One of Maxwell's plays may be picked up to be made into a movie. If so, the Sheffields are moving to California. They dread telling Sylvia, but she seems to be fine with the news.
Donna Douglas convinces Fran that Sylvia is putting on an act and in reality her heart is breaking. Just as Maxwell is about the sign the contract, Fran stops him since she doesn't want to leave Sylvia behind in New York. The studio boss, Maury Sherry, suggests they bring the senior Fines to live in Beverley Hills with them. When Sylvia hears the news, she tries to convince Fran that she really wants Fran to live her own life as she needs, and if Beverley Hills is where she needs to be, so be it. But Sylvia is staying put. Fran infers from this that Sylvia is dying. Fran learns second hand that Sylvia has been going to the hospital on a regular basis. Confronting Sylvia, Fran learns that Sylvia is not dying. So the only plausible explanation for her hospital visits is that she's having an affair.
—Huggo