Tara is, to say the least, freaking out. Why? Why, you might ask, is Tara freaking out at the moment? Well, it's because Lafayette has driven her two hours, into the morning light, to the good old sanitarium where they keep his intensely crazy mother, Ruby Jean Reynolds. He promises not to commit Tara quite yet, unless she chills out, and asks for his mother quietly at the front desk, terrified and quiet and willing to take it this far, to prove his love for Tara.

The most awesome guy on TV -- Kevin Alejandro, who eventually comes to every television show I ever recap, as if our fate's predicated entirely on how much I adore him -- is trying to get her to eat. Meet Jesus. He takes in Lafayette, and they exchange a certain look, and Ruby Jean speaks the hell up.

"Oh, that's just my son Lafayette," Ruby says, confusing Jesus, who thought her son was dead. "God killed him because he's a faggot," she explains reasonably, "But he keeps coming back. Hey," she says sweetly to her dead son, and nods toward Jesus. "This is Jesus," she says, emphasis on the first syllable, it like her sister's best friend. "He's a Mexican but he ain't raped me yet." Jesus tells Lafayette to stop apologizing for her horrible behavior, and they meet shake hands. There's something really touching about Ruby Jean's love for her dead son. She's so informally loving, and so formally hateful at the same time. He's so dead to her, and still so welcome as a visitor. Alfre Woodard is a goddamn treasure.

Jesus thanks both cousins for visiting -- although Ruby swears she has visitors all the time, "coming and going, coming and going," with that Alfre Woodard intonation that says she might not be lying about it -- and asks why her visitors, including Lafayette, won't leave her alone. Jesus puts her food in Lafayette's hands, promising Lafayette will be his hero if he gets her to eat, and she spouts some more racism, scratching at her crotch through her housecoat as Jesus leaves. Tara stares at her future, and eventually gets the Staring Problem face back from Ruby Jean, hilariously. Lafayette reminds his mother who she is, and Ruby Jean looks closer.