Previously on Six Feet Under: Ruth and Arthur's laundry stopped mixing; Zhora felt proprietary about Billy and Brenda as a result of Pa Chenowith's death; Russell confessed to fooling around with Olivier, and Claire punted him for the field goal; Billy slipped Brenda the tongue, and Brenda bolted; Nate and Brenda kissed, and Brenda bolted again; Vanessa's medications caused her to heat up, then melt down on the dance floor; David interfered in an argument between Keith and his father, and Keith told him to "stay the fuck out of it," so David stormed the fuck out of there; Lisa headed to Santa Cruz to visit her sister, but never got there, and Nate left her a bunch of messages; Aaron moved seven tenths of a mile.
Convenience store hold-up. A guy with so-'01 facial hair is tweaking out, wiggling a gun in the direction of the woman behind the counter and demanding all the money in the register. When she hands it over, he's annoyed by the paltriness of the payoff: "That's it?" That's it, she says, and now he can get the fuck out of her store before she calls the cops. Go, counter lady! I mean, "oops." The stick-up dude makes a "fuck you, man" face and starts to storm out, then turns back and shoots the counter lady in the forehead. Dorothy Su, 1945-2003.
1:23 AM. Nate is phoning Lisa's sister Barb to ask if she's heard anything; she hasn't, and asks if he's called the police. Nate, jiggling the preternaturally calm Maya in his arms as he paces, babbles that he filed a missing-persons report, and he didn't even know you could do that within twenty-four hours. I would bet money that Rick Cleveland stuck that line in there because he knew all the know-it-alls watching at home would turn to their cats and say all smugly, "Um, you have to wait twenty-four hours to file a missing-persons rep-- oh. Okay, then." Not that I did that or anything. I don't even have cats. Oh, shut up. Anyway, Barb did the same thing on her end; apparently, the report goes into the computer system statewide once you submit it to the highway patrol, but Barb thinks they should keep calling for updates. Nate asks if Lisa's ever just taken off that way before, but Barb says no -- well, maybe for a day or two just to "clear out the cobwebs," and nobody would know where she'd gone, but not since she had the baby. "Yeah, yeah, her 'vision quests,' I know," Nate sighs, adding that she used to do that in Seattle, but she'd always tell someone about it. Barb then tells Nate that she "truly, seriously" doubts that Lisa would walk out on him, "not without Maya." Ouch…and then double ouch, since Nate didn't ask Barb that in the first place. Nate himself is like, "Yeah…wait a minute, 'leave me' in the what now?" but Barb smoothly changes the subject back to checking in with the police, saying she's sure that Lisa will turn up. "Yeah. Yeah, she'll turn up," Nate quavers.
Junction of a power line. A maintenance worker heads up to the top in a cherry picker, takes off his gloves, and prepares to enjoy a piece of gum. Seconds later, an earthquake hits, and the guy flails his arms around and grabs onto the naked transformers (I think…don't ask me, I majored in English) to steady himself. Well, if by "steady," you mean "fry" -- a whole gaggle of volts passes through him, and he's electrocuted. Edward Tully, 1955-2003.
David, alone in bed, awakens to the bleating of his phone. It's Nate, calling to see if David felt the earthquake. David says in a bleary "hi, sleeping over here" tone that he guesses he missed it. After some back-and-forth about why David's not in San Diego, Nate -- who's sitting in bed, in the dark, with Maya in his lap -- admits that Lisa hasn't shown up at her sister's. David asks the obvious questions about whether anyone's seen her, did Nate try Lisa's cell phone, blah, and as Nate answers no to each one, his face buckles. When he manages to choke out, "David, I'm really starting to freak out over here," David says he'll come over. Nate hangs up and rests his giant head on the giant head of his daughter.
Health club. A Samantha Fox-ish techno remake of Bryan Adams's "Heaven" plays (hee!) as we pan across a row of treadmills. The camera pauses on an older gentleman, then an obese woman, both of whom look sweaty, miserable, and generally like prime candidates for dropping dead of an MI, so we know that neither of them is going to bite it. Sure enough, the camera comes to rest on a hyper-fit and serious-faced young man with a cardiac monitor strapped to his bicep. He finishes his run with a little flourish, steps smartly off the treadmill, and doesn't even get to finish toweling his forehead before saying, "Uh!" and collapsing to the floor. If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: Exercise kills. Flick…ahhhh. David Raymond Monroe, 1971-2003.
