THE BIG C
Series 4, episode 3 “You Can’t Take It With You”
Having stopped chemotherapy and accepted her fate, Cathy starts getting rid of all her old clothes, including her wedding dress. While unloading her castoffs at a consignment store, Cathy realizes that she’s lost the feeling in one leg and is forced to start using a cane. Desperate to get a passing grade in chemistry, Adam asks his tutor, Lydia Hye, if she’ll get him the questions before his next test. At first she thinks Adam should study harder, but reconsiders and agrees to cheat in exchange for sex so that she doesn’t start college as a virgin. Meanwhile, as a radio interview in Detroit leaves Paul realizing how much he and Cathy have drifted apart, Andrea’s inability to come up with exciting designs for a fashion class leads her instructor, Isaac Mizrahi, to suggest she drop the course.
With Adam reluctantly enlisted in her plan, Lydia arrives armed with research that will ensure a good first sexual experience. As they are about to get started, however, she decides it doesn’t feel right and calls off the sex in favor of more studying. Returning home from his book tour to find Cathy struggling to walk, Paul is shocked to discover that she’s been researching cancer widow dating sites for him to use once she’s gone. Meanwhile, as Sean’s guilt over his own good health prompts him to look for a way he can help someone in need, Mizrahi tells Andrea to look to the funereal wardrobes of Ancient Egypt to inspire her drab portfolio.
In the wake of some satisfying daytime sex, Cathy tells Paul that she’s arranged for him to meet a widow named Brenda for coffee. Persuaded to go through with the date, if only to be polite, Paul is relieved when Brenda is sympathetic to the fact that Cathy is still alive and that she set up their date. After Adam’s good grade on his test leads him and Lydia to celebrate by having sex after all, Sean asks a doctor to take one of his kidneys for an organ donation. Finally, after commissioning Andrea to design an Egyptian-inspired dress she can be buried in, Cathy suddenly doesn’t seem to recognize Paul.
LOGLINE
In the wake of discontinuing chemotherapy, Cathy (Laura Linney) starts planning for her family’s future, including helping Paul (Oliver Platt) find a new wife. Adam’s (Gabriel Basso) chemistry tutor offers to help him cheat on a test in exchange for sex. Guest starring Isaac Mizrahi and Kathy Najimy.
Directed by: Jann Turner
Written by: Carlo DiPaolo & Melanie Marnich