"Food For Thought" - Rick and Karen take Jessie to see a psychiatrist (series creator/director Edward Zwick) to find out why she is not eating. Meanwhile, discussions with the doctor make them realize how much work they still have to do on their own relationship, on "Once and Again,"

"Once and Again" stars Sela Ward as Lily Manning, Billy Campbell as Rick Sammler, Julia Whelan as Grace Manning, Shane West as Eli Sammler, Meredith Deane as Zoe Manning, Evan Rachel Wood as Jessie Sammler, Susanna Thompson as Karen Sammler, Jeffrey Nordling as Jake Manning, Todd Field as David Casilli, Marin Hinkle as Judy, David Clennon as Miles Drentell and Jennifer Crystal as Christie Parker. Guest starring are Edward Zwick as Dr. Daniel Rosenfeld, Mark Feuerstein as Leo, Dennison Samaroo as Saj, Charles Walker as Craig, Julie Marie Berman as Julie and Andrew Borba as the activist.

"Food For Thought" was written by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick and directed by Edward Zwick.

Sometimes the answers are right there in front of us, but we choose to look away. Take Rick and Karen Sammler, who have finally had to acknowledge that their teenage daughter, Jessie, has an eating disorder. The question is, why? The answer, it turns out, ble to spot it, even though it was staring us right in the face.

That moment of revelation in tonight's Once and Again is typical of this sometimes profoundly moving family drama, which offers hard-earned truths without the softening comforts of melodrama or phony epiphanies. It's also why Once and Again is the rather obvious answer to the TV question "What is the best show airing at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays?" - even though, as the ratings will tell you, most people are looking the other way.

Written by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who also directs and makes his acting debut as a psychiatrist, tonight's episode continues the season-long focus on Rick (Billy Campbell) and his family. Concerned for their daughter's health, Rick and ex-wife Karen (Susanna Thompson) bring Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) to a psychiatrist. The doctor says he needs to see the three of them at once to find out "if this girl is trying to tell us something with her symptoms that she can't tell us any other way."

As usual, the entire cast shines, including the sometimes underappreciated Campbell, who allows genuine rage to break through his gentle veneer.

But Wood is the true stunner, if only because you don't expect such conviction and nuance from one so young. Her honesty and restraint make her performance all the more heartbreaking.

Yes, Once takes more work, but it also offers greater rewards - like the episode tonight that opens a window into a family's soul.

Look again.

Once and Again Rick (Billy Campbell) and Karen (Susanna Thompson) detect signs of anorexia in their daughter Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) in this new episode. Concerned for her health, they make an appointment for her with a doctor (played by series co-creator and co-producer Edward Zwick). His findings force Rick and Karen to face that they may be at the heart of the problem.

10:00 (ABC) "Once and Again." Edward Zwick, who co-created this series with partner Marshall Herskovitz, also directed this episode, which the two of them wrote. Oh, and in his spare time, Zwick makes his acting debut in this installment as well - playing a psychiatrist who tries to guide Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) through her eating disorder.

Los Angeles, CA:
I am a huge fan of Once and Again but I have been disappointed by the lack of screen time shared by its main stars. I miss their original spark from last season. Is there anything you can tell me about future story lines involving Rick and Lily? Thanks

Robert Bianco:
Not about Rick and Lily. But I can tell you tomorrow's episode, which is centered on Jessie's eating problem, is one of the best the show has done. It includes a twist that is surprising, but completely organic - something that will leave fans thinking "Why didn't I see that was coming?"

What a great show.

Edward Zwick, one of the show's co-creators and executive producers, guest stars in "Food for Thought" as a psychiatrist whom Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) is seeing. Rick and Karen (Billy Campbell, Susanna Thompson) have brought her in because they want to know why she won't eat. But the doc must be having a three-for-one special, because he gives them some things to chew on regarding the state of their own relationship. Sela Ward also stars.

Edward Zwick, Once and Again's creator and director, does triple duty on tonight's episode. He makes his acting debut as a psychiatrist, who Rick (Billy Campbell) and Karen (Susanna Thompson) consult in an effort to find out why Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) isn't eating. Meanwhile, discussions with the doctor make them realize how much work they still have to do on their own relationship.

Rick and Karen take Jessie to a psychiatrist to find out why she's not eating.

Edward Zwick, one of the show's co-creators and executive producers, guest stars in "Food for Thought" as a psychiatrist whom Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) is seeing. Rick and Karen (Billy Campbell, Susanna Thompson) have brought her in because they want to know why she won't eat. But the doc must be having a three-for-one special, because he gives them some things to chew on regarding the state of their own relationship. Sela Ward also stars.

As someone else has already said on this board, Lily is extremely light in this episode. I think this episode features the least amount of Lily so far.

Much of the episode deals with Jessie seeing a psychiatrist, played by series co-creator Ed Zwick. This is no cameo - he has some pretty substantial scenes.

The show also adds a great wrinkle to the Rick/Atlantor Corporation storyline. This big new office park is going to displace an entire neighborhood. Rick's ex, Karen, works as a public interest lawyer. Now, who do you suppose this neighborhood hires to represent them in their fight against Atlantor?

Despite the absence of Lily from most of the show, this is a solid episode that points to some real fireworks down the road. (and yes, on the tape that I saw, Rick did use the F word.)

Rick and Karen (Billy Campbell, Susanna Thompson) realize how much work they need to do on their own relationship when they bring Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) to a psychiatrist (guest star Edward Zwick) to find out why she's not eating.

Last month's Thanksgiving story indicated that teenage Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) might have an eating disorder. In this episode (insightfully written by series creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick), those suspicions are confirmed. Zwick makes his acting debut here as Jessie's therapist, an understanding and often wry doctor whose treatment of his patient's anorexia involves consultations with her divorced parents, Rick and Karen, to get "to know the unwritten rules of your family, the unspoken messages." That quest is complicated by a conflict embattling Jessie's parents: her dad is designing a huge riverfront project that her mom, a public-interest lawyer, opposes.

"Food For Thought" - When Rick and Karen take Jessie to see a psychiatrist (Edward Zwick) to find out why she is not eating, they are surprised to discover how much work they still have to do on their own relationship.

"Food For Thought" - When Rick and Karen take Jessie to see a psychiatrist (Edward Zwick) to find out why she is not eating, they are surprised to discover how much work they still have to do on their own relationship.

Edward Zwick . . . makes his acting debut December 12 as Jessie's therapist.