In the kitchen at Fisher, Diaz, Aquarius & Jones, Ruth feeds a burbling Maya and says she's sure Lisa's fine. Nate's like, yeah, right -- then why hasn't she answered one of the squillion messages I left her? Ruth shrugs serenely that maybe Lisa's cell battery crapped out, and Nate semi-non-sequiturs that "it's been almost eighteen hours since I spoke to her last." Interesting, the way the episode keeps pointedly drawing our attention to the fact that Lisa's been gone less than a day. David points out that Lisa evidently "does this kind of thing from time to time" while doing a bit of stage business with Maya in the foreground that's very sweet, and Nate grumps that Lisa would have told him: "She wouldn't just take off like this." Ruth almost impatiently reassures him that "Lisa strikes me as very capable of taking care of herself," which of course doesn't address why she didn't take her capable ass to a pay phone or what have you, but in any case, Claire enters and, after trying some small talk about the earthquake, asks, "Why all the doom and gloom?" "Lisa is missing," Nate blares, but Ruth immediately corrects him that "she's not missing, we just don't quite know where she is." Claire blinks at Ruth, then says, "Holy shit." Then Nate's phone rings, but it's just a call about a funeral, and Nate tells the caller to come on in and they'll take care of all the arrangements. After he hangs up, David mutters that they already have two intakes scheduled, but at Nate's sigh of "great," David offers to round up Rico and Arthur and cover for him. Nate thinks he'd rather work and keep busy. Ruth tells him to do whatever he needs to do; she'll take Maya for the day. He thanks her and kisses her on the forehead, then stands in the middle of the kitchen looking around at his family for a moment, at a loss, before going to get dressed. After he leaves, David and Claire exchange a stricken look.
At a clinic of some sort, Rico and Vanessa's sister Angelica sit in the waiting room. Rico's phone rings; Rico leans as far away as he can from Angelica in his chair and answers in a whisper. It's David, bitching at him to come in because "we have three intakes this morning." Rico leans even further away and murmurs that he's got the kids, but he'll come in as soon as Vanessa's done with her appointment. In the background, Angelica regards him with a stare of utter contempt. Heh. "Fine," David passive-aggressives, and Rico tells not to start with the attitude; Vanessa is sick. David apologizes and tells him just to get there as soon as he can. Rico hangs up, and Angelica makes a "whatever" face. Nice try, Angelica, but what say you leave the "shut up, Rico"-ing to the professionals? Angelica coos sarcastically, "You know, you don't have to be here -- I mean, if your job is more important." "Yes I do, she's my wife," Rico snips, and Angelica snips back, "And she's my sister. I can take care of her too." She faces her magazine and smirks, "Maybe she needs a little time away from you, did you ever think of that?" Julio pipes up to ask, "Is Mommy sick?" Angelica quickly leans forward with a fake, "No, honey, Mommy's not sick. Mommy's just fine." She sits back, looking pleased with herself; Rico just stares at Julio like he's got a bugger hanging out. Weird acting choice there.
In a counselor's office, Vanessa nervously details the complex cocktail of drugs she's self-medicating with -- six different ones total, several of which she takes to counteract the effects of the others and one that she's basically using as a diet pill. And that's not even counting the Xanax from last week, which she doesn't mention (probably because a benzodiazepine is not the kind of drug you want to get caught taking off the books). The counselor wants to know who prescribed this mélange; Vanessa lies that her doctor did, but then she admits that she got a lot of it from her RN friend, and that her doctor is an internist, not a psychiatrist. The counselor frowns that they'll have to take Vanessa off most of the meds, since some of them are contraindicated and are probably making her worse. Vanessa, suddenly on the verge of tears, sighs, "Shit," and she rubs her forehead and says, "I feel like I'm in a hole, and I just feel like the hole keeps getting deeper and deeper." The counselor isn't surprised, but says they'll try to fix that, then chides her, "Antidepressants aren't magic bullets, Vanessa," and Vanessa nods, a tear running down her face.
Back at Fisher, Diaz, His Wife & Her Lover, Nate is escorting a client through the lobby when Arthur stops him to say that David told him what's going on with Lisa. Nate sends the client on into the parlor, stares at the creepy smile on Arthur's face, and says curtly, "Yes, and?" Arthur "consoles" him by citing census statistics which state that "women are three times less likely to die from misadventure than men." In response to Nate's "whert the ferk?" look, Arthur notes that he finds statistics "to be comforting in times of stress and…uncertainty." Instead of yelling, "Your weirdo shtick is played, Admiral Nutbar," Nate confines himself to snapping that he's got an intake to deal with. Arthur eagerly asks to join him, as he's "always hungry for new learning experiences," and Nate is all, "Sure, why not," and follows Arthur into the parlor with an "oy, what ?" look on his face.
In the parlor, Mr. Su -- the husband of the convenience store clerk -- makes with the anvil-flinging, saying that they'd gotten robbed before and that Dorothy wanted them to retire, but he just kept putting it off. Arthur shakes his head sympathetically as Mr. Su continues, "Maybe year…maybe the year after that. And now she is taken away from me." A shot of Nate looking ill as Mr. Su wails, "How can she not be here? One minute she's there, the she's gone, like she was never there." Nate rouses himself from his musings on the parallels between Mr. Su and himself to murmur soothingly, "Well, at least she's no longer suffering." Mr. Su and Arthur shoot Nate "the hell?" looks. Nate, confused: "She had cancer, right?" Mr. Su bellows, "No! She was shot in a hold-up!" Nate gabbles an apology, then falls silent, and it's up to Arthur to ask about interment and caskets and make the usual "whatever your budget, we can accommodate your wishes" noises. In the foreground, Nate is a million miles away, and Arthur has to prompt him a couple of times.
