Episode Report Card Lauren S: N/A | 2 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Scared Straight
By Lauren S | Season 6 | Episode 24 | Aired on 05.20.2010
Richard, who has somewhere along the way lost his coat, walks past a dead doctor lying on the floor and finds Gary sitting in the room where his wife died. They admit they've been looking for each other, and Gary laughs as if Richard doesn't know how silly he is to have actually sought Gary out, on account of his wanting to kill him. Then, he launches into a long story about how when he bought the gun, he bought a bunch of ammunition to go with it, but that when it came time to get ready that morning, he couldn't fit all of it in his pockets. See, because he wanted to bring his flask, figuring he might need a drink. Like many a fine movie/TV gunman before him, it's classic monologuing. He asks Richard for help unscrewing said flask, as it's too much for him to handle with a gun in one hand and a bullet in the opposite shoulder. Richard does it, using only slow and non-threatening movements, and Gary takes a swig and winces. See, because he and Richard are totally different people, right down to their taste for booze. He offers some to Richard but happily, Richard declines it, so Gary goes back to his talking and explains that he only needs a drink now because he's in a pickle -- he intended to shoot Richard and then himself, but he's only got a single bullet left, on account of bringing the flask. Oh alcohol, you ruin everything.
Gary goes on about shooting Richard a bit and the single bullet, so finally Richard dryly points out, "Then it seems you have a bit of a problem." Gary's eyes are getting crazier by the moment, and he again offers Richard a drink, so Richard takes the flask and takes a long, deep sniff of the contents. It's vodka, of course, his own personal preference, but instead of taking a drink he turns and pours it out on the floor, much to Gary's annoyance, and he gets the gun pointed back at his face in return. Richard asks him what choice he's going to make but gives him some things to chew on before he decides. He points out that if he shoots Richard, SWAT will capture him and take him to prison, but if he shoots himself, he's free and will get to see his wife again. Gary doesn't make a decision so Richard adds that he's had a full life -- he's failed and picked himself back up again, he's known joy and had a great love. (Poor Adele -- you know he doesn't mean her.) He walks around the bed and sits to face Gary, and though Gary follows him with the gun, the fact that he doesn't just shoot means he's got serious doubts now. Richard tells him that for himself, death would be the end of a beautiful journey, and he's not afraid. "The question is, are you?" It sounds like he watched a lot of Westerns that helped prepare him for this moment. As they sit, the swell of music and Derek's VO start back up. "Yes or no, in or out, up or down." The camera pans around and we see the SWAT team enter the hallway, and finally when we can't see anything more in the room, we hear a single gunshot.