- 8.2/10 116 votes
#1 - Storm Weathered
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 3/29/2010
Lux is forced to face her complicated feelings for Jones when she sees him kissing another girl at a party. When a storm hits Portland, Ryan and Lux find themselves stranded at the radio station, and Ryan learns more than he ever knew about what Lux went through as a child. Cate goes to Baze's bar looking for Lux, but the storm traps her there with Baze, Math, Jamie and her sister, Abby.
Director: Rick Bota
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/10 107 votes
#2 - Stand Taken
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 12/7/2010
Lux and Tasha are forced to deal with the fallout of their recent actions and the potential outcome could change the course of both their lives. As a result, Lux can no longer hide her past from Cate and Baze.
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: Adele Lim
- 8.0/10 116 votes
#3 - Bride Unbridled
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 3/8/2010
Cate and Ryan are forced to put on a happy face as the hosts of a wedding expo, but the unfortunate situation becomes even more unfortunate after Baze and Math show up at the event. After watching Lux mope around the house for days, Baze solicits help from Jones in an effort to cheer her up.
Director: David Paymer
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 173 votes
#4 - Rent Uncollected
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 2/1/2010
When Baze tells his parents about Lux, they insist on planning a dinner at which they can meet their granddaughter and Cate. Cate reluctantly agrees to go to the dinner and is further annoyed when her overbearing mother and neurotic sister show up unexpectedly. Meanwhile, when Cate hears about a gang fight at Lux's school, she immediately decides to have Lux transferred to her and Baze's alma mater, Westmonte.
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.9/10 128 votes
#5 - Father Unfigured
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 4/5/2010
With her wedding on the horizon, Cate decides to take a road trip with Lux to find her father, Gordon (guest star Peter Horton), who abandoned her when she was a little girl. Meanwhile, when Bug’s “friends” trash Baze’s bar, Lux invites Baze to join her and Cate on the road trip, allowing Bug some time to repair the bar before Baze discovers the truth.
Director: N/A
Writer: Adele Lim
- 7.9/10 98 votes
#6 - Criminal Incriminated
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/2010
Worried she may not pass an important exam that will help her stay in school, Lux contemplates buying the answers to the test from one of her classmates. Cate has an “interesting” day at the radio station after she accidentally eats banana bread laced with pot. Meanwhile, when a large sum of money is missing from Cate’s wallet, Ryan and Cate argue over who may be responsible for taking the money.
Director: Nick Marck
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 108 votes
#7 - Camp Grounded
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/2/2010
Cate, Ryan, Baze, and Math volunteer to chaperon Lux's school camping trip. During the trip, tension rises between Cate and Ryan, while Baze grows closer to Emma. As Lux gets more intimate with Eric, Tasha urges her not to take that risk with her future.
Director: Bobby Roth
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.9/10 99 votes
#8 - Homecoming Crashed
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/2010
Baze and Emma attempt to sign a high-profile client, Candy, who is clearly attracted to Baze. Lux hopes to run into Eric at her homecoming dance, but the evening takes a turn for the worse. Elsewhere, Cate digs into Lux's past and is shocked by what she finds.
Director: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 97 votes
#9 - Thanks Ungiven
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 11/30/2010
When everyone ends up at Baze’s loft for Thanksgiving, it isn’t long before a few big secrets are exposed. Baze worries that his father, Jack, will discover he is dating his boss, Emma; Lux worries that her parents will find out she is spending time with Eric; Tasha worries that something very dark from her not-too-distant past will be discovered; and Cate worries that if she tells Ryan the truth it will further complicate their already complicated relationship.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 138 votes
#10 - Affair Remembered
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/2011
Unaware of the affair between Emma and his father, Baze considers buying a house and planning a future with Emma. Lux makes plans for a romantic dinner with Eric when she feels like he's pulling away from her, but she is shocked when Cate and Baze show up.
Director: N/A
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.8/10 242 votes
#11 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/18/2010
After spending all of her 15 years bouncing from one foster family to another in Portland, Oregon, Lux as decided it's time to take control of her life and become an emancipated minor. Her journey through the legal system leads Lux to her biological parents, local radio personality Cate Cassidy and thirty-something Nate "Baze" Bazile, who had a one-night stand back in high school. Although they haven't seen each other in 15 years, it doesn't take Cate and Baze long to fall into the same contentious relationship they had as teenagers. However, when a judge decides that Lux isn't ready for emancipation and unexpectedly grants temporary joint custody to Baze and Cate, they agree to try to get past the arguments and awkwardness and make a belated attempt to give Lux the family she deserves.
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.8/10 98 votes
#12 - Parents Unemployed
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/2010
When Cate and Baze are summoned to the principal’s office at Lux’s school, they are shocked to learn that Lux is failing and must make a drastic improvement in her grades or risk being kicked out. Meanwhile, after having the rug pulled out from under her at work, Cate starts the difficult process of looking for her next job, and in an effort to be a grown up, Baze decides to interview for a position at his father’s firm.
Director: Jerry Levine
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10 106 votes
#13 - Music Faced
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/2010
Haley Scott and Mia come to Portland to play at a concert hosted by the radio station Cate works at.
