Kramer vs. Kramer Scene 17 Summary

  • Ted trudges through the snow with some dry-cleaning. Margaret catches up with him, carrying groceries. No, he hasn't heard anything from the court yet.
  • BTW, Margaret and Charley are thinking about getting back together. Ted thinks that's a much better idea than we do.
  • Ted meets Shaunessy who's downing some brown liquid and smoking a cigarette. "I lost," Ted says before he even sits down. Yup. He lost.
  • Shaunessy reads the judge's decision to Ted. Joanna gets primary custody. Ted gets Billy every other weekend and for one night during the week, plus half of his vacation time. Ted says he wants to fight it, appeal. Shaunessy says that'll get really expensive. Ted says he doesn't care.
  • Shaunessy levels with Ted. If Ted appeals, Shaunessy will have to put Billy on the stand to testify. Ted won't do that. He thanks Shaunessy and leaves.
  • Margaret rings Ted's doorbell. She must've heard the news. Ted's inside. He asks her to go away. He just wants to be by himself.
  • Cut to Ted and Billy walking through the park. Billy says he doesn't understand this whole new custody thing. Ted explains it to him. He and Joanna both want to live with Billy, so they let a judge decide what to do because he's wise. Or something.
  • Ted tries to put positive spin on the whole thing, like by saying he's lucky because he gets to have dinner with Billy one night a week.
  • Ted's acting like a real grownup here.
  • Billy's more concerned with the practical stuff, like where his bed and his toys are going to be. Ted assures him that his mom's got that all figured out.
  • Billy realizes that Ted's not going to be able to kiss him goodnight anymore and he starts crying. "If I don't like it, can I come home?" he asks. Oh, man. We're not crying; that's just a speck of stray popcorn in our eye. Yeah, that's it. Stray popcorn.
  • Billy keeps crying; Ted tells him everything's going to be okay. Then they leave to go get ice cream.