Original subtitles

Last week on "Family Ties"...

You're not Tricia Armstrong, are ya?

No, I’m Ellen Reed.

The crazy thing is she's got this roommate,

An art major, for crying out loud,

who I have absolutely nothing in common with.

And for some unknown reason,

I think about her constantly.

♪ what did you think

♪ I would do at this moment

- Ellen. - Alex, please, let me go.

Ellen, I'm sorry. I-i slipped!

She decided to get married!

♪ I bet we've been together for a million years ♪

♪ and I'll bet we'll be together for a million more ♪

♪ oh, it's like I started breathing ♪

♪ on the night we kissed

♪ and I can't remember what I ever did before ♪

♪ what would we do, baby

♪ without us?

♪ what would we do, baby

♪ without us?

♪ and there ain't no nothin' ♪

♪ we can't love each other through ♪

♪ ooh-hoo

♪ what would we do, baby

♪ without us?

♪ sha-la-la-la

Good morning, Mrs. K.

Oh, hi, Skippy.

You know, I was just sitting around my house,

and I started getting hungry,

noticed it was 11:00, so I figured,

why not stop over and enjoy a big hearty Sunday brunch

with the whole Keaton clan?

Are we the first ones here?

I'm sorry, Skippy. There's no brunch today.

See, Mr. Keaton's out of town on business,

Alex is still asleep, Jennifer ate two hours ago,

and Mallory's leaving in five minutes.

Don't you eat at home?

My mother only serves a continental breakfast

on Sundays.

- Hi. - Hi, mom.

Hello, there, girls!

Where are you off to today?

We're going fishing.

Alex, I thought you were still sleeping.

I was out walking, thinking about this great irony,

this tragic comedy we call life.

How was the dance, Alex?

Put it this way, Mal.

Last night the entire fabric of my existence

unraveled before my eyes.

How were the decorations?

They were nice.

Oh, I almost forgot -

somebody called for you about an hour ago.

- Who? - Tricia.

Oh, my life is a travesty.

I tried to explain that to her.

Whoa, it's 11:00! I got to go!

Hey, wait, Mallory, I'm coming.

- See you later, mom! - Bye.

Bye, girls.

What's troubling you, Alex?

I-i'd like to talk to you about it, mom,

I really would, but it's -

it's kind of a guy-type problem.

Where's dad?

You know where he is.

He left last night on a business trip.

Right.

Where's Andrew?

You know, Alex, I'm really worried about this test.

What if it's really hard?

Oh, Trish, How hard can it be?

10,000-word essay on the political structure

of the Ming Dynasty in 14th-century China.

It's all common sense.

You know, Alex, I'm really excited

about the Big Economics Department dinner tonight.

Have you picked up your tuxedo yet?

Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah.

Uh, excuse me, Trish.

Hi.

Hello.

You ready for the test?

Uh, yeah. Yeah. I think I'm in pretty good shape.

Always been a big fan of the Ming Dynasty.

Well...excuse me.

Uh, wait a minute.

I-i haven't seen you around in almost a week.

I know, I know. I've just been real busy.

Right.

A-anyway, I - I just wanted to...

Well, I-i heard...

Trish said something about you

deciding to, uh,

get married.

Yes, I am. I did decide. Yeah.

Oh, I-i wasn't really sure.

You know, because last week at the kiss...

At the dance,

uh, we, uh, we danced.

And - and kissed.

I remember that, yeah. Yeah.

Uh, listen, I was just - I was just wondering,

when is this, uh, Wedding thing happening?

Sunday.

Sunday.

H-how do you mean, Sunday? You mean, like, on a Sunday?

On this Sunday.

Ellen, that's so soon.

I-i mean, weddings...

Weddings take a lot of preparation.

I mean, you know, you got to order matchbooks

and napkins and...

And an ice sculpture.

It's gonna be real small, just the two of us.

I'm gonna take the train up to Franklin and Marshall tonight.

Well, I guess I'll see you when I get back.

Listen, uh, you know,

the train station is right on my way home,

I could drop you off.

Why would you want to do that?

Uh, well, it's no trouble.

A-and - and anyway,

I mean, what other way do you have to get there?

My car.

And - and leave it at the station all weekend?

I-it could catch cold.

It was just a thought.

Well, okay. It would be all right, I guess.

Okay, people, settle in.

You'll have 90 minutes to answer the essay question.

Okay...

Please start.

