Previously on "The Wonder Years"...
We're driving cross-country.
- I'm in. - You're out.
I'll think about you every minute.
You wouldn't survive two seconds on your own.
I'm out of here.
I wish you wouldn't do this.
I got to find myself.
I mean, you just got in your car, and you drove all this way?
This job isn't exactly what I had in mind.
[ laughs ] okay, Kevin!
Employees aren't really allowed around here during the day.
You know, I came all the way up here to see you,
And now I'm not gonna see you.
[ Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" plays ]
♪ Baby ♪
♪ High with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ Said I'm gonna make it with my friends ♪
♪ Try with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ Oh, oh, I'm gonna keep on tryin' ♪
♪ Get by with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ I'm gonna keep on tryin', now, babe ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
[ Sniffs ] I doubt it.
I seriously doubt it.
It's true. Ask nick.
The girl did not wash her hair for six months.
This big tick buried its way
Through her skull into her brain.
Hey, will you guys knock it off?
I'm trying to rest here.
What's wrong with him?
Nothing.
"Girlfwend twubble." [ laughs ]
Hey, will you mind your own business?
She's hanging out with king Eric.
- Ooh. - Ooh.
Uh, Kev?
Dad!
They said at the front desk that I'd find you back here.
We were just leaving.
Yeah. We were just leaving.
Nice to meet you.
[ Clattering ]
The guys.
Uhhuh.
So, what are you doing here?
Of course, it was obvious.
The old man had seen the light...
About me, about him.
Your mother asked me to come
And give you these.
She was afraid you didn't pack enough underwear.
Underwear?
Yeah.
And, um, she also packed some cookies.
Well...
That's great.
So...
This is where you're living, huh?
Why?
What's wrong with it?
It's comfortable.
[ Insect buzzing ]
What are they paying you?
They pay me enough.
You know, with tips.
Look, Kevin, I've been giving this a lot of thought,
About what happened to us the other day, and, uh...
Okay, here it came... a full and abject apology.
The man was gonna crawl.
I think you made a big mistake.
What?
You flew off the handle, you said some things...
That happens.
Anyway, I want you to know that if...
You want to come back and work for me...
Yeah?
It'd make your mother happy.
And that about ripped it.
Look, Dad.
I don't need you,
I don't need your job,
And I don't need your stupid underwear.
Got it?
I'm doing fine here on my own, okay?
Suit yourself.
[ Bag crinkles ]
I got to be going.
Uhhuh.
So, how was that?
Great.
I'm going swimming.
Screw the rules.
My life was a shambles, and it wasn't just Dad...
It was Winnie.
My only hope was...
I hadn't seen what I'd seen...
Kevin?
Even though I knew I had.
Oh.
Hey.
Yeah, I know.
I figure I'd masquerade as one of the guests.
You think we could...
You know, maybe find some place to talk?
About what?
[ Whistle blows ] - well, uh...
Kevin, I can't. I'm on duty.
Yeah. You've been on duty ever since I got here.
- I can't help it. It's my job. - Yeah, I bet.
What was that?
Listen, Winnie, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
I mean, coming up here.
Even though I know I encouraged it,
But when you get down to it...
Maybe you're right.
Maybe it wasn't a good idea.
What do you mean?
Maybe you should go.
I felt like I'd been shot right through the tomato.
Well [chuckles]
Th-that's not what I meant.
Kevin, you said yourself
It was time that we find ourselves, right?
You said we should give each other space.
Yeah, but...
Winnie!
What do you say, babe?
And that's when I knew... For sure.
- Winnie! - What? Let go!
I saw you.
Last night, at the party, I saw you.
I came looking for you,
And they told me you were with Eric.
And when I found you...
You were kissing him.
The thing is, I didn't mean to accuse her.
I just wanted her back.
- You saw me? - So I...
I don't believe this! You were spying on me?!
What?!
How dare you?!
By that evening, I'd come up with a plan...
Win enough money to buy out the resort
And fire all the lifeguards.
After that... Suicide.
It's your bet, amigo.
Not that I was going down
Without one last moment of glory.
I'm in for $20.
Call.
I'm in.
Yeah, here they came.
See ya.
The lambs to the slaughter.
I'll raise you $50.
$50?
I don't have $50.
No pay, no play. What's it gonna be?
My car...
Worth a couple hundred at least.
Well, $75 anyway.
Sí, señor.
Read 'em and weep.
It felt good.
It felt like revenge
Against a world that had turned against me.
Three kings.
Straight.
Full house.
Four jacks.
Oyoyoy.
[ laughter ]
Well, what do you know? The pot is mine, huh?
[ Man speaking Spanish ]
[ laughter continues ]
Kevin, something wrong?
Beat it.
Young man, where's your uniform?
Stick it.
The next morning, I'd made up my mind.
Winnie?
Hey.
I'd had all night to decide what to do.
I just want you to know...
[ groans ]
And there you had it.
I'll be leaving now.
I'd set out to find myself
And ended up losing everything.
I walked for a long time.
Didn't have a destination.
Just a lot on my mind...
Heartbreak, loss, betrayal.
Most of all, one thought kept coming back to me
Again and again, like an old song.
Great.
Now I get hungry.
I'd forgotten to eat lunch.
So I was forced to fall back
On the oldest survival technique
Known to alienated man...
Mom's cookies.
[ cow moos ]
[ Moos ]
Beat it.
I examined my options.
I had no car, no money, and no place to go.
It was clear what I needed here was a new philosophy...
The philosophy of the loner...
The philosophy of the road.
[ vehicle approaching ]
Hey!
So much for philosophy.
What I needed was a ride.
Hey, stop!
Hey!
[ Tires squeal ]
Need a lift?