Elsewhere at Fisher, Diaz, & A Pizza Place, Mrs. Tully is telling David that her husband got electrocuted, and she doesn't want her children to see him like that. David starts to sell her on Rico's restorative artistry, but Mrs. Tully cuts him off: "No. I don't want my children to see him dead." David is trying to come up with an answer to that when the doorbell rings, and he excuses himself to answer it. It's Keith, wearing earth tones and looking contrite.
Cut to the two of them sitting on the front steps. Keith's all, "What do you mean, 'missing'?" David fills him in -- sister in Santa Cruz, never got there, fishcakes. Oh, excuse me -- "vegan-friendly soy fish-substitute-cakes." Sorry. Keith is appropriately concerned, and offers to hit up his remaining contacts in the sheriff's department. David isn't that hot on the idea, saying that Nate already did that and filed a missing-persons report, but grudgingly says that if Keith thinks he can find anything else out, sure, why not? Keith cocks a brow and, after a pause, says, "We need to talk. About us." "I know, and we will, but not right now," David says, explaining when Keith starts to call bullshit that he's got a customer waiting, so they get up, and Keith says he'll make some calls and let them know if he hears anything. "Thanks," David sighs. Keith touches David's arm and heads down the steps; David stands there for a moment, kind of hunched over, his body language reading a combination of "grr" and "blecchh."
At a housing complex, Brenda follows the landlady down a brick sidewalk, commenting, "This is so Day of the Locust." "Oh, no locusts here," the landlady predictably responds. "Cockroaches, maybe, but no locusts." They enter a small furnished house, and the landlady natters on about the sleeper sofa and how it's handy for overnight guests -- "you know, like family, that sort of thing" -- and then stubs her toe on the anvil doubling as a coffee table when she asks all nosily, "You do have family, don't you?" Brenda responds flatly that she doesn't -- they all died in a flood. Not sure what to make of the mode of imaginary death she chose there. The landlady says she's sorry, and Brenda snorts, "Don't be," so the landlady moves on to admitting that the complex does see the occasional break-in, and Brenda might want to sleep with a can of pepper spray under her pillow, "you know, just in case?" Foreshadowing Brand -- It's The Mace-iest! ™ "Smells like cats," Brenda observes neutrally, and the landlady says they don't allow pets anymore, but Brenda doesn't seem inclined to make an issue of it and asks how much. $175 a week. We move to a shot over Brenda's shoulder of the identical house across the way before Brenda sighs that she'll take it.
Fisher, Diaz, Knees & Toes, Knees & Toes, Knees & Toes. Claire comes out to the carport to find Russell lubricating the hood of the Green Machine. "What are you doing here?" she grumps. He holds out a Rodin-by-way-of-Spencer-Gifts sculpture and little-kids, "I made this for you." Claire: "[Eye-roll.]" Russell babbles in an almost-crying voice that what happened between him and Olivier "was totally fucked up," but what happened between him and Claire "wasn't fucked up at all, it was -- the opposite of fucked up." Claire calls his bluff and asks what did happen between him and Olivier, exactly. Russell tries a condescending "doesn't matter," but doesn't quite pull it off, and Claire isn't buying it anyway: "It matters to me -- did you fuck him?" Russell says it's not important: "What's important is that I love you!" Claire isn't buying that either, and asks without missing a beat, "Did he fuck you?" Russell protests that he "was drunk! And stoned, and he was playing this head trip on me, I mean, you know what he's like!" "What, did you give each other blowjobs or something?" I love how Claire 1) can totally see that Russell wants to pretend the thing with Olivier never happened, and 2) deliberately refers to it as crassly as possible so that he can't get away with doing that. I mean, I feel kind of bad for Russell, and I don't think he's a dick or anything, but his level of denial isn't helping anyone here, and good for Claire for not going along with it.
