-1/1/48 thru 8/24/48. Charles tries to convince Roger and Susan to move into Trail’s End to be with Julie and Ray to tell the truth about him being Roger’s father. Ray legally changes his name. Martin threatens to get Roger and Susan’s marriage annulled. Susan meets Julie and tells her that she’s pregnant. Julie is indicted in Frank’s death, denied bail and placed in jail. Susan convinces Roger to move into Trail’s End for the baby’s sake. The truth that Roger’s father is still alive and was a convict comes out. Charlotte meets Ted White, an advertising executive who is interested in molding her into a star. Charlotte has her first sponsored radio show. Julie’s trial begins. Charlotte tells Ray that Julie is still in love with him and accuses him of still being in love with her. Rev. Matthews warns Larry not to say what he knows about Ray being Roger. Charles angers Roger by telling him that he needs to grow up and get over his resentments toward his mother because the prosecutor is playing him to get Julie convicted. Susan tells a shocked Roger that she agrees with Rev. Matthews that Roger is being weak. Roger figures out Ray is his father and gives an incriminating testimony against Julie on the witness stand. Roger confronts Ray with the truth and Ray admits that he is his father. Roger renounces Ray, not knowing he was innocent of the crime he went to prison for. The people of Selby Flats turn on Rev. Matthews for his support of Julie. Roger reverses his testimony. Larry and Pamela get engaged. Julie’s court case reaches a mistrial and the charges against her are dropped. Julie tells Roger that Martin framed Ray but Martin denies it when confronted by Roger. Martin is stricken with a heart attack and he calls Rev. Matthews to his hospital room for a deathbed repentance. He writes down a confession of what he did to Ray. Rev. Matthews asks Ray to go see Martin before he dies and Ray does, giving him forgiveness. Rev. Matthews gives Susan the news that her father has died. Julie wants to tell Susan the truth about her father but Charles pleads with her not to so that Martin’s dying wish that Susan not know the truth will be fulfilled. Julie declares she has lost her eyesight, Jonathan thinks it’s hysterical blindness. The people of Selby Flats apologize to Rev. Matthews just as he was packing to leave. Charlotte tries to break free of Ted’s controlling grasp so he tries to manipulate her using fear of what might happen in the future. Charles lets Roger read Martin’s confession. Ray and Roger reconcile. Julie’s emotional manipulations drive a wedge between Ray and Charlotte and Roger and Susan. Charlotte becomes increasingly insecure about Ray’s attachment to his ex-wife and family. Susan and Julie’s bickering causes Susan to hastily leave the house, tripping down the stairs in the process. Susan is rushed to the hospital and gives birth to a baby girl through Caesarian. Rev. Matthews warns Ray that allowing himself to be manipulated by Julie is putting his marriage to Charlotte in danger. Charlotte, losing hope for her marriage, tells Ted she wants to go all-in with her career, much to Ted’s delight. Susan names the baby Betty Ann. Julie and Susan try to hide their arguing and mutual hatred for each other from an oblivious Roger. Julie regains her eyesight but keeps it a secret so she can keep blindness as a tool of manipulation. Susan begins to suspect Julie is faking her blindness. Roger panics when he sees Julie close to the cliff, thinking she’s suicidal and not knowing she can see where she’s walking and he calls Ray for help. Ray lies and says business is the reason why he can’t leave with Charlotte on their planned trip to San Francisco. Charlotte is suspicious, makes some phone calls and learns that Ray lied to her and is out at Trail’s End which is the last straw for her. Charlotte leaves Ray and, with the help of Ted, finds new residence at the Towers apartment building. Julie relishes the news. Susan finds proof that Julie can really see and when she confronts Julie, Julie gives Susan her father’s written confession. Julie tells Susan the whole truth about her father and Ray in order to deflect from having been found out. Julie flees and checks herself into a sanitarium and only lets Ray know her whereabouts. Reverend Matthews tries to get Ray to see that Julie is lying about her blindness and manipulating him but Ray refuses to believe it. Ted lets his romantic interest in Charlotte be known and Sid warns Charlotte against Ted, who he doesn’t like. Dr. Mary Leland, working at Julie’s sanitarium, is on to Julie and suspects she’s lying about her blindness. Meta Bauer is introduced on July 19th as Charlotte’s neighbor at the Towers. She is going by the name Jan Carter and is a model sharing an apartment with Mary Leland. Jan tells Charlotte her family all died in the war and she turns out to be an opportunist with ulterior motives for meeting Charlotte, mostly her interest in Ted White and his ability to further her career.  Roger tries to convince Charlotte to make her separation with his father permanent, and succeeds, until Charlotte meets Jan’s roommate, Dr. Mary Leland, and gets confirmation that Julie is playing a game. Threatened with eye surgery and having succeeded in breaking up Ray and Charlotte, Julie claims she can now see. Ray busts Julie as a liar. A desperate and wrathful Julie threatens Mary’s medical license for reasons of breach of confidentiality since she told Jan and Charlotte about her suspicions that a patient was lying about her blindness and Charlotte figured out it was Julie. Ted and Meta meet. Ray meets both Ted and Meta when he goes over to the Towers to try and make amends with Charlotte.

