In 1953, a woman and her young son sit at their kitchen table, the boy hiding bits of Velvetta and bologna in his pockets. The atmosphere in this scene is effectively eerie. The youngster watches as the woman sips a drink and pops pills, one at a time, all while making him promise to hold her hand, even after she "falls asleep".
You have to feel for this little boy, who has grown up to be the brilliant but tortured George Sibley. Flash foreward to now, or to 2005 I believe, and George, obviously still trying to recover from this long-ago ordeal, wanders, confused and disoriented, into a funeral that Fisher and Diaz are conducting. One of the many pitfals of working in the same building you live in.
At Billy's place, it appears that both of them are very happy together, and Claire doesn't yet realize that Billy's "improved mood" is just a terrific mania that has been developing since he first flushed his pills. She's too busy being happy, too busy hoping that he is truly happy, to see that things are not normal, as he excitedly talks about moving to Spain. Their sex life, too, has vastly improved, with none of those pesky side effects to deal with.
Rico is attending a funeral directors' convention, and he meets up with, of all people, the rival he never met until now, gifted but mouthy restorative artist Angela, whom we met in Season One while Rico was doing his freelance work for Kroehner.
Brenda gets a rude awakening, as a violent offender, believing he has no need for counseling or anger management, shoves her up against a wall and threatens to do more before someone comes in to break up the scuffle.
David and Keith have excitedly been preparing for their adopted child-on-the-way, whomever it may be, but David's past comes back to haunt him as an angry adoption agent confronts him about the embarrassing incident that happened in Las Vegas (Season 1). He tries to blame Keith, thinking the thing had been expunged from his record, but he knows he has no one to blame for this indiscretion but himself. I guess it's true, be sure your sin will find you out. Devastated, he and Keith decide just to go with a surrogate and have an infant.
Claire decides to try digital photography, but when she tries to buy herself a new camera, she finds out that Ruth has frozen her account. Ruth, in true passive-aggressive form, went behind Claire's back instead of simply telling her she disapproves of the withdrawal from LACArts and the living with Billy. Not that Claire isn't a legal adult, but...
Nate finally meets his semi-new stepsister Maggie, and gets to know her. She, like Nate, has had tragic loss in her life. You can see the two bonding over these similarities.
Ruth continues to resent the hell out of George, and long for a different life. Even more so after she finds his meals in his pockets. Sometimes I get frustrated with Ruth, and with some of the other characters. They never seem to have any desire to find out why someone is acting the way they are. They're so busy saying, "Why me?" Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe if George would open up and just tell Ruth his mother committed suicide right in front of him at age 6 or 7 or so, she would be more understanding.
Brenda has prepared a nice dinner for herself, Nate and Maya. She just wants to have a "nice, normal" family and a "nice, normal" life. But she can't stop observing herself, and imagines herself as a phony who only wants to party, get laid, and fuck up her life over and over again until she's too old to fuck.
The surrogate D and K hire to carry their baby is a ditzy one, but she's got a uterus, so they're going to hope for the best.
Billy goes on a manic shopping spree, and Claire gets her coveted digital camera. And those leather pants look gooooooooooooooood!!! dancing around the room. Yes, Claire, he is such a fucking rock star!!!
George is undoubtedly more frustrated than his wife over his continuing episodes of bizzare behavior, and decides he needs more ECT.
This is what I call an episode of crossroads. Anything can happen from here, to any of the characters. Now David and Keith will wait to see if their child can be conceived, Nate and Brenda will try to have a happy marriage, Ruth and George will try to overcome the very real illness that looms over their marriage, and Claire has yet to open her eyes and see that things are way too "happy" with Billy to be stable.
I'll give this episode an A.