Anyway, Russell responds to that question by telling her again that he loves her, which Claire takes as confirmation that he and Olivier did in fact give each other blowjobs. Hee. "I didn't say that," Russell defensives. "What, did you jerk each other off, then?" "I didn't say that either," Russell says. "Well, what are you saying?" Claire sneers. "That I love you! I mean, why can't you hear that?" Russell asks. Oh, that's nice -- the "your anger at my infidelity is about your issues" defense. You had me, Russ, and then you lost me. He grits out all intensely that she needs to "get over [her] wounded pride for one second" and realize that what they have is too good for her to throw away. Ew. Shut up, Russell. Claire says as much -- that it's not her who threw it away -- and also that the sculpture is "hideous" and she doesn't want it. Russell sees that he's losing the room and scrambles off the hood as Claire jumps into the car and snarls that maybe he can sell the sculpture "to your fucking boyfriend for another $500. I'm sure you were worth it." Sssssnap! Russell blithers that he doesn't want to live without her: "I can't." He's going to have to, she snorts, starting the car. "I'm not gonna give up," he creepies. "That's your fuckin' problem," Claire snaps, peeling out of the carport.
Brenda comes home with a bag of just-moved-in cleaning supplies -- a shout-out to Aaron, no doubt -- and has just started unpacking them when her phone rings. It's Zhora, calling to chastise her blithely for "freak[ing] out on Billy -- you really shouldn't do that, he's on medication. And you know how sensitive he is." Like so many things Zhora says, the words are all in English, and yet when you think about it for more than a second, it makes zero sense. No surprise, then, that we cut to a shot of Zhora swanning around her living room with a joint in hand. Brenda asks dryly if there's any other reason Zhora called. As it turns out, Zhora's mugging for the speakerphone does have another object: "Well…we're disposing of your father's ashes tomorrow, and I…thought you might want to be there. Also, move to the right a little; Bounty paid for that product placement." You may not have actually heard that last part. Brenda will take a Pasadena; she can't deal with Billy right now. Zhora huffs and picks up the receiver to tell Brenda that they "owe it to" Pa Chenowith, but Brenda correctly points out that "Dad's dead, he doesn't care." Zhora cares: "I'd like to at least pretend that we all love each other and that your father and I created something worthwhile -- I mean, just for a fucking hour, however long it takes dump his ashes, is that too much to ask?" Everything that's wrong with the Chenowith family is right there in that bit of Zhora's dialogue, really. Brenda, probably figuring that once she discharges this duty, she'll never have to see either Zhora or Billy again, relents and asks if Zhora's decided on a dump site. Not yet; they'll all meet at Zhora's at eleven-thirty, and "with any luck at all the whole ordeal'll be done by two." Brenda sighs that she'll be there.
Olivier reviews Claire's portfolio at a table in his office. Claire sits rigidly across from him, clearly spoiling for a fight. Olivier gives her last piece the Robert Scorpio eyebrow, looks at Claire, and finally smugs, "Give yourself the grade you think you deserve." Claire calls that "paying [her] to keep [her] mouth shut," but Olivier's letting every student grade him- or herself: "Who am I to judge anyone's work?" Claire laughs in frustration and comments that he's constantly contradicting himself, "so nothing [he says] ever means anything." Olivier takes the bait, remarking that her semester's work doesn't seem to indicate that meaning is what she's after. Ouch. He goes on to say that she has excellent technique, but that's all it is -- her work is "safe, limited," because she holds herself "back from life." Shut up, Olivier. Claire, who is moments away from bursting into tears of sheer rage, forces out that she thinks an artist "has a responsibility to do more than just give in to every emotional impulse, because some impulses are wrong." After a pause, she adds, "And some impulses violate the regulations of this school -- I checked." Heh. Olivier frowns, then starts nodding all "so this is how it is," and when Claire asks how many schools he's taught at, his idea of an answer is that she "sit[s] in such judgment of the world -- how do you ever expect to be a part of it?" See my comments about Russell a couple pages back -- I really really cannot stand it when people excuse shitty behavior on the grounds that anyone who has a problem with it is just "uptight." Shut UP, Olivier. Claire retorts that she doesn't want to be a part of his world, "where you get to be a totally manipulative loser who fucks his students." Olivier asks what she does want to be, then: "An uptight Puritan, who's not even in her own body? Or a brilliant artist, with blood, and a heart, and a cunt?" Yeah…my point. I also cannot abide that whole "it's the artist's way to act like a raging id all the time, and part of that prerogative is to ignore societal mores and the feelings of others" thing, because the so-called "artists" who live by that credo spend all their time sleeping it off and never get any work done anyway -- a point Olivier's friend made for me rather neatly several episodes ago when she said he hadn't actually done any decent work in years. In other words, shut up, Olivier.