Yeah, actually.
Listen, is there a bus station around here?
Yes, hop in.
Thanks.
Oh, no.
You two know each other?
- No. - No.
[ Tires screech ]
Great.
All the Chevys in all the world,
She has to walk into mine.
Winnie, would you mind moving your stuff over?
Yes, I'd mind.
Fine.
Fine. I don't care.
It's a lovely afternoon, isn't it?
Would anybody like some music?
- Sure. - No, thank you.
So... What happened?
You run out of bathing suits?
Can it.
Or did "Mr. Muscles" find himself a new squeeze?
I got fired.
They fired you?
Because of you.
Well, congratulations.
Who would have ever thought
Little miss two-timer would get a dose of her...
Oh, you're really something! You know that?
You are absolutely contemptible.
Me?! What about you?!
- Rat! - Tramp!
That's it. Stop the car. I'm getting out.
Oh, no. No,I'm getting out.
Fine, then. Get out!
No.
No. You get out.
I'm staying here.
So, we both got out.
Thrown out.
So... You happy now?
I'm not speaking to you.
[ Scoffs ] I don't care. No skin off my nose.
[ Sniffles ]
Oh, man. Do you have to do that?
Do what?
Do you have to cry like that?
I'm not crying.
And I'm not a tramp.
Hey, if the shoe fits, right?
Oh, like you never looked at somebody else?
What are you talking about?
How about that girl last summer at the lake?
Wait a minute. Low blow.
Who told you about that?
You are so transparent.
Oh, so this is some kind of jealousy thing?
Is that it?
You're worse than transparent.
You're a snake!
Oh, yeah?
[ Truck approaching ]
[ Horn honking ]
[ Thunder rumbles ]
And that about said it all.
Goodbye, Kevin Arnold.
Yeah. Have a nice life!
I hate you.
The feeling's mutual!
[ Thunder crashes ]
So, thanks to 30 billion kilowatts
Of unmetered electricity
And about a ton of rain...
We ended up sharing the same barn.
[ sneezes ]
Thank you.
Don't mention it.
You know, this is really, really great.
[ Thunder crashes ] you know that?
It's almost funny.
You think this is funny?
Yeah.
Nah.
I mean...
You grow up next door to someone.
And you figure you really know them.
And then, like, overnight, you find out you...
Didn't know them at all.
Yeah. Well, look who's talking.
[ Thunder crashes ]
Me?
Hey, I'm not the one who changed.
You really believe that?
You bet.
I mean...
I changed a little, but...
Not really, though.
[ Thunder crashes ]
But I guess I knew better.
I guess we both knew better.
Kevin...
It just took Winnie to say it.
Here's what I think.
I think this had to happen...
Today, tomorrow...
Someday.
I mean, it's not like we're kids anymore.
Everybody grows up.
It's not like peter pan or something.
No.
It's not like peter pan.
It's just...
Somehow I thought we'd be together, you know?
Yeah.
Together forever.
[ Chuckles ]
It's not gonna happen, is it?
No.
[ Thunder crashes ]
[ Door creaks ]
What was that?
H-hello?
[ Pounding ]
[ Thunder crashes ]
[ Whinnies ] aah!
[ Neighs ]
[ Sighs ]
Did you see that?
It's a horse.
[ Chuckles ]
God, it practically scared me to death.
Can you believe that?
[ Crying ]
Winnie.
I don't want it to end.
Once upon a time,
There was a girl I knew who lived across the street...
Brown hair, brown eyes.
When she smiled, I smiled.
When she cried, I cried.
Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered,
In some way, had to do with her.
That day, Winnie and I promised each other that no matter what,
That we'd always be together.
It was a promise full of passion and truth and wisdom.
It was the kind of promise
That can only come from the hearts of the very young.
[ marching band plays ]
The next day, Winnie and I came home,
Back to where we'd started.
It was the 4th of July in that little suburban town.
Somehow, though, things were different.
Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else.
And we both knew, sooner or later...
We had to go.
It was the last July I ever spent in that town.
The next year, after graduation...
I was on my way.
Paul!
Hey, Paul!
Hi!
So was Paul.
He went to Harvard, of course.
Studied law.
[ sneezes ]
He's still allergic to everything.
Thanks a lot.
Listen, I'll be right back.
Hang on one second.
As for my father...
Well...
How you doing?
Good.
Welcome home.
We patched things up.
Norma!
Hey, we were family,
For better or worse.
Hey, sis.
One for all...
Gosh.
A little Kevin.
And all for one.
Little Eskimo.
Yeah, I know. Oh, my gosh.
Karen's son was born that September.
I got to say, I think he looks like me.
Poor kid.
Mom... she did well...
Businesswoman, board chairman, grandmother...
Cooker of mashed potatoes.
The Wayner stayed on in furniture.
Wood seemed to suit him.
In fact, he took over the factory two years later...
When Dad passed away.
Winnie left the next summer to study art history in Paris.
Still, we never forgot our promise.
We wrote to each other once a week
For the next eight years.
I was there to meet her when she came home...
With my wife and my first son...
Eight months old.
Like I said...
Things never turn out exactly the way you planned.
It was good. It was a good 4th.
Yeah.
So, you're gonna be a grandpa, huh?
[ Chuckles ]
Not bad.
Gray hair and everything.
Yeah, soon enough.
Growing up happens in a heartbeat.
One day you're in diapers...
Next day you're gone.
But the memories of childhood
Stay with you for the long haul.
I remember a place...
A town...
A house...
Like a lot of houses.
A yard like a lot of other yards...
On a street like a lot of other streets.
And the thing is...
After all these years...
I still look back...
With wonder.
Hey, Dad? Want to play catch?
I'll be right there.