World-renowned neurosurgeon and single father to preteen Delia and teenage Ephram, Dr. Andrew Brown, came to Everwood, Colorado, to start over. He runs a free clinic with Edna Harper as his nurse and office manager. His Colleague, Edna's son, Dr. Harold Abbott, forbade his wife, Rose, and teenage kids, Amy and Bright, from having anything to do with the Browns. However, Ephram and Amy start dating. Ephram returns home from a summer program at Juilliard, full of memories of school and Amy's visit to Manhattan. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown copes with a disturbing letter from Delia's former baby-sitter, who dated Ephram briefly, the young woman's secret, and the fact that he persuaded her to move away. Ephram has a letter of his own, and when Amy finally demands an explanation he makes a tough realization about his future. Bright reluctantly prepares for his freshman year at community college. Dr. Abbott rents his former office space to California transplant Jake Hartman.
At her father's suggestion, a heartbroken Amy is determined to make the most of her senior year in the wake of Ephram returning from New York and telling her that piano has to be his number one priority. Dr. Brown contemplates telling Ephram about the pregnancy of Ephram's former girlfriend. Meanwhile, Rose naïvely agrees to help Bright find his true calling after she discovers that he hasn't enrolled for college classes and is in fact leading a life of total leisure. Dr. Jake Hartman (recurring guest star SCOTT WOLF) creates a marketing blitz for his new practice that threatens to push Dr. Abbott over the edge. And Nina takes in her friends' teenage daughter, Hannah (recurring guest star SARAH DREW - "Radio"), and asks Ephram to befriend Hannah.
Ephram regrets promising Nina that he would watch over Hannah (recurring guest star SARAH DREW) at school, especially when Hannah's constant presence interferes with his time alone with Amy. Amy befriends Hannah out of pity, but she soon finds Hannah so refreshing that a real friendship develops. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown tries to ignore the tension between Dr. Abbott and Edna, but Dr. Abbott's attitude forces Edna to quit and go to work for rival doctor Jake (recurring guest star SCOTT WOLF). Dr. Brown treats a 13-year-old patient whose mysterious injuries cause the family physician to suspect the boy's mother, Sara Beck (ELIZABETH MITCHELL), of abuse.
Andy is uncertain about what to do when Delia naïvely stumbles upon Nina's sex toy and starts asking questions. Meanwhile, Ephram attempts to write Amy a love letter to show her the extent of his feelings; Amy undertakes a mission to make her new best friend, Hannah (recurring guest star SARAH DREW), popular; and when Dr. Abbott and Rose question Bright's euphoria over being selected Employee of the Month, they decide it's time for some parental intervention.
Dr. Brown is embarrassed after he picks a fight with Everwood's "patron saint," Amanda Hayes (recurring guest star ANNE HECHE - "Birth," "Ally McBeal"), who, unbeknown to Dr. Brown, has been caring for her profoundly disabled husband for the past five years. Meanwhile, Jake (recurring guest star SCOTT WOLF) surprises Nina by asking her out on a date; Ephram and Bright realize their friendship may have grown too far apart to salvage; and neurotic-as-ever Dr. Abbott struggles to come up with a medical invention after learning that Dr. Brown and Jake have successful inventions of their own.
Dr. Brown worries that Ephram is beginning to question himself and his chances of getting into Juilliard after he applies to a college in Colorado as a backup plan. Similarly, Dr. Abbott has concerns of his own when Amy informs him that she's not applying to the school they always dreamed of her attending, Princeton, because it would take her too far away from Ephram. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown jumps headfirst into helping Amanda (recurring guest star ANNE HECHE) and her disabled husband, John (recurring guest star JASON BEGHE), with a new therapy involving music, but it may be too much and too fast for Amanda. And Edna and Irv's marriage hits a rough patch after Irv loses his job, and they contemplate their future together.
Treat Williams
Dr. Andrew Brown
Gregory Smith
Ephram Brown
Emily VanCamp
Amy Abbott
Debra Mooney
Edna Abbott
John Beasley
Irv Harper