Claire sees through him: "God -- you're such a fucking phony." She then proceeds to nail him to the wall, asking, "I mean, when are you gonna get over the fact that you never became Picasso and now it's too fucking late?" Olivier tries to blow that off with a bunch of hooey about how she's afraid to take chances and "fall flat on [her] face," even though it's the best thing that could happen to her, but she's obviously struck a nerve. Either way, she's had it: "Are we done?" "Absolutely. Get out of my office. Who do you think you are, the Pope?" Olivier's whole worldview sickens me, but I have to admit to laughing at that line. Lauren Ambrose in a miter…I don't know. (Please don't let that show up in a fan-fic.) Claire gathers her things and heads for the door as Olivier goes on, "Just because I fucked your boyfriend? What a baby!" Claire turns to face him on that line as he tells her that she needs "some real pain" in her life. "Fuck you," she says, stung, but he throws it right back at her, telling her that Russell is the better artist because he's braver. Claire spits that obviously Russell "more ambitious," but Olivier shrugs that if Russell hadn't slept with him, "it would have been somebody else, trust me." Claire doesn't miss a beat: "I'll take an A." "Undeserved," Olivier decrees. "Unimportant," Claire shrugs, and leaves. Olivier glares after her. Outstanding acting from Lauren Ambrose in that scene.
Nate is on the phone to the authorities, bitching at them for not taking him seriously; Ruth stands in the doorway, holding Maya. He doesn't get any new information and says he'll call back in a few hours. When he hangs up, Ruth says she's taking Maya to the park, and reassures Nate that "everything's going to be fine, you'll see." She also mentions that she made an apple crumble, and that he should have a piece. Mmm, apple crumble. She kisses Nate on the forehead, and as she stands up straight again, she has to sort of hoist Maya's giant head back up level. Heh. The girls leave, and Nate siiiiiighs.
Downstairs, David and Rico work on Mrs. Su and Mr. Tully. Arthur comes in with the health club guy, but can't find room for him in the refrigerator, and the back-and-forth about that leads to Rico bellowing at Arthur to "stop fucking whining and get the hell out of here already, okay?" "Okay," Arthur whispers, and leaves the room in a posture reminiscent of Molly Shannon's character on Seinfeld who never moved her arms when she walked. David asks if Rico is all right or wants to talk about it, and Rico naturally has earn himself a "shut up" by asking if David really wants to know or if he's "just being polite." "I asked, didn't I?" David sighs. Rico goes into the litany: Vanessa is depressed, his twatty sister-in-law Angelica is over at their house right now taking care of her, and "these electrocution burns are a serious bitch." David just frowns.
Claire comes into the kitchen to find Ruth feeding Maya. She asks for a Lisa update, and Ruth chirps that nobody's heard from her yet, but "it's only a matter of time." Before what, Claire wants to know. Ruth: "[Denial.]" Claire calls her on it, saying that they "have to deal -- with the possibility that something bad has probably happened." Ruth, angrily: "We do not!" Hee. Claire looks mystified as Ruth prattles on about keeping a positive attitude "at times like this" and asks why Claire must "always be so negative?" Claire in turn asks why Ruth "must always be in such deep denial?" "I am not in denial!" Hee! Claire would prefer to expect the worst, so that when it happens, "it's not so awful," but Ruth isn't hearing it -- Lisa's going to turn up, she's fine, blah. Claire sarcasms something about ending world hunger, blah blah, and stomps out.
Upstairs, Claire lurches to the toilet and pukes, then slumps down against the bathroom cabinets with a puzzled look on her face.
Zen Palace. Nate, David, and Keith use a map to try to triangulate Lisa's location when she last spoke to Nate -- blah dee blah the 101, blah dee blah "she loves Big Sur." Keith asks if Nate called the credit card company, because that would help to track her movements or determine if the card got stolen. Nate is digging out his phone to do just that when it rings anyway, but it's Brenda. She's calling to apologize, and Nate completely can't cope, and says as much: "I've got a lot more important shit to deal with." He hangs up. On the other end, Brenda's like, "Well, that went well. Not."
Nate then makes another call, presumably to the credit card company, and stomps into the other room to wait on hold. Keith and David share an awkward silence, and Keith says he's going to get going; David says without meeting Keith's eye that he's going to stay there, and says he'll call Keith tomorrow. "Or sooner, if you hear anything," Keith says, sort of hopefully. They share a brief, uncomfortable hug. Keith studies David's face briefly and heads out, and David does that cringing "eesh…blecchh…ugh" thing with his shoulders again, but looks after Keith wistfully.
In the living room, Nate sits by the window and smokes; David sits on the couch. On the TV is a scene from The Lady Vanishes. Go rent it if you've never seen it. Michael Redgrave is yummy. Anyway, David's thinking aloud -- apparently, Lisa stopped for gas in Santa Barbara the day before (if you care, Santa Barbara is about a hundred miles from L.A., give or take), but she hasn't used the credit card since then, and you'd think she would have, unless she had a lot of cash on her. Nate doesn't think she did, and after a moment he says he can't talk about it anymore and asks what's going on with David and Keith. David looks busted: "Nothing much." Nate sensed some tension, and David reluctantly says that he guesses so…he doesn't know…and finally he fills Nate in on what happened in San Diego. "Now I don't know where we are," he says, as The Piccolo Of I Feel Bad Talking About My Problems When Your Wife Is Missing, But Since You Asked hoots in the background. He and Keith love each other, or he thinks they do, but lately he just feels "numb" when he's with Keith, and "better when [they're] not" together, and even though they want the same things…well, maybe they don't want the same things. Maybe they just pretend to want the same things. David trails off for a minute before concluding, "Maybe we're just not meant to be together." He looks over at Nate, who's staring into the middle distance and not really listening even though that anvil has his name all over it. Cut to an eerie shot from outside the window where the smoke from Nate's cigarette crosses the frame all ghostly-like from left to right. David looks at him, concerned, but doesn't say anything, just goes back to watching the movie. Fade to white.
