There’s nothing like that feeling of falling in love. Well, maybe realizing your mistakes and putting it back together again comes close.
Chesapeake Shores Season 6 Episode 3 took us on a journey of blossoming love with five members of the O’Brien family through tough talks, secrets, and warm shoulders to lean their heads.
The season is young, but this episode will be hard to beat, and it’s easily the best in quite some time.
What really made this “Night and Day” work was that the couples in question were sharing their own stories, away from the chaos that is often found when more than two O’Briens are in the room together.
As much as I love the O’Brien house and its stunning water vistas, seeing Connor and Bree interacting in their homes made their stories far more personal and their interactions with Margaret and Luke more intimate.
Abby and Evan’s scavenger hunt also allowed them intimacy we don’t get to see when they’re at work or with family. It also offered the perfect opportunity to open up about their pasts and desires.
Evan has been an enigma, but the hunt that he created relied on companionship and trust, with each contestant in the pair opening themselves to their partner in the name of team building.
There’s no greater team than two people falling in love, and sometimes it takes an extreme situation to facilitate conversation and realize that you can rely on the person standing next to you.
It certainly worked for Abby and Evan.
We’ve seen Evan’s skittishness around cars; he won’t drive unless it’s absolutely necessary. Driving at night, though, showed that there was a lot more to the story than what he had shared with Abby.
With as close as Evan has gotten to Abby’s family, it seems natural that he’d want to share the most painful moment of his life with her because it explains how his world was instantaneously shattered, his family dissolved.
Their banter during the hunt was a lot of fun, but it was the quieter moments that held meaning. When Evan finally revealed to Abby how he lost his mother at a young age and how it created his aversion to driving, it made all the sense in the world.
Sharing your deepest secrets with someone who can listen with compassion and respond with empathy strengthens bonds and builds trust.
Abby needed to know that he could open to her like that. She had reservations when he glibly tossed off his rootbeer float “secret,” but now that he’s dug deep, she can be even more comfortable sharing with Evan.
Abby’s got a lot more to lose. Allowing a man into her life also affects her children, and she needed to know that Evan had faith in her to share openly about himself so that she could, in turn, share her most cherished relationships with him without fear.
All of that togetherness and electricity between them finally led to their first, unplanned kiss. It was natural and caught them by surprise, making the follow-up even sweeter.
If it took an exceptional situation for Abby and Evan to connect on that level, her family didn’t need to go to extremes to reach their romantic interests, but the results were the same.
Margaret has been there for Connor through his heart attack, but they began building trust at the firm they worked at together. They’ve had a continuous stream of incidents pushing them closer together.
Connor’s on the mend, but he was going crazy with the family hovering over him. And how could anyone need that much tea? Maybe if they had all been working together instead of independently to meet Connor’s recovery needs, it wouldn’t have left him so frustrated.
I’m too old for helicopter parents.
Connor
When Connor mentioned his helicopter parents, I laughed out loud. It’s exasperating enough seeing children suffering under the constant winds of their parents hovering, but once you’re an adult and have had your own space, it would only add stress where it’s not needed.
It seemed a little farfetched that he’d have to escape to his own home like a teenager, but it was amusing and brought back memories of sneaking out, hoping not to be caught.
Margaret was there to catch him so he didn’t fall, and the rush they felt defying the family brought them closer. Their feelings are electric, and the hardest part for them now is ensuring that another kiss doesn’t send Connor on a backward slide.
I love you, and I don’t want to be the one responsible for killing you.
Margaret
Bypassing physicality for conversation will only make their lovemaking better when the time arrives.
Evan and Abby are taking it slow to do it right, and Connor and Margaret are using a different path to the same end. An all-night talk answers a lot of questions, and by showing that you can get along just as well, if not better, during downtime than during challenging times, it’s logical to take the leap.
It’s out in the open now, and there’s little doubt that Margaret will be an O’Brien in the future.
If Bree was feeling unsettled about Luke due to his past, when he needed a place to lay his head, she came through for him in a big way.
Did the show reveal why Luke’s apartment wasn’t available? Sleeping at The Bridge for a couple of nights didn’t seem like it would be a big deal, but we all knew it wouldn’t come to that.
Bree offered her couch to Luke, and it didn’t take long for her to see the spicy side to that decision. The look on her face was priceless when she walked into the living room to find a shirtless Luke preparing for bed.
It also offered another instance of teenage-like behavior when she ran back to her room, closed the door, and leaned against it with excitement and just a little bit of fear, not the bad kind, but that sweet feeling that tears at the pit of your stomach when you’re attracted to someone.
What she didn’t expect was for him to be up in the middle of the night, ready to take flight.
How tightly Luke has held onto his fear of prison certainly showed Bree that she has nothing to worry about when it comes to his past.
He doesn’t take what happened lightly. He has shown remorse on many occasions and remains shaken over the experience a year after his release. Luke was one man in the long line of many who made one mistake that cost him an enormous price.
It brought tears to my eyes when Luke said he was all alone in this, and Bree assured him that he wasn’t alone, not anymore.
Three for three on the oh-my-gosh romance department. That leaves just one couple to address.
Mick: Yes, long-distance relationships. They always work.
Megan: We’ll be fine.
Mick: Yes, we will.
Mick and Megan are still on track with their relationship, but as they prepared for another separation, it was logical that they discuss all the things still left unsaid during their decades-long independence.
On one level, it seemed strange to broach the topic on the eve of Megan’s departure. But on another, it would have been a disaster if they didn’t address it because it would have left the door open to misunderstandings and conjecture, neither of which would have gotten them any closer.
After a lovely dinner, they began pounding champagne to get through the difficult discussion. It was funny but also heartwrenching. Their future was riding on clearing the air, and it wasn’t coming easy.
Megan was testing Mick’s commitment to her, but she was also testing herself. Initially, they both came up short.
Mick: Nothing good comes from dredging up the past.
Megan: So what? You’re just going to walk out?
Mick: I think we should before we both say something that we… [a bell rings]
Megan: The dessert’s ready. Rhubarb pie.
Mick: That’s my favorite.
Megan: I know.
Mick: Maybe I’ll stay for just one piece.
But in the end, they realized that who they were with during their time apart didn’t matter. What did was that everyone fell short for the same reason — they only wanted each other.
That was another oh-my-gosh moment, which was cut a little short when my reality set in. Something is still going on with Mick that he’s not addressing and has the potential to impact and irreparably damage his relationship with Megan once again.
Then again, he apologized to Megan for not seeing her pain all those years ago. Is she supposed to see his pain today? I’m still unsure where Mick’s story is taking us, but it’s unlikely it will just disappear on its own.
No matter. It didn’t detract from the overall love that was shining on couples throughout the hour, and at least Mick and Megan, um, sealed the deal!
What did you think of the episode? Whose story hit home for you? Don’t forget that you can watch Chesapeake Shores online right here via TV Fanatic and that I would love to hear from you below!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.