We open with a montage of Marin doing something I recognize all too well: procrastinating on her writing. She cleans Inn windows, cleans out her purse, organizes her closet. Lady, it's called online shopping. Just as time-wasting, and much more fun. In fact.... Oh, fine, I'll do it later. Anyway, Marin ends up cleaning out the fridge, which is where Lynn (wearing a sweater I totally used to own in three colours other than the one Lynn is in) finds her, and asks if she has a deadline; it seems Lynn recognizes the signs of procrastination as well, having once knit a dress instead of setting up her first photography exhibit. Marin claims that the cleaning is part of her process, and that she ruminates while she cleans. Lynn says she was looking for garbage bags, expositing that there's a rummage sale coming up to benefit the Elmo Moose lodge (the joke is that while there are Moose, there isn't a physical lodge yet). She says that they're looking for volunteers for the sale, in case Marin's looking for another project. You know, other than kicking Lynn's ass to the town line.
Patrick expo-nounces the rummage sale on the radio, and we see the stuff getting assembled in the multipurpose hall. She runs into Jack, who's donating a bunch of humane traps. They have a moment of medium awkwardness, but agree that they're okay with each other as friends.
Just as Jack and Marin are wrapping up the temperature-check on their relationship, Mai yells into her bullhorn that there aren't any sales to early birds. Marin says that she's there to volunteer, right after her radio show's over. Annie burbles about how great she is at organizing (and, indeed, she seems to have embellished a clipboard specifically for the event, which seems like a lot of trouble to go to when you live in a town without a Staples). Mai aggressively asks what Marin's donating, and Marin sassily replies that Mai should ask the woman who stole all Marin's New York clothes. Mai chuckles that that was fun. Marin says that if this sale were happening in New York, she'd have thirty boxes of crap to give away, but now she's living light. She quotes Thoreau (short version: "Simplify!"), and Mai basically says she's not down with Thoreau, and storms off to scold another possible early bird. This never happens when you shop online. Hey, how'd I get back there? I am curious about the new fall lines....
UGH, damn you, matter at hand! Marin goes into the booth and greets Patrick, who gets around to telling her he's going to propose to Annie (again), this time via fortune cookie. Marin wishes him luck, and he reminds her about how badly the last proposal went. Marin says that if the first one hadn't tanked, he couldn't get an opportunity to try the cookie, and Patrick congratulates her on finding the silver lining. Marin says some crap about holding onto the past, which then flows into her radio-show thesis: how much baggage do you need to get rid of in order to move forward? As someone who's had to pay for overweight luggage on her last four flights...I don't understand the question, and I won't respond to it.
Meanwhile, across town, Jack and Lynn are at his house, getting ready to get it on. Well, that was fast. It's shaggus interruptus, though, as he barely escapes to a prior engagement, leaving Lynn moaning and unsatisfied on the couch. All I know is, when he was doing it with Marin, he never quit halfway through. Suck on THAT, Brownie.
Chieftain. Shooting pool with Theresa, Lynn bitches that it's like they're back in high school, just making out all the time. Theresa asks what's so wrong with making out, and Lynn says it's great, when it leads somewhere, but that she and Jack haven't gotten past second base. Theresa snickers that she can't remember if second base is over or under the shirt, and Lynn says that the shirt hasn't come off. She muses that maybe Jack just doesn't want her anymore -- you know, what with the scandal baby and all -- and Theresa serenely says, "We're all damaged goods. Doesn't mean we don't deserve to be happy." Nice sentiment, and one not expressed often enough on TV. Ben rolls up, asking Theresa to help him look for the pretzels, and Theresa follows him back, leaving Lynn to stew in her sexual frustration.
In the kitchen, Theresa twits Ben for not even looking for the pretzels, which are out in plain sight, but it was all a ruse to get her alone so they could make with the canoodling. They're getting down to it when Sara, rather presumptuously, lets herself in the back door and gets an eyeful. Considering how she left, she's kind of lost the right to be all shocked and hurt and shit. Shut up, Sara.
After the credits, everyone's still standing there, letting the awkwardness steep. "I didn't know you were back," drawls Theresa. Sara's like, "Ditto." Theresa finds an excuse to leave. Ben, at first, just seems relieved to know that Sara's okay; he had no idea what happened to her when she disappeared. She explains that she went to stay with her mother, and that she's sorry about the way she left it with him. Ben says he thought they really had something, and Sara says they did, but just as they're getting close to a rapprochement of some kind, Theresa appears at the saloon doors to the bar, throat-clearing that Ben's "got some thirsty guys" who need his attention. Sara blurts that she'll see them later. Theresa says nothing, though it's pretty clear that, the time the points of this love triangle are together, Theresa will be peeing on Ben.
