Season 5

Complete listed story — includes the ending

1. A Coat of White Primer

Andrea Kuhn, 41, is accidentally killed by her husband. Nate and Brenda, who is pregnant, prepare for their wedding. Billy asks Claire to move in with him. Rico starts dating again. Ruth is unenthusiastic about George's return home after being institutionalized for depressive psychosis and undergoing ECT, which impaired his memory. David and Keith begin the adoption process but also consider surrogacy. Brenda has a miscarriage and she and Nate react in different ways. Ruth loses her cool and slaps Claire at the wedding.

2. Dancing for Me

Samuel Hoviak, 39, a high school friend of Nate's, dies in a freak accident in his driveway. Claire's mentor does not like her new photographs. Nate hangs out with a friend from high school who makes a disturbing admission. David asks Claire to donate her eggs to him and Keith. Brenda starts an internship at a free clinic. Maggie gives Ruth much needed relief caring for George. Billy starts feeling frustrated at his lack of artistic inspiration and decides to discontinue his antipsychotic medication, flushing it down the toilet.

3. Hold My Hand

Loretta Sibley, 45, George's mother, commits suicide in front of him in 1953; in the present he becomes increasingly confused. Brenda takes on difficult new clients. David's old arrest prevents him and Keith from being able to adopt. Rico meets Angela at a conference and they hit it off. Claire is excited by Billy's new-found lust for life after secretly discontinuing his medication, but his behavior starts to become erratic. George is haunted by visions of his mother's death and asks Maggie to arrange more shock treatments. Maggie hits it off with Nate and Maya at a family dinner. Ruth and Claire are at odds over Claire's inheritance money and lifestyle.

4. Time Flies

Lila Coolidge, 96, dies on the toilet. Billy deteriorates and becomes obsessive. Ruth finds friends in a knitting circle. On Nate's fortieth birthday, Brenda learns that she is pregnant again. She throws a surprise party for him that ultimately goes awry when they fight. David and Keith "propose" to a potential surrogate. Ruth and Maggie clash over George. Rico and Vanessa get back together. George and Billy discuss mental illness. Nate, depressed and frustrated, explodes in front of his family when a bird flies into the house. George expresses his anguish to Ruth. Claire sleeps with a 40-something divorcee and then fights with Billy, dumping him.

5. Eat a Peach

Daniel Holzenchenko, 66, dies from diabetic complications and the family argue over his funeral. Ruth finds a way to relax without George. David and Keith consider adopting a child named Anthony, but then their surrogate claims she is pregnant; later she gets her period. David and Keith decide to adopt Anthony and his older brother. Nate and Brenda consider giving Maya a coherent narrative. Margaret tricks Claire into an ambush meeting with Billy, but she rejects him and leaves. Rico and Vanessa argue after Julio bullies another child at school. Nate and Brenda host Maggie and George for dinner.

6. The Rainbow of Her Reasons

Fiona Kleinschmidt, 53, and Sarah's friend, dies from a fall in Topanga Canyon; Sarah visits with the bad news, feeling guilty. Her friends have a party. Ruth and George move into 'their' new house - only Ruth has no intention of living there; it has all been a deception to move George into separate accommodation without him resisting. Billy becomes obsessed with Claire. Claire starts temping. David and Keith encounter difficulties in disciplining their new foster children. Vanessa hires a nanny when her actress sister gets picked up by a sitcom but it does not go well; later she invites Rico to move back in.

7. The Silence

Peter Burns, 57, dies suddenly of a heart attack in a theater. David and Keith struggle to create boundaries for their new foster sons. Brenda and Nate receive some ambiguous news about the baby, splitting them further apart. George wants an immediate divorce as he is already re-engaged; Ruth tells his new fiancée all about his problems. Claire starts socializing with her coworkers leading to an awkward situation. Ruth fills her schedule with activities; she goes to a friend's fancy party and has a terrible time.

