As Sweet Magnolias season 5 hit the halfway point in the season, the show threw us a major curveball as Dana Sue and Ronnie’s home went up in flames. Episode 6 picks up right where the previous episode left off as Erik informs Ronnie and Dana Sue the fire originated in the garage after speaking with the firefighters on the scene.
With their house having gone up in flames, Helen and Erik offer up their home to Annie as Erik helps gather a few more things salvaged from the fire. Meanwhile, Maddie and Helen take Dana Sue and Ronnie back to their house. After settling in at Cal and Maddie’s, Ronnie finds Dana Sue downstairs in the middle of the night as he apologizes for this being his fault. He says he should have been taking care of whatever caused it and has been focused on the wrong things, but she’s not in a place to hear more apologies from him.
The next day, Dana Sue heads to the house with Ronnie to begin gathering things from the home. With just two hours from the fire chief to gather things, Ronnie gets defensive about her picking through the ashes for small items. She reminds him all they have are ashes, and if they don’t pick through them, important things will get thrown away.
Blake comes to check on Annie and see how she’s doing. He reminds her it’s okay not to know how she’s doing, as she admits work is a nice distraction. Meanwhile, Noreen and the art guild begin to formulate a plan to help Dana Sue and her family, arranging plans to round up things to help them get back on their feet.
After Helen and Maddie take Dana Sue out to shop for some new clothes, Dana Sue admits she can’t get the smell of smoke out of things. Maddie asks how things went getting things out of the home with Ronnie, and Dana Sue admits she misses her mom. Maddie asks what she would say if she were sitting with them right now, and Dana Sue notes that she would assure her that she loves her and is here for her, as Maddie reminds her she is here for her and loves her.
At Isaac’s place, Noreen drops by to see him and is surprised to see Michael came ahead of schedule. Isaac is starting to spiral, and she encourages him to breathe and take things one step at a time.
Later, Maddie and Dana Sue head to the restaurant to whip up some quesadillas for margarita night. Helen admits she’s frustrated with how things played out with the Bellwether. She points out that the revival of the art guild has been inspiring, and she was thinking her space in the shared business would be used for an art gallery and artist workshop. Helen then mentions the wedding planning woes, as Dana Sue says she was about to tell Ronnie before the fire, but now she doesn’t have the energy to tell him. Dana Sue worries she’ll pull Maddie and Helen down and that they should move on without her. However, they assure her they’ll see her through this valley and that the view from the peak will be sublime because they’ll have scaled it together.
Meanwhile, Cal sits down with Peggy to pitch the new team and the benefits it could bring to the city. Peggy is worried there are risks and lets him know they’ll put him on the agenda, but the town council can be tough to sway. She suggests he come up with a tourism guild and prepare answers to the questions they’ll have for him.
At Sullivan’s, Isaac tells Michael about the rotating bar as Noah drops by to see how she’s doing and whether there is anything he can do for her. She admits work has been a good distraction, and she recommends the Annie coffee. Isaac gives Michael his specialty coffee and Michael starts to drop the love bomb, but Isaac awkwardly scuttles off as he wants to be the first to say it.
Jessica drops by to grab a coffee and asks Annie if there is anything she can help with. Annie assures her that being at work and focusing on other people is nice. Jessica then tells Erik she’s confirmed that things between him and Helen need to be smoothed over, which he calls inappropriate. She begs him to talk to her before it’s too late. He tries to shut her down as she storms off and says that if their house went up in flames, all he would grab was the Wentley Ways.
Later, Cal tells Maddie about the meeting and his task of putting a tourism board together. She encourages him to tell a story about his love for baseball and the town. He loves that baseball brings people together on the field and in the stands, and being here helped him see that.
When Erik gets home, he tells Helen they need to talk. He admits he was trying to please others when he should have been pleasing her because if this house were on fire, the only thing he would grab is her. So he does, pulling her in for a kiss that quickly turns into something more.
Meanwhile, with Noreen’s help, Isaac is able to pull together his surprise anniversary dinner for Michael. Isaac admits that he had been planning so many iterations of the date, and he needs to say what he has been wanting to say. He tells Michael he loves him. Michael says it back, and Isaac encourages him to stay longer as they dance together and Isaac begins to sing.
Later, Helen wonders how they got where they did. She presses him further, admitting it feels like there is more he’s not telling her, and encourages him not to turn away from her. Erik admits his parents didn’t like Vera. When he lost her, he felt he mourned alone. They found her willful, driven, and too independent, which she was, as she was passionate and unafraid to speak her mind. He does not love Helen because she is like Vera but because she is complex and unique with her own gifts. His parents like Helen, and he’s certain they’ll grow to love her. He let past pain make him lose sight of things and is sorry he put her through that. Jessica arriving helped him see how he was binding himself, and Helen reminds him she wants to unpack things together. He makes her a vow and swears to talk more freely and openly about everything moving forward.
The following morning, Laith arrives from the fire department to drop off the firehouse’s submission to the chili cook-off. A deputy and then Erik arrive for her to judge their chili despite her backing out of the chili cook-off. It seems while Dana Sue had pulled out of the chili contest, the town wasn’t about to let her throw in the towel and brought the contest to her front door – or Maddie’s front door – to have her judge.
As more and more people gather at Maddie’s, including Clark, who admits that he let his dad’s legacy become empty. He wants to do something his family would be proud of, and he will accept their offer on the Bellwether with the contingency that he keeps 20% and partners with them.
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