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5.3 Hold My Hand Ruth: "He did not intend to finance you while you play house with a crazy person!" Claire: "Look who's talking!" Lots about mental illness. Brenda's patients. George and Billy *as* patients. George was still trying. Ruth was still angry, and we were pointedly shown that Ruth was drinking. She simply wouldn't forgive George for being sick, and I got that. She wanted a partner for her approaching "golden years", not another child to take care of. But we also finally got George's side. His mother, the woman in the blue dress, must have been deeply disturbed, and it wasn't just that she was feeding him fried bologna and Velveeta (gag). She died of an overdose at the kitchen table, holding his little hand so hard that it hurt. Essentially, she kept hold of his hand his entire adult life, passing her illness on to him. When people experience significant trauma at an early age, they often stay that emotional age. Ruth refused to give George the mothering he still needed, and at the end of the episode, George was holding Maggie's hand, as if he was passing it on to her. Unmedicated Billy was already manic; even his hair was levitating. And he was planning to run off to Europe with Claire. Why wasn't she noticing the change in him? Was she just enjoying his new, youthful craziness, and thinking it was all due to her? And she and Ruth finally had the fight we knew was coming. Why was Ruth so angry at Claire? Was it just tossing away college and throwing herself away on Billy, compounded with displaced anger with George? I guess that's more than enough, come to think of it. Very interesting dinner party, with Brenda marveling at the healthy, well-adjusted Feldmans, a family of shrinks like her own parents but one hell of a lot healthier. So what did Brenda do? She immediately tried to recreate that atmosphere at home with Nate and Maya. Couldn't blame her, growing up the way that she did, but all it did was emphasize the artificial feel of her own marriage. David was completely on top of the adoption and surrogacy paperwork, right up until the moment they were rejected because of David's arrest in Vegas. It's such a shame, too, because David would make such a great mom. This just backs up my strong belief that prostitution should be legal. Pointless political comment over. More about meaning: -- Nate finally met Maggie and they had common ground: she lost her two-year-old son to leukemia. That made me like Maggie more. It takes a strong person to bounce back from something so devastating. -- Angela said her marriage got a fast-acting cancer and died very quickly. Like Maggie's baby. -- At one point, Ruth said "good-bye" to George when she meant to say "good night." She wanted to leave him. -- George's mother talked about college not teaching you what you needed to know, which happened to be Claire's current opinion of higher education. Bits and pieces: -- "Loretta Smith Sibley, 1908-1953". This opening death was different from every other one; it was a long time ago and had nothing to do with Fisher and Diaz. -- Brenda's new internship might be in a more affluent area, but it was far from easy. -- Rico hit the Catholic singles scene and went right for Vanessa. And then he met Angela at a conference. Rico and Angela together made me smile. The two of them having sex made me laugh out loud. -- The supermarket was called "Jons." You could actually see where it had been altered from "Vons." Quotes: Keith: "You are such a mom. You are." Angela: "Of course, they fired me. The Fishers. I broke a glass, you know. They acted like I murdered someone or fucked a body." Claire: "How am I supposed to move to Europe and fucking ripen when you won't give me my money?" Maggie: "I got so lost. The ten, the five, the two, the two ten, the one oh one..." Los Angeles in a nutshell. Three out of four stars, Billie View all comments or post a comment. |
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