Four Mixed Blessings

Starring Rachel Griffiths as Rachel Conner, a late-thirtysomething divorced-turned-single mother raising her four growing children in her suburb of Chicago hometown, along with the help of her close-knit sister and brother-in-law. Rachel is a hardworking office manager for the law firm that her brother-in-law, Kurt (Mark Valley) works for as a partner, and Rachel's slightly older sister, Renee (Sarah Jessica Parker) works as a personal photographer with her own studio. Rachel met and fell in love her then-fiance back in her senior year of high school. She and her now-ex-husband Ted (Scott Bakula) soon married a few years later, and after six months of marriage, Rachel gave birth to her and Ted's eldest child (their only son), Travis. Rachel and her ex, Ted have four growing kids: Travis, 17 (Anton Yelchin), Jenny, 14 (Alyson Stoner), Paige, 13 (Taylor Atelian), and Katie, 11 (Billi Bruno). Travis is an 11th grader who is at a crossroads in his life, with the trials and tribulations of high school and his teen years, along with taking over the role of "the man of the house" after his dad left his mom and three little sisters a few years ago. Jenny is an 8th grader who is now blossoming into a beautiful young woman and is desperately wanting to "shed her former tomboy image" in order to impress boys. Paige is a 7th grader who is really bright and often-times wise beyond her years, despite "suffering" from the "middle child syndome" being the 2nd of the three daughters. Katie is a 5th grader who is cute and a total class clown, yet has a really big heart and has a largely sweet personality. As previously mentioned, Ted has left Rachel and their children a few years back, after experiencing a mid-life crisis and struggling with the expectations of being a good husband, father, and provider. Even though Rachel puts up a good front and gives off a false sense of completeness and happiness in her life, Rachel struggles trying to raise her four children, trying to provide for her family, being there for her kids and family, and trying to strive for a life of complete happiness. To clear up any misconceptions, Rachel does truly love and would do anything for her children, and she does receive a lot of gracious help from Renee and Kurt along the way. To make matters often more stressful, Rachel and Renee's chain-smoking and boozy widowed mother, Lynne (Polly Bergen) often stops over to help and visit with her daughters and grandchildren, who often brings along with her more of her own (Lynne's) troubles and creating even more chaos. Renee and Rachel truly love their mom with all their hearts, but can't help but not count down the days until her visits are over.


Cast of Characters:
Rachel Griffiths -as- Rachel Conner
Anton Yelchin -as- Travis Conner
Alyson Stoner -as- Jenny Conner
Taylor Atelian -as- Paige Conner
Billi Bruno -as- Katie Conner
with Sarah Jessica Parker -as- Renee Gordon
and Mark Valley -as- Kurt Gordon
Recurring Guest Stars
Polly Bergen -as- Lynne Hartman
Scott Bakula -as- Ted Conner

Episodes


Ep1: Pilot Episode:
Rachel struggles with the demands of her everyday life as a working single mother. Rachel turns to her sister, Renee for moral support during her time of need, as she feels she is on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Meanwhile, Travis surprises his mom by stepping up and helping with his three younger sisters as being a cook, chauffeur, and laundryperson for them after he catchs onto his mom's signs of becoming burned out.

Ep2: Grandma Lynne, Here Again:
Lynne stops over to help Rachel with the kids. Lynne decides to take Jenny, Paige, and Katie out for a day of shopping, while Rachel enjoys a few hours of peace and quiet at the house. Yet while out shopping, Jenny becomes mortified when her grandma "embarrasses" her in front of her friends, and Paige becomes pouty when Lynne refuses to buy her a mini-skirt that Lynne feels is too "trampy" and not meant for a 13 year old girl. Elsewhere, Renee and Kurt get roped into dog-sitting for their annoyingly happy neighbors, who neither can stand but feel guilty if said no. Also, Travis and his buddies get kicked out of their usual hangout at the bookstore/coffeehouse after one of his buddies makes a scene when he refuses to make a purchase for a book he's been secretly reading for over the past month each day.

Ep3: Working Man:
Travis gets a job working at the local office supply store at the mall, where he begins to bond with his new co-worker and newfound friend, Shanna (Nikki Reed)--who happens to be the female version of himself but with a certain mysterious edge to her. Meanwhile, Renee and Kurt decide to celebrate their anniversary by going away for a romantic weekend getaway...but end up getting lost and stranded at a dumpy gas station with an elderly yet annoyingly overly-nosy employee named Ned. Elsewhere, Rachel decides to spend some bonding time with her daughters, but Jenny has plans of hanging out with her friends, and Paige has a sleepover at a friend's house. So, Rachel and Katie decide to bond over some of their favorite movies and popcorn, and are later joined by Jenny (who was bored with her friends) and Paige (who's sleepover got cancelled last minute).

Ep4: Enough Already:
Lynne turns to son-in-law, Kurt for legal advice and help after she learns she is being sued by a lady who claims Lynne was involved in a hit-and-run case with her. Kurt pulls some strings and helps Lynne out (giving her the benefit of a doubt), as Renee can't help but feel Lynne is lying and really at fault. But that feeling soon turns to guilt when the other lady confesses to lying and Lynne is proven innocent. Elsewhere, Rachel and Travis have it with the three girls' constant bickering of late, and decide to get down to the true reason why they're bickering so much lately. After several failed attempts to find out why, they come to know that the reason behind their fighting is because Jenny's upset with Katie's naive thinking of someday their dad will be returning as Jenny knows their dad won't be apart of their family again, and a mixed-feeling Paige is caught in the middle of the two sisters. Rachel comforts her girls while Travis sneaks behind the backs of his mom and sisters, and makes a private call to his dad and arranges a secret meeting between father and son.

Ep5: Man To Man:
Shanna accompanies Travis on his trip to meet with his dad, Ted. A supportive Shanna encourages Travis to continue with his plans of going along with meeting with his dad, after Travis experiences a last-minute case of cold feet. During the man-to-man chat, Travis "mans up" and faces his father (or lack there of) who's abandoned him, his mom, and sisters. Ted soon feels the "once warm-hearted" mood of their meeting suddenly transfer over to a bitter confrontation from Travis. Travis stands up, tells his dad off, and threatens Ted if he ever walks into their lives again and turns out to just be a let-down once again, he'll regret it and Travis will see to it. Ted sort of just laughs his son's "anger and resentment" off, which infuriates Travis more-resulting in his sudden exit from the table. Afterwards, Shanna surprises Travis when she lets her guard down and consoles Trav, who then learns of Shanna having a deadbeat dad who left her and her mom years ago as well.

Ep6: Camera! Lights! Action!:
Renee's still photographs win her the opportunity to be apart of an ad campaign for exclusive, ritzy resort with the prestigous and sophisticated Karen Danes (Dana Delany) of Danes Resorts and Country Clubs. Kurt and Rachel take Renee out to celebrate her new project, but while out celebrating Renee bumps into Karen and her husband (and immediately becomes unsure of how to act with her new boss out in a social setting), and Rachel bumps into Ted while ordering drinks at the bar (which is enough to kill anybody's mood). Ted informs her of his short, bittersweet reunion with Travis, which she is blindsided by the news and wants to go back home and talk with Travis. At home, Travis explains it all to his mom, who too breaks down and shares a heart-to-heart conversation.