Sequel Idea
(sorry for my English)
WIFE GOES ON
15 years have passed since Elise, Annie and Brenda founded The First Wives Club and though still friends, they grew apart once again. The foundation is managed by Annie’s daughter and the three of them are all busy with their wildly different lives.
Elise had a career resurgence thanks to a damagesesque hit cable show that made her a critical darling and awards magnet once again, Annie became a power player and is currently running for senator and Brenda continues to live her quiet life in Brooklyn, alone again after Morty’s death a few years back.
Elise gets a phone call on-set and abruptly leaves. It is her late first husband’s wife Sally (hint, Field!) asking her to visit her immediately. (This is the fictional ’nice’ husband / high-school sweetheart she had before the scumbag Victor Garber played.) She is in the hospital waiting for a new heart and she needs Elise to finally step up and make things right with her daughter she hasn’t seen in 30 years not to mention the grandson she never met. When Elise and her first husband divorced, she gave full custody to him, their daughter Kate (hint, Hudson!) was only five years old and Sally, who not long after married Elise’s ex, raised her as her own. Now Sally is scared she’ll run out of time and die leaving Kate all on her own in the world so Elise reluctantly agrees to her plan and moves into Sally’s Brooklyn apartment where she lives with Kate and her son. Sally doesn’t want Elise to uproot them and the grandson loves his school in Brooklyn. The not-so luxurious surroundings and her new ’job’ as a full-time mom and grandma, could easily make for great comedy, the kind Goldie Hawn is so great at. Even though Kate makes it clear she wants nothing to do with her , her son warms up to Elise almost instantly so she decides to stay and try to make peace with her daughter. Elise visits and takes care of Sally, too, they mostly just bicker and Sally doesn’t understand until Elise explains it to her : she visits her and brings flowers to her room and sweets and all that because she has no better idea how to thank her for raising her child, for being the mother to her she could have never been, not with all the men, partying and drinking. Also since Kate isn’t talking to her, Sally is the only one who can tell Elise about her daughter, what kind of person she is, why is she the way she is and all the funny childhood anecdotes. Sally is touched and admits she is not that sure she didn’t fail as a parent because Kate is miserable. She is an alcoholic, just like her mother but doesn’t admit it and it will be Elise’s job to make her realize she has to stop drinking or she will ruin her child’s life just like apparently Elise ruined hers.
Annie announces her run for Senator and finds herself in trouble almost instantly. She meets her opponent who stands against everything she believes in (well, he is a Republican) yet they have undeniable chemistry. After learning from her past mistakes (her failed marriage) she is a feminist who believes she doesn’t need a man to be happy and she has done remarkably well in the last few years without one. Nonetheless she gives into her feelings , starts a secret relationship during which he seems to be falling in love with her. To her shock, he asks her to drop out of the race because he doesn’t want rivalry he just wants to be with her and based on recent polls, she would lose anyway. Now Annie has a decision to make : love or her principles.
Brenda lives alone in Brooklyn, she accepted her lonely life, her son moved away, her husband died of a heart attack years back. She stopped living, she is now just existing until her doctor tells her she has cancer and needs to fight like never before to survive. This makes her value the beauty of everyday life more than ever before and she is determined to beat her illness. In the hospital she meets a harsh, rude male nurse and though she acts like she dislikes him and vice versa it is obvious they are attracted to each other. It is their special, hilariously funny way of flirting. One day she runs into Elise who is visiting Sally, and first she is angry at her friend because she didn’t even tell her that even if only temporarily, she moved to her neighborhood. She is mad because they once again allowed themselves to drift apart despite promising each other they wouldn’t let that happen again. She tells Elise she didn’t tell her or Annie about her illness because they were so busy with their careers that they literally no longer had time for her and their weekly lunches turned into monthly phone calls…and the last time either of them called her was three months ago. She doesn’t want friends who are only interested in her or good to her when she needs them, she wants her friends to be there for her always not just when she is, well, dying.
Elise agrees and apologizes, calls Annie to tell her what’s going on, and the three finally reunite for real and for good. Elise and Brenda help Annie with her love vs. career decision. Annie decides that though she believes he loves her, just like her ex-husband, he doesn’t love her ENOUGH if he wants her to step aside for him so she breaks up with him and continues with the election. Elise and Brenda praise her for having confidence in herself, growing as a person since her divorce and truly learning from her past mistakes… the two also decide to spruce up her struggling campaign and thanks to their fresh ideas, Annie pulls off an upset and they celebrate her election victory together and with their signature song. Life is full of surprises and they all got the most wonderful things and the ones they never really expected : Elise got family; Annie got power; and Brenda…well, Brenda got love.