Everyone has wishes in this episode. Charlie wishes to spend time with Diana and wishes that Daphne could show affection to her daughter. Daphne wishes to sleep. Kirsten wishes to spend time with Diana and somehow be a mother because she loves taking care of babies, kids considering she can't have her own children (plus she is married to a man who doesn't want to have children). Paul wishes that Kirsten wouldn't be too loving of children and the Salingers. Claudia wishes to be in home so much that Griffin decides to take her back from the boarding school. Bailey wishes to spend money from the restaurant, that is doing great, buy expensive things to Sarah and gift expensive dinner to Charlie, Daphne. Sarah wishes to be more independent from Bailey. Julia wishes to reach and talk to Ned's autistic brother Richie. Ned wishes to have Julia only to himself.
At the beginning, seems that Daphne hired a nurse to help her with Diana, but Charlie doesn't like her, because he has his own way in raising and feeding Diana. Besides, the nurse calls him all the time Mr Salinger and you can guess how she calls Daphne, so I didn't like her either. Finally, Charlie fires her, Daphne tells him they need help, so he asks Kirsten because he doesn't trust anyone else to take care of his daughter. At the same time, he doesn't want to cause trouble with Paul so she tells him how has been her life lately: Paul gets stuck long hours in the hospital and sometimes returns early, sometimes not, while she stays alone watching reruns on TV or making dinner (this explains how she was able to take care of Owen and Claudia during summer and in the first episodes of this season). So Kirsten happily agrees to be with baby Diana and sings her lullabies. Paul visits the Salinger house, finds her there and yells at her for not being at home. She defends herself because he is usually late and he says that he wanted to surprise her today. He also gets jealous (it's always Charlie, he says), and doesn't understand that she simply wants to be with baby Diana. Charlie and Daphne arrive from the useless failed dinner with Bailey and Sarah, and the weird moment passes. I guess Charlie apologized to Paul, even though he had no fault because Kirsten wants to take care of Diana. The next day, Kirsten happily returns to be Diana's nanny again, and when Charlie arrives home talking about highschool issues, he's surprised to see her. He asks her where is Daphne, she answers that she's upstairs sleeping. Kirsten is a little surprised that he's not happy because she's there, but still, she gladly keeps holding Diana like if the rest of the world didn't exist. Later, at their house, Paul asks her where she wants to be, and she explains that when she is holding the baby, she feels calm, like in no place else, she prefers that instead of looking for a job (she has been unemployed for two years) or staying home alone making dinner. Meanwhile, a sleeping Daphne explains to Charlie that she only wants to sleep, she can't connect with Diana, despite that she wanted to. She feels bad because Charlie really loves Diana and wants to come home from work to be with her daughter, but Daphne doesn't feel that. Of this part, Daphne's sensations and words proves that deep inside she wants to be a mother for Diana, but for now, there is something that doesn't allow her to be it. I said it before, she needs time, because she could never get used to it. On the other hand, Bailey decides to spend money. His conversation with the salesman was funny, and he tried to help Sarah with money. She felt like a kept woman, but finally she could understand his intentions, of sharing, and they ended happy their story here. This was good for them, the problem is that Owen now will stay with Bailey in the loft for a few days, starting a bad period for the kid, away from Charlie and Claudia.
I want to highlight some moments: Claudia's discussion with Charlie when she gets home, she is right in everything she says and so Griffin, she is needed in the house, not only for Owen, for Diana too. And she felt sad so far away from home. Her short trip with Griffin to the taxidermist (Larry Hankin) was perfect, she explaining how her mother taught her to take care of Owen as a baby, so she wouldn't feel jealous. The moment when Griffin told her to pack her stuff and return home with him was also nice, especially with all the snow around, making the scene perfect. Then, Kirsten taking care of Diana, singing lullabies, was really sweet because I remember how she took care of Owen in season 1, and she is perfect for it (and Paula was amazing in that scene, singing with a soft nice voice). All her scenes with the baby were beautiful pictures, they show the shape of her happy future (I see those parts and I can imagine how her future will be). Also, here it's showed Ned's first violent reaction, throwing hard a book after hearing Julia's ideas to talk to Richie. Besides, he starts being possesive towards her.
