Episode Guide

Season 5

Episode 53- A Womb with a View

The Case

There is none.

What's Really Going on Chris?

Baby Hayes (still in Maddie's womb) gets a visitation from his divine emissary Jerome. Jerome explains that all babies get a visit before they're born to prepare them for their birth. They learn about their parents, and the good and evil in the world. Baby Hayes (played by Bruce Willis) finds out from Jerome that his father is David. Baby Hayes gets a chance to meet his parents and is very upset by their fighting. Jerome comforts Baby Hayes by telling him that that's just how Maddie and David are and have been for a long time. They have old souls, and always spend their lives doing a "strange tango" together. Maddie is afraid that she loves David more than he loves her, David is afraid of the same thing- so they both act like they don't care. Jerome assures us that they really do care, a great deal.
After learning about the evil in the world, Baby Hayes decides he doesn't want to be born. Jerome talks about the purpose of life, finding happiness, and how wonderful it is. Jerome uses the baby shower going on at that moment for Maddie as an example. In a rare glimpse, we see David and Maddie dancing and truly happy together. Unfortunately it is short lived, Maddie begins to miscarry the baby while they're dancing. Back in the womb, Jerome explains to Baby Hayes that Maddie and Dave are no longer destined to be his parents and that his soul will live on in another child (on either on "Growing Pains" or "Cosby" two other shows at the time who had pregnancy storylines.) In the hospital, Maddie and David are dealing with their loss. It is implied that David was going to be the father to the baby and Maddie makes a comment about how he would've been a "lousy husband." Maddie worries that she and David will never be the same. David tells her not to worry, they'll be fine and that he'll be with her.

Chris's Obsessive Analysis

This episode is one of Moonlighting's best, unfortunately it is often overlooked due to the sad subject matter of Maddie's miscarriage. It is just as creative and original as "Atomic Shakespeare," "Big Man on Mulberry Street," and "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice." It attempts to explain Dave and Maddie's relationship while giving us profound and eloquent statements about good, evil, and the meaning of life. It's philosophical and spiritual and leaves us hope that, even after the miscarriage, Dave, Maddie and Baby Hayes will be just fine. Jerome even tells us that sometimes a love grows stronger when tragedy strikes.
This episode was written by Glenn Gordon Caron, the creator and executive producer of Moonlighting, and was the first episode of the 5th (and last) season. It was also his swan song. He was forced to leave the series as executive producer the summer before the 5th season began, and this was his last major contribution to the show. This episode also is significant because after this episode, Moonlighting's direction changed. The show's ratings had started to slip and the powers-that-be decided that it was because there was too much focus on David and Maddie's relationship and the show had become too much like a soap opera (couldn't have been all those reruns, plot twists that angered the audience, or one of the 2 stars being gone for 6 months--nah!). They decided to refocus the show on the cases, which was ultimately stupid. One third of Moonlighting episodes didn't have cases, and most of the best episodes didn't either. The cases were always screwball and provided humor, but were always a backdrop to what was really going on, Maddie and David's developing relationship. People didn't watch the show for the cases (well, nobody I know), they watched to see Maddie and Dave fight and then make up.
Despite what Jerome says, there are still a few people out there who believe that the baby was Sam's and not David's. They are wrong and here is why.....

Bruce Willis played the baby, not Mark Harmon
A 'divine emissary' told us so and it wasn't a dream sequence!
The first person Maddie calls when she finds out she's pregnant is David, not Sam. When she couldn't get hold of him she told Agnes, knowing subconsciously it would get back to David.
They make it pretty clear that Maddie never tells Sam anything. I can't believe that Maddie would let someone else raise Sam's kid and never tell him. If she really believed the baby were Sam's she would've told him. She wouldn't ever deny her child the right to know and love a father (regardless of whether the father and Maddie were still involved), particularly given Maddie's close relationship with her Dad and his importance in her life. Maddie may be acting nuts lately, but she still always tries to do the right thing.
Given that, why do you think I would think that Maddie would she let someone else (Walter) raise David's baby? I don't. She doesn't. She can't go through with her wedding to Walter and gets the whole thing annulled. Ultimately, she does what she thinks is the right thing by having the real father involved and making plans with him to raise their child. She's still not sure (consciously) who the father is due to her denial, but subconsciously I think she has known all along.
I believe that Sam was only visiting Maddie for about 72 hours. This is because Sam shows up the evening of "Blonde on Blonde." The next night they have dinner during "Sam and Dave." The next night Maddie and Dave stake out the house in the van and Sam asks her to marry him ("Maddie's Turn to Cry"). The next night is the tussle in the garage and ends in the "Big Bang." Adding it all up, Sam was there three complete 24 hour "days" from the first evening her showed up until the evening he left. The continuity is unmistakable, the writers make it pretty clear by having the characters comment on the night before and what will happen that evening that the action flows over three continuous days. I don't think Maddie slept with Sam the first night (Blonde on Blonde). She tells David that they stayed up talking, and I believe her. I don't think she'd jump into bed with Sam that quickly. But she did sleep with him in "Sam and Dave." I don't think she did in "Maddie's Turn to Cry" (after the proposal) either, she was too confused and tired. So IMHO, Maddie only slept with Sam once in the 72 hours he was there. She slept with David 48 hours after sleeping with Sam, which for anyone would make it difficult to determine paternity at this point. (Sam makes a reference during "I Am Curious....Maddie" to having asked her to marry him 36 hours ago, I think either Sam was wrong or it was a writing mistake.)
Maddie and David "boinked" for about 4 weeks. She went to Chicago, and after being in Chicago for 2 weeks found out she was pregnant (In "Tale of 2 Cities" Mr. Hayes makes a reference to her being there for 2 weeks.) They never tell us how far along she is when she goes to the doctor. Maddie tells her Mom that there is a 50/50 chance it's David's, which to this point seems correct. David makes several references until "Fetal Attraction" to not knowing if the baby is his or not (although it's pretty clear Viola thinks it is David's baby in "Cool Hand Dave.") In "Tracks of My Tears" Maddie tells Walter it is not David's baby, and then tells David once in "Tracks" and once in "Eek!" that is isn't his. When she returns to the office she tells the employees that she is a little under 5 months pregnant (which implies she is between 4 1/2 months and 5 months). In her discussion immediately following with David in her office, it is made very clear that she's been gone 4 1/2 months. Pregnancy is calculated from the date of conception. If she's 5 months pregnant, she got pregnant 2 weeks before she left for Chicago, when she was sleeping with David. If she is 4 1/2 months pregnant she got pregnant right before she got on the plane to Chicago-also when she was sleeping with David. Really, the only times there were breaks in the continuity of the paternity were when Maddie told Walter and then David that the baby was Sam's.