Director: Jerry Levine
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.7/10 147 votes
#14 - Truth Unrevealed
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 2/22/2010
Pressured by radio station management, Cate and Ryan reluctantly agree to let Baze join them on air for what turns into a public therapy session. Lux tries to get Jones to drop the charges against her boyfriend, Bug.
Director: Nick Marck
Writer: Janet Leahy
- 7.7/10 144 votes
#15 - Love Unexpected
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 4/12/2010
With her wedding fast approaching, Cate must confront her true feelings for the two men in her life, Baze and Ryan. To complicate Cate’s already conflicted feelings, on the day of the wedding, Lux reveals something that threatens to change all of their lives forever.
Director: N/A
Writer: Adele Lim
- 7.7/10 97 votes
#16 - Team Rebounded
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/2010
Cate tries to bond with Ryan's new on-air partner; Tasha returns and tells Lux she is living with a new foster family; Baze convinces Math to ask Paige out on a date.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/10 90 votes
#17 - Teacher Schooled
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 1/18/2011
Eric confesses that he is dating Lux while Baze comes to terms with the fact that his father cheated on his mother with Emma prior to their relationship.
Director: N/A
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.6/10 110 votes
#18 - Ocean Uncharted
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/2010
Cate and Ryan return from their honeymoom only to discover that major changes have been made at the radio station in their absence. A very confused Baze struggles with his feelings for Cate, and ends up hooking up with the hot new bartender, Paige, at his bar. Meanwhile, Lux and Bug find themselves at a major crossroads in their relationship.
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.6/10 101 votes
#19 - Honeymoon Interrupted
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/2010
Cate and Ryan go on a staycation to a local hotel to help make up for the fact that they never had a proper honeymoon. Unfortunately for them, Baze’s work retreat is at the same hotel.
Director: Sanaa Hamri
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.5/10 155 votes
#20 - Bong Intercepted
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 2/8/2010
When Lux gets suspended from school, Cate does her best to convince Principal Dugan to give Lux a second chance, but, unfortunately, her efforts may have made the situation considerably worse for Lux. Meanwhile, Baze is insulted when he finds out that Cate and Ryan are hosting a radio station event at the bar across the street.
Director: Jeff Melman
Writer: Emily Whitesell
- 7.5/10 154 votes
#21 - Turtle Undefeated
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 2/15/2010
Off to a rocky start at her new school, Lux offers to throw a party in Baze's loft in an effort to impress the high school quarterback, Jones, and his friends. Cate worries that her relationship with Lux will never measure up to the bond Lux has so easily made with Baze.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: Adele Lim
- 7.5/10 125 votes
#22 - Formal Reformed
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 3/15/2010
Jones asks Lux to be his date for the Winter Formal. Baze finds a condom in Lux’s room, and thinking it belongs to Jones, shows up at the dance to try and stop Lux and Jones from having sex. Cate agrees to chaperone the dance, but being at her old high school for Winter Formal brings back painful memories about the night Lux was conceived.
Director: J. Miller Tobin
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.5/10 120 votes
#23 - Family Therapized
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 3/22/2010
After Lux and Bug are picked up by the police for a curfew violation, Lux's social worker decides it's time to meet with Cate and Baze to reevaluate their custody of Lux. During a meeting with the social worker, Cate, Baze and Lux agree to put on a happy face to ensure that Lux isn't placed back in the foster care system. Meanwhile, in an attempt to show Lux that she supports her, Cate offers to find Bug a job at her radio station, but winds up disappointing Lux once again.
Director: Michael Katleman
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10 186 votes
#24 - Home Inspected
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/25/2010
Cate and Baze are paid a visit by a social worker whose job it is to evaluate both of them and determine if they are fit parents. Lux is torn when her boyfriend, Bug, and best friend, Natasha, suggest that Cate and Baze may not be in it for the long haul and that Lux should return to her old life and the people who love her most of all. Meanwhile, Cate is pressured by the executives at the radio station to deny that she has a daughter in order to save her job.
Director: Gary Fleder
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
- 7.4/10 89 votes
#25 - Plumber Cracked
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/2010
Cate takes Paige out for some drinks, hoping that she'll spill some information about Ryan's ex-girlfriend, Julia. At the same time, Ryan joins Baze, Jamie and Math for a guys' night out, but Baze is depressed about the current state of his relationship with Emma. Meanwhile, Lux and Eric take a big risk with their relationship, which threatens Lux's friendship with Tasha.
Director: Jerry Levine
Writer: Liz Tigelaar
The Best Episodes of Life Unexpected
Every episode of Life Unexpected ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Life Unexpected!
16-year-old Lux was given up for adoption at birth but never adopted. When she is put back into the custody of her estranged-since-high-school birth parents, Cate and Baze, the three form an unlikely family.
Genre:Drama
Network:The CW
Top Episode Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Life Unexpected" is "Storm Weathered", rated 8.2/10 from 116 user votes. It was directed by Rick Bota and written by N/A. "Storm Weathered" aired on 3/29/2010 and is rated 0.1 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Stand Taken".