Fade back in on a morning scene. Nate is dully watching a TV show about…Siberia, I think. Enter Lisa with a chirpy "hey, sweetie!" She slings her bags down and coos at Maya as Nate heaves himself off the bed and asks, "Where the fuck have you been?" "Nate," Lisa begins, but Nate freaks out on her about how worried he's been, how worried they've all been, the missing-persons report, why the fuck didn't she call, didn't she get his hundred fucking messages? Lisa apologizes in a soothing tone and says she must have turned it off after he called, which isn't really an explanation, so much, but it's obviously a dream, so why get into it. Lisa hugs him, and Nate starts to cry, and he grabs onto Lisa and tells her never to fucking do that again, and over his shoulder, she looks worried…and maybe a little bit annoyed.
And then Nate wakes up. He looks over at Maya, standing at the edge of her playpen and swaying in that way babies do. He looks over at David, sacked out on the couch. He picks up Maya, pokes David, and asks him to watch Maya so he can "get some air." Damn, David is cute with that baby.
Outside, Nate paces and smokes. Cue The Strings Of Homeboy Is About To Lose It as Nate picks up a rake that's lying around and proceeds to whack the tree at the edge of the property with it until the rake shatters. He's staring at the handle when David interrupts, holding out the phone. Nate takes it -- yes, speaking, you what? Where? He's on his way. He hangs up. "They found her car." He runs into the house as David just stands there, dismayed. Maya turns to watch her daddy go, and David gives her a little kiss on the cheek. Awww. I don't even like babies, but give one to Michael C. Hall and it's over. So, so cute.
Angelica is telling Vanessa about a new shopping mall as Rico comes out into the living room to remind her about their dance lesson that night. She doesn't know if she feels up to it, but she'll call him at work to let him know. He's about to leave when Vanessa asks for the credit card; Angelica's taking her out for a little retail therapy. Rico's kind of confused: "You want to go shopping?" Angelica says they'll get her a new pair of shoes and maybe eat lunch at the farmer's market, and Rico is so happy that she's psyched to do something that he hands the card right over.
Casa Chenowith. The surviving Chenowiths can't decide where to sift Pa; various suggestions are proposed and rejected. Zhora notices Brenda studiously avoiding eye contact with Billy, and bitches at them for not speaking to each other, because it's "really starting to annoy" her. How…Zhora. Both children talk over each other to the effect of "let's get this over with, please," and after more wrangling, Zhora says, "Fuck it," grabs the urn, goes out onto the balcony, and dumps Pa out over the railing before Brenda and Billy can stop her. Most of Pa probably wound up in the downstairs neighbor's flower boxes, but Zhora seems satisfied: "There. Now he'll be in Westwood for all eternity." Brenda reaches forward and brushes a few Pa fragments off the railing. Heh.
Claire's in the bathroom, staring at a pregnancy test stick. Three words: Spawn Of Russell. Claire looks as grossed out by the prospect as I. Suddenly, there's knocking at the door; David needs her help downstairs.
It's a busy day at Fisher & Diaz & Bears (Oh My). Claire slumps downstairs in a black frock that looks just like one I have from Old Navy, and David posts her at the door of Mrs. Su's service to hand out programs. His instructions on smiling: "Not too much. Compassionate, but not happy." Claire doesn't think that'll be a problem, and as they stand at opposite sides of the doorway, he asks what's up with her. She bites his head off. He shrugs. Finally, she sneers, "My boyfriend had sex with another guy and we broke up, okay, are you happy?" David isn't, particularly, and says he's "so sorry," but not before kind of failing to suppress a "girl, I told you so" eyebrow. Claire's not done, though, meanly asking, "What is it with you people? You can't figure out what you are on your own, so you've gotta string along girls like me to, what, ease the transition?" Damn, that's cold. David looks both nonplussed and hurt by her outburst (probably because he's mentioned doing, basically, exactly that in the past), and after a funeral-goer interrupts them briefly, he says it's probably best that she found out about Russell now "before it went any further." Claire snorts that, yeah, the timing is really perfect, but when David asks what she means, she covers by referring to "what's going on with Lisa" and the way that celebrities always die in threes. Hee. David eyebrows, "You don't think Lisa might've…" "What, offed herself?" Claire blunts. "No way." David says he picked up on the tension between Lisa and Nate, and adds that "she always had that, you know, weird look in her eye, like it really wouldn't take that much to send her over the edge." Oh, we know, David. Weeee know. Claire repeats that there's no way Lisa would do that, "not with the baby," and then abruptly shuts up. David nods, checks his watch, and goes to check in on the Tully service across the hall. Rico expositions that they have to boot the Sus out of the Pastoral Room in half an hour so that the Monroes can use it. Arthur's all worried that they won't make it, but Rico and David say they will; they have no choice.