♪ what did you think

♪ I would do at this moment

♪ when you're standing before me ♪

♪ with tears in your eyes

♪ trying to tell me that you

♪ have found you another

♪ and you just don't love me no more? ♪

♪ what did you think

♪ I would say at this moment?

♪ when I'm faced with the knowledge ♪

♪ that you just don't love me?

♪ did you think I would curse you ♪

♪ or say things to hurt you

♪ 'cause you just don't love me no more? ♪

♪ did you think I could hate you ♪

♪ or raise my hands to you?

♪ now, come on, you know me too well ♪

One round trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, please.

Uh, you know, Ellen, that train doesn't get into Lancaster

till about 3:00 in the morning.

Is he - uh, are you, uh, being met?

Why do you want to know?

Well, I-i brought you here, Ellen,

and I feel I should be kept apprised

of the rest of your travel arrangements.

If you must know, Dennis is in the middle of working

on his senior thesis, and I didn't want him

to miss a night's sleep by coming to pick me up,

so I just told him I was coming in tomorrow afternoon.

Does that answer your question?

Pretty much.

Alex, I really appreciate you driving me down here,

but you don't have to wait around.

I know you have to get back.

Oh, no, no, I'm in no hurry. No, no, I like it here.

I come here a lot.

Uh, kind of a regular.

Uh, excuse me. Can I have a shine, please?

The usual.

Alex, I don't think you came here to get your shoes shined.

Ellen...

I came down here with you

because I was hoping to talk you out of this.

Talk me out of getting married?

- Yeah. - Why?

Ellen...

Uh, this is, um - this is kind of hard for me to say.

As an objective, uninvolved,

neutral third party,

I feel that in marriage-related matters,

it's best to exercise caution.

Wow, Alex. That was quite an outpouring of emotion.

Ellen...

Please, please, you've already bared your soul enough.

Look, I'm only saying this...

I'm only saying this for your own good.

Well, thank you. You know, it's really great

to get advice on my personal life from someone

who picked his girlfriend out of the freshman directory.

Oh. Oh, oh, I get it now.

Now we're back to day one.

I'm shallow. I'm insecure.

Come on, let's hear the whole speech again, Ellen.

Just forget it, all right?!

No, no, no, no, no. You brought it up.

You think I'm insecure, right?

Well, if I'm insecure -

if I'm insecure, then I would like to know

how you describe somebody who gets married when they're 18

just because they're away from home for the first time

and they need something to cling to.

I'm speaking hypothetically, of course.

Attention, please.

Train to Philadelphia and all stops between

now arriving at the station.

All aboard, please.

You don't know what you're talking about.

I am not marrying Dennis

because I need something to cling to.

I'm marrying him because...

Why do I have to justify this to you?!

Dennis and I have a very wonderful relationship,

all right?

Oh.

Oh, I'll bet it's a great relationship.

You get - you get engaged over the phone,

and then an hour later,

you're kissing me on the dance floor.

First of all, you kissed me.

Second of all, the worst mistake I ever made

was humoring you instead of walking away!

Oh, humoring me? Humoring me?

Well, let me tell you something.

You are not the first girl to humor this guy!

Who's Ellen Reed?

Nobody.

Then why is her picture in that book?

Because it's a book of people who don't exist, okay?

Why am I having trouble believing that?

Look, will you please leave me alone?

All right, all right. Gosh.

I thought I told you to leave me alone.

No, you didn't.

Oh, what are you doing?

I'm knitting.

What does it look like I'm doing?

Well, do you have to watch TV in here?

It's the only TV in the house, Alex.

Oh, you've got an answer for everything, don't you?

What is your problem?

I'm sorry. I'm a little - a little tense.

Girl problems.

Well, watch TV. It'll get your mind off of it.

I don't understand it, Helene.

Last week you kissed me as if we were in love,

and now, you're leaving to marry someone else!

- Aah! - Hey!

I want to be alone right now, okay?!

Just, please, leave me alone!

Well, you know, you've been moping around the house all week.

I don't know what your problem is,

but you ought to stop pitying yourself

and act like a human being.

She's right.

Mallory is right?

I'm wrong,

and Mallory's right.

The world is ending.

Mom.

I want you to know that I am through

feeling sorry for myself, and this little episode is over.

It's about time.

What little episode?

It doesn't matter. I mean, after all, mom,

this is one of the biggest nights of my life.

And nothing is gonna prevent me from enjoying it.

I'm gonna be in my tuxedo,

hobnobbing with the economics faculty.

