20/20 Hindsight

Previously: Bobby endures a competency evaluation as part of the ongoing custody battle for his sons. Neil plays protective husband to Lyla, who gets stabbed by Rickle, a man who shot five people in Times Square a few days after she chose not to admit him. Abe learns that commitment can be depressing.

This week, we get a quick "previously on Wonderland" montage, which includes a scene that I swear has not previously happened -- Bobby sitting in a bar with his estranged wife; he says, "I don't want to lose my boys. So sue me." To which she replies (unable to resist the mile-wide opening Bobby has just handed over on a platter), "I am." That was a sneaky little bit of context-building.

It's a Rivervue morning, and weapons are being distributed to the guards. Neil begins the day in the ward, getting props from a beefy guard for his attempt on Rickle's life (turns out Rickle killed at least one cop in Times Square). Beefy tells Neil he "had passion," which was not at all apparent to me, and goes back to reading a Daily News with the headline, "Terror in Times Square." Is that not something that occurs there every fantasterrific day? ["Not really, unless by 'terror' you mean 'The All-Star Caf�.'" -- Sars] Neil meets Bobby in the hall, and they start discussing patients. The ward, which had an approximate population of four last week, is teeming with people -- patients burble and saunter about, and a small army of badge-wearing doctorish types gathers behind our two leading doctorish types. Did another hospital just shut down? Has Hallmark created "extras week"? Neil tells Bobby that Rickle's not taking his meds (a nutty twist, since Lyla thought Rickle was looking for drugs when she sent him away), which consternates Bobby, who then asks about Lyla and her big day, which must be just one in a series of many recent "big days" for Lyla, seeing as how she just got poked in the baby with a big, menacing needle. Neil tells Bobby that all is cool because Lyla has everything under control. Yeah, right.

A reporter hounds Lyla as she walks purposefully down the hall, followed by yet another badge-wearing doctorish type. As the hard-hitting muckraker pesters Lyla about professional responsibility and other dumb crap, she suddenly takes issue with his use of the phrase "about to blow" and asks if he thought up the headline "Madman of Midtown." He climbs a little higher on his soapbox and asks if she feels no responsibility for five deaths, only to be interrupted by the polished hospital spokesperson. PR guy is shaken because Lyla has chosen to engage the reporter, which is a big no-no, especially since this one obviously has a pretty strong anti-Lyla bias. Her transgression merits a "crash course in PR crisis management," which consists entirely of a rousing round of "no comment." Dr. Spin tells Lyla they've had a "total system failure" -- referring to the needle in the tummy incident; "every link broke," and despite the presence of police and security, Lyla ended up getting to Rickle first. "Well," says Lyla, "I'm quick and I'm dumb." You can say that again. Spin tells her she was acting on instinct (not, apparently, the maternal kind) and assures her that nobody will fault her for that, and she kids with him about the Special Review being an educational tool. It's really great that even in this time of stress, Lyla can maintain her hilarious sense of humor. Lyla, Spin, and their great big foreshadows climb into an elevator and vanish.