-8/25/48 thru 12/31/48. Sid, wanting Charlotte to get away from Ted’s influence, tries to talk Charlotte into taking a vacation. Ted talks her out of it. Jan Carter (aka Meta Bauer) tells Charlotte about her date with Ted. Ray thinks Ted is trying to change Charlotte’s image. Papa Bauer’s first episode. Papa discusses with Reverend Matthews that his wife hasn’t been feeling well. They hint at an emotional upset that happened with the family a few years ago. Susan and Julie fight and Susan tells Rev. Matthews that she wants to leave Trail’s End because she hates Julie and Julie is driving her crazy. Mama Bauer, Trudy Bauer and Bill Bauer are introduced. Mama is excited because Bill has started dating Bert and she’s hoping a baby will come soon. Mama experiences a severe pain in her side and Reverend Matthews sends Dr. Mary Leland over to check on Mama. Bill and Trudy don’t want Mary to be Mama’s doctor because she’s a woman but Mama likes Mary a lot. Dr. Mary Leland visits with Reverend Charles Matthews. She talks to him about her concern about Julie Collins filing a complaint against her and the bad publicity that would bring. She also discusses her patient, “Mrs. Baum” (Mama Bauer) and how she will need surgery for her cancer but her husband Frederick, son Bill and daughter Gertrude (Trudy) aren’t sure about Mary performing the surgery because she is a woman. Rev. Matthews encourages Mary to prove herself as a competent female surgeon. Ted continues to try to control Charlotte. He tells her to get rid of Sid and Ray and presses her to divorce Ray, insinuating that Ray is still in love with Julie. Jan (Meta) tries to cheer up Charlotte who is missing Ray. Jan (Meta) is interested in Ted, Ted’s interested in Charlotte and a depressed Charlotte isn’t interested in much of anything.  Charlotte gives her final broadcast of the season. Reverend Matthews gives a Labor Day sermon on the importance of education as the kids go back to school. At Charlotte’s apartment, Sid and Ted get into a big fight over Charlotte and her career. Charlotte ends the argument by telling them that she’s quitting the entertainment business. Jan (Meta) has told Charlotte that her parents died in Europe during the war. Rev. Matthews stops by to see Charlotte to talk her into coming back to Selby Flats and he meets Jan. He can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen her before. Jan plays ignorant as Rev. Matthews talks about the Bauers and the events going on in Selby Flats. Charlotte figures out that Ted was the one who told Robert Rollins, the prosecuting attorney in Julie’s murder case, who Ray used to be and that he spent time in prison. An angry Charlotte says she’s finally seen Ted for who he is and tells him to hit the road. Jan, fearful that Charlotte is going to have a nervous breakdown, calls Dr. Mary Leland over to see her. Charlotte gets everything off her chest with Mary. Mary puts a call in to Ray. Ray goes to Trail’s End and talks Julie out of filing her complaint against Dr. Leland.  Trudy complains to Mama about Papa’s strictness and Mama laments her missing daughter Meta. Papa tells Mary that Bill and Trudy want Mama to see Dr. McNeill. Mary says to let Mama decide. Rev. Matthews encourages Ray to stop going to Trail’s End and seeing Julie and to get back with Charlotte because he fears she’s about to have a nervous breakdown. Ray thinks Charlotte is the one who told Rollins about his past. Charlotte finds out from Rev. Matthews where Ray is living now and rushes to him for a reconciliation. Roger is not happy with the reconciliation and argues with Ray because of it. Susan tells Roger that she knows her father should have gone to prison instead of Ray because she read his deathbed confession. She tells Roger that Ray can use the confession in his defense if Rollins makes further accusations against him. Charlotte tells Ray that she was upset that Ray hadn’t gone to San Francisco with her and instead lied to go be with Julie because he was afraid she was suicidal and, because of that, told Ted about Ray’s past. She also tells him that Ted was the one who told Rollins about Ray’s past, using the information she gave him to make trouble for Ray in hopes of getting Ray out of the picture and getting Charlotte for himself. In her attempts to get Ted for herself, Jan tries to stir up trouble by telling Ted that Ray and Charlotte spent the night together. Ted and Charlotte play cat and mouse with each other. Charlotte confronts Jan. After a consultation with Dr. McNeill, Mary tells Papa Bauer that Jonathan wants to wait on surgery for Mama but she thinks they should operate right away. Papa agrees with Mary. Jan (Meta) calls the Bauers looking for Mary. Jan tells Mary that she’s pregnant and her plans anger Mary. Julie and Charlotte have a fight. Mama tells Mary that her daughter named Meta ran away, breaking her