Three Sisters(2001–2002)

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

As Season Two begins, the Keats' son turns 1. Naturally Bess is preparing for a party, but Steven is concerned that Charlie can't do all the things that a neighbor's lad can -- like grip a football. Meanwhile, Annie can't help with party plans because she has a job as a bartender (the only drawback being her inability to mix drinks). And it's not a first birthday but a first husband that concerns Nora, who has just learned that Elliott never signed the divorce papers. ""I never would have slept with you last week if I'd known we were still married,"" she says. ""That's just sick.""

Critical Reaction

While Bess tries to hide the fact that she's a parent from her new old-fashioned boss, Vince, Nora has to endure her family's less-than-enthusiastic response to the news that Elliot is back in her life -- until she gets a little unexpected help from Steven.

Three

When Jake decides its time to get serious about his love life, he sets his sights on Annie. To keep things safe, Annie invites Gordon to hang out with her and Jake -- and ends up making an interesting discovery in the process. Meanwhile, Bess is determined to prove that she and Steven are still a hotter couple than Nora and Elliot.

A Shot in the Dark

When Steven and Bess take a romantic weekend getaway sans Bess' birth control, she worries that she may be pregnant. Meanwhile, Nora and Elliot make parenting decisions of their own after babysitting Charlie. Annie and George attempt some father-daughter bonding, and Honey becomes attached to a raccoon that's been eating the koi in her pond. (from NBC)

Don't Be Thrown

Nora needs a new job (her last one was directing a gross-out reality show, for crying out loud!), so her father offers her an interview with the university's dean. Reluctant, Nora sees herself with no other choice. At the interview, she reads the note from her dad saying ""don't be thrown by Nora"". Offended, she tries to prove she's not an intimidating person, but ends up looking even more intimidating to the dean. George invites dean Webber to the family brunch, where the dean gives Nora a second chance. Meanwhile, Steven and Jake win an award, but Steven doesn't give Jake a chance to say thanks, which they solve by Jake giving Steven a punch. Bess, on the other hand, doesn't think they can solve things without emotions.

Halloween 1

Baby Charlie's first Halloween sparks a spirited debate between Steven and Bess as to how they will celebrate Christmas and Chanukah. Steven enlists George's support in his anti-Xmas tree campaign, while Honey sides with Bess. Meanwhile, Annie is convinced that her car is haunted until Bess and Nora give her a little sisterly help contacting the offending spirit via the Ouija board. (from NBC)

A Date with Destiny (1)

Nora comes in asking if it's ok to pay for movie tickets with pennies, which leads the whole family to remember how Steven originally dated Nora and ended up with Bess. It was 1994. Annie was graduating from high school, Bess was still single and Nora was just left by Elliot. In a convenience store, bachelors Jake and Steven spot lonely Nora, and Steven starts to hit on her. They go on an awful date at a baseball bat, and Nora is back home much sooner than she expected. Bess briefly meets Steven, with whom she immediately falls in love. Steven, on the other hand, is going to try to get a 2nd date with Nora, so he sends her carnations, a bear and a card. George develops an allergic reaction to the flowers and they all rush to the hospital, skipping Annie's big graduation day. But they make a pact to pretend they all went. Back in present days, Nora is surprised to learn the flowers were for her, and they all wonder what ever happened to the card.

A Date with Destiny (2)

George says he used the card as a book marker. The book was given to Nora, who gave the book to Bess, who lent it to Elliot. The card is exactly where George left it 7 years ago. While Annie is shocked to learn that none of her relatives attended her graduation, and that she lost her virginity to a guy who used Steven's flowers as his own, Nora says she would have gone out with Steven again if she had read the card. Bess freaks out with the thought of her marriage with Steven being a destiny accident. She and Steven argue when they fell in love for each other. While Bess fell for him the moment she saw him, Steven's heart didn't beat any faster until one day, with a simple gesture, Bess picked up a pepper from the floor.

Three Thanksgivings, One Turkey

When Bess is forced to spend Thanksgiving with her mother-in-law in Chicago, she winds up learning a secret she wishes she had never heard. Meanwhile, an argument between Nora and Annie results in their hosting separate Thanksgiving dinners side-by-side in their shared apartment with their respective dates, Elliot and Gordon, caught in the middle.

Is It Me?

