How Many Episodes Of "The Big C" Have You Seen?

Cathy doesn't want to be the one who is always responsible and in control, especially now that she has been diagnosed with a terminal case of melanoma. That's why she kicked Paul out of the house as she literally wants to be the one in their twosome who is seen as the person who freely spills wine on the sofa without caring, instead of that person always being Paul. That's why she's decided that she wants a pool built in their postage stamp sized yard, so that she can teach Adam how to do the banana split dive like she did when she was his age. That's why she feels that she can give Adam a taste of his own medicine by treating him as thoughtlessly as he seems to treat her, all in an effort to make a point. That's why she feels that she can be blunt instead of being politically correct to her student Andrea about the combination of her wisecracking and her weight. That's why she decides that she doesn't need to be cordial anymore to their crotchety neighbor, whose name she doesn't even know after living next to her for five years. And that's why she tries to reach out to Sean despite Sean abhorring everything about what he sees as Cathy's chosen bourgeois lifestyle. Regardless of these changes, Cathy isn't yet ready to tell anyone, let alone her family - Paul, Adam or Sean - that she is dying.

Cathy still isn't feeling like she can let Paul back in the house or in her life. Adam is still angry with her and avoids her at all cost. And Sean still believes that Cathy is too uptight with who to hang out. So at this crucial time in her life, Cathy is feeling all alone, that is except for Thomas, Marlene's beagle, who always seems to be following her around. Her attempts at bringing Sean - and his girlfriend Daphne - and Adam and Andrea as meaningful parts of her life don't end up quite the way she envisions. As such, Cathy decides to attend a cancer support group. But those in the group end up being way too happy and upbeat for her liking, they seeing their cancer as it is a gift. Regardless, the support group appoints itself as her "Team Cathy" whether she likes it or not, as they believe that she really does need someone in her life for support. She has to decide if Paul is a better option, he who really does want to move back in. Thomas may find Cathy an unexpected substitute.

Adam is not talking to his mother again since she caught him watching porn, which was bad enough, but what made it worse was that she continued to watch it with him and analyzed why it wasn't realistic from a female's point of view. Cathy realizes what she did with Adam was wrong, but she still wants to make sure that at age fourteen he is not yet having sex, and that when he does that he can both talk to her about anything in that vein and that he treat the girl properly. As she deals with this issue, she is beginning to see physical beauty around her, which includes blue iris flowers, her own body and how best to show it off, and the sexy new muralist at the school named Lenny. Meanwhile, Paul has sustained a rugby injury which has him sidelined, but not in the eyes of "rugby tart", Tina. And the building in which Sean is living is scheduled for demolition. The only way he figures he can save his makeshift home is to play the game by acting like one of the masses who has conformed to society. He gets an unexpected hand in looking the part.

After Marlene tells Cathy about the distant relationship she has with her own two daughters who Cathy didn't even know existed, Cathy decides she and Sean need to go visit their own father, who she feels they don't see often enough. Sean reluctantly goes as he openly dislikes their father, who didn't give him the time of day while he was growing up. Cathy, on the other hand, loves their father, as she was seen as the good one during her and Sean's childhood. This road trip ends up being one of discovery for both Cathy and Sean, those discoveries which affect the way she ultimately relates to her father, especially in light of the way he relates to her, which is the same way he's related to her, Sean and their now deceased mother for their entire lives. Meanwhile, Paul is at the house being Dad to Adam during Cathy's absence. But it isn't quite clear if there is an adult figure between the two.

Paul discovers his wife's affair and demands a divorce.

Now that Paul knows about Cathy's melanoma, he wants to help her in any way he can, including investigating alternate treatments. He is also still trying to get over the fact that he lost three months in trying to help her, three months in her probably shortened life. Cathy tries to explain to him why she didn't didn't tell him sooner. Paul, in dealing with the spouse of someone who died of cancer, begins to move closer to Cathy's way of thinking. Meanwhile, Rebecca tells Sean that she is moving to Minneapolis, but doesn't quite get the reaction she wanted. In a girls' bonding session, Marlene, Cathy and Rebecca go out for lunch to an unusual locale, an incident at which makes Cathy believe that Paul's thoughts about dealing with her illness aren't completely wrong. And Cathy learns about Marlene's Alzheimer's.

Following Marlene's death, Cathy learns Marlene left her house. At first she's willing to let her daughters have it till she learns what their plans are. Dr. Miller wants her to try a different treatment which is risky. And she learns that Sean and Rebecca are expecting a baby.