Rummage sale. Marin admires a landscape painted by Minnie, an older lady who says she's getting ready to leave Elmo for Minneapolis, to live with her son. She offers the painting to Marin for $3, which Mai overhears and kiboshes, citing the early-bird rule. Minnie moves off, and Marin repeats to Mai her new philosophy of living light. Her cell phone rings; Mai scolds her not to take any personal calls until her break, but Marin tells her not to worry -- she's dodging Stuart, because she's behind on her deadline. I liked this show a lot better when Marin enjoyed shopping.
Patrick's fortune cookie for Annie ends up at another table, just as you knew it would the second you heard of his proposal plan, because you have watched TV before.
At the radio station, Patrick bitterly recaps the story for Marin. She advises Patrick to tell Annie what happened: "She'll laugh!" Patrick's unconvinced, saying that Annie told him it was the best proposal ever. He thinks anything he does now won't be able to live up to the proposa he muffed, but Marin promises that as soon as he does propose, it will be plenty special. And then, of course, their first caller is the guy at whose table Patrick's fortune cookie ended up; he'd been planning to break up with his girlfriend last night, and now she's all excited! Patrick slides off his chair in self-disgust.
Chieftain. Ben and Jack shoot pool, basically doing a dude version of the conversation Theresa and Lynn were having over pool earlier. Doesn't Jack want more? Jack says he's taking it slow. Ben asks if it's about Marin, but Jack waves that off, sarcastically teasing Ben for having two "chicks" after him (yeah, Jack would have NO idea what that's like), and just as they're teasing at the edge of the verge of the precipice of getting a bit blue, Ben shuts it down at the sight of a fancy-pants guy wandering in to look for a pay phone, because he can't get a signal on his cell phone. Of course, it's Stuart. Ben tells him that Jerome's on with his mother, so the phone may be tied up for a while, addingk, "Come on, Jack, it's your shot." Stuart, noting the name, asks whether Jack is the Jack, of "Menaissance" fame. He says he read about Jack in Marin's New Yorker story. "Who didn't," says Jack, not unhappily. Stuart adds that Marin is very talented, and asks whether Ben and Jack know where to find her. They suspiciously say they might, and Stuart laughs that he's not a stalker; he's just starting to introduce himself when Marin comes in and interrupts. Stuart was visiting a writer in Seattle and just thought he'd take advantage of the corporate jet, because an editor giving this much hands-on attention to a midlist writer like Marin would totally get carte blanche with a jet, not. They flirt about trading a dinner date for a few pages, Jack jealously overhearing and jealously attacking the billiard balls. It's easy enough to ditch Hester Prynne if that's what you want, duder. Get over yourself.
After commercials, we're at the rummage sale. Enter Lynn with her box of crap to donate. She pulls a CCR album out of a box, cooing that it's like the soundtrack to some meaningful period of her life. She and Marin bond over a shared youthful love of Talking Heads, and then Marin tells Lynn she can have it. Lynn says she doesn't want to cross Mai -- "She scares me" -- but Marin says it's fine, since the album was Jack's. Lynn is taken aback to learn that Jack got rid of it, but Marin doesn't notice, saying that he got rid of a whole box of records. She tells Lynn again to take it, but Lynn sadly says that Jack must have wanted to get rid of it. Marin remains oblivious of the symbolism of Jack ditching the album he and Lynn apparently lost their virginity to.
Inn. Marin is getting ready for her dinner with Stuart when Sara appears in the bathroom behind her.
Sara and Marin sit on Marin's bed, catching each other up on their love lives. Sara left her son with her mother; she knows she gave up any claim she might have on Ben when she left town, but she still wants to be with him. And Marin's fine, she says. Sara adds that she's leaving the hospitality business, and is preparing to move out of the Inn, since she doesn't need "the office" anymore. Marin hugs Sara and hopes that Lynn doesn't take over her room.
Later, Marin comes downstairs, all dolled up for her dinner with Stuart; Jack, waiting in the lobby, leaps up at the sight of her, complimenting her ensemble. She looks like she might be a tiny bit hopeful that he's there to talk to her, but no -- he's waiting for Lynn, who trots down the stairs behind Marin. Stuart shows up, compliments are exchanged, Jack tells Marin to have a good time, calling her "Coach." Oh, and he totally ignores Lynn.
