Swing and a Miss
Joe is still reeling from the idea of having an open marriage. He decides to play along though, believing it’s a good way to disguise his feelings for Marienne. But of course, there’s also an elephant in the room – James. What exactly happened to him. Was he really killed by Love?
Joe heads to work where Marienne reveals that she’s in the final of her illustration contest. She never actually submitted her work though – that’s all Joe’s doing. Marienne is undeniably excited about it but puts on a front for the other workers to avoid suspicion.
Joe agrees to be a character witness for Marienne in her upcoming custody hearing, as he believes that Ryan is planning something but right now, it’s unclear what. Marienne is grateful for Joe’s help and will be able to prepare for the hearing with more ease knowing that he is on her side.
Joe watches as Theo grows closer to Love. She thinks it’s making him jealous but as Joe narrates once more, we lean that he’s feeling a whole lot of nothing. Love has an ulterior motive here though, and intends to use Theo to find out what Matthew is planning. And that opportunity arrives that evening.
When Matthew heads out, Theo finds a whole bunch of cameras connected to Love. He’s the target he’s after, and as Theo hits out at him over his obsession, Matthew explodes in rage and forces Theo to pack his bags and get out. ..
That evening, the open marriage is taken to a new level when Cary and Sherry show up to get busy. Joe is taken away and given some testosterone by his “friend” Cary, a call from Marienne sees Joe come crashing down to Earth.
Ryan has ruined Marienne’s chances of being published, sending explicit pictures to the illustration competition. Marienne needs a friend and invites Joe over but obviously it’s not a great night to do that. ..
Joe and Sherry are in a heated argument in the living room when Love suddenly reveals that she killed Natalie. Joe is shocked and horrified, and they end up fighting in the living room. As things get heated, Love reveals that she killed Natalie. Joe is devastated and cannot believe that he was involved in her death, and they end up getting divorced.
Joe and Cary fight, and Love fights with Sherry. Joe is caught in the middle, and everything goes wrong.
Joe incapacitates Cary outside the house in the back garden while Love knocks out Sherry upstairs. With both knocked out, the couple drive up to the bakery and dump the pair in the glass cage in the basement. Ironically, this leads to the pair having the best sex of their lives.
The next day, Marienne does a great job at her hearing but there’s a problem. Ryan and the judge are good friends and it would seem as if the system is rigged against her.
As the episode ends, Love and Joe watch on the monitors as Cary and Sherry wake up. They are going to have to deal with this situation.
The Episode Review
Natalie’s character is intentionally annoying, but her antics have managed to keep the show afloat until now. If this season doesn’t end with her behind bars or dead, it’ll be a real shame.
The first season of “Stranger Things” was much more captivating because it focused on the internal conflict between Eleven and her brother, Joe. This season, however, spends a good chunk of its run-time on the swinging party and Marienne’s issues at work. While this sets up a good internal conflict with Joe, it’s not exactly enthralling TV - especially when you compare it to season 1. ..
It seems as if this show is content to coast along the track of mediocrity and while this season isn’t outright bad, it’s not exactly great either. This is a definite step down from season 2 and I think some of that comes from the intense focus on Love – who’s nowhere near as deeply crafted and interesting as Joe. Still, we’ll have to wait and see what the final two episodes have in store for us!