To finish, there are two themes that are relevant considering the main storyline of the series. When Charlie yelled at Claudia because she returned home, she said that she wants to be at the house, that she is needed for Owen and Diana. She told that he hasn't been doing a good job without her because Owen is at Bailey's place and that instead of trying to control her life, he should straighten his own. That final line struck a nerve. It resumes how bad the writers made Charlie's life by looking for excessively dramatic and complicated situations. Mid season 5 is here, he's 28, almost 29, in charge of three children, and his life is not straighten up. The mistake from the writers in 2x09 is unforgettable. He doesn't even have a job to sustain the whole family because the shop teaching is not enough. Truth is, the only way to straight his own life was getting back together with Kirsten because after all what they've been through, she's the only woman who was there for him in the critical moments and the only one who can help him to take care of the children, besides of giving him the support and the possibility to get a better job. But again and again the writers want excessive drama which breaks the stability of the series. Lately they made Charlie's head a emotional disaster. Like in late season 3, now Charlie is written to love a woman he doesn't really love. It's not like Daphne's story of struggles as a mother is a mistake, but they are making it last too long. And this ends up hurting Owen because he's focusing too much on Daphne and Diana, but no one is focusing on the kid. If he was behaving like in the first 3 episodes of this season or season 4 finale, aware of where his feelings are, and keeping Kirsten close to take care of Owen, things would be different. And I repeat, delaying so much their inevitable get back damaged not only Charlie as a character, also the last 2 seasons of the series, concerning Owen. This will be proved in later episodes. Charlie deserved to have a straight life much earlier, now he should be married with Kirsten (or at least together), not struggling and wasting time. Maybe it was too soon in 2x09, but now is becoming very late. And I'm sure that even in a married life are points to set up dramatic storylines, always inside a context of stability. The second theme is Kirsten's wish. She said that while holding Diana she felt a deep peace she couldn't find anywhere else. It's obvious that since her manic depression she held other babies for brief times, like her niece (Meg's baby). Anyway, usually the babies have their own mother, so Kirsten can't have her own child to take care of. Therapists convinced her that the medical condition and her serious chronic illness were good reasons to not be a mother, and so she married someone who didn't want kids. But now, her maternal instincts are leading her to be with Diana, the sweet way she sang the lullabies implies it. She sees that Daphne doesn't feel like Diana's mother so she is happy to step in and take the available role, at least as a nanny. So now Paul is realizing what he should have known since the beginning: he can't make Kirsten truly happy because he can't give her a baby, he doesn't want to. The problem is that he delayed too much to realize this.
At the beginning, seems that Daphne hired a nurse to help her with Diana, but Charlie doesn't like her, because he has his own way in raising and feeding Diana. Besides, the nurse calls him all the time Mr Salinger and you can guess how she calls Daphne, so I didn't like her either. Finally, Charlie fires her, Daphne tells him they need help, so he asks Kirsten because he doesn't trust anyone else to take care of his daughter. At the same time, he doesn't want to cause trouble with Paul so she tells him how has been her life lately: Paul gets stuck long hours in the hospital and sometimes returns early, sometimes not, while she stays alone watching reruns on TV or making dinner (this explains how she was able to take care of Owen and Claudia during summer and in the first episodes of this season). So Kirsten happily agrees to be with baby Diana and sings her lullabies. Paul visits the Salinger house, finds her there and yells at her for not being at home. She defends herself because he is usually late and he says that he wanted to surprise her today. He also gets jealous (it's always Charlie, he says), and doesn't understand that she simply wants to be with baby Diana. Charlie and Daphne arrive from the useless failed dinner with Bailey and Sarah, and the weird moment passes. I guess Charlie apologized to Paul, even though he had no fault because Kirsten wants to take care of Diana. The next day, Kirsten happily returns to be Diana's nanny again, and when Charlie arrives home talking about highschool issues, he's surprised to see her. He asks her where is Daphne, she answers that she's upstairs sleeping. Kirsten is a little surprised that he's not happy because she's there, but still, she gladly keeps holding Diana like if the rest of the world didn't exist. Later, at their house, Paul asks her where she wants to be, and she explains that when she is holding the baby, she feels calm, like in no place else, she prefers that instead of looking for a job (she has been unemployed for two years) or staying home alone making dinner. Meanwhile, a sleeping Daphne explains to Charlie that she only wants to sleep, she can't connect with Diana, despite that she wanted to. She feels bad because Charlie really loves Diana and wants to come home from work to be with her daughter, but Daphne doesn't feel that. Of this part, Daphne's sensations and words proves that deep inside she wants to be a mother for Diana, but for now, there is something that doesn't allow her to be it. I said it before, she needs time, because she could never get used to it. On the other hand, Bailey decides to spend money. His conversation with the salesman was funny, and he tried to help Sarah with money. She felt like a kept woman, but finally she could understand his intentions, of sharing, and they ended happy their story here. This was good for them, the problem is that Owen now will stay with Bailey in the loft for a few days, starting a bad period for the kid, away from Charlie and Claudia.
