The Big C

- Season 1

(2010)

Cathy doesn't want to be the one who is always responsible and in control, especially now that she has been diagnosed with a terminal case of melanoma. That's why she kicked Paul out of the house as she literally wants to be the one in their twosome who is seen as the person who freely spills wine on the sofa without caring, instead of that person always being Paul. That's why she's decided that she wants a pool built in their postage stamp sized yard, so that she can teach Adam how to do the banana split dive like she did when she was his age. That's why she feels ...

Cathy learns from Dr. Mauer that she probably has at least a year to live if not longer, which gives her some perspective of how much time she has left to do the things she wants. Chief among these is spending time with Adam. So instead of allowing him to go away to soccer camp for six weeks over the summer, she decides unilaterally for him to stay home over the summer so that they can spend time together. Cathy's actions seem crazy to Adam and Paul, both who still don't know about her medical diagnosis. Regardless, Cathy goes to extreme lengths to get what she wants....

Cathy still isn't feeling like she can let Paul back in the house or in her life. Adam is still angry with her and avoids her at all cost. And Sean still believes that Cathy is too uptight with who to hang out. So at this crucial time in her life, Cathy is feeling all alone, that is except for Thomas, Marlene's beagle, who always seems to be following her around. Her attempts at bringing Sean - and his girlfriend Daphne - and Adam and Andrea as meaningful parts of her life don't end up quite the way she envisions. As such, Cathy decides to attend a cancer support ...

Since she knows she won't reach retirement age, Cathy decides to withdraw all the funds from her retirement plan and do whatever she wants to with the money without a care. Among other things, she indulges on material goods such as an expensive bottle of champagne, which she shares with her new confidante, Marlene. But her biggest purchase is a red convertible sports car, which she can't drive since she doesn't know how to drive a stick shift. Regardless, she decides to spend the day with her new toy and Dr. Todd house hunting while pretending to be his older ...

Adam is not talking to his mother again since she caught him watching porn, which was bad enough, but what made it worse was that she continued to watch it with him and analyzed why it wasn't realistic from a female's point of view. Cathy realizes what she did with Adam was wrong, but she still wants to make sure that at age fourteen he is not yet having sex, and that when he does that he can both talk to her about anything in that vein and that he treat the girl properly. As she deals with this issue, she is beginning to see physical beauty around her, which includes...

During the course of their continuing sexual relationship where they do it anywhere they can on unofficial breaks during the school day, Lenny notices a lump on Cathy's lower back side. Dr. Todd's diagnosis is that the cancer is showing itself, but that it does not necessarily mean that the cancer is getting worse. As it is purely a cosmetic issue, Cathy can choose to leave the lump or have it removed. She chooses the latter, and asks the only person who knows, Marlene, to pick her up after the surgery. The lump makes Marlene try to convince Cathy to tell her family ...

After Marlene tells Cathy about the distant relationship she has with her own two daughters who Cathy didn't even know existed, Cathy decides she and Sean need to go visit their own father, who she feels they don't see often enough. Sean reluctantly goes as he openly dislikes their father, who didn't give him the time of day while he was growing up. Cathy, on the other hand, loves their father, as she was seen as the good one during her and Sean's childhood. This road trip ends up being one of discovery for both Cathy and Sean, those discoveries which affect the way ...

It's Cathy's 43rd birthday. Coming to the realization that this birthday may be her last, she, on an impulse, takes Lenny up on his offer to accompany him to the Bahamas for the weekend. That plan is placed in jeopardy when Paul throws Cathy a surprise birthday party at the house. For her gift, Paul gives her Rebecca, her best friend from college who she hasn't seen in fifteen years after Rebecca, who was supposed to be Cathy's maid of honor, skipped the wedding in favor of hanging out with a man she just met. Time has not changed Rebecca's perspective on life. ...

Paul discovers his wife's affair and demands a divorce.

Cathy's relationships with three people are on the outs. Following his decision to divorce Cathy, Paul turns to rugby tramp Tina for solace. Cathy has decided not to rekindle her friendship with Rebecca, due to Cathy believing that she has always put her sexual quest for men a priority over their friendship. It doesn't help that Sean is the latest in that long line of men. And Andrea drops out of Cathy's class, which Cathy learns is due in large part to knowing about her affair with Lenny, and Andrea's own attraction to him. Of those three relationships, Andrea's is ...

Now that Paul knows about Cathy's melanoma, he wants to help her in any way he can, including investigating alternate treatments. He is also still trying to get over the fact that he lost three months in trying to help her, three months in her probably shortened life. Cathy tries to explain to him why she didn't didn't tell him sooner. Paul, in dealing with the spouse of someone who died of cancer, begins to move closer to Cathy's way of thinking. Meanwhile, Rebecca tells Sean that she is moving to Minneapolis, but doesn't quite get the reaction she wanted. In a girls...

In an effort to be supportive of Cathy's decision and to find out more about it, Dr. Todd accompanies Cathy to Canada for her bee sting therapy. As open as he tries to be, Dr. Todd just can't get around how quackish the whole therapy seems. After the treatment, Cathy too believes that the "Bee Man" is a lunatic, but is glad she made the decision to take a chance. As their trip progresses, many revelations about Dr. Todd's professional and personal life become known to Cathy, which explains why he seems so protective about Cathy and why he wanted to come on this trip. ...

Following Marlene's death, Cathy learns Marlene left her house. At first she's willing to let her daughters have it till she learns what their plans are. Dr. Miller wants her to try a different treatment which is risky. And she learns that Sean and Rebecca are expecting a baby.