American Dreams

- Season 3

(2004)

The Pryor and Walker families react to Meg and Sam having to go to court after being arrested. Meg's arrest becomes public knowledge and Jack's election is in trouble. Roxanne and Meg fight the school dress code. J.J. learns that the rest of his squad is dead.

The Pryors' new neighbors consist of Shelly Pierce, a former Playboy Bunny, and her son Chris. Meg uses the school play to protest the war. Sam gets recruited to play basketball at Penn and starts to date a girl named Melanie. Patty enters the Campbell Soup Essay contest.

Meg makes a deal with Chris to get him in the school play. Jack faces different groups as he fights for the city council election. Beth fears for J.J.'s life after meeting a woman with a newborn baby who lost her husband in Vietnam. Sam is feeling inferior when compared to Melanie's upscale friends.

Chris' bad influence is obvious in Meg's new behaviour. Jack is faced with the minority vote to counter dirty tactics.

Father Cassidy discourages Meg's plans to add an anti-Vietnam aspect to the play. Melanie becomes increasingly jealous of Sam and Meg's friendship. Meg decides to do the play as she wrote it.

Jack and Helen celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary by going out of town. Nathan begins to serve the rest of his jail time at a VA hospital and gains a respect for the veterans. J.J. and his squad are captured and must figure out a way to escape.

Jack goes to Washington, D.C. to learn about J.J.'s fate and discovers Meg is there as well for an anti-war rally. Sam, ashamed of his family, goes to Melanie's Thanksgiving dinner alone.

During a citywide blackout, Beth gives birth to her son, unaware that J.J. is fighting to get back to the base as a Frenchman helps him.

Nathan is left a gift by a war veteran from the VA hospital. Sam finally invites Melanie to meet his family. The Pryors get an unexpected Christmas gift as J.J. comes home.

J.J. is still haunted by the war and finally sets a date for his wedding with Beth. Pete thinks Chris started a fire at the recruitment center and Chris delivers an ultimatum to Meg.

Meg's special night with Chris is ruined in the morning. J.J. and Beth refuse to have a Catholic wedding as Helen wants. Henry starts a new project to impress his new girlfriend.

J.J. learns that plans for his house are gone thanks to the war and learns that his mother is against the war. Chris leaves town and Meg.

It's the Senior Prom and Patty is invited, which she rubs in Meg's face. However, she is later upset when her date asks somebody else. Roxanne works to convince Luke to shave his beard off, while Meg prepares to face the prom on her own. J.J. comes to her rescue after having a fight with Beth, that begins when J.J. confesses his gamble that he lost. While at the prom, J.J. is offered a job at the high school. Meanwhile, Jack feels the pressure from his bribers and struggles to make a choice, which effects his family more than he knows.

Meg is torn between her feelings for Sam and the fact that they can never be together. Patty wins the essay contest and no one believes her as it is listed under another name.

Meg and Roxanne go to Hollywood for a special Bandstand (1952) episode. While the girls are there, they meet Barbara Eden. J.J. goes for an interview with an engineering company in the hopes of following his dream of becoming an astronaut. Meanwhile, Sam realizes the he has more in common with Nathan's date than Nathan does. Pete and Shelley decide to have an "open relationship" where they can see each other and other people. Jack decides to tell a reporter his reasons for leaving the City Council.

With his brother Ted in the hospital, Jack faces a tough decision: whether or not to take him off life support. Meg and Roxanne are excited about the Rolling Stones concert but are surprised to find where their seats are. Patty wants to become cool after being teased by some students at summer school about being a nerd. She receives a makeover from Meg and Roxanne and goes on Bandstand (1952) but ultimately decides that she likes who she is.

When Chris returns, Meg finds out that he has been drafted and is going to Berkeley to avoid it. Meg must decide between being with Chris or being with her family but her decision is made even harder when Jack threatens to disown her if she leaves. Roxanne begins to cut hair at the Vinyl Crocodile much to Luke's dismay. J.J. begins to feel overwhelmed at work when he volunteers to help on a project. Nathan is given a second chance by Jack when he allows him to do deliveries again. Helen decides to accompany a mother to pick up her son's coffin.