(Bonnie’s mom is a character named Elizabeth Howard, played by Crystal R. Fox.)
The night of Perry’s death, Bonnie remembering. The ladies planning don’t think we’ve seen this before. She’s drawn out by hearing her mother sing to Skye.
Madeline at counseling, oh there’s Ed too. She calls them both out on their issues within the marriage as she sees it. Madeline gets defensive. The therapist asks about her first marriage, then about her parents’ marriage.
Bonnie walking on the beach, remembering a time from her childhood; her mom trying to convince her to learn to go underwater, Bonnie tells her she doesn’t want to and suddenly her mom dunks her under the water.
First Car conversation – Madeline and Celeste in the car. M is talking about having caught her father having sex with a woman not her mother when she was a young child. Her dad told her that “there are things your mother doesn’t need to know.” M kept the secret. Celeste tries to console M that Ed won’t leave her. M asks C if she’s had any more issues with the Ambien. C thinks that she was a better mother to the boys when Perry was still around. That she has no joy to model for them any longer.
Mary Louise ambushes Jane at work, asking her to take a paternity test. Jane is understandably offended. ML tries to spin it slightly, saying that she’s just trying to come to terms with the fact that her son abused his wife and possibly raped a woman. Then throws shade at Jane when she asserts that Perry was the only man she’s been with saying, “That you recall…”
Classroom scene with the kids. The teacher is quoting Sir Walter Scott with “Oh what a tangled web we weave,” when they had apparently just been reading Charlotte’s Web. Ziggy points out that Charlotte didn’t say that, that she just said, “Some Pig.” The teacher goes on to point out that Charlotte basically exaggerated Wilbur’s gifts, which were just ordinary. He then asks Ziggy if that makes Charlotte a liar. Ziggy says that he thinks that makes her a grown up, lying to protect someone she loves, which he says is what grown ups do. Chloe pipes in with “I think she was probably just ‘rebranding’ Wilbur.” He then goes into a lesson about sustainability until he finally realizes that Amabella is basically passed out in the closet.
Renata at the hospital. She’s so ridiculous. Poor Amabella, her mom doesn’t have the faintest clue what she’s doing to her. The way she won’t even let Gordon talk to Amabella is just crazy. And to sit there and bicker like that literally over her bed.
Madeline and Abigail. M tells A some about her counseling session. A points out to her that perhaps the therapist is onto something.
The Bo Peep counselor is nuts. Like… Who DOES that???? We find out that Amabella’s biggest concern is “the end of the world” due to all the climate change talk at school. That she’s also worried her dad is going to jail and that there’s something wrong with her mom that’s been wrong for some time.
Jane and Corey on a date. Whole lot of sourcing questions in regards to the fish being served.
ML at the police station, talking to Det. Quinlan.
Celeste at therapy, talking about all the good times she and Perry had. She asks about the bruise on Celeste’s arm, then asks if she self-inflicts injuries to remind herself of Perry. She asks her if she’s an addict, if Perry’s her drug.
Back to Jane and Corey, walking after dinner. She tells him about Ziggy. Corey comes in for a kiss and freaks Jane out completely. She tells him that she needs to take things super slowly.
Videos of Perry on the iPad with the twins and ML.
Jane and Ziggy walking to her car. ML is being a creeper, standing there staring at Ziggy. Jane must have felt some compassion for crazy lady, because she goes to meet with her. Apparently Ziggy looks like ML’s other son, Raymond. ML says she wants to be a part of Ziggy’s life. Jane says she needs time to come to terms with that. ML starts reminiscing and goes into how gentle, tender and sweet Perry was. Jane says that he grew up to be a nightmare. ML has the audacity to ask who initiated the meeting the night Jane met Perry and was raped by him. ML can’t come to terms with what Jane tells her and keeps trying to make excuses. Jane says, “Your son raped me, and as he was doing so, I screamed for him to get off. I don’t think that you *misread* that.” ML says she doesn’t mean to offend (yeah right) but that she “can’t surrender to the notion that he was *evil.* I can’t… I just do so wanna believe there was good in him. I can’t… Did you see some good in him? Before the bad? Did you see…. Good in him?” WTF kind of question is that to ask of the person your son raped?????? UGH!
Celeste putting makeup on…. (Is she self harming? – camera stays on makeup so long) Probably covering bruises again.
Madeline approaching the cafe, where Bonnie and Ed sit chatting. Madeline tells Bonnie she’s looking better. Bonnie leaves the awkwardness. Ed tries to leave. Madeline needs to know what they were talking about. M asks Ed how long he’s going to punish her. They snip at each other. He leaves.
2nd Madeline and Celeste in the car. M talks about how badly she does with relationships. That she feels terrible for not knowing what was going on with C. C tells her she wishes that she had told M.
Renata on a rampage in the principal’s office. He said he’s scheduled an assembly for that evening to talk with the parents about it. Renata goes off about how she feels he’s belittling her because of her current financial situation. He calls her the “Medusa of Monterey” after she leaves.
Renata shows up at Madeline’s realty office, venting about the situation at the school. ML is there. She doesn’t remember Renata, but then *does* remember her as having been one of the women who were there when Perry died.
Jane and Bonnie on the beach as Jane watches Corey teaching Ziggy to surf. Bonnie advises Jane to tell Corey about her past… Then realizes she’s being a hypocrite, as Nathan knows nothing about her past. What does this mean? What is her past?
Renata walks into Gordon’s weird train room where he’s blasting some music. (Question for you Axel, this scene was visibly different than any others in the episode. It was like a shaky camera as we enter the room with Renata, like we were supposed to have some kind of drunk/stoned feeling going in. What’s with that? And why with just that scene?I’m sure you can explain it to me.) She tells him what she has to say, Amabella’s bday party, the assembly at the school, and to “sell your fuckin’ toys” and tries to walk out, when Gordon tells her that it isn’t just him. He says he means the part about putting stress on Amabella, that it’s both of them. He tells her that he knows something’s been going on for a year and Amabella can feel it, that she (Renata) is never fully “there” anymore.
Assembly at the school. When the principal loses it and tells them to shut up, Madeline shouts back at him. He calls her up to the podium to share her thoughts. She started off well, but it went downhill pretty quickly, which I kind of expected when she went up there. She’s spinning out of control. Then we see that she’s imagining seeing only Ed standing there. Celeste gives him crap about not being there for his wife when he walks outside.
Madeline and Abigail on the beach. A wants to know if Ed is leaving. M tells her that she doesn’t know, but that he hasn’t packed anything yet. A tells her she heard about the “speech” school.
Celeste returns home to find ML rummaging through her medications. Celeste tells her she needs to find somewhere else to stay. ML points out how you need to be careful with these (Vicodin.) C tells her that sometimes she needed it for the pain, like when he kicked her. ML walks away.
Jane and Corey. He tells her he won’t try to kiss her, but asks for a hug. They hug and it turns into a kind of slow dance and is really kinda sweet.
Ending Montage
Celeste watching a video of Perry, where he calls her “Sparkles” and tells her he misses her. Jane and Corey dancing. Renata fiddling with a ring. Madeline remembering when Joseph kissed her, the accident with him, then Ed kissing her. Bonnie walking into the ocean, then remembering her mother carrying her along the ocean. Celeste masturbating to the video of Perry. Jane dancing and crying. Celeste again.