Playing House Episode 3.06 Ride the Dragon

Emma crashes Maggie's owl-themed craft night; Zach brings Emma a treat; the gang goes on a ride.

It's almost time for Ladies' Craft Night, but since the evening of ceramic owl painting will fall right after Emma's third chemo treatment, Maggie is thinking she'll cancel. Emma assures Maggie that she'll be fine watching movies in bed, but Maggie isn't feeling great about that -- until Zach, recently returned from a trip to Greece with a cooler of sardines and some ancient wisdom, offers to take care of Emma.

When craft night arrives, Maggie's Summer S-OWL-stice gets off to a strong start downstairs, thanks to Tina's immaculately arranged owl-themed buffet, but things are rougher for Emma — and not just because of the chemo. First, her mother torments her with physical contact, and then Zach arrives carrying a "satchel of secrets" and wielding a plate of baklava. His Socratic Stare is so painfully awkward it drives Emma out of the warm confines of her bedroom and downstairs to Ladies Craft Night.

Though not usually a crafting enthusiast, Emma's game to paint an owl -- anything would be better than having to stare into Zach's eyes/soul all night -- but the event isn't exactly a raucous good time. That is, until Emma shares her baklava with fellow crafters Gwen, Tina, Cookie, and Maggie. They're just finishing their last bites when a horrified Zach shows up and informs them that the baklava had a secret ingredient: potent medical grade marijuana.

The night soon takes an unexpected turn. Gwen passes out -- but not before making a confusing confession about once having ridden a dragon into the golden sun. Maggie communes with her owl. Emma and Cookie whip up casserole sandwiches and Cookie -- also a breast cancer survivor -- shares some life lessons and a bracelet inscribed with her post-cancer motto: "hell yes life." Meanwhile, after Zach performs his Socratic Stare on Tina, they too end up saying yes to surprising things: each other's mouths.

Once the baklava effect has diminished, the ladies (and Zach) reevaluate. Tina and Zach tell each other it will never happen again -- and subsequently make out again. Emma decides to try adopting Cookie's "say yes" attitude, and agrees to partner with Bird Bones on an event planning company. Maggie and Cookie bury the hatchet (literally -- Cookie was carrying a hatchet in her bag the whole night), and Gwen refuses to explain what that whole dragon business was about.

Then Charlotte gets her hands on a Jefferson Airplane record sleeve, on the back of which there appears to be a photograph of a very young, very naked Gwen riding atop a dragon, heading towards a golden sun. Way to say yes to life, Gwen...