Summary
There’s plenty of bonding and opening up in “Hold My Hand” as the biggest baseball game of the season looms — and everyone has to make some decisions about their future.
This recap of Sweet Magnolias season 1, episode 7, “Hold My Hand”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
And we’re back. There’s bonding, drama, visitors, complications… the whole shebang. We’re getting towards the end of the season now, so now’s the time for some turns.
Maddie
In “Hold My Hand”, Maddie gets the real privilege of signing her divorce papers. Bill’s nowhere near as upbeat, and he’s even less sure of himself when Noreen’s little brother Garth turns up unannounced.
Once again, Maddie’s relationship with Cal causes problems. There’s a big baseball game coming up, and Jackson’s parents insist that he isn’t starting because of Cal’s favoritism towards Ty. It all gets resolved quickly — and hilariously — in an ad hoc meeting attended by all the relevant parties, and it’s a great pleasure to see Jackson’s parents get egg on their faces.
Jackson gets his chance anyway, though, since Ty fakes an injury after overhearing him getting chewed out over not starting. Jackson performs well, and Cal, understanding what happened and why, tells Maddie that her son is going to be a fine man. I can’t disagree.
Dana Sue
Since the entire school is well-aware of Annie’s drunken mishaps, it’s easy to forget that Dana Sue isn’t totally familiar with the details. A suggestive text message that she sees sends her off investigating the suspicious emoji use. Tyler is shocking under pressure and gives away far too much; Kyle is also pretty torn up about them kissing, but young boys will forever be young boys. And Annie’s still ghosting Ty at school, much to CeCe’s amusement.
Dana Sue takes the punishment for Annie’s drinking very seriously, grounding her indefinitely and taking her phone. They have an emotional conversation when Dana Sue gets home, though, but despite her insistence that Annie can tell her anything, she still keeps quiet about what happened with Ty.
Helen
Helen’s still handling the mock trials in “Hold My Hand”, and receiving some pushback from CeCe. This resistance becomes very explainable once Helen meets her father, Russ, who is remarkably unpleasant. She goes to see him later to convince him of CeCe’s talents, and it’s clear he’s a shortsighted traditionalist. On some level, though, he seems proud of his daughter, or at least proud of the parts of her that most embody the family traits. The next day, he allows her to attend the mock trials.
Chef Erik
Erik gets his own heading in Sweet Magnolias episode 7. He heads out on the trail with Isaac for some father-son bonding, even though it might just be wishful thinking on Isaac’s part. But it’s good for him to open up about his adoption and what he’s looking for as an adult. It’s also useful for Erik, who, back in the kitchen, opens up about how cooking allowed him to take back control in his life after suffering loss. He imparts the lesson to Isaac, telling him not to give up on his dad, and offers his company if he decides to look for him.
