Sandy talks on the phone at the Big House asking someone to call him -- presumably the police -- if "someone of [Ryan's] description comes in." He informs Kirsten that there's no news of Ryan at the hospitals, and Kirsten is sure he'll turn up. Sandy adds, "If he's smart." Sandy suspects that Seth knows Ryan's whereabouts, and Kirsten is outraged that he's accusing Seth of lying. She snits, "That'll be good for your relationship." Kirsten maintains that they should let the police handle the situation, and Sandy emotionally wishes she hadn't called the police, who he claims don't have enough manpower or resources. He fears Ryan will just "slip through the cracks." So what resources or manpower would Sandy currently have if Kirsten hadn't called the police? Kirsten asks how many cases like this Sandy has seen, asking, "What is it about this kid?" Sandy doesn't respond, "Have you seen this kid?" Instead, he earnestly explains that he thought he could help Ryan and make a difference in his life. His eyebrows insist, "I was this kid!" Sandy claims that if someone hadn't helped him, he wouldn't be where he is today. And where is that, exactly? As whipped husband/bitch to his frigid wife's control-freak bossiness? In any case, Kirsten momentarily thaws, and Sandy gets a kiss.

Kirsten's phone rings, and she acts all sneaky, gesturing to Sandy that she'll take the call outside. It's not like it's noisy in the house or anything, so if I were Sandy, I'd definitely be suspicious of the fact that my wife needs to take the phone outside to avoid having a conversation in my presence. It's Jimmy, who needs to talk to Kirsten about something. We see him looking conflicted, but then Lady Heather storms in announcing, "China? Has alopecia. We need to call the vet!" She makes an urgent face accompanied by a "what?" gesture in reaction to his irritated expression. Jimmy motions for Lady Heather to hold on, before quickly asking Kirsten whether she's free for lunch. Kirsten has some work stuff to do, but says lunch sounds great. I wonder where that work will be. Certainly not at the model home!

Seth, Ryan, and Marissa have settled into a diner on the pier, where Seth announces that he's been thinking about a plan and "right now, this would very well be the first stop in a pancake tour of North America." For emphasis, he waves around a piece of pancake on his fork, and then shoves it in his mouth. Marissa's all, "Hey, like in On the Road?" and enthuses that it's her favorite book. Seth grudgingly responds that it's his favorite too. I'm sensing a little Dawson/Joey/Pacey thing here right now, and I'm not liking it too much. In any case, Ryan reveals that last summer he did construction work for his mother's boyfriend. The now-ex has since moved to Austin, and Marissa's all, "In Texas?" Substitute the word "Mars" for "Texas" and you have her delivery. The ex told Ryan to look him up if he was ever out there, and Seth whines that it's too far: "We were thinking like Long Beach or something so we could all still hang out." Ryan ignores this appeal, and claims he'll need a couple of days of work first for travel money. Marissa flippantly says, "We can get you money," which is so the wrong thing to say to a poor, proud seventeen-year-old boy. He looks away, and Seth tries to ease the situation by rambling on about how lucky (in a way) Ryan is because he can move to a new place and start over -- be whoever he wants to be. But Ryan was doing that exact thing in Newport, and it didn't end particularly well, did it?