Straight A’s

Scott returns to Louisiana on horseback, eight years after rehab. He is haunted by the ghost of his mother urging him to confront his past and make amends. He enters the family home with a mix of resolve and unease.

He meets his niece Gracie Anne and nephew Charles again after years apart. The children recount small family losses, like a frog that passed away, highlighting how life goes on. The reunion plants the first seeds of reconciliation.

Katherine, his brother's wife and his first love, is shocked to see him and becomes openly hostile. He insists that his dead mother sent him to make amends, trying to frame his return as fated.

Scott falls asleep in the tub, and Katherine's anger flares again. She tells him to leave and come back on Thursday when William is home. Gracie Anne helps tidy him up so he can face the family.

Scott goes to Charles' school at lunch and helps him catch a girl’s attention. He uses the practical teaching skills he once used to motivate others, guiding Charles with confidence. The moment showcases his influence and the fragile hope of redemption.

Katherine chews him out again as the principal calls, overstating their visit as disruptive. Tension between past and present strains the family dynamics.

That evening by the pool, they smoke a joint and share truths. Scott admits that Katherine was right to not leave with him years ago and explains how his father ran him off. The pool scene deepens their uneasy relationship.

Scott makes a second visit to his father, George, who shoves him away with a gun. George’s Alzheimer's has erased his memory of Scott, leaving him unrecognizable to his son.

Late that night, Scott asks Carlos the gardener to take him to a bar. He ends up missing another meal and wandering through the town seeking something he can't name.

Scott returns home with a group of Hispanics from the bar and they jump into the pool. Katherine quickly drives them out and Scott is banished from the house again. The incident underscores how fragile his place in the family remains.

When Charles can't find Scott, he fears missing his school presentation. They arrive at school and Charles uses the speaking technique Scott taught him to deliver a confident performance. The moment marks Charles's growth and Scott's unlikely mentorship.

Back at home, William returns and the family shares a tense lunch. George's carer reads part of his wife's journal, urging the family to make amends, and Scott asks to be excused before collapsing.

In the hospital, Dr. Carr explains Scott is in stage 3 brain cancer, which explains his heavy Vicodin and marijuana use. The family takes turns at his bedside as up ahead, more journal excerpts reveal Katherine's and Charles's past. The truth about the family surfaces as Scott confronts his mortality.

A journal excerpt reveals that Charles was fathered just before Scott left town, a fact no one noticed due to a gap in Katherine's dating history. The revelation deepens the family’s sense of what was hidden and what needed forgiveness.

Charles delivers a three-part eulogy for Scott on Monday, calling him 'a fire-bellied toad who took a chance and became a prince for a day.' The speech seals Scott's legacy as someone who inspired trust and growth in those around him. The moment memorializes his fragile redemption.