In the third season of The Baxters, Luke finds his way back to his family while his sisters grapple with their personal struggles. The season is streaming on Prime Video.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
John and Elizabeth buy the house that was once owned by Elizabeth’s father. Their daughters come to help them move, but Luke does not.
Luke is still avoiding his family, which is not helping him in any way. He only grows angrier and more discontent with each passing day, eventually pushing Lori away as well.
Luke still does not know that Reagan is pregnant with his baby. However, Landon finds out about her pregnancy when she collapses, and he is the firefighter on duty.
Reagan gives birth to a boy, whom she names Thomas Luke. She makes Landon promise not to tell the Baxters about her son, as she wants to inform Luke when she is ready.
This leads to Landon avoiding Ashley’s calls. Although Ashley and Cole have both grown attached to Landon, Ashley is not dating him because they now live in different cities.
Ashley, encouraged by her father, begins pursuing her dream of being a painter once again. She sends her paintings to various art galleries and receives a response from a gallery in LA.
Cynthia, the gallery owner, wants to showcase Ashley’s work at a showcase for emerging artists, which sees Ashley traveling to LA with Kari.
During their trip, Ashley and Kari discover Reagan’s secret, but they agree not to tell Luke about it. Additionally, the visit to LA leads to Ashley and Landon getting into a long-term relationship.
At the same time, Lori cheats on Luke and gets pregnant. She decides to have an abortion, which results in complications. Lori is then admitted to John’s hospital.
Unaware that the baby was not Luke’s, John reprimands him for not being there for Lori. When Elizabeth finds out that Lori is all alone, she visits her in the hospital.
When Luke visits, Lori does not hide the truth from him and confesses to cheating on him. Initially, Luke is angry but ultimately chooses to comfort Lori in her time of need.
Luke and Lori decide to give their relationship another chance after giving each other space. With no family or friends to turn to, Lori asks Elizabeth for support.
Elizabeth knows that her supporting Lori may upset Luke, but she chooses to help her and be her friend anyway.
Despite their efforts, Lori and Luke fail to mend their relationship, leading to Lori breaking up with Luke. Lori then runs into Elizabeth, and Luke sees them together.
Luke comes to know that his mother has been meeting with Lori behind his back. He loses his temper and argues with her in front of his family.
As a result, he not only loses Lori but also his family’s respect. Left with nowhere else to turn, Luke moves in with Ashley, the only person he has not cut off from his life.
Ashley’s career as a painter begins to flourish. A client purchases Ashley’s paintings, and Cynthia requests four more within two weeks.
However, Luke allows a college student to stay overnight at Ashley’s house, and the student ends up stealing Ashley’s paintings.
Ashley nearly gives up on her dream of becoming a painter, but she remembers the portraits she painted of the care home residents. She sends the portraits to Cynthia.
This incident makes Luke realize that he needs to change. He takes up a landscaping job to save up for his own place.
He begins to understand himself and the anger he feels towards everyone around him better, thanks to a man named Arthur, whose garden he tends.
Additionally, he hears a group of students discussing the Bible, and that gives Luke the encouragement to open his own Bible, hoping for forgiveness from his family.
Meanwhile, as Jessie’s first birthday and the anniversary of Tim’s death approach, Kari struggles to plan her wedding, which is going to happen much sooner than Ryan and Kari had originally planned.
Kari’s situation is further complicated by the arrival of Tim’s mother, Diane, who is not too happy to see Ryan taking Tim’s place in Kari and Jessie’s life.
Ending explained:
A fairytale wedding
After a health scare involving Brooke and Peter’s daughter, Maddie, Elizabeth and John throw a party to celebrate her return home from the hospital.
During the party, Diane realizes that Ryan will be a good father to Jessie and decides to give him and Kari her blessing, even though it is not easy for her.
This acceptance lifts a burden from Kari’s chest. She is now ready to marry Ryan and eagerly starts preparing for their big day.
The wedding takes place in the family’s church, and seeing the entire Baxter family come together to make it a success changes Sam’s mind about starting a family.
Although Erin has been ready to have children for a while, Sam’s focus has been on his career and moving to Dallas.
After seeing the Baxters together, Sam tells Erin that he is ready to have children and wishes to do everything he can to be close to the Baxters after moving to Dallas, much to Erin’s happiness.
Luke’s reconciliation with the family
Reagan had been preparing herself to meet Luke and tell him about Thomas Luke. However, she is anxious about Luke’s reaction.
She eventually gathers the courage and shows up at Ashley’s apartment with her son, and Luke does not think twice before accepting them both into his life.
Reagan wants Luke to work things out with his family, and Luke finally asks for their forgiveness before Kari’s wedding.
He takes responsibility for his actions, and his family forgives him. He even convinces Arthur to let his family use his garden for Kari and Ryan’s reception.
He, along with Reagan, then introduces Thomas to his parents, who are delighted to meet their grandson and welcome him into their family.
Ashley’s success and heartbreak
Just as Ashley finally moves on from what happened in Paris and begins to pursue her painting career again, Adrian’s lawyer tries to contact her.
She keeps avoiding his calls until he calls her parents’ house. He informs Ashley that Adrian is dying of AIDS and that there is a possibility that Ashley might have contracted it from him.
Brooke overhears this conversation and urges Ashley to get tested, as she fears that if Ashley has AIDS, then Cole might also be at risk.
Despite the news, Ashley decides to focus on her upcoming showcase. However, Landon unexpectedly proposes to her before the event.
Ashley cannot bring herself to accept his proposal or enjoy her success. She later explains her reasons for rejecting his proposal.
Despite Ashley’s rejection and the possibility of her having AIDS, Landon wants to be with her. Landon and Brooke support Ashley as she returns home and gets tested.
On the day of Kari’s wedding, Brooke finds out that Ashley has tested positive for AIDS. The news turns Ashley’s life upside down.
Although Landon still wishes to marry her, Ashley ends their relationship, as she believes that he deserves to be with someone who has a future.
Also Read: The Baxters season 2 (2024) summary and ending explained