Annie makes an audition tape for MTV's ""Real World"", using footage of her dancing on top of the bar at work as the centerpiece of her submission. Enlisting Gordon's help in making her tape, Annie realizes she wants to take her relationship with Gordon to a new level. Meanwhile, Nora gets caught in the middle when Elliot and Honey work out their frosty relationship through a particularly vicious game of ping-pong. (from NBC)

The Manny

Bess and Steven hire a nanny to take of Charlie for the holidays. But they're very surprised when the nanny turns out to be a 45 year-old man. Terry is a wonderful nanny, but Steven and Bess are embarrassed to tell people that he's the nanny, so they start to come up with fake stories for a reason why he's helping with Charlie, until Terry finds out and quits. Meanwhile, Annie and Gordon go on their first real date. But Annie keeps blowing Gordon's plans for more spontaneous things, until he surprises her with a romantic dinner.

Dog Day Afternoon

When Bess' boss, Vince, institutes ""bring your dog to work day"", Bess freaks out because she doesn't have a dog, so she asks Annie for one. Annie's dog at first seems too small, but Vince thinks it's perfect. Unfortunately, the dog is cast on Frasier and Bess has to take a new dog to work. He messes the entire office sniffing butts and other private parts. Bess gives up on the idea of bringing a dog to work, and just as she is ready to prove herself worthy to Vince she discovers that they've run out of business. Meanwhile, Nora reprehends Jake for dating one of her students. She dumps him and now Jake has Nora escort him home after dental surgery. Nora quickly sees in a sedated Jake a fun opportunity to tape everything he says and use it to make fun of him later. But what she didn't expect was Jake confessing that he feels lonely and wants to raise a family.

The Sister Equinox

Changing Rooms

When Nora and Elliot decide to move in together again, Annie is out of a place to live until Jake offers her his spare room - an arrangement that Gordon isn't thrilled with. Elliot becomes increasingly exasperated by Nora's refusal to agree to marry him again and her insistence that he occupy only one room in her house - an arrangement that makes him feel like a boarder. After a blow-up, he returns home to an unexpected, but pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, inspired by Elliot's situation, Steven begins a campaign to create his own ""guy room"" at his and Bess' home. (from NBC)

Best Laid Plans

Annie and Jake accidentally see each other naked and feel awkward about it, but not as awkward as Jake feels when he accidentally tells Gordon, especially since he hasn't seen Annie naked yet. Annie, on the other hand, is fine with it and tries to work things out with Gordon, which they eventually do. Meanwhile, Bess gets a little carried away planning Nora's wedding, and confesses she was very disappointed with her first wedding, when Nora and Elliot got married without waiting for Bess. And Steven has a hard time calling George ""dad"" after he asks him to.

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Steven's brother Joel comes to visit from Chicago bringing some news though that he has separated from his wife and is going through money troubles. That's why he wants to sell his and Steven's childhood card collection to get some money. Meanwhile Annie gets her dad to help her with her 1st tax return. While that is happening Annie suggests Gordo takes her mum to a nicks & Lakers game to get to know each other a little better.

The Song

Annie crashes into the back of Stevens's car while following him. Because of that Steven ran a red light and has ti go to traffic school. Elliot is babysitting Charlie when he writes a sing for Bess from Charlie. Nora hears it at 1 of Elliot's gigs and thinks it's about her until she hears the truth. She is distraught to think that Eliot wrote a song about Bess until she finds out that Elliot wrote a song about her and sang it to her at his next gig. Meanwhile Gordo knows a guy who can pass Steven in Traffic School without him actually having to go until they get busted but are let go by the police because Steven has a trusting face.

Deep Issue Massage

Annie holds Nora a Bachelorette party with just her and a whole lot of alcohol. Jake stays home for the party because he thinks there are going to be a whole lot of girlie things going on. Elliot doesn't want a party so he, Steven and Gordo just hang out at the bar. Nora wants to leave her Bachelorette party early so she can see Elliot so Jake, Nora and Annie go and find the guys. Meanwhile Bess is staying with George and Honey to finish off her Maid of Honour Speech and George is finishing off her father of the bride speech but they are fighting over who can include stuff about Nora's favourite childhood toy Diggy Doon. Bess wins only to find out that Diggy Doon was Annie's toy. Elliot wakes up in the morning to find a message on his answering machine. He has been offered lead guitarist for David Bowie's tour but the only problem is that he has to get on a plane straight away.

Pilot

The three Bernstein-Flynn sisters are reunited when Nora returns to Los Angeles after two years in Africa and Annie graduates from college. Big sister Bess, who is expecting her first child any moment, is thrilled to have her two sisters back in the nest, but husband Steven is less enthusiastic as he realizes that when he married Bess, he got more than he bargained for. Instead of getting one woman, he ended up with three: his wife and her two sisters. Meanwhile, Nora makes a discomfiting discovery of her own when she learns the truth about her ex-husband's sexual preferences.

My Birth and Welcome to It

When Steven puts his foot down and insists that only he and Bess will be present in the delivery room during the birth of their baby, the Bernstein-Flynn family, crushed by Steven's edict, plays a waiting game of their own.

