By Kim
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The episode opens with Connor's wake which, as expected, is not exactly a barrel of laughs, featuring: Tommy's suicidal thoughts, Maggie urging Tommy to drink, Mike and Garrity trying to convince Katie that God still exists, and Sheila screaming at Janet that Tommy is a good man who needs his wife. Janet takes the remaining kids and goes to a hotel, leaving Tommy alone. After a lot of agonizing, Chief puts Jeannie in a home for Alzheimer's patients so that she can get twenty-four-hour care. Dani tells Lou that she's free of F-Bomb, but that she has to leave town for a few days, and they make a date to celebrate when she returns. When Lou shows up for his date, he finds the cops taking a statement from some other guy who got suckered by Dani, too. I was really hoping that storyline was going to surprise us all in the end, but it's exactly as we thought. Poor Lou. Laura makes a nonsensical speech to Franco about how she's just a girl or some other Gwen Stefani shit. Franco and Tommy make daring rescues in a fire, even though Laura volunteers to help out and Lou turns her down because she's a girl. Laura then transfers out of the house without any notice, and the lady taking over her apartment won't tell Franco where Laura went, despite his begging and sobbing. Garrity starts to have religious doubts, and prays in church for a sign, after which he sees a statue of the Virgin Mary crying. But when he and Mike return for a repeat viewing, they discover the water was just from a custodian watering some flowers above the statue. Tommy goes to a meeting and finally gives his real name and occupation, and then goes off to drink. Johnny shows up and says that they found Joss Whedon (the guy who killed Connor). Johnny knows when Joss will be returning to New York, and explains that Joss is a repeat offender with powerful friends who will probably get him a reduced sentence yet again. That's enough to get Tommy to stop drinking for the time being, so that he can take care of business. Sheila calls Tommy while Debbie is in the middle of an attack. Tommy heads over to help Sheila, and gets punched in the face three times by Debbie, which somehow breaks through his numbness and causes him to start sobbing. Tommy figures out that Mick has been the one reporting about him to Grinch, and confronts his cousin. Mick throws it back in Tommy's face that, on some level, AA has helped him. Janet continues to blame Tommy for Connor's death, and she takes the girls and moves out. After Johnny tells Tommy exactly when and where Joss's train will arrive, Tommy, Teddy, and Pa all argue over who gets to kill the guy, and Teddy wins the lottery. As Tommy waits for Teddy to do the job, he has a chat with Jesus and realizes that murder isn't the best way to honor Connor's memory, but by the time Tommy runs into the train station, Teddy has already fired the gun. Tommy is left with blood on his hands, both literally and figuratively. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
And just as last week's episode ended on an incredibly depressing note, this week's starts with the wake or reception or whatever after Connor's funeral. Everyone is gathered at Tommy and Janet's apartment, sobbing and eating sandwiches. Tommy just sits there, numb. Janet is comforted by some people. Lou and Sheila (the latter sporting some serious bruises on her face) walk up to Tommy and offer to get him something, but to Tommy, they sound as if they're speaking through a long tunnel, and Tommy doesn't respond. Eventually, he just gets up and walks away from everyone and into the bathroom. I wonder if anyone said anything about the bruises and cuts on Sheila's face. I'm sure she made up a lie about them, but it would have been nice to have a throwaway line of her pointing to her face and telling Lou, "Gardening accident" or something.
Once in the bathroom, Tommy stares into the mirror for a minute, and then smashes his head into it, shattering the glass. He picks out an especially sharp, knife-like piece of mirror glass and slices open his wrist. Yikes. I couldn't even watch that part. He staggers backward, blood spurting from his wrist, and crashes through the shower door and into the tub. As he lies there bleeding to death, he hears someone calling him from the hallway.
So Tommy opens the door and walks out, because the segment was a dream sequence. Which I kind of figured, but you never know. Anyway, Tommy's sister Maggie is out in the hall, and she's brought him a drink. With lots of alcohol in it. It's not clear if she knows he's in AA or not, I don't think. Did he tell her last week? I don't remember him telling her. Maggie hands him the drink and says that it will take the pain away, and that everyone will understand. So I guess she does know that he quit drinking. Maggie suddenly starts sobbing on Tommy's shoulder, until Garrity and Mike walk by, at which point she notes that the gathering is "like a goddamn meat market." Those Gavins. Classy until the end. Maggie promises to check in with him later, and Tommy sets the drink down on a nearby shelf. As he walks away, Colleen picks up the drink, sniffs it, and starts downing it. That could be an interesting plot season -- Tommy dealing with Colleen's drinking, and being put in the position of telling her not to do something that he himself did for years.
Johnny, Mick, and Teddy discuss whether or not Connor was wearing a helmet. Johnny asks if Tommy is still going to meetings. Note that Tommy is sitting right behind them, but luckily they are in that magical TV no-audio zone and Tommy apparently can't hear them. Mick reports that Tommy missed a few meetings due to funeral obligations, and that he's still using fake names and avoiding admitting that he has a problem, but that he hasn't had a drink. Teddy wouldn't blame Tommy for drinking now.