'Chasing Life' Recap: 'Truly Madly Deeply'

On this week’s episode of Chasing Life, April seeks answers about her father’s manuscript, Sara catches up with an old friend, and Brenna meets Margo’s ex, Juliet.

The episode opens with April reading her father’s manuscript. Enter Natalie who asks April what she thinks of it. April notes some similarities between the novel and her and Natalie’s own lives, but thinks it’s all purely coincidental. Natalie, however, is not so convinced and urges April to keep reading.

Cue opening theme.

April and Leo butt heads over conflicting tastes while discussing wedding plans and Sara mediates, suggesting they fill out a questionnaire on interpersonal closeness to learn more about each other, since they haven’t been together that long.

Simultaneously, Brenna and Margo hang out at The Charles and discuss Brenna’s new schooling arrangements. The girls also unexpectedly run into Margo’s ex, Juliet, who is incredibly drunk. The girls’ date is cut short when Margo is forced to take Juliet home.

Meanwhile, April follows Natalie’s advice and continues to read their father’s manuscript. She notices a note from someone named EDS at the bottom of the page and looks through an e-book version of one of her father’s other novels to discover that EDS stands for Edwin D. Shaw, her father’s editor.

Later, Beth laments her unlucky love life and reassures April she won’t mind seeing her ex, Graham at the wedding. Beth also accepts the challenge of altering Sara’s wedding dress, but it appears to be a rather tall order. Meanwhile, April asks her mother if she’s invited any of her father’s old friends to the wedding, including Edwin D. Shaw, but Sara responds that they’ve been out of touch for a while.

Now alone, April searches the Internet for information about Edwin D. Shaw and finds out that he’ll be giving a teaching seminar in Rhode Island. Enter Leo, who asks April if she’d like to get back to tackling their questionnaire. April suggests they take a trip to finish it and mentions wanting to go to Rhode Island, and Leo seems game for it, unaware of the real reason behind the trip.

At school, Brenna is approached by a girl named, Sydney, who is eager to become her friend, knowing that she just transferred from Charton. Brenna, however, is less than thrilled to become acquainted with Sydney and brushes her off to text Margo. Before they part ways, Sydney catches Brenna staring at cancer patient, Finn from afar. Brenna doesn’t know it but she donated her bone marrow to him.

April and Leo work on their questionnaire at the Federal Hotel in Rhode Island, though they soon take a break to get intimate.

Afterwards, April lies and tells Leo she’s going to visit a local museum, but instead dons a wig and pretends to be a girl named Isabel in order to get close to Edwin Shaw at his teaching seminar. When April as Isabel walks in late, she is unable to score one-on-one time with Edwin, so he offers to speak to her later at the bar.

Meanwhile, Sara runs into an old high school friend, Billy Conte and they catch up briefly. When Sara asks if they can see each other again soon, Billy invites her to a get-together organized by members of his running club that evening.

In Rhode Island, April unexpectedly runs into Leo back in the hotel lobby and gets caught in her lie. When she tells Leo where she really was, the two get into a huge fight and Leo fears that they won’t be able to communicate well when they’re married.

Back in Boston, Beth shows Sara the alterations she did to her old wedding dress, admitting she had trouble fixing it for April. Beth is also bummed she might not be able to find a date to the wedding, so Sara invites her to Billy’s get-together at The Charles.

Later, Margo takes Brenna home from a date and Juliet makes another unexpected appearance, this time with dog, Gertrude in tow.

April as Isabel meets up with Mr. Shaw. She talks him up and then mentions his colleague, Thomas Carver. Edwin confesses that he found Thomas shady, and Thomas had a full-on Hemingway-esque breakdown a year before he died. Unable to hear anymore, April excuses herself from the conversation, nearly getting sick as she leaves.

After leaving her meeting with Mr. Shaw, April catches up with Leo and apologizes to him for lying. They crash a wedding being held at the hotel.

Sara and Beth hang out with Billy and the guys from his running club and really seem to enjoy each other’s company.

Back at the wedding in Rhode Island, April gets emotional watching the bride dance with her father knowing she’ll never get to have that with her dad at her own wedding. She also thinks sometimes it’s better not to know everything having found out a few of her dad’s secrets from Mr. Shaw. Leo uses this as the perfect example of why he and April should know everything about each other when they’re married, good and bad. April agrees, not wanting to hold back anymore.

Simultaneously, Beth is especially elated when she talks to Billy’s son, Gabe and the pair seems to click immediately.

Juliet and Margo fight in front of Brenna. Juliet thinks Margo doesn’t care about their dog, Gertrude anymore and that’s when Juliet lets slip that Margo still lives with her at her apartment. Juliet also freaks out on Margo when Margo tells her that Brenna is only 17. Having heard the truth, Brenna tells Margo things between them are “over” and asks her and Juliet to leave.

April visits with Mr. Shaw again, but this time as herself. When she tells him Thomas Carver is her father, he apologizes for upsetting her by speaking badly of him. April also presses him for answers about her father’s book and Edwin tells her he never got to see a finished copy. April says she still has so many questions she wishes her father could answer. Mr. Shaw tells her that her father may not have always been a great person, but he was a great writer and April definitely has some of his natural ability having read her work in his seminar.

The next day, in Boston, Sara meets up with Billy and his running club again and Beth and Gabe opt to hang back, so they can spend some alone time together.

Meanwhile, April and Leo make a fresh start in their relationship and go over their questionnaire again, this time more seriously.

Brenna walks in to school and Sydney makes it clear Brenna isn’t welcome to hang out with her, so she sits with Finn. They make a brief introduction.

At the Carver house, Sara and Emma talk and Sara says she donated her old wedding dress to Goodwill. April suddenly intrudes, wearing Emma’s old wedding dress and Emma and Sara agree that this one looks much better on her. When Emma leaves to look for the matching veil, Sara and April discuss the results of April and Leo’s questionnaire. April says the process of completing the questionnaire was difficult, but she and Leo have really been able to open up to each other.

Sara says she wishes she and Thomas would’ve done something similar before they wed, because things might have turned out differently and April wonders if her father kept other secrets from them besides Natalie. Sara says she often wonders the same thing and admits that April’s Uncle George is the person who knew her father best. Sara also says she wants April and Leo to have a better marriage than her and Thomas.

End of episode.

Image Credit: Walter McBride/INFphoto.com

Chasing Life airs every Monday at 9 p.m. on ABC Family.

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