Archive

“Chasing Life” recap (2.9): Hell’s Angel

Previously on Chasing Life, April started a new trial, Uncle Doctor George shadily shred his brother’s manuscript, and Brenna started falling for Finn even though they’re doomed to never be able to truly be together or else Finn will lose his soul and become a-wait, no. He’ll just get sick.

Some time has passed since Leo’s funeral; enough for his will to be processed and delivered to April. She inherited lots and lots of money, plus Leo’s motorcycle. She wants to give the money away, but Sara assures her Leo would have wanted her to be comfortable, financially. Sara asks April if she needs to talk to someone, since she’s been staying at Beth’s, but April isn’t interested in therapy.

April and Beth go for a stroll around Boston, and Beth kindly suggests perhaps April find a new place with her new money. April apologizes and thanks her for letting her crash; she just can’t deal with mother smother right now. April asks about how Beth is doing, but doesn’t even listen long enough to hear Beth deflect the question because she gets distracted by shoes her and Leo used to mock. She decides, spur of the moment, that Louboutins would be a perfect way to thank Beth for her friendship and spend some of her new money.

April meets her mom at her doctor’s appointment, and her new doctor is straight-out-of-a-soap-opera sexy. (Also he looks like he could be an Amell with those eyebrows.) Sara flails around like a blushing schoolgirl, but April is non-plussed. She’s a little plussed by the fact that her new trial involves a pill, an injection, then another pill, twice a day, but she’s willing to do anything to survive.

Sara compares the new doctor to all the dead hot docs of Grey’s Anatomy, then suggests maybe April goes back to support group. April doesn’t hate that idea, especially if it means not having to describe George’s final 007 scene to her mother.

Brenna, noticing Finn wasn’t in school, brings Finn his homework assignments, and is greeted by Finn’s mother, who seems sweet, and the voices of his two younger brothers, who seem like the literal spawn of Satan.

To make a sweet moment cute, Brenna busts Finn watching Gilmore Girls.

He says his donor cells are attacking his body, and the meds his doctors gave him are doing nothing to quell the side effects, but he’s remaining optimistic. The only thing he’s down about, currently, is that he’s going to miss Brenna’s short debuting at a local film festival. He suggests inviting Ford, or any of LGBTQUIALMNOP friends, but Brenna doesn’t want to “subject” anyone to her film-she’s self-conscious about it and would rather fly solo.

They’re kind of adorable, I won’t even lie. (Also did you see him on last night’s Faking It? With hair! It was weird.)

April takes her mother’s advice and goes to her cancer support group, but she can’t deal with sun will come out tomorrow BS when the grass hasn’t even started growing over her husband’s grave. Her bored eyes wander to her new killer heels and the keys to Leo’s motorcycle and decides that she’s going to go on a one-woman mission to join her husband in the afterlife.

Either Leo taught her enough to not die riding the bike in stilettos, or she’s one lucky son of a gun, because she somehow makes it home in one piece. She offers Brenna a pair of Louboutins, but Brenna says they’d clash with her flannel and probably get her stabbed with a stiletto knife at Public School. April finally offers to enroll Brenna at Charon again but it’s like half a semester too late and Brenna doesn’t feel like wearing that uniform again if she doesn’t have Greer to take it off her.

Sara comes home and is happy to see April, though sad to hear she didn’t feel very supported in support group. She suggests group therapy, but April would rather go on a one-episode bender instead.

Doctor Uncle George is going back to California, but first Brenna has a favor to ask him. She wants him to help Finn, and since Finn’s illness is his specialty, he’s more than happy to help.

April goes upstairs to give herself her first injection when Brenna comes in and finds April in a dark cloud of despair. So disparaged is she, that she unthinkingly tells Brenna that if Finn dies, all three Carver women will be Black Widows. And she’s so absorbed in her own pain that she doesn’t see Brenna’s horrified face as she slinks away slowly the way she came.

Later that night, April goes out to the Charles with Beth, Natalie, Danny and Dom. April is treating them all to as much food and drink as possible, because it makes her happy and it’s what Leo would have wanted.

They’re out until last call, which sadly in Boston is only 2am. April isn’t ready for this night to end, and even though her friends are ready to call it a night, April goes berzerk on the (admittedly rude) owner of the Charles when he won’t agree to stay open later just for her, despite her wads of cash. Her friends apologize for their tiny angry friend and carry her out to safety.

April wakes up on Beth’s couch, a little embarrassed. Beth asks why she was being so bananas last night, and April says everything is just hard, and she finds something that distracts her or makes her happy, she overdoes it. In the end though, they laugh about being banned from the only restaurant/bar set on the show. They decide to stay in tonight and have a Bette Midler movie marathon, no Beaches. (Which should be an understood rule of Bette Midler movie marathons. Save that for “I feel like crying forever” marathons.)

Across town, Uncle Doctor George and Brenna pay Finn a house call.

George prescribes Finn something new, on the house, but he will have to stay in for a few more days. Which means he still won’t be able to go to Brenna’s film festival…which George didn’t even know was happening until just now. Brenna is embarrassed, but Finn is a great hype guy and George gets a mischievous gleam in his eye.

