Writers: Rina Mimoun and Christopher Fife
Director: David Paymer
Grade: A-
This was certainly one of the more dramatic episodes of the season so far. I have to say that I don’t think that being abandoned again by a family that already abandoned her in the past is really the kind of “tough love” that Lily needs. Has Lily ever had any other kind of love? I’m not her biggest fan, but she deserves better than being left to rot in jail for something she didn’t even do. Megan was also way out of line bitching Lily out for being worried about her husband and trying to find him a lawyer. Of course Megan should be angry at Sammy, but she has no right to dictate how Lily should feel about the situation. Can Megan go one single episode without getting pissed off at someone for a completely unjustified reason?
I’m also not happy about the fact that Will dating Lily is apparently no big deal any more. Marco even lectured Will about it once, and given the kind of high-strung, judgmental person Megan is, I really don’t buy that a month or two is enough for her to just get over the fact that a guy she likes may have slept with her sister. I feel like I’m supposed to just forget that it ever happened because the writers fear for the show’s longevity and are trying to speed up the timeline in favor of a happy ending. It’s not working for me.
What did work for me was Luis being so mellow about Charlie’s disapproval of him dating Sage (just imagine if Luis were Megan…). And speaking of Charlie, I hear that the next episode is his last one, so I guess I’d better enjoy him while I still can. Michael Cassidy was a large part of why I even gave this show a chance, and I will miss his character, who is one of the more centered people in the Privileged world.
Another thing that really worked for me was the way that Luis and Sage’s conflict mirrored Megan and Will’s conflict, especially after Megan had used herself and Will as example of a successful “opposites attract” kind of relationship. The feelings involved were different—Luis lost his sense of accomplishment, whereas Megan was humiliated to have Will butt into her family issues by way of $25,000—but the wealth differential aspect was the same.
As for Shelby, that storyline was ripped straight out of Veronica Mars, who is coincidentally (or not?) the television character that Megan most reminds me of. I thought that Shelby's little attempt at holding Will’s hand—which he clearly noticed and was slightly uncomfortable with—was a bit odd, but I didn’t see the end result coming. Were it not for Lily contradicting Shelby’s assertion to Will that she went to see Lily in jail, I’d be unsure as to whether Shelby was playing Will from the start or only made the decision after she talked to him and realized she could get the money. After this, though, I have no desire to see the character ever again, even if the show gets another season. There is absolutely nothing the writers could do with this woman that I would find compelling. She stole the $25,000 from one daughter’s boyfriend, and the money was intended to bail the other daughter out of jail, thus she fucked them both over. She’s dead to me.
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