1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 - Next

The hospital — Alice and a nurse give Dana a sponge bath. The nurse encourages Alice to get out of the room, take a walk, go outside, get out of the air conditioning. It seems Alice has been in the room for five days, but she obviously doesn't really want to be anywhere else. And who would?

After the nurse leaves, Alice puts lotion on Dana's arms and asks Dana if she thinks she could do without her for a while. And she talks about the M & M's in Dana's "incentive pile," and puts chapstick on Dana's lips, and just generally banters and cares and does what Alice does best.

Dana: "I love you."

Alice says "I love you too," but in a way that reveals that she totally didn't get what Dana was saying. I hope she realizes it later. Or maybe I don't.

The Planet — Kit is worried about Mange; he was supposed to stop by after breakfast but it's now 2:00. A girl can get worried, she says. That's true. A girl can also get bored.

The flophouse — Shane wants to know the name of the woman Carmen slept with. Carmen says it's not anyone Shane knows, but Shane still wants to know her name. It's Robin somebody; Carmen doesn't remember her last name.

Shane: "Did you fuck her more than once?"
Carmen: "Well, why does that matter, Sh—"
Shane: "Did you?"
Shane: "Who said that I fucked her?"

Yow.

Still whooping — Bette has gone right past whooping and on to sounds that are barely human. It's pretty great.

She whoops on over to the bus stop, where a guy is standing, looking nonplussed. He asks if someone's chasing her or if he's missing something. Bette explains that it just feels so good to use her voice because she's been silent for ten days.

Bus stop guy: "Someone have you locked up?"
Bette: "No, it was entirely voluntary. I just escaped from a silent retreat. I couldn't do it. I could not reach a higher plane no matter how hard I tried. I mean, sometimes I would start to feel like it was going to happen, but then it just never did. So you know what, I left. I'm a meditation retreat dropout."

And she ain't a bit sorry about it either!

The guy says "maybe sometimes words are the best thing we can give other people." And he asks whether she's breaking up with her husband or boyfriend or...? And Bette pauses for a moment, and then says yeah. You can't really fault her for that, because no matter how out you are, it's probably not just a coincidence that most bus shelters are about the size of a walk-in closet.

Bus stop guy: "How long you been together?"
Bette: "Eight years."
Bus stop guy: "Kids?"
Bette: "One. She's beautiful."

There's a hell of a lot of joy on Bette's face when she says that.

Dirge, verse two — I used to watch a cool show; I can't remember what it was called, but it was about people making their own families and giving everything they knew how to give and keeping things together when the world around them got mean.

Mediocre mediation, continued — Dylan's lawyer is offering a litany of evidence against Helena: how dare she make phone calls and visit Dylan? Helena doesn't care about the lawsuit; she just cares about losing Dylan. Peggy senses this, and tries to get Helena to "share," but the lawyer just goes on, noting that there have been other harassment suits and restraining orders and custody issues in Helena's past. Peggy, would you please slap that guy around a little?

Unfortunately, there's also the videotape. Peggy finds it rather interesting, and watches Helena and Dylan as the lawyer plays the tape. Helena's lawyer finally tells the other guy to shut it off.

Peggy: "Can I ask, why is it that we were made to see this?"
Dylan's lawyer: "Because it shows your daughter for what she is: a predator."
Peggy: [chuckling] "Have you seduced many women in your life, Mr. Shepard?"
Dylan's lawyer: "That has no relevance to what's going on here."
Peggy: "Maybe. But if you want my opinion, I don't think you have very much knowledge of the ways of seduction. What I saw was a rather moist sexual game — in the worst possible taste, to be sure, but certainly not harassment."
Danny: "It was blatant coercion."
Peggy: "And you say that because you know Dylan very well?"
Danny: "Uh, yeah, I do."
Peggy: "And you know she would never fall in love with a woman."
Danny: "Your daughter got her hooks into Dylan. Dylan was afraid if she didn't do what she wanted, she was gonna pull her funding. You saw the tape, right?"
Peggy: "Yes, I did. I'm frankly not convinced."
Danny: "Oh, you're not convinced. Well, that's too bad, because this time your money and your privilege — you know, you're not gonna be able to twist what happened to your advantage, okay?"
Peggy: "Goodness, you're resentful."

And then it all comes out: it seems Danny has applied for five Peabody grants and was turned down every time. His stuff was considered "rambling, trite, and exploitative." Wait, did he send in an L Word episode, passing it off as his own?

Peggy: "You've got quite a taste for revenge, haven't you, Mr. Wilson? Here you have a chance to stick it to the establishment. I don't think you gave a fig if you had to use your girlfriend to do it. You saw a Peabody off-balance, needing something, and you're going to make her pay for it."

Peggy. I'll say it again: marry me.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 - Next