So Marin's taken Stuart out to a clearing or something, where they're sharing a bottle of wine. He's full of compliments for her looks and sense of humour and whatever the hell else, but it doesn't take long for him to get around to the subject of the pages she's given him so far. He tells her "there's a lot in there that's good," and Marin calls him out for damning her with faint praise. Stuart tells her he likes what she wrote about the landscape, but that after the first chapter, it started to seem "fluffy." Marin defends herself by saying that Thoreau wrote a whole book about the landscape -- remember, Stuart, you gave it to her? -- but Stuart counters that Thoreau wrote about the landscape because it inspired him philosophically; Walden wasn't a "travelogue." Marin: "Ouch." There's some blah about Jack, with Marin insisting that Jack wasn't her muse, despite the one really good chapter about him, and Stuart says that Elmo was a character, and that Marin needs to get back into it -- engage with the town, rather than skimming the surface. Um, hello -- rummage sale volunteer! Anyway, Marin considers the advice.
And speaking of skimming the surface -- elsewhere, Lynn and Jack are skating. Lynn takes a second to say how much fun she's having, and then gets right into it, asking why Jack got rid of "the Clearwater." She blahs about her happy memories of listening to it the first night they were in the house. Jack tells her that everything in the house tells him something about her, but Lynn says that they built up all those memories together -- they lived together: "We used to sleep together -- why aren't we now?" Jack says that it's complicated. Lynn asks how much less she can complicate it: she's there, and she wants to be with him. Jack: "You're pregnant." She's WHAT?! Well, they could have said something about that before now! Lynn says that's part of who she is now: "But don't throw the baby out with the Clearwater." Oh, boo. Keep the Carrie Bradshaw out of Alaska, please. Lynn skates off, and Jack eventually follows, holding his hand out for her to take.
Inn. Annie and Patrick play Scrabble. He's all set to put down "MARRY ME," but loses his nerve at the last minute and spells "MART" instead. Annie gently chides him, saying she thinks he can do better, and Patrick chokes that he's trying as hard as he can. Annie brightly says she has to go back to the rummage sale and skips out, whereupon Marin enters so that Patrick can whine that he doesn't know if he's going to find another perfect moment.
Chieftain. Patrick enters with a giant "CONGRATULATIONS" sheet cake. His new strategy is to "put a clock on it," so that the pressure of the upcoming party will force him to go through with the proposal. What's he need a fiancée for when he's got a cake that big?
Patrick leaves, and Ben heads over to chat with Sara, sitting at the bar with the want ads; she's prepared to quit the escort biz, but she's not all that psyched about gutting or packing fish if those are her only alternatives. They both look up at the sound of a customer calling Theresa's name, and then Sara apologizes for putting Ben in an awkward position the other day. Ben says it's already forgotten, but that he's with Theresa now. Sara says that doesn't mean she wouldn't still like to "throw [her] hat back in the ring." Yeah, I don't think he was ever interested in what your hat was covering up.
Ben wrestles the huge cake into the kitchen, where Theresa's getting an order ready. She coldly asks him to put some burgers on for him. Ben says that he's just making small talk, and Theresa says that it's typical of him to be a nice guy. Ben promises that he didn't just get back with Theresa because Sara was gone, and that he always wanted to be with Theresa, even when she didn't want to be with him. Theresa sighs that Sara and Ben had real feelings for each other, but finally says she isn't happy -- she knows it isn't fair, but it's how she feels. Ben asks what he can do, and Theresa pouts, "Nothing." At least she doesn't order ben not to talk to Sara, Emily Waltham.
Rummage sale. I swear, I've seen weddings come together faster than this glorified flea market. Marin shuffles through Jack's donations, moping over a copy of Slaughterhouse-Five Lynn inscribed to him: "They were fifteen together!" Mai briskly says that the book is going on the five-cent table, and opens the doors to the bustling crowd. Come one, come all! Chipped coffee mugs and irregular sweaters could be yours!
And then, there is shopping. Annie and Mai are both very bossy. Patrick enters, wanting to take Annie for a walk, but she says that Mai assigned them to take all the unsold merchandise to the dump. Patrick is dismayed, but tries to shake it off, saying that the dump is beautiful this time of year. And in the cold, the rats probably get super-fluffy.
Sara donates her kid's clothes. Marin reminds us that Stuart didn't like her chapter, and though Sara offers to go kick his ass, Marin admits that he was right. There's some comedy with one of Sara's castoff teddies, which...I know these aren't wealthy people, but I really hope no one actually buys lingerie at a rummage sale.
Jack enters to buy back some of his stuff, of course. He sheepishly says he thought he wanted to get rid of his junk, but Marin tells him it's not junk, it's history, which can be good to have around sometimes. She pulls out Minnie's painting and asks Jack if he likes it. Jack identifies the artist, saying she's been painting since he was a kid. Mai appears to scoop the painting out from under Marin's nose (commenting that "outsider art" is a good investment, heh), leaving Jack an opening to offer to take Marin out to Minnie's place to see if she has any more paintings to sell. I'd like to see a very close-up bobcat.