Just then, James Cromwell turns up for Mrs. Su's service, and blah blah won't get a ticket blah blah he will get a ticket and blah blah Arthur learns a very valuable lesson about cutting corners.
A seaside park. In the front seat, of the Veganmobile, Nate is arguing with a uniformed trooper, saying that it's Lisa's car, but she didn't "just leave it here and disappear off the face of the fuckin' earth" -- her cell phone and wallet are in the glove compartment, and her overnight bag is in the back seat, but her backpack is gone. Nate then points to the soda in the drink hutch and says that Lisa doesn't drink Dr Pepper: "She thinks it's toxic." When I first saw the episode, I didn't get the backpack part and went with Nate's theory that Lisa met with foul play; now I think that Lisa filled the backpack with rocks and walked into the water Edna-Pontellier-style, but I don't get the Dr Pepper part. The trooper patiently explains that the Dr Pepper and the missing backpack don't count as evidence of anything, and without evidence, the police "can't treat this as anything more than what it appears to be -- a missing-persons case." That doesn't sound right to me -- I think a missing-persons report filed prior to the discovery of an abandoned car should set off at least a few alarm bells with law enforcement -- but this isn't CSI so I'll get over it. The trooper goes on to say that he won't tell Nate there's nothing to worry about here, because "quite possibly there is." "Yeah, my wife is fucking missing!" Nate yells. The trooper understands that, but there's really nothing he can do; he advises Nate to "stick around the area" to see if Lisa comes back for the car, and also to move the car by tomorrow so it doesn't get towed. So they won't process it for evidence of possible wrongdoing, but they'll tow it? Jeez.
Chez-nowith. Zhora is drunkenly crooning "Killing Me Softly" on the balcony. Brenda is reading the paper, and wonders aloud how much longer Zhora is going to go on like that. Why don't you just leave, Brenda? The ashes got dumped; I think you can go home if you want. Billy makes a joke about Zhora throwing herself over the railing the way she did Pa, and Brenda doesn't laugh, but she does hear me, getting up and telling Billy to tell Zhora that she couldn't take it anymore. Billy says they need to talk. Brenda, almost out the door, doesn't think so: "What is there to say, Billy?" You just had to ask, didn't you? "I'm in love with you," Billy chokes out, his eyes filling with tears. Yeah, thanks for the update. Brenda recoils in horror, but Billy says that he needs to say it. "I know I can't have you. I know…it's wrong to want you like this, but it doesn't make it any less true." Yikes. Okay, the thing is, it's gross and ooky and everything, but in Billy's defense, I don't think he's trying to manipulate her here. I think he's just fucked up. And that concludes the "Uh Duh, Sars" portion of the recap. Anyway, Brenda clutches her head and asks tearfully what she's supposed to do with that. Nothing, he tells her, standing up: "I have to…let it go. And, and, and maybe saying the words will help." Brenda stares at him with a mixture of dread and pity. He adds in a whisper, "I want to let it go. You have to believe that." Brenda looks away and makes a sort of "okay then" gesture with her shoulders, then turns and walks out. Billy exhales miserably as his mother starts singing again.
Ruth warms up a bottle for Maya and tells David that she has a feeling everything is going to turn out fine, and "I've always been right about my feelings." "Mom," David wearily points out, "they found her car." Ruth can think of "a hundred explanations" for that, and when David tries to counter that and prepare her for the worst, she flames out and shouts that she's "sick of hearing that! I will not be prepared! And neither should anyone else." Maya, upset by the shouting, starts to whimper as Ruth says that she refuses to believe anything is wrong. "I have to trust my feelings," she says, sitting down with Maya and the bottle. "Right now they're all I have." I would have found that more poignant if I hadn't gotten distracted by the provenance of the bottle. Did they just switch Maya over to formula? Did Lisa pump a few bottles before leaving? Anyway, Ruth closes her eyes as Maya takes the bottle, and David stares at them sadly.
Rico lets himself in the front door and sees the kids watching TV. But not just any TV -- a gigantic big-screen TV. The camera pans over to a refrigerator box sitting in the doorway of the breakfast nook. "What the hell is all of this?" he demands. Angelica, unperturbed: "What?" Rico stomps over to the TV and says, well, the TV and the refrigerator. Angelica is still all blasé, telling him that the delivery guys couldn't get the fridge through the kitchen door, so they'll have to take out the cabinets to fit it in there. Rico manages to sandbag The Tsunami Of Short-Man Rage and herd the kids out of the room before asking where Vanessa is; she's napping, Angelica reports. "We have a dance lesson tonight," Rico grunts, and Angelica bitch-faces that he can wake her if he wants, "but if I were you, I would let her sleep."