Best girl by my side.

Everything is gonna be perfect.

Just...

Perfect.

If I could just tie...

This damn tie!

Who am I kidding?

Well, I'm sure your dad has a clip-on you could borrow.

It's not the tie, mom.

Well, if you want to talk,

I'm still here.

I guess so. I got nowhere else to turn.

Mom, you remember that girl I told you about

a few weeks ago?

Ellen Reed.

I'm not sure.

Oh, oh, Tricia's roommate. The one you didn't like.

Right. The one I didn't like. The one I still don't like.

- What about her? - I'm in love with her.

Really? Oh. Alex, that's wonderful!

No, it's not wonderful, mom.

Right now, she's on a train

traveling 350 miles to Lancaster, Pennsylvania,

to marry another guy.

That's a tough thing to overlook.

I don't know, mom. I mean, "love."

It's my first time.

I mean, sure, I - I loved that dog we -

we had when I was a kid.

But in many ways, this is different.

I hope so.

It's not fair, mom. It's just not fair.

I mean, what did I ever do to deserve this?

I mean, I was minding my own business.

All of a sudden, I find myself

in love with a wonderful girl...

I can never be with.

Oh, sweetheart.

You're smiling, mom.

My life is falling apart, and you're smiling.

I'm sorry, honey. It's just...

It's so beautiful to hear you express those feelings.

And this is the first time

I have really seen your dad in you.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Can I ask you something?

What?

Does Ellen know about this?

I mean, does she know how you feel?

I don't think so.

I wanted to tell her before she left,

but I...didn't.

Well, it's a shame.

Why, you think it would have made a difference

if I told her?

Damn! I should've told her.

Excuse me! Excuse me.

Uh, sorry to bother you.

It's okay, it's okay.

Almost time for my break anyway.

Listen, is the train in yet? The one from Leland, from Ohio.

Is it in yet?

Yeah. Yeah. Got in about five minutes ago.

That's it on its way out.

Thanks.

Alex?

Hey. Ellen!

What are you doing here?

I, uh...

Uh... You forgot your Newsweek.

I-i figured You might want that,

So I swung by here.

It was no big deal, really. It was seven hours.

There's a good article on the omelet craze.

I read someone else's copy on the train.

I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear that.

Uh...

Ellen, listen.

I'll be honest with you.

The magazine is not the only reason I came.

Why else?

I don't know.

I, uh... I just had to come.

I mean, I was in... in the car on my way

to the biggest night of my life,

and something made me turn the car around.

I mean, I knew I'd miss the dinner,

and - and I'd be blowing any shot I had

of returning this tux on time,

but something made me turn the car around.

Ellen, uh,

you and I are completely different.

You're an artist.

You write poetry.

You attend anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Me -

I'm an economics major.

I, uh, voted for Reagan.

I'm in the Young Executives Club.

I wear a jacket and tie everywhere I go...

Except train stations at 3:00 in the morning,

in which case I wear a tuxedo.

Anyway, the point is, Ellen,

that I cannot for the life of me, figure out why...

I love you.

You love me?

Yeah.

I love you. Okay?

I-i said it. I mean, after all, Ellen,

if I'm gonna go this far I might as well go all the way.

I love you. All right?

I love you. I love you. I love you.

I'm crazy about you.

I'd give anything to be with you.

I can't live without you. Okay?

Gotta go. See ya.

I love you, too, Alex!

I mean, it's like you have a way of seeing right through me.

Of seeing a part of me that I don't even -

I don't even like to admit exists,

and that scares me,

because if you see it, that forces me -

What did you say?

I love you, too.

You do?

Alex, I've never met anybody like you.

You - you come on like some pompous,

arrogant, obnoxious guy.

And underneath that,

there's this... wide-eyed child,

completely innocent and naive.

Oh.

Is that, uh, sort of a compliment?

Yeah.

Well...

We love each other.

I mean, we - we said it. We know it.

I mean, that's all that's important.

Ellen, it doesn't matter what happens now.

What happens now?

Alex, I have to see Dennis.

I was afraid that's what happens now.

All the way up here,

I was thinking about what you said,

about my being scared

and needing something to cling to.

And you were right.

I said to myself, "if Alex is in the train station

when I get off, I'm not gonna marry Dennis."

And here you are.

So...

I guess I have to stick to it.

Uh, well... If you're not getting married,

and you do...love me,

do you think maybe when we get back to Leland,

we could...

Uh, go to a movie or somethin'?