Masters of Invention

When Annie's latest income-generating schemes prove to be predictable disasters, Bess and Nora decide it's time for a sisterly intervention. But Steven has a simpler solution -- and offers Annie a job working for him and Jake. Everything seems to be going so well, Bess and Nora begin to question their female perspective on the situation -- until fate intervenes. Meanwhile, George blindsides Nora with some unsolicited fatherly advice.

The Dry Spell

Nora realizes it has been nearly four years since she went out on a date. Little sister Annie offers to help her get back in the game, but the two couldn't be more different in their approach when they visit a singles bar. Meanwhile, Bess has trouble telling if the pangs she's feeling are labor pains or twinges of jealousy at being left out while her single sisters cruise for men.

The In-Laws

When Steven's well-appointed and domineering mother and counterculture dropout father arrive together from Chicago to visit their son and daughter-in-law, Steven's coping strategy is to stay under the radar until the visit is over, but Bess encourages him to renew his bonds with his parents and invites them to extend their visit. It isn't long, however, before Steven's mother's controlling nature tries even Honey's patience. Meanwhile, his father's inappropriate behavior annoys George and grosses out Nora and Annie.

Summer of Chocolate

The girls plan a surprise anniversary party for their parents, but the celebration nearly turns into psychodrama when Bess learns that her parents' idyllic marriage isn't completely perfect.

The Faculty Party

When George throws a faculty party for one of his oldest friends, Frederick, in an effort to woo him to USC as a visiting professor, Frederick ends up wooing Nora instead -- much to the dismay of Bess and Annie. While the girls plot to put an end to Nora's romance by telling their father about the affair, Honey tries to throw George off-track, using Jake as a decoy.

The Rooster

While the siblings argue over who should inherit their parents' stuffed rooster, Frederick reveals his affair with Nora.

The New Guy

Nora and Steven have differing opinions about Annie's new boyfriend, Kevin. Steven, thrilled to have another guy at the Bernstein-Flynn brunches, tries to talk Annie into keeping Kevin around, while Nora, who finds Kevin incredibly annoying, does everything in her power to convince Annie to dump him. That is, until Annie catches on, and pulls a fast one on both of them.

Sisters: Undressed

After much agonizing, Bess and Steven ask Nora to be Charlie's guardian. Nora agrees, but her cavalier attitude towards this sacred trust unnerves Bess. Meanwhile, Nora asks Bess to tell Annie to get her own apartment, but the plan backfires. Quote: Nora: If this was the last dress on Earth, I'd burn it and walk around naked.

Blame the Messenger

Bess decides to end her maternity leave early when she learns of a possible promotion at work. But when Annie overhears Bess' co-workers saying she's not getting the promotion, she doesn't know whether or not to tell Bess. Meanwhile, Nora can't stand the idea that Jake put in the good word that got her an I-Max movie deal.

Work-Related

Annie becomes a personal assistant to Andy Dick; Bess and Steven interview nannies.

My Best Friend's Girl

Nora is trying to quit smoking, but has a hard time doing so. Bess, Annie and Nora plan to go on a Macy Gray concert, but Bess has to cancel it suddenly when she has a work related problem. So Annie invites Jake to go in Bess's place. So Nora, Annie and Jake are driving back from the concert in Jake's car, when Nora, who is feeling totally left out of the conversation, asks Jake to stop by a 7-Eleven. While she is out, Annie tries to roll down the window but can't, and Jake helps her. As he leans on her, they sort of kiss. Annie is thrilled and makes a big deal of it, while Jake doesn't talk much about it. They set a date, but Annie gets stood up. Steven talks to Jake about it and Jake confesses that he did the best thing: end things before the sex, because he knows it would be weird since she's Steven's sister-in-law. After realizing that he likes Annie more than he'd like to, he goes over Steven and Bess's to apologize, only to find Annie going on a date with a guy she met at the bar

It's a Wonderful Wife

Steven's plan to re-create the carefree ""Pre-Bess"" weekend of his bachelor days backfires when Bess gets hip to his selfish reason for sending her and her sisters to a spa for her birthday. Meanwhile, Honey and George have a chance to relive their youth when they babysit their grandson.

Mother's Day

When Honey tries to share her Mother's Day tradition of running naked into the ocean at dawn with Bess, mother and daughter discover how different they really are. The schism threatens to turn into the Great Divide when Honey is invited to a Playboy bunny reunion on Mother's Day -- and Bess and Nora express their post-feminist disapproval of Honey's ""bunny-dipping"" days. Feeling guilty, the girls and Annie crash the reunion, while Steven and Jake spend the entire night trying to get past the doorman. (NBC)