April goes back to visit her hot doctor, saying she hasn’t felt like herself lately, and she doesn’t know if it’s personal problems or a side effect from the new drugs. The doctor doesn’t think enough time has passed for it to be the steroids yet, but takes her off them just in case. And for some reason doesn’t suggest therapy (because Mom Advice from anyone but mom always goes better) but we’ll let that slide.

April goes back to Beth’s, who is mildly horrified to find out she’s been riding Leo’s motorcycle everywhere. April decides she doesn’t want to stay in to watch The First Wives Club, she wants to go out dancing, to be surrounded by people and listen to music so loud she can’t hear her own sadness. Beth tells her she can’t keep up with her friend’s newest failure to cope, and tells her that she’ll have to get over it someday. And now, I imagine what Beth MEANT was, she is going to have to deal with her feelings sooner or later instead of avoiding them with the help of booze and other distractions, but “get over it” is a harsh phrase, and April angrily storms out.

April goes out with Vanessa, who teaches her about being a badass bitch post-cancer. When Vanessa got sick, she realized she had to start looking out for #1, and even though it took her a minute to get here, now she’s happy. April misses being happy, like the guy on the dance floor who looks like he’s never so much as stubbed his toe in his entire life. Vanessa points out that he’s definitely rolling, and April decides she’s ready to meet this mysterious girl named Molly everyone’s so keen on.

After Brenna’s film airs at the festival, she gets up to start her Q and A, but no one has any Qs, leaving her standing awkwardly in front of the theatre. Until Uncle George swoops in to save the day, asking her what her inspiration was for this film.

While April is out with Vanessa and Molly, Beth goes over to the Carver house to tell Sara she’s worried about April. She doesn’t even know how to talk to her half the time, because she feels too guilty about the things going right in her life to share them with her best friend who is a 25-year-old jobless, homeless, widow with cancer. Sara understands, but promises it’s okay to be happy and have a life outside of taking care of April. She says friendship goes both ways, and April should be able to share in Beth’s joy as much as Beth is sharing April’s pain.

After the Q and A, George tells Brenna he loved her film, though Ford isn’t exactly gunning for an Emmy any time soon. George tells her that if she wants to make it in Hollywood, she has to fine-tune her ego. She has to present her art like it is the best thing this planet has ever seen, even if she has her own doubts about it. If you present something with any negativity, that’s what people are going to be looking for and taking away from it. If you’re just like LOOK, HERE’S A THING I MADE, people are more apt to receive it with their own viewpoints.

Besides, she should be proud. One thing she said when trying to shrug off this particular accomplishment was, “Anyone could have done it.” But here’s the thing: Not anyone did. You did. You made this thing. You had an idea and you followed through. Do you know how many people can’t say that? My mother, for example, will tell anyone she meets that she had the idea for the movie Airplane before it came out. But it’s not like she was actively trying to make the movie and someone snatched the idea out from under her. Someone else had a similar idea, the only difference is, they DID something with it.

This mindset isn’t easy, and as a writer I struggle with it a lot, but it’s true that the more you have confidence in something, the more likely people are to give it a shot. Even the stories you wrote that you hate are better than the stories you didn’t write at all.

At the club, April asks the boy (who happens to be Italia Ricci‘s real life fiance, Robbie Amell) for some E. He hugs her a lot, but isn’t willing to give her his last few pills, until she offers him $300 for it. April takes it, but Vanessa does not, so she’s in charge of watching April and sometimes letting her rub her head. When Vanessa has quite enough, she drops April off at Dom’s for the night.

April rubs Dom’s hand and offers him the other pill, but even he (THANKFULLY) won’t take advantage of a broken, high girl, so he gives her a pillow to cuddle and heads to bed.

But April can’t sleep and she ends up calling her mom crying. Because as it turns out, she’s not okay.

April realizes she can’t keep distracting herself, because the pain is always there when she stops moving. She asks if this is going to be forever, but Sara promises the pain won’t be so sharp someday. It will take time, but admitting it is the first step. April asks her mom to stay on the phone with her, and Sara happily obliges.

In the morning, April says goodbye to Dom and leaves the other ecstasy pill behind. The low was too low to justify the high, at least for her. Dom tells her to take back her life, to write her book, to find her passion again. Which is basically what Beth was trying to say but whatever.

On the way out the door to school, Brenna throws an application for Berkeley’s summer film program at her mother, excited about her newest plans post-high school. Sara is worried it’s far, but Brenna points out it won’t be far from Uncle George. (I’m also worried it’s far.)

April goes to Beth and doesn’t seem interested in seeing Natalie, but Natalie has become this loose, breezy, easygoing gal who is totally willing to go with the flow of her sister’s cray.

She does mention that it sounds like April is going on a spiral like their dad’s, but not to worry, because she’s nothing like him. April mentions the whole Natalie’s-mom-wanting-him-back thing and Natalie raises one of her perfect eyebrows at her; her mother has been dating the same guy for like ever. Papa Carver was in their life as a father figure only. Natalie asks what gave April that idea, and April says Uncle George.

So April storms right up to the mystery man himself and says they need to talk.

What did you think of “Wild Thing?” Did it make your heart sing?

Here are some of our favorite #ChasingLesbians tweets from this week:

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button