Elsewhere, Sara and Theresa scuffle over a quilt they both want to buy -- it's a metaphor, y'all -- until Ben suffers a medical emergency that conveniently disrupts their catfight.
After commercials, a doctor is checking Ben, saying that he didn't have a heart attack -- it was a rapid heartbeat, probably from stress. The doctor takes off, and Theresa says she'll take Ben home. He reminds her that someone needs to open the bar, and though she says that the Elmonites can live without beer for a few days (disgruntled cough from Jerome), Ben says that the fishing boats are coming in that night, and that Patrick's cake is in the fridge, so Theresa should go open the bar, and he'll drive himself home. "I can do it," says Sara. Theresa looks up sharply, and Sara explains that she'll open the bar. Theresa reluctantly hands off the keys. I love that the bar is considered an essential service of the town.
Jack drives Marin to Minnie, asking her on the way what Stuart said about her chapter. Marin reports his critique, saying it'll be scary for her to expose her feelings to the public. She then adds that she likes Lynn, much as she doesn't want to; she likes how direct Lynn is, but not in a way that means Marin's really saying Lynn's obnoxious. Jack says that Lynn's always been like that, since they were kids. Marin says she gets it -- she kind of hates it, but she gets it.
But we don't get to hear more about what Marin hates, because then we're at Minnie's remote little cabin. Minnie says she doesn't have any more paintings to sell, since they're all packed. She sighs that she wishes Marin had been around when she was trying to make her living as an artist; instead, she says, she had to make her money "the old-fashioned way." Thinking she's found one of Sara's colleagues, Marin's like, "Excuse me?" Jack explains that Minnie owned a fishing boat. Marin feels free to wander into the kitchen and look out the back window, enthusing that it's the view from the painting she loved. Minnie says she painted it right after she finished building the cabin -- with her own two hands, apparently. Marin, overcome, impetuously asks whether the cabin is for sale. "Marin," says Jack warningly. Minnie says that it is for sale, and excitedly goes off to make tea (somewhere...other than the kitchen, I guess) so that they can talk it over. Jack tells Marin that the place is "a mess," but Marin cheerfully says it'll be her mess; she'll fix it up. Oh, this'll be rich. I don't think I'd trust Marin to be able to change a lightbulb.
Dump. Patrick and Annie are throwing junk out the back of a Jeep when Patrick steps into one of Jack's humane traps. Annie freaks out and says she'll go get help. Patrick quickly asks where she's going, and when she says she's headed for the Chieftain, Patrick babbles that she can't go there. Annie says his foot might really be hurt, but Patrick doesn't care, and gets out a few declarations of love before pulling out the ring and proposing. Annie excitedly accepts. Patrick sadly apologizes that the moment is happening at the dump, but Annie squeals, "I love the dump!" She notices that Patrick is crying, and he grunts, "I'm in so much pain." Heh. He begs Annie to go get help, and she takes off. Big day for Dr. Not Fleischman.
Lynn shows up at Jack's, where CCR is playing and a million candles are lit. "You got it back!" she breathes. Jack says, "There's stuff I want to keep." And then they make like they're not fifteen anymore and start actually doing it.
Marin's cleaning the windows on her new cabin when Stuart comes in. She thanks him for coming, and he gives her a gift -- a manual typewriter from the rummage sale. He apologizes for his notes, saying he was too harsh, but Marin tells him not to be fooled by the curls -- she's pretty tough. She says she likes that he told her what he thought, since not many guys do that -- he shouldn't stop. Stuart says he won't, and after a long, meaningful look, he says he has to go. He gives Marin a long kiss on the cheek and heads for the door, telling Marin she needs to get the typewriter fixed, because the period doesn't work. Marin shrugs that it's fine -- she's not ready for her story to have an ending yet. Lord, I thought she was going to say she'd just use exclamation marks everywhere instead -- and I still wouldn't put that past her.
Closing voice-over. Marin starts by quoting Thoreau, on castles in the air and foundations and whatnot. History can be messy, but it can be our foundation (Sara cheerfully works at the Chieftain; Theresa fondles Ben's head in their bed). "You just have to work your way through the mess to find out what matters" (everyone celebrates Annie and Patrick's engagement, including the enormous cake). "To find the pieces of your past you still want to carry with you" (Lynn and Jack are all afterglowy in bed as he asks her to move back in, which apparently brings on Round 2). And if you have the right view, and the right castle, you can build your foundation yourself (Marin works on her laptop, sitting out on the dock at her new house). And why not? Her monthly mortgage payment is probably about 1% what she paid for rent in Gramercy Park.