My Sister’s Keeper: 21. Friday: Campbell Summary & Analysis

Campbell goes to the hospital to talk to the psychiatrist Dr. Peter Bergen, who serves as the chairman of the hospital’s medical board of ethics. Though he has not been able to get in contact with Anna or Julia, he is working under the assumption that he still has a case. He comes into Bergen’s office to find him doing tai chi. Campbell asks for Anna’s medical records, but Bergen tells him that he only has medical records for Kate since the ethics committee never convened about Anna. He explains that, when everyone agrees on what’s good for the patient, there’s no need to meet, and he tells Campbell that the hospital staff “don’t go looking for problems.”

In a flashback to high school, Julia and Campbell are in the locker room arguing about the Virgin Mary. Campbell suggests that Mary just came up with immaculate conception to avoid getting in trouble for having sex, which Julia balks at. When Campbell opens his locker, he’s shocked to find hundreds of condoms spill out. His team members appear, laughing, and tell him that they thought he could use a new supply. Campbell, not knowing what else to do, laughs, which infuriates Julia and prompts her to leave. Campbell follows her. She asks him what he tells his teammates; he says he tells them nothing. Then, she asks what he tells his parents about her; to them, too, Campbell has said nothing. Julia tells him “fuck you” and runs away.

Back in the present, Campbell runs into Julia in the elevator on his way back from Bergen’s office. Julia is there to meet with Dr. Chance, but when Campbell asks her about the state of the lawsuit, she admits she hasn’t been able to contact the Fitzgeralds (aside from Jesse’s unwanted flirtation). Campbell insists that they sit down to discuss the case to figure out what’s going on. Julia initially refuses, but Campbell points out that this is about Anna, not them. Julia insults him but ultimately concedes that he’s correct and invites him to a diner. As they walk there, Julia tells him that Dr. Chance does not think Kate can survive a kidney transplant, but Sara is fighting for the transplant against Anna’s will anyway.

At the restaurant, Campbell briefly thinks back to when his mother tried to guess the identity of his girlfriend; of course, she never guessed Julia. In the present, Julia says that she feels Anna is justified in filing her petition, but she worries about Anna’s commitment given that she keeps backing away from her suit whenever she’s challenged on it. Campbell expresses confidence that Anna will be able to make her decision by the time of the hearing. Julia mutters that she remembers Campbell’s confidence from when they were close.

In a flashback, Campbell takes Julia to his house to meet his parents. He hasn’t told her anything about his house, and as they drive in, he pulls into the driveway of a massive mansion, which alarms Julia. Campbell then tells him he’s joking and leaves, going two houses down to his actual house: still a large and ornate house, but not quite as imposing as the mansion. Julia says that his parents are going to hate her, but Campbell tells her that they’ll love her. This is the first time he’s lied to her, but not the last.

Julia asks Campbell about Judge; Campbell tells her that he translates for Campbell’s Spanish-speaking clients. Julia expresses irritation at his evasiveness, a trait she says he has in common with Anna. She asks him why he took her case since it’s not one of his “usual cases”—inadvertently revealing that she’s been following his career, just as he’s been following hers. After an uncomfortable beat of silence, Campbell wipes some sauce off of Julia’s face, his hand lingering on her cheek. Julia begs him not to “push [her] off the same cliff twice.” Campbell’s phone rings; it’s Anna, telling him that she’s at the Upper Darby Police Station.

Julia and Campbell drive to the station together. Anna is there. She begs Campbell to help Jesse, who has been arrested for stealing a car. When Anna describes the car, a yellow Humvee, Campbell realizes that it belongs to a Judge Newbell. Exasperated, Campbell goes to talk to the desk sergeant, who agrees to talk to the Attorney General on the condition that Jesse pleads out. Campbell returns to Anna and tells her that he's fixed it but that he’s never doing this again. He goes to Jesse, explaining that he’s his lawyer, and tells him that he’ll have to give up his license. With that, Jesse is allowed out. Julia takes Anna to get something to eat, while Campbell takes Jesse to court.

In a flashback, Campbell recalls how his graduation day was overrun with a horde of locusts. The ceremony is outside, resulting in constant interruption from bugs. Campbell is there against his will, with his parents having forced him to go. Julia finds him and hugs him, asking where he went. She tries to kiss him, but Campbell pushes her away and tells her: “Just don’t.” Later, in his graduation photos, he smiles despite his despair.

Campbell muses on how lawyers have to perform immoral acts in order to act ethically for their clients, a practice that he undertakes to get Jesse off the hook. He bargains with the prosecutor, Bruce, promising that Jesse will never get near Judge Newbell or his car again if his traffic misdemeanors are erased. Bruce, who is currently working on a double murder case, agrees to these terms. Half an hour later, Jesse is free and on probation. The two of them walk out of the courthouse. Jesse offers Campbell a cigarette, which Campbell accepts despite not having smoked in years. Jesse thanks Campbell for helping Anna.

In a flashback to two weeks after graduation, Campbell finds a note from Julia under his windshield. The two meet in the cemetery. Julia tells Campbell that she wanted him to be different. When Campbell responds that it’s not about her, she doesn’t believe him, telling him that she was never going to be rich and he shouldn’t have dated her if he wasn’t okay with that. Campbell claims that he doesn’t care about money, but Julia accuses him of wanting to “go slumming” with a poorer girl. She tells him that she never needed him, and he shouts back that he needed her. He kisses her, then pushes her away and leaves the cemetery.

Campbell drives Anna home. He lectures her on the events of the day, telling her that she has to learn to fix messes on her own if she wants the right to make her own decisions. He tells her that nobody ever asks her for her opinion because she changes her mind too often; after all, he doesn’t even know if they still have a case, given that people keep telling him that she doesn’t want to go through with it. Anna tells him that she wants to be dropped off at the station, which frustrates Campbell, given that his petition was denied since Anna supposedly wanted to stay with her mother. Anna blows up, saying she’s sick of being a guinea pig and never having her opinion listened to. As she gets out of the car, Campbell worries that she is too immature to testify.