this is the first time that idea has dawned on Sam.
Sam finally admits that she sees Ethan as an escape and if she brings him home, it’ll be like losing that aspect of their relationship.
Lisa and Nick take a walk around the grounds to talk. She says she likes seeing him like this, in a very WASP-y environment and enjoying himself. Seeing him this happy makes her feel lost in her life. She starts worrying that maybe Ethan was her chance to be with someone who really loved her and she blew her opportunity to find love.
After the walk, Nick pulls Merrill aside and asks if they’re moving too fast in their relationship. Merrill is completely blindsided but eventually realizes that Nick is just chasing his crush on Lisa. Annoyed, she breaks up with him.
Nick runs to find Lisa and, feeling suddenly unwelcome, grabs their stuff for a hasty exit.
The episode ends with Sam, in a surprise move, visiting Ethan at his apartment.
Did Nick make the right move going after Lisa instead of Merrill? Have Sam and Ethan finally taken the next step in their relationship? Let us know your thoughts on this episode of Friends from College in the comments.