Why does Maddie tell David the baby is not his? I truly believe that she's not sure who the father is, but she convinces herself that it is Sam's. Why?

Because it would be easier to break things off with David if it is Sam's. I believe that she truly thought that this was best for her, the baby and David (based on her dreams about the "new 'David).
Because she didn't want David to feel "trapped," (she wanted to stay with David because they were in love, not because of the baby)
She didn't want David to change into Pat Boone.
It's possible she, or her doctor miscalculated.
She married Walter. Walter was her husband now and offered a quick and easy way to resolve this mess.

In "Maddie Hayes Got Married" she tells David in the hospital that she wishes it were his baby. I really don't think she's lying to him, she's convinced herself that it's Sam's. I believe the one that Maddie lies most to is herself. She has an incredible ability to use denial to protect herself. Remember, before she got on the train, she told her parents it didn't matter who the father was (she knows it will matter to David, and would to Sam if she ever told him.) It was only after all those crazy dreams that we hear that the baby is Sam's. I believe that at this point she still has no idea whose child it is. I believe that it was easiest for her to believe it was Sam's given the dreams she had and the fact that the baby being Sam's left her with more options. But as she said in "Tears" it doesn't matter who the father was, because now the father will be Walter. Why would the writers almost tell us for certain in "Tracks of my Tears" that the baby was David's with the timing, but have Maddie say for certain it wasn't? I do not believe that this was a mistake in writing. I believe their intent was to show the conflict in Maddie and her selfless (but stupid) decision to "free" David. It also shows how powerful fear and denial are in Maddie's life. It also sets up a cliffhanger to be resolved the following season.
Personally, don't think David ever believed the baby was Sam's. He asks Maddie twice if it's his, he obviously didn't believe her the first time and the second time her response was strange (she looked at the floor instead of looking at him in the eye). He only referred to the baby as Sam Jr. once, in "Eek! A Spouse!" right before the chase, and that was sarcastic. I think he had resigned himself to nobly raise a child that he had only a 50/50 chance of fathering. I believe at this point David thinks the kid is his, he's not certain, but he thinks it is. That's why it becomes so important for him to find out if Maddie really loves Walter or not. If she does love Walter, she married him and he agreed to raise the kid. Maddie made her choice and David would accept that and convince himself to believe Maddie that the baby wasn't his. If she doesn't love Walter, (which David really figures out for certain at the beginning of "Maddie Hayes Got Married") David has to find out if she still loves him. That's why he throws her the wedding. Maddie told Walter it was a dare and she was right. David was daring her to marry Walter in front of him and forever prove that she doesn't love David anymore. If she did, I believe David would've let it all go and let Maddie have her way. He only wanted her to be happy. Of course, she fails. In the hospital scene at the end of "Maddie Hayes Got Married" he says that "none of this makes sense, the baby's not mine, you're not mine." I think this indicates that it makes no sense to him that the baby isn't his. At the end of "And the Flesh Was Made Word" he referred to the baby as the "dividend." In "A Womb with a View" he refers to the baby as the "corporate offspring." I believe both are references to his belief that the baby is his biologically. David's a smart guy. He knows how to count, and has been in this situation before. When Maddie told him it was Sam's and then didn't tell Sam I think David knew it wasn't Sam's. But at that point Maddie was married to Walter (who had agreed to raise the baby as his own) so Dave really couldn't do anything about it just then. He just put his plans in motion to find out if Maddie really loved Walter, because if she didn't love Dave anymore, there was no point in his trying.

Memorable Moments

Opening musical sequence
Bruce Willis's performance is incredible!
Jerome explaining good, evil and happiness
The baby shower scenes show Dave and Maddie very obviously and happily in love.
The ending with Dave and Maddie in the hospital (the nurse says they can 'start trying again' really soon!)

Links

Back to the Episode Guide main page
The next episode, "Between a Yuk and a Hard Place"
Brian's "A Womb with a View" page
Aubrey's Blue Moon Banter page for this episode