Trust Me, I Can Handle Anything

Hi. This is a message for Elle Woods.

You're a finalist in the L.A. internship program.

- -Yeah, this is huge!

Previously on Elle...

So, all I have to do is make a groundbreaking video.

I'll give Seattle the best homecoming of all time,

and I'll document the whole thing.

Can you think of anything more fun and fearless?

I actually cannot.

You've never done one here.

Until now.

This is so dumb.

Homecoming wasn't a terrible idea.

It might just not be like an L.A. homecoming.

Maybe let them do it their way instead of your way.

Miles and I broke up last night.

Wait, what?

The big game is over, our fun--

Oh, my God, Mom.

This isn't footage. This is my life.

I don't need to pretend to be fun and fearless for a stupid video.

I am fun and fearless.

Hey, hey, have you seen Shannon?

Shannon's mom was in a car accident last night.

She's dead.

Oh, my God. Shannon's here.

I didn't expect her to be back at school so soon.

It's probably good for her to be around friends right now.

I don't know if that includes me.

Kissing Miles feels like an even bigger betrayal now.

You couldn't have known this was going to happen.

I just don't know how I'm gonna tell her.

-Oh, honey, you're not. -Wh--

No. At least not right now.

First kisses are monumental for the two people involved,

but what Shannon is dealing with, so much bigger.

She doesn't have any more room on her plate right now.

You're right. She just needs a friend.

And no one is a better friend to lean on than Elle Woods.

I have no idea how I'm gonna help her.

You'll find a way.

Now, remember, anything can happen at any moment.

No one is owed a tomorrow.

Stop using your own mortality to guilt me into a goodbye hug.

Do you really want that to be the last thing you say to your mother?

Whatever. I love you.

I am so glad you're here.

I'm here.

I'm so sorry about your mom.

Good morning, everyone.

Uh... well, I know this is chemistry,

but since this is our first class back

after the tragic news about Ms. Walker, I thought,

I don't know, we could put a pin in science for once

and talk about feelings.

Okay, I'll start.

My first experience with loss is when my grandma died.

Yeah, I was nine, and I'd collected all these seashells at Puget Sound

to give her as a Christmas gift, but she passed before I could.

I still have that box of shells all wrapped up in my closet.

She was a very cruel woman,

but... still... related, so...

Uh, show of hands, um,

anyone else experienced loss before?

Yes, Alison.

Our family cat.

Mm. Jacob.

Uh, does Jerry Garcia count?

Absolutely. Yes.

Yes, Dustin.

My grandma. She was... very honest.

Best person I ever met.

That's a very admirable quality.

I'm sorry.

Oh. Elle, who have you lost?

Oh.

No one.

May I use the pass, please?

"Cinco de Mayo."

"Smooth jazz."

"Pumpkin patch"?

Robin's funeral will be in Denver where most of her family lives,

but Shannon felt like so many people here loved Robin

and would want to say goodbye, so I panicked

and offered to throw her a memorial.

"Bobblehead Fridays."

And then stupidly asked the student body for theme suggestions.

-This one just says "waterslide." -Yep.

They're all like that.

Oh, this one's not too bad.

This one says I could help you plan it.

-Okay, it doesn't, but I could. -Mm.

Why would you help me?

Honestly, it'd be helping me.

Everyone else seems to know what to do.

The only death I've ever experienced is Hope in Days of Our Lives,

and I petitioned NBC till they brought her back from the dead.

I just feel like I need to do something.

You met Shannon's mom for, like, two seconds.

You'll be fine.

Okay, but what about you?

You're Shannon's best friend.

I bet Robin meant a lot to you.

You deserve to be able to go mourn without having to worry about logistics.

Let me help.

Okay. Um...

If, theoretically, you were gonna help with this,

what would you be thinking about doing?

First things first, we would need a venue.

Something that says "free spirit," but with class.

I'm assuming there's no budget.

Twelve hundred dollars.

Leave it to me to hone in on the perfect setting.

You go be with Shannon and grieve.

Thank you.

Wyatt Woods one, Lake Washington Loop zero.

- - Ah.

That's a stormier motif than you usually go with.

Is it?

Yeah.

Oh, God.

Did you know Robin was only two months older than me?

Also the middle child. Also an early bloomer.

-You read the book. -No.

Oh.

It was way too long, but I just think it's crazy, like,

someone like that can be gone in an instant.

Here I am giving Elle life advice, and her own mother hasn't even lived.

But you've laughed and loved. And you're breathing,

-so you're living. -What?

Don't you remember? She inscribed the-the, um, book. Here.

-"Eva, live, laugh, love. Robin." -Oh.

Talk about living. That's a pretty good guidebook.

She hiked Mount Kilimanjaro when she was 12.

-Mm. -We have a big, beautiful

mountain in our backyard just begging to be climbed.

Yeah, but do you remember I got altitude poisoning in Vail?

I know, but Mount Rainier has been on my must-do list since we moved here.

- -I'll tell you what, I'll get the poles,

and you fill up the water bladders.

Oh, God. So, I think maybe I'll just walk Bruiser

'cause Maple Street is very hilly.

Eva, we are doing this.

We are living, we are laughing, we are loving life.

God, I'm thirsty just thinking about it. Will you pack me an extra bladder?

Excuse me. Are you lost?

Hey, I am not the one who's supposed to be in algebra right now.

Turns out... solving for X felt wildly insignificant today.

What brings you out here?

Wait for it.

I'm helping Kimberly plan Robin's memorial.

I'm sorry. I thought you just said you're helping Kimberly.

She was flailing, I was flailing.

And it's a way to be there for Shannon.

Though I'm not feeling this field for a paper lantern launch,

so striking that from the maybe list.

How are you holding up?

I knew Robin since I was a kid.

That's a lot of memories.

She was really good to me for a really long time.

She called me after Shannon and I broke up to say she was thinking about me.

I never called her back.

I'm so sorry.

It's not that I don't want to hold your hand.

-I get it. -I just want to do it right.

I'll talk to Shannon, face-to-face, girl-to-girl,

and I'll tell her that we kissed.

And then what?

And then...

I'll gauge her reaction and we'll go from there.

But now is obviously not the time.

So until the appropriate time presents itself,

we need to put a moratorium on any more bodily contact.

Sure.

I'll, uh... I'll see you.

Hey, Mom? Do you remember the name of the florist who did Jackie O's funeral?

Oh. And why do you look like Laura Dern in Jurassic Park?

Honey, um, I know you've had a lot going on lately,

but did you forget to tell me we had a visitor?

-A visitor? - The rumors are true.