heart. She tells Mary she doesn’t want to have an operation until she can see Meta again and Mary says she will try to find Meta for her. Mary enlists Rev. Matthews help in finding Meta. Jan tells Mary she’s leaving Los Angeles to move to San Francisco. Jan tells Ted he’ll one day be sorry he ever met her. Reverend Matthews and Mary figure out through an old photo that Jan Carter is really Meta Bauer. Meta leaves on a train for somewhere other than San Francisco before Mary can catch up to her. Ray heads out to Trail’s End and lashes out at Julie for trying to break up him and Charlotte. Roger hears the shouting and comes in to try and break it up, taking Julie’s side. Roger defends Julie to Susan. Susan tells Ray to use her father’s confession to help his defense. Jonathan has moved. Mary enlists Ray’s help as she fears her breach of confidentiality with Julie and her faked blindness will be used against her by Julie as she seeks to fill Jonathan’s position. Meta agonizes over what decision to make in her situation with Ted as she heads east on a train. Rev. Matthews pleads with Papa to forgive Meta for Mama’s sake. Charlotte and Ray both tell off Ted. Meta winds up in New York City. Rev. Matthews and Mary enlist the help of Ray to find Jan (Meta). Papa gathers the family together and says he has forgiven Meta for running away and that they should try to find her. Ray’s man in NYC locates the hotel where Meta is staying. Mary schedules Mama Bauer for an operation. Bill and Trudy confront Mary at the parsonage about their displeasure in her being Mama’s doctor and Mary tells them if Papa and Mama don’t want her to be Mama’s doctor they can tell her themselves. Mama checks into the hospital and Mary flies to New York to bring Meta home but, unbeknownst to Mary, Meta has gone to the hospital sick with pneumonia. Mary performs surgery on Mama but tells Papa that Mama is living on borrowed time and advises not to let Mama know how little time she has left. Still under anesthesia, Mama says she’ll wait for Meta. Meta, having recuperated from pneumonia, is staying in a convent being taken care of by some nuns. She desperately wants to see Mama, knowing she is sick and could die, but doesn’t want the family to know she’s pregnant. Because Dr. Leland has told her she can’t have children, Charlotte wants to adopt but Ray is hesitant. Dr. Ross Boling moves to Selby Flats to be the new head of the Selby Flats Clinic and he and Mary immediately get off on the wrong foot. Meta learns that Ted is engaged to someone else. Mary arranges for Meta to come back to California because she has the idea of Ray and Charlotte adopting her baby. Pamela moves east to get over Larry and Winifred moves with her. Mama receives a letter from Meta saying that she’s coming home in a couple of months and Mama resolves to live long enough to see her. Trudy apologizes to Mary for discriminating against her and being too harsh on her. Ross Boling moves into the Bauer’s upstairs apartment, much to the delight of Trudy. Bill tells Mama that Bert broke their engagement because he wants to wait to get married. Bill says he doesn’t know if he can meet Bert’s material desires and Mama regrets they didn’t have the money to send Bill to college. The first Bauer Thanksgiving. Ross comes over for Thanksgiving and Mama tries to do some matchmaking with him and Trudy. Meta says goodbye to Sister Maria and leaves New York on a train back home and to Ted not knowing that he is overhead on a plane going to New York and then Europe. Ted tells his business associate, Dave, who he is traveling with, that he has broken off his engagement with Iris. Upon arriving home and learning Ted is gone, Meta’s hopes are dashed and she tells Mary she wants an abortion which Mary tries to talk her out of. Roger makes amends with Ray and Charlotte. Roger and Susan leave for a three-month trip to Colombia, leaving Betty Ann in Julie’s care. While Julie is asleep, Betty Ann, playing with matches, starts a fire at Trail’s End. Julie and Betty Ann both survive but Trail’s End is burned to the ground. Papa, Mama, Bill and Trudy celebrate the first Bauer Christmas while Meta is alone in an apartment nearby missing the family.  Meta had arranged for a letter from her to be sent from New York by Sister Maria saying she’ll be home soon. Mama, who is missing Meta on this day, is thrilled. Mary tells Charles about her plans to have Ray and Charlotte adopt Meta’s baby. Charles warns her that there’s a risk in that. Ross moves into the Bauer’s upstairs apartment. Meta wires the Bauers to say she’ll be back in time for Papa and Mama’s silver anniversary. Mama is holding on to see Meta again but Trudy is not happy about Meta’s return. Reverend Charles Matthews delivers a New Year’s Eve sermon.

Thanks so much for sharing these summaries. It's so cool to see the introduction of the Bauers. Thank you!!