Joey approaches and snivels a bit, and we learn the basics: Roman evicted all of them at bulldozer-point. All Hendricksons ever. After destroying Orville's statue with a jackhammer while forcing his descendents to watch. Bill gives Joey some cash so Wanda won't have to give birth in a motel, and then Wanda appears and sends Joey off so she can do the Ghost of Evictions Present number on him, about how she could "give birth in a potato patch and survive," and that it's Joey she's worried about: "He'd never say it...but he sunk everything into that fish farm, and Roman drained those tanks...and we owe the investors who backed us, and believed in us...and if Joey cracks -- if he falls apart, or if he falls off the wagon -- I'm holding you responsible." She takes off, as full of bullshit as that entire argument always is, but of course Bill loves nothing better than being held responsible for the actions of other full-grown adults, so it hits him in a very patriarchal place.
Lois appears, the Crazy of Evictions Future, and yanks him inside her hotel room to fix the television, which is screaming static, and then says the first sense I've ever heard her talk: It's not about Bill and Roman at all. "It's [about] 30 years of harassment. He's just trying to make like the Hendricksons never even existed. My daddy was the one true Prophet, and Roman Grant is gonna burn in H for what he's done to us. When do we turn the corner? When do we get justice?" For some reason, that speech makes me feel peace with Lois. She really didn't ask for any of this at all, did she? Maybe that's why it's easier for Bill to forgive her than Frank. He looks at her, worried and strong.
Barb enters the kitchen and asks Sarah, who's putting away the dishes, if she got the roast out of the freezer. "Where've you been?" Sarah asks her mother, and Barb vaguely says she had some "errands to do." Sarah grins and waits a moment. "With Dad?" The first time I watched, I totally thought she said, "Like Dad?" Which would be a bit much, even for Sarah, but is funny to imagine. Barb stares at her: "What?" And Sarah looks down, then up, grinning like a maniac, and takes off smiling. She's so great, and Barb's so not getting it. She just stares at where Sarah was standing, breathing and breathing, never understanding that to Sarah it's the opposite of cheating, and paranoia has no place here.













Comments