Cathy finds that her experience with the great Dr. Atticus Sherman isn't anything like she thought it would be. In addition to not appreciating his bedside manner, not believing that he pays any attention to her file, or not believing that he sees her anything more than another nameless face in his office, Cathy learns he is conducting a clinical trial, about which she learns from another of his stage 4 patients, an extremely positive woman named Nadine, in which he has no space for her. Meanwhile, Cathy and Sean's relationship is still strained over the fact that she kept her illness a secret from him for so long. As such, he is functioning even less well than normal, which means that Cathy is replacing him in many of Rebecca's "baby partner" functions. Rebecca makes an unusual request of Cathy, and further tells Cathy of a decision that doesn't sit well with her. And Cathy's return to work, where everyone now knows of her illness, places both her and Adam in an uncomfortable position.

A fellow cancer patient intrigues Cathy; Adam's downward spiral continues.

Although he still hates his job, Paul settles into life at the electronics store. He bonds with a fellow employee, a young Ukrainian immigrant named Mykail, who in turn bonds with one of his customers. While Paul still struggles with his job situation, that struggle which includes reporting to a barely of age weaselly assistant manager, Cathy aims for an extra job at the school with more pay as the girl's swim coach. She is able to convince the principal to give her the job at least temporarily until the principal can find or wants to find a more permanent coach. Cathy believes she is both well suited to the job, and something she needs in her life right now. The only aspect she doesn't like is dealing with "stage" parents, one in particular who thinks he can do the job better than her. Meanwhile, Adam brings something into the house that threatens both his relationship with Mia as well as Cathy's position as swim coach.

It's Thanksgiving, and Cathy and Paul are hosting their first ever Thanksgiving dinner with their new extended family, which includes not only Adam and Sean, but also Rebecca, Andrea, Mykail and if he accepts Lee, which he does. Cathy wants it to be a non-traditional meal in that besides the free-range, organic turkey Sean is in charge of getting, the rest of the meal will consist of whatever she feels like making, which includes a special dessert from Lee's childhood. The dinner has the potential to be marred in many ways, which includes Paul contemplating confronting Mykail about what he saw Mykail do at the store. But many of the dinner attendees truly do have something to be thankful for, which is for Cathy the fact that the drugs seem to be working, which she hesitates to tell Lee if only because the same has yet to happen for him. Some of those other thankful items will be truly more so if the reaction from a significant other matches. But some unexpected things happen over the course of the day, both good and bad.

Following their Thanksgiving fallout, Cathy and Lee reconcile, with Cathy vowing to be honest with him about how things are progressing with her health. She sticks to that vow as her news is generally positive, while his continues to decline. But Lee tries to remain upbeat, focusing on living. As such, Cathy decides to help him with his bucket list in whatever way she can. Meanwhile, Adam decides to continue hanging out with Poppy, in part to understand the thing he noticed on her arm when they first met. Poppy's decision on the where to hang out catches Adam off guard: her high school reunion, where she wants to show her former classmates that she didn't turn out the loser as they probably expected. Adam tries to help her achieve that perception. And Sean continues to deal with Rebecca's miscarriage in his own way, especially now that Rebecca has left him to go home to Chicago.

Cathy, Paul and Adam are getting ready to head to Italy for the Christmas holidays using Paul's cut from the electronics store thefts. They still haven't found Sean, but they feel they need to focus on themselves as a family. They are also leaving behind Andrea who is in engaged bliss to Mykail, with who she will spend the holidays. Owen tells Paul about the imbalance in store inventory, which leads to a revelation from Mykail which could affect his relationship with Andrea. Adam spends time with Poppy before he leaves. But he also finds out some information about Poppy's reality, which ultimately makes him understand why she acts the way she does. And Dr. Sherman asks Cathy to be "show and tell" to one of his classes. She tries to make her reality and the students' reality a little closer together. And just before the Jamisons are ready to head to the airport, Cathy receives a telephone call from Lee, who has an important pre-Christmas request from her.

With Paul (Oliver Platt) recovering from his near-fatal heart attack, and Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe) returning from her African adventure, Cathy (Laura Linney) creates an alter ego as she gets some good news about her chemotherapy trial.

As Cathy (Laura Linney) treats a skeptical Paul (Oliver Platt) to a cancer survivor's personal growth seminar, a Valentine's Day concert causes Adam (Gabriel Basso) to rethink his relationship with his girlfriend.

As Cathy (Lara Linney) looks to enlist a reluctant Adam (Gabriel Basso) in an effort to impress a couple who are interviewing prospective adoptive parents for their baby, Paul (Oliver Platt) fights back his nerves as he prepares for his first outing as a motivational speaker.

As Paul (Oliver Platt) discovers that life on the road with Joy (Susan Sarandon) will require much more from him than he thought, and Cathy (Laura Linney) uses the nursery renovation to help the Coopers, Adam (Gabriel Basso) makes a surprise donation to a church charity bazaar.

Stepping in for the late Joy Kleinman, Paul (Oliver Platt) takes the family to Puerto Rico for his own self help seminar. And as Cathy (Laura Linney) gets some bad news about her cancer treatments, she vows to use the vacation to face her fears of the water and her own mortality.

Cathy plans a birthday party.

Cathy inadvertently inspires Andrea to get her sparkle back.