By Jacob
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Coop thinks it's a good idea to tell Sam about sleeping with his girlfriend, which is not true, and Sam thinks it's a good idea to punch Coop in the nose, which is always true. Coop tries to get Sam fired, but Gloria's not going for it, and then presents him with a bill for the six weeks of the Face of All Saints campaign, just like he wanted.
Meanwhile, Sam goes on a bender that ends up with Jackie taking him down to the basement and literally tap-dancing, with Thor, to keep Sam awake and alive. That was beautiful -- as was Eleanor and Jackie's no-tears reconciliation, which takes the form of Eleanor agreeing, against her better judgment, that Jackie's pain management regimen is her own deal. You can actually see Jackie relax at the thought of telling somebody even one-tenth of the secrets.
Lenny and Zoey finally get it together, which is sort of lovely and sweet, and Gloria finds God hiding in the rafters over Emergency. God is very clear about Jackie's posh mugging victim -- that he's not one of the flock -- which is proven true when he menaces Jackie out in the hallway. Thor tackles him adorably, which makes Thor two for two this week. And Eddie seems firmly comfortable being back in the hospital, offering advice and finally acting like a true friend again to Jackie (and Kevin!). In some ways they seem to have the most honest relationship of all.
But what about Jackie? Well, Kevin eventually calls Eddie for help after Jackie drives off and abandons him in the wilderness. They talk about the money issue and Kevin calms down, but then immediately finds the PO box key and thus, the serious pharmaceutical bills she's been hiding. He calls Eleanor -- I know! -- and they hold a little intervention in Queens. There's the usual nastiness, with a truly shitty song playing, and Jackie imagines for a moment saying "I'm Jackie and I'm a drug addict" ... And then laughs her ass off at the very thought. It's the most touching, and bad-ass, and awful moment of the season, bitter and sour and sweet all at once, and thus a perfect image to end things on.
Well, it's nice that the rats in the ceiling are now God, it's always nice to see him. And as a finale, and cliffhanger, it's awesome. But I wouldn't hold your breath for seeing any huge changes for Jackie year. I think she's got us on lock, which is after all the genius of the show. Mostly I'm just glad that she was able to be honest with Eleanor, to the degree she can be honest with anybody; I'm glad somebody actually told her what she was, so she can at least suck on the idea for awhile; and, as surprised as I am to say it, I'm glad Kevin finally manned up. His complicity in her bullshit has been made so clear this year that it almost feels like he's taking one for the team just looking at this shit for himself. Not to mention the fact that, between last week and this newest catharsis, Grace might finally get a chance to breathe. Very, very exciting end to a much stronger season, and promises a third year that will be out of this world.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Last week, we left those irrepressible Peytons stranded on the side of the road. Daddy was walking it off, because he was mad that Mommy took the money from Eleanor to put Fiona in private school. Mommy couldn't really deal with that, because she was in withdrawal from how she's addicted to drugs and had to cut the vacation short.
Well, Jackie's still yelling at Kevin to get back in the car, and the girls are freaking out. Particularly Grace, due to how she's freaky anyway. Jackie edges up alongside him, pacing him while he walks, and Kevin says he refuses to get in an "enclosed space" with Jackie, and Fiona suggests that he get in back with them, since apparently in the backseat you don't need seatbelts. Jackie lies, as usual, about how this is just like a fun thing Mommy and Daddy like to do, and Kevin truths, as usual, that Fiona is accurate in her assessment (as usual) that he's having a tantrum. Jackie -- because honestly, how much do you put up with, regardless of your drug addiction, with this kind of shit -- finally just hits the gas.
Hours or minutes later, Jackie's feeling mighty fine in the kitchen, bug-eyed staring at Kevin as he comes in with no intent to chat. Her eyes bug out twice as hard when Eddie follows him in, having picked up Kevin on his motorcycle because he is the only person anybody knows in the entire world. "Tell me you didn't fucking say anything," Jackie hisses like a lunatic, and he's grossed out. "Thank you would've been cool," he guilts her, but there is no guilt in Jackie Peyton. Just staring and occasional vibrating.
Kevin's like, "I can't believe you left me on the side of the road." She agrees that it was fucked up. She tries to tell him why she took the money, and as though he knows it's a lie, he tells her to shut up. "You're right. I'm not here, not in the way you are. When they fall down, they run to you. There are days when I look at them and I think, you know, What the fuck? I gave birth to you." A few tears, at this point. "And I fucking hate myself for being so selfish, and for being competitive. You keep saying we don't need anybody's help, we're fine, but I don't have the peace of mind that you do, Kevin. And I'm fucking jealous that you can sleep at night."
All true. What's awesome about Jackie is that even when she's lying, she's not really lying. I mean, I think that in her head she took that money for the reasons she's saying, and just sort of refuses to put the pieces together of how she needed that money to pay off her egregious pharmacy drug-seeking expenses. I think it's been difficult for me to acknowledge how much denial goes into this story, because it's so unrecognizable. It seems inhuman to me that you could live this close to the surface.