Episode Report Card Heathen: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Falling In Place
By Heathen | Season 3 | Episode 13 | Aired on 03.03.2002
Karen pants her way through another session with Henry, a sentence Niki might get to write in a new context if things progress the way people speculate they will. Henry points to the photos of Eli and Jessie -- one of which is clearly from the first season, which is a lovely touch -- and asks if they're her children. "They must miss you," he says. "Let's get you well so you can go home." Man, he's well-intentioned, but he's ham-handed. He's not even cloaking his attempts to be The Bestest Motivator Ever, which makes his next remark about how he's not cheerleading her today all the more amusingly wrong. "I've had enough," Karen decides. Henry doesn't like this idea and wants to go a bit longer. Karen reaches a shaky hand toward her glass of water and takes a long sip. Henry then drops his bombshell: he thinks Karen's ready to try using the walker. Karen's face is all, "Fuck that noise." Henry gives her his best You're Strong On the Inside look and wheedles, "I think you are [ready]." Karen's irritated that he's so assured and isn't giving her a say in this.
Henry calmly starts anew with the leg exercises, slyly asking Karen how long she was married. "Fourteen years," Karen says through gritted teeth as she puts every ounce of effort into moving her leg. Henry establishes that she's never remarried and that she has joint custody of the children. Lord, he's so blatant, totally reminding her of all the people in the wide world who need her to start walking again. "Do you mind if we don't have any small talk right now?" Karen snaps. Henry claims he's just trying to get to know his patient, and shoots her his best Do It For the Children, The Children! look. It's not liquefying the Ass-Pole. Henry tells her to focus. "I have been trying to focus, but you won't shut up," Karen gripes. Henry throws up his hands and lectures that if she doesn't want to take advantage of what's been given her, and use those inner and outer resources to cure herself, then great. "But let's get one things straight," Henry adds. "I'm not the one who's stopping you." Karen snorts. "What? Am I the one getting in my own way? Is that the reason your little motivational speeches aren't working? And your goading questions about my kids?" Henry blinks. "Let me tell you something," Karen fumes, really warming up to the idea of ripping Henry a new one and kicking him straight to Proctology. "You are condescending and you're patronizing, you're the opposite of motivating," Karen shouts. Henry blinks again. She's right. If you take away the questions, and the banter, and the leading, probing questions, all you've got is a bald guy named Henry who looks cute in blue. Which actually isn't such a bad prospect. There's a really weird edit here because it cuts to Henry for a fleeting second, then cuts back to Karen screaming, "Don't you laugh at me!" And I can't figure out why he'd have been laughing, since she just insulted him. I suspect some dialogue got trimmed. Anyway, Karen rants that Henry totally doesn't know what it's like to have his life torn to shreds in a split-second. I'm betting Henry has a very sensitive story about why he entered physical therapy, and it's probably extremely valuable to Karen's mental recovery and will teach us all an important lesson about life, love and bedpans. But we'll have to wait and see if I'm right. Her outburst leaves Karen short of breath, and she sinks deep into her pillow, twisting her hands and turning her face toward the wall, agonized, fighting valiantly against showing Henry any tears. "You get some rest," Henry says, stone-faced. "See you tomorrow." Karen, now alone, starts sobbing.