Mom (season 3)

Christy and Bonnie have different ideas about forgiveness when Bonnie's birth mother Shirley (Ellen Burstyn), who abandoned her as a small child, suddenly seeks them out, wanting to be a part of their lives.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet and Matt L. Jones as Baxter

Sensing a shadow of their former selves, Christy and Bonnie try to help Jodi (Emily Osment), a teenage addict they met at their meeting. Meanwhile, Christy ends up getting fired from her manager position after asking Claudia for a raise, and is forced to return to waitressing. The episode ends with a To Be Continued screen.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet

Christy and Bonnie take Jodi in and help her get on her feet: after three months, when they return her to her sister, they decide to continue helping other struggling alcoholics, but their first rescue, Michelle (Judy Greer), becomes more problematic than they had anticipated when she sobers up.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Christy is overjoyed when Violet asks for the chance to repair their relationship, but things start to go wrong when Christy accidentally reveals Violet's past pregnancy to her fiancé Gregory (David Krumholtz). Meanwhile, Bonnie tries to end the old feud between her and her nemesis Beverly (Amy Hill).

Absent: Matt L. Jones as Baxter, Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe, Jaime Pressly as Jill and Beth Hall as Wendy

Christy becomes paranoid and jealous when Baxter's girlfriend Candace starts acting more like a mother to Roscoe, which only gets worse when Baxter reveals his intentions to marry her. Meanwhile, Bonnie is trying to start dating again, so she sets her sights on fellow AA member Steve (Don McManus), the lawyer that Christy works for.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet

Christy and Bonnie are surprised when Regina starts drinking in moderation, but their fears prove unfounded and their jealousy rises when her life starts to improve.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet

While Bonnie struggles to move forward in her relationship with Steve, Christy has trouble establishing boundaries with her mentees, who incessantly keep trying to get in touch with her. Naturally, these problems come to light, as the family tries to host a dinner for Violet's judgmental, future mother-in-law, Phyllis (Linda Lavin).

Absent: Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Now that she is engaged to Baxter, Candace suggests a lunch at the golf club with Christy and Bonnie to ease the friction between them. The three seem to get along for once, when Candace's wealthy father Fred (Harry Hamlin) stops by the table and takes an interest in Christy, which thrills Bonnie but angers Candace. The episode ends with a To Be Continued screen.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Mimi Kennedy as Marjorie, Jaime Pressly as Jill and Beth Hall as Wendy

Christy and Fred's future together is put to the test after Christy sees how Fred's parenting style is demeaning toward Candace. Meanwhile, Bonnie revels in the fact that her daughter is dating a wealthy man.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet

Bonnie wants to go to a different AA meeting because she thinks Steve keeps looking at her funny. She and Christy attend a meeting geared to the LGBT community where Bonnie runs into Christy's "Aunt" Jeanine (Rosie O'Donnell), a lesbian that Bonnie lived with (and slept with) for two years when she was desperate for a home.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Christy tries to help a recently sober man named Julian (Joe Manganiello) get back on his feet, but finds her attraction to him impairing her best intentions. Meanwhile, Bonnie accompanies Jill to a charity gala that the latter says was once the highlight of her year, only to find when they arrive that the guests are not so quick to forget Jill's past alcohol-induced behavior.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Jodi tells Bonnie and Christy she is dating a fellow addict who is only six weeks clean, which worries the women. Marjorie announces she is getting married to Victor (Jonny Coyne), and that the wedding is in a week because they want it done before they go on vacation together. The girls, including Jodi, hold a bachelorette party for Marjorie, where they try to get Victor's sister Anya (Rhea Perlman) to like her. Jodi does not show up for the wedding ceremony, and Christy later gets a call from the police telling her that Jodi has died from a drug overdose.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

As the ladies try to process Jodi's death, Marjorie is furious that Christy didn't tell her about it until she returned from her honeymoon. Meanwhile, Bonnie convinces Christy, Wendy and Jill they can make a huge profit transporting a barrel of pure maple syrup back from Canada.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Bonnie has a health scare when Steve sees a suspicious mole on her butt cheek during sex. A doctor removes it for a biopsy, but tells Bonnie and Christy the results will take a week. Fearing the worst, Bonnie starts making a bucket list of things she has never done "while sober". This includes agreeing to marry Steve. When the doctor says the mole was cancerous but he was able to remove it all, Bonnie denies the engagement.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garrett Rosenthal as Roscoe

Christy finds herself being attracted to Baxter again, especially after he complains about his upcoming wedding to Candace. Christy takes in a movie and ice cream with Baxter and Roscoe, where Baxter talks about how nice it would be if the three were a family again. Bonnie warns Christy that Baxter is a better man mainly because of Candace's influence, and that he'd turn back into his old self if he was with Christy.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet

When Christy is laid off from the restaurant, Jill offers her a job as a personal assistant and companion, but things get out of hand when Christy starts interfering in Jill's personal life. Meanwhile, a wrong number results in Bonnie developing a sudden friendship with an unknown man, but when they finally decide to meet, he loses his nerve and disappears...in a wheelchair.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe

After Adam (William Fichtner) explains over the phone why he backed out on their first date, Bonnie gives him another chance. They have a great time on their first real date and make plans to see each other again – until Christy soon learns from a work colleague that Adam was notorious for cheating on his girlfriends, and she doesn't know how to break the news to Bonnie.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe

Travis, the boyfriend who did drugs with Jodi when she died, shows up at a meeting. An angry Christy confronts him, driving him away. Marjorie and Bonnie convince Christy that Jodi's disease killed her, not Travis, so Christy makes her amends. Meanwhile, Adam can't understand why Bonnie needs to go to AA meetings so often, until Bonnie shows him a videotape of her drunk self at Christy and Baxter's wedding.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe

Adam is embarrassed to tell Bonnie he doesn't want to go to a reunion of his old film crew colleagues, because he's afraid they will just show pity on him. She convinces him to go, and while there, Adam is offered a job as stunt coordinator for a new movie – but the filming will be done in Croatia. Meanwhile, Christy is hospitalized with pneumonia, but she's determined to break out of her room and take her pre-law exam.

Absent: Sadie Calvano as Violet, Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe
First appearance of the season for French Stewart as Chef Rudy

Christy is ecstatic over passing her finals with straight As and making the dean's list, but her success puts her and Bonnie at loggerheads. The bad feelings come to a head when the two go wedding dress shopping with Violet.

Absent: Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe

Christy has to face bereavement on two fronts, when Adam's absence drives Bonnie into binge eating and a tearful Violet returns home after having both her engagement and heart broken. Christy goes to confront Gregory, but she comes to realize that Violet might be the one with the problem...the same one she and Bonnie deal with every day and the one she tried to prevent happening to Violet.

Absent: Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe

When Christy's hard realities regarding college costs and her daughter's broken engagement and drug use begin overwhelming her, Bonnie attempts to make some quick money re-selling items (clearing out Jill's over-stocked garage in the process). Christy faces her fears by presenting her case at a scholarship award meeting – and tries to finally have a happy birthday.

Absent: Matt L. Jones as Baxter and Blake Garret Rosenthal as Roscoe