Episode #312 "Baby Come Back"

Claudia and her friend Faye going to be hosting an "Esper's Oils" bath products party at the Finnertys. As she's making preparations, Claudia asks Sean how he'd like to be married to a model, because she was approached by a fashion photographer, Derek Purcell. He does catalog work and would like to take some pictures of Claudia. Eddie thinks the guy was just hitting on Claudia, and Sean agrees. Sean says he's seen guys like this in action and proceeds to picture a far sleazier encounter. Claudia says that's just insulting, but Sean says it just means she's very hot. Jimmy and his friend Bobby have been eavesdropping on Sean and Claudia's conversation, and Bobby says Jimmy should use the photographer's line to score with Lorna Pakosta. Bobby demonstrates with Lily and gets a bag of chips stuffed in his mouth. But Lily thinks that what happened to her mom is pretty cool. Her yearbook photos have just arrived, and she thinks they're grotesque. At St. Finian's, Jimmy's afraid to make a move on Lorna, so Bobby takes over. He invites Lorna to a study party at Jimmy's which, he assures her, is going to be really wild. Jimmy's humiliated. Claudia tells Sean that she called Derek Purcell at his studio, and he's legitimate. He's married, so he wasn't hitting on her. He's a professional and clearly has an artistic interest in taking her picture. Sean's still skeptical and says everyone at the bar agrees with him. Eddie chimes in that Claudia is a little gullible. After all, she fell for the Esper's Oil thing and it's obviously a pyramind scheme. Claudia's really upset; it's clear to her that Sean thinks she's stupid. She grabs her coat and storms out. The boys are worried about their parents' fight, but Sean reassures them. Everything will be fine, and Claudia will be back. Faye arrives with a dozen other women. Sean desperately tries to throw together some food for the party. He asks Lily to go to the store, but she's still upset about her graduation pictures. Jimmy tells Bobby that he can't believe his parents could actually split up. Lorna arrives, but Jimmy just wants to be left alone. Faye wants to know exactly where Claudia is. Eddie pipes up that she left Sean. Lily adds that Sean said Claudia was dumb and couldn't be a model, while he told Lily she was ugly. Lily sees Claudia in the Finnerty's Subaru parked by the curb. She has nowhere to go. She wants to teach Sean a lesson and ordinarily she'd go to one of her friends' houses, but they're all at her party. Lily's still stressing about her photos, and Claudia tells her she's making a strange face in the picture. It doesn't even look like her. Lily says she was trying to look cool. It's revealed that the class photographer is Derek Purcell and he's acting like a dork. Claudia flips over Lily's picture, and it's confirmed. Derek Purcell isn't the jet setter he claimed to be. He's a yearbook photographer! Claudia's had enough; she's going home. Sean has been sharing the details of their fight with Claudia's friends. He tries to defend himself, but they're all on Claudia's side. Back in Jimmy's room, he tells Lorna he's sorry he's behaving so strangely, but his parents' marriage may be falling apart. She's sympathetic. Eddie burns Lily's photos and asks her if she's ever seen her mom's yearbook photo. It's the same deal: an ugly picture of a pretty girl. Claudia assures her girlfriends that Sean was right; it was a scam. And Mary, a party guest, says she has it even worse; Derek's her husband!