Playing House Episode 1.01 Pilot

After eleven years in Shanghai, Emma returns home to Pinebrook, CT for her best friend Maggie's baby shower. Happily reunited, the girls' drive down Main Street ends abruptly after the local cop (and Emma's old flame) Mark pulls them over. Emma and Mark awkwardly reconnect and Mark informs Emma that he is now married.

Maggie and her husband Bruce welcome Emma into their home, where Zach, Maggie's younger brother and a quirky jack-of-all-trades, has transformed the living room into a woodland wonderland for the baby shower. Emma tells Maggie that she has an important conference call later that night but assures Maggie it won't affect their weekend together.

The baby shower is a hit but Emma has to step out to take an important call, upsetting Maggie. To cheer Maggie up, Emma gives Maggie her present but it is ruined by a shocking, possibly marriage-ending revelation about Bruce. Emma consoles a shattered Maggie and assures her she'll be there for her.

Later, Emma makes a crucial mistake during her conference call and is given an ultimatum: come back to Shanghai to fix the deal or else she will be fired. Mark advises a distraught Emma not to abandon Maggie when she needs her most. Emma takes Mark's advice and tells Maggie she is moving back to Pinebrook to help her, but Maggie reveals that she and Bruce are trying to work things out. Emma and Maggie get into a fight when Maggie questions Emma's loyalty.

The next day, Maggie discovers that the nursery is completed, but when she goes to thank Bruce she finds out that he is still deceiving her. Before Emma can hop on a plane back to Shanghai, Maggie chases down her best friend and tells her she made a mistake and she wants Emma to stay. Emma decides once and for all to call Pinebrook home and help Maggie raise the baby.