That does it -- Rico snaps off the TV and starts to bitch Angelica out. She tells him not to start with her, and when he says they can't afford the TV and the fridge, Angelica calls bullshit: "You are a partner, okay -- you have the money, and she wanted them!" Clearly relishing the opportunity to get all self-righteous on Rico's ass, Angelica goes on that Vanessa "never" gets anything new or anything for herself, but Rico interrupts that they have a rule -- if they want to spend more than $100 on the credit card, they check in each other first. Oy…shades of the "problem purchases" conversation between Lisa and Nate. "She knew you'd be pissed," Angelica chuckles smugly. "That's right, I am pissed!" the mouse roars. Angelica gets up from the couch, stink-eye a-blazing: "She takes care of your kids. Every single day. And works a full-time job on top of that. Look at this place. No wonder she's depressed." Rico looks around all "what…what's wrong with it?" as Angelica adds that so what if Vanessa bought a new TV and a new fridge: "They were both on sale. Give her a fucking break, Rico -- she deserves it!" Finished, Angelica gives him an indescribably snotty look, sits down on the couch, and crosses her legs. Rico storms out the front door.
Nighttime at Fisher, Diaz & The Shawshank Redemption, and the doorbell rings. Ruth answers; it seems that Citizen Baines has forgotten his reading glasses. Once he's found them, he thanks Ruth, and says unprompted that he didn't know Mrs. Su very well, although he gets his paper at the Sus' shop every morning. This revelation inspires Ruth to dissolve in tears, then blurt out that her daughter-in-law is missing, and she thought she had a feeling everything would turn out all right, but now that they've found the car, her feeling is that something terrible has happened. Bawling in earnest, she walks forward and leans on the Bishop. The Clarinet Of He's Very Comforting, Especially In That Pig Movie sings its sad, sad song. Zefram Cochrane hugs her, and after a minute, she pulls it together and apologizes for "cry[ing] all over your jacket -- and you're a complete stranger." "Not anymore, I'm not," he twinkles down at her. Oh, good grief. He's better than Begley, but…ugh. He and Ruth gaze knowingly at one another for about a week.
Keith is telling David that David could have called him and had him bring some stuff over, but David, packing, shrugs that "this way is easier." Keith asks how everyone's holding up, and aims for a brownie point by saying that his friend at the sheriff's office put Lisa on the statewide teletype system. David thanks him, sounding almost annoyed, and Keith self-effaces that he "didn't do anything," just made a phone call. Although I think he's enjoying the reversal of their usual roles -- usually Keith is all remote while David does the puppyish try-to-snap-him-out-of-it thing -- David relents enough to thank Keith "for being there…here…whatever." Keith sits on the bed and peers at David: "How are you doing?" "Me? Fine." "Liar," Keith teases. David gives him a "don't start" look, but a gentle one, and Keith asks if he wants to stay a little while. David cringes again and says he doesn't think that's a good idea right now, which Keith accepts, but adds, "Call me if you hear anything…need anything." David says he will, and bolts. Keith is sad.
Rico is dancing angrily with a foxy woman who is not Vanessa, and the salsa tune playing in the scene is stuck in my head now. Shut up, Rico.
Pan across the beach to Nate, sitting in the window of his motel room and perusing what looks like Lisa's date book. In the background, waves crash, and The Oboe Of Don't Worry, Big Pussy Will Take Good Care Of Her mourns soulfully as Nate leans his head back against the window jamb and sighs. Knocking. He leaps up to answer the door, and on the other side finds David and Claire, their brows knitted. "We thought maybe you could use some company," David says, in a tone implying that he half expects Nate to tell them to fuck off; Claire's tiny "so…could you?" shrug backs me up on that. Nate stares at them for a second and stands back from the door, and as they approach him for a hug, he begins to sob and clutches them both tightly. Over his shoulder, David appears to have started crying also, and Nate holds their heads and kisses them as he cries. Aw.
Very early the morning. The shot starts on Claire, staring sleeplessly into space on the couch, and pans over to David, once again on one side of an empty bed.
Outside, a bleary-eyed Nate sits in the front seat of Lisa's car and listens to Todd Rundgren on the care stereo. "So we walk…along / Though I knew that there was something wrong / And a feeling hit me oh so strong / About you…" Waves crash on the soundtrack. Cut to a crane shot of the car in the lot, all alone except for one other car and parked diagonally across two spaces. Fade to white. "'Cause I saw the light…in your eyes / In your eyes."
time: Death! Fighting! Fucked-up lighting! And most importantly: Aaron! Woooo!