I want to highlight some moments: Claudia's discussion with Charlie when she gets home, she is right in everything she says and so Griffin, she is needed in the house, not only for Owen, for Diana too. And she felt sad so far away from home. Her short trip with Griffin to the taxidermist (Larry Hankin) was perfect, she explaining how her mother taught her to take care of Owen as a baby, so she wouldn't feel jealous. The moment when Griffin told her to pack her stuff and return home with him was also nice, especially with all the snow around, making the scene perfect. Then, Kirsten taking care of Diana, singing lullabies, was really sweet because I remember how she took care of Owen in season 1, and she is perfect for it (and Paula was amazing in that scene, singing with a soft nice voice). All her scenes with the baby were beautiful pictures, they show the shape of her happy future (I see those parts and I can imagine how her future will be). Also, here it's showed Ned's first violent reaction, throwing hard a book after hearing Julia's ideas to talk to Richie. Besides, he starts being possesive towards her.
To finish, there are two themes that are relevant considering the main storyline of the series. When Charlie yelled at Claudia because she returned home, she said that she wants to be at the house, that she is needed for Owen and Diana. She told that he hasn't been doing a good job without her because Owen is at Bailey's place and that instead of trying to control her life, he should straighten his own. That final line struck a nerve. It resumes how bad the writers made Charlie's life by looking for excessively dramatic and complicated situations. Mid season 5 is here, he's 28, almost 29, in charge of three children, and his life is not straighten up. The mistake from the writers in 2x09 is unforgettable. He doesn't even have a job to sustain the whole family because the shop teaching is not enough. Truth is, the only way to straight his own life was getting back together with Kirsten because after all what they've been through, she's the only woman who was there for him in the critical moments and the only one who can help him to take care of the children, besides of giving him the support and the possibility to get a better job. But again and again the writers want excessive drama which breaks the stability of the series. Lately they made Charlie's head a emotional disaster. Like in late season 3, now Charlie is written to love a woman he doesn't really love. It's not like Daphne's story of struggles as a mother is a mistake, but they are making it last too long. And this ends up hurting Owen because he's focusing too much on Daphne and Diana, but no one is focusing on the kid. If he was behaving like in the first 3 episodes of this season or season 4 finale, aware of where his feelings are, and keeping Kirsten close to take care of Owen, things would be different. And I repeat, delaying so much their inevitable get back damaged not only Charlie as a character, also the last 2 seasons of the series, concerning Owen. This will be proved in later episodes. Charlie deserved to have a straight life much earlier, now he should be married with Kirsten (or at least together), not struggling and wasting time. Maybe it was too soon in 2x09, but now is becoming very late. And I'm sure that even in a married life are points to set up dramatic storylines, always inside a context of stability. The second theme is Kirsten's wish. She said that while holding Diana she felt a deep peace she couldn't find anywhere else. It's obvious that since her manic depression she held other babies for brief times, like her niece (Meg's baby). Anyway, usually the babies have their own mother, so Kirsten can't have her own child to take care of. Therapists convinced her that the medical condition and her serious chronic illness were good reasons to not be a mother, and so she married someone who didn't want kids. But now, her maternal instincts are leading her to be with Diana, the sweet way she sang the lullabies implies it. She sees that Daphne doesn't feel like Diana's mother so she is happy to step in and take the available role, at least as a nanny. So now Paul is realizing what he should have known since the beginning: he can't make Kirsten truly happy because he can't give her a baby, he doesn't want to. The problem is that he delayed too much to realize this.