8. Singing for Our Lives

Pilar Sandoval, 35, is struck and killed by a car while rollerblading. Claire starts a relationship with a coworker named Ted. David attempts to make a bid on a crematorium, Nate wants to start selling eco-conscious funerals, even altering his own funeral arrangements to reflect his eco-consciousness, and Federico pushes for another employee. Claire runs into Anita who invites her to her new show where she sees Russell, Jimmy, Anita, and Olivier. Ruth tries to babysit Anthony and Durrell but it's a disaster. Brenda receives information from her doctor. Nate begins attending Quaker services with Maggie, to the chagrin of Brenda. Ruth spends time with her ex-boyfriend, Hiram. While visiting Maggie's house, Nate sleeps with her but afterward suffers a massive stroke.

9. Ecotone

Laurence Matheson, 34, is killed by a mountain lion while jogging in the hills. Claire discovers her new boyfriend, Ted, is a Republican. After his stroke, Nate is taken to the hospital. As word spreads about his condition, his family starts to panic. While Nate undergoes urgent surgery, tension ensues between Maggie and Brenda in the waiting room. Ruth is still camping with Hiram in the wilderness and is oblivious to what is happening with her family in L.A. Nate's surgery goes well and he wakes from his coma sooner than expected, though he remains partially paralysed. Reaching clarity through visions he experienced while unconscious, he calmly breaks up with Brenda. David stays with Nate in the hospital, but wakes to find he has died.

10. All Alone

The family mourns Nate's death. Ruth weeps and hallucinates; Bettina shows up to help. Claire is horrified when she sees Nate's body; she calls Ted. Brenda tries to address Maya's confusion. David becomes manic, stops sleeping, and experiences PTSD symptoms. Maggie gets a door shut in her face. Nate's funeral divides the family. David copes with running the family business without Nate. Keith makes an embarrassing discovery on the job. Brenda is taunted by Nate's image and makes a painful decision about what to do with Maya. Rico, David, and George all speak at the funeral. David has multiple panic attacks. Nate is buried in the same manner in which he had buried Lisa, in accordance with his eco-conscious views.

11. Static

Paul Duncan, 22, a triple amputee, kills himself with an injection in his hospital bed. As David's fears take over, Keith tries to protect him and the boys. Claire loses her job and Ted. Visions of Nate compel Brenda to make a decision about her relationship with Billy, who is supporting her. George helps Ruth with Maya. Claire's grief causes her to drink heavily and hallucinate while at Nate's gravesite; she speeds while driving and flips her hearse, totaling it. Rico pushes for a talk about the business. Maggie explodes at her father and leaves. Brenda takes Maya back from Ruth. Brenda's water breaks.

12. Everyone's Waiting

Brenda delivers Willa two months early at 2 lb 4 oz (1.02 kg) with several health problems. She worries about Willa while Nate (in a vision) is constantly negative. Keith evicts David for the children's sake; David moves back home, where Ruth cares for him. Claire gets an unexpected job offer in New York City. Rico convinces David to sell Fisher & Diaz, but Nathaniel Sr. chastises him in his dreams, causing him to embrace his demons and change his mind about selling the business. Margaret is impressed to see Olivier's nurturing side. Rico and Vanessa celebrate an investment. Ruth and Claire finally make peace and Ruth insists she follow her dreams; Claire's job offer falls through but Nate convinces her to move to New York City anyway. The family toasts Nate's memory at a farewell dinner for Claire. Claire's departure reveals what is to come for her family. Brenda remarries and cares for Maya and Willa; David and Keith marry; Durrell is interested in embalming; Rico and Vanessa stay together; Ruth dies in 2025 at age 79; Keith is shot to death in 2029 at age 61; Claire marries Ted; David dies in 2044 at age 75; Rico dies in 2049 at age 75; Brenda dies in 2051 at age 82; Claire dies in 2085 at age 101. " Breathe Me " by Sia is played throughout final montage.