The penultimate episode of Season 2 brought us prom and the return of Angie’s donor, but thankfully spared us the pain of an elementary school recorder concert.
Prom and Promises
The first parenting-related scene this week is in a hospital, where Angie is sitting with moms Bette and Tina, waiting to meet her dying donor Marcus for the first time. While waiting, talk turns to her upcoming prom, and she mentions that Tina’s fiancée Carrie is lending her cufflinks. Bette jumps in to offer her own, obviously feeling threatened that Carrie is developing a relationship with Angie. Tina’s look in the photo above says it all.
Before Bette can explode from jealously, in walks Sheila, Marcus’ spouse, who asks to speak with Bette. Bette comes back to tell Angie that Sheila and Marcus are still “struggling with this” and “today is just not a good day.” Angie, heartbroken, asks, “I’m still gonna meet him eventually, right?” End scene, with massive foreshadowing.
Fast forward to Bette’s house where she and Tina are setting up for Angie’s pre-prom party. Angie is (understandably) angry at not meeting Marcus and stomps off, trailing storm clouds. Tina asks Bette if she thought she fought hard enough for Angie back at the hospital. Bette usually wins fights like that, Tina asserts. She has a point, but Bette insists she and Sheila weren’t fighting; Sheila was just being protective.
Enter Alice, thrilled to be reliving the prom vibes–she went to her high school prom all four years! She’s also brought vodka, causing Bette to exclaim, “Alice! They’re teenagers,” to which Alice replies, “Bette, it’s prom.” Alice is making herself a martini regardless.
In another room, Angie’s girlfriend Jordi is trying to pin a boutonniere to Angie’s very spiffy white tux. Angie is still fuming. “Bette is acting like this isn’t exactly what she wanted,” she opines. “She just didn’t fight hard enough and Mama T is on her side, no matter what.” The latter isn’t exactly true, but Angie doesn’t see it. Jordi asks, “Can’t you be pissed at them tomorrow? It’s prom. I want to have fun tonight with you. Much as I sympathize with what Angie is feeling, Jordi has a point.
In walk Shane and new girlfriend Tess. Shane’s brought beer, and likewise has to explain, “Bette, it’s prom.” On one level, it’s a funny jab at the expense of uptight Bette—but place this against the concurrent storyline (which I haven’t gone into much here) of character Finley’s struggle with alcoholism. Tess, too, is sober, but doesn’t have any particular reaction to Shane bringing beer to minors. Are the scriptwriters clunkily trying to juxtapose Alice and Shane’s casual use of alcohol with Finley’s much different relationship to it (and ignoring any thoughts Tess might have on the subject)? Or did they just not notice the contrast?
We then have a moment in which Alice asks Angie, “Should I tell the world I’m dating a man?” Angie, showing (I hope) the greater open-mindedness of the younger generation and the brusqueness of teens everywhere, replies, “Nobody cares.”
It’s then time for awkward prom photos by your parents! Angie still has the cloud of gloom over her head, however, and Bette is having trouble with her film (film!) camera. This gives Jordi time to confront Angie about being such a downer. Angie replies, “I don’t even care about prom, and I’m f–king here for you.” She says Jordi’s being an a–hole, to which Jordi responds, “Your donor’s the a–hole,” explaining, “He waited till the last minute just to turn you away while you were at the hospital.”
Bette comes back with an iPhone for the photo, but Angie’s had enough. She storms out.
Bette encourages Jordi to head off to the prom with her friends. She promises they’ll get Angie there. Tina then gets mad at Bette for making a promise they might not be able to keep—but the conversation devolves into another argument about Bette’s dislike of Carrie. Sigh.
Let’s leave them to it and head up to Angie’s room, where Auntie Alice and Uncle Shane are having a heart-to-heart with her. “It’s okay to be mad at your moms,” Shane tells her—true that. Angie knows it’s not their fault, though; she’s says she’s upset because Marcus doesn’t want to know her. “I get that I’m not, like, his daughter or anything,” she adds. Shane the Wise says, “That doesn’t matter. It still hurts. Really bad.”
Angie knows she acted badly towards Jordi and feels like she ruined her prom. Alice says she could still fix things and go to prom; Shane suggests, “Or you could apologize tomorrow and not go to prom.”
Having been presented with these options by the cosmically balanced pair of advice givers, Angie makes up her own mind and decides to go be there for Jordi. She leaves, and Bette tells Tina that she wants to go back to the hospital tomorrow to try and convince Marcus to see Angie.
Angie arrives at prom to find out that Jordi didn’t get named prom queen, but forgives Angie. They dance together in the hallway and look adorable.
Cut to Bette and Tina in Marcus’ hospital room, where he explains that he was trying to protect Angie, since he doesn’t know how much time he has left to live. Bette shows him the list of questions Angie wrote up to ask him, though, and he gives in. “I should’ve known Bette Porter’s daughter would be persistent,” he says. Bette and Tina will bring Angie tomorrow.
“Angie’s lucky to have you as a mom,” Tina tells Bette. Bette replies, “You, too.” We’ve seen this before; Bette is the outspoken one, but it’s often Tina behind the scenes helping to guide her, as she did in pushing her to try again with Marcus. When they’re not fighting, it’s a dynamic that seems to work for them. Parents each bring different things to the table, and sometimes it’s these skills in cooperation that mean the best for our children.
Then an alarm goes off and hospital staff pelt into Marcus’ room as he crashes. The scene cuts back to prom, where Angie and Jordi are declaring their love, then back to the hospital. The monitor flatlines. Bette starts to cry and Tina holds her.
I would have felt more emotion about this if I hadn’t been able to predict it ever since finding out Marcus had kidney failure. The back-and-forth between the two scenes thus seems overwrought. Also, a (briefly) flatlining monitor is not necessarily a sign of death, depending on the person’s condition and the speed of the medical staff. It’s possible we haven’t seen the last of Marcus. Until we know for sure, I’ll save any thoughts I have about how his death might impact Angie.
A Final Note
In a smaller parenting moment, Gigi’s son Eli is having a recorder concert, and Gigi tries to convince new love Dani to go. Dani views this as a welcome break from managing her father’s failing company, but Gigi knows better. She’s bringing edibles, which will make the recorders “almost start to sound good.” This reminds me of a comment another parent made at my son’s first elementary school band concert: “They sound like traffic.” Luckily, Dani skips the concert and we’re spared having to sit through Eli & Co.’s dulcet musical stylings.
The season finale drops this Friday. Will Marcus pull through? Will Angie forgive her moms? Will Eli get a scholarship to Julliard? Stay tuned!