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S2 EP 2 Knots Landing - Hitchhiker Part 2 :The "Knot A Good Day For Bad Lawyer-ing" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 216

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Welcome back Soap Fiends!!

What happens when an innocent man fights to clear his name against a backdrop of community suspicion and personal turmoil? This episode of our podcast delves into the intense courtroom drama faced by Sid and the emotional rollercoaster his family endures. We dissect the pressures Sid faces in proving his innocence and explore the intricate character dynamics at play. Particularly, we focus on Valene and Gary Ewing's evolving relationship, questioning whether their individual growth paths make them compatible or further drive them apart. Comparisons with the solid bond between Sid and Karen, as well as the budding chemistry between Laura and Richard, offer a rich tapestry of relationships to analyze.

Gary’s quest for sobriety comes under the spotlight, impacting his interactions with those around him, especially Karen. The arrival of Miss Abby, a new and flirtatious neighbor, adds another layer of intrigue, stirring curiosity as her presence begins to influence Gary. Valene's heartfelt conversation with Abby leads to a critical decision to remain close to her family, with Laura lending a helping hand in securing a nearby residence. The dynamics within this cul-de-sac community are anything but simple, as we anticipate how these relationships will evolve in future episodes.

Finally, we cover the emotional and legal battles that Sid’s family endures, particularly Karen’s fervent plea to Richard to hire a criminal lawyer. The tension escalates as Sid faces severe charges and the prospect of a deal to admit to lesser offenses. Karen and her sister in law Abby's relentless search for the truth uncovers critical evidence that ultimately clears Sid's name. Despite this legal victory, the episode emphasizes the lasting impact of public opinion on their lives. Join us as we navigate the emotional strains and challenges that set the stage for continued drama and development in this gripping series.

Speaker 1:

they're contractually obligated to remind us. Gary ewing is of the texas ewings of dallas. Just in case this show flippity, flippity, flops, he's still got a job. He can head on back to dallas. And, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome, or welcome back to another fun-filled edition of so floor.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, jet, viewing and reviewing the soapiest, headiest primetime storyline of 1980. We're jumping back into the exciting conclusion of season one, episode two, nance Landing, the Hitchhiker, part two. That was a mouthful and there's a mouthful going on here. There's a whole lot, there's a lot of layers of this episode, so we're going gonna jump right in. You know the drill kids time to play outside. Babe, please, please, no questions, no questions to the next 25-35 minutes. Everybody else, no disrespect, but you gotta go, you gotta get out. Today we don't have time for that.

Speaker 1:

We had a deep dive into these character arcs and what's going on below the surface at Not Landed. Welcome back, party people. You ever just mess around and surprise yourself. Totally forgot I had my bubbly in the fridge, not my champagne, but my artisan sparkling water, which may or may not be the best thing to drink when you're talking on a podcast, but I really don't care. I like to live the glamorous life. I'll tell you what, if nothing else, my life has definitely been upgraded by emulating some of these people, and I like to have something refreshing while I sit and chatter, chatter, chit, chit.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so when last we left, sid was sitting front and center in the court. He was a gawk. Totally just shocked is is not the right word. He knew this was a possibility and I know this because this kid is walking around nervous, but never did he think it would turn out like this. So you have this incredible tension throughout the rest of the episode. Sid is not one to have all these outbursts, you know, but you can tell he's wound extra tight, he's trying to keep his mind right. But a court of public opinion is very, very unforgiving, doesn't matter how you feel, it matters what you can prove. So the majority of this episode is going to be proving that Sid is who he says he is and that this girl is lying.

Speaker 1:

Before we get all scooby-doo and go through all the facts, we need to talk about a couple of the other people on the show, starting with one of my favorites, the Vidalia Onion Queen herself, valene Ewing. Okay, okay. So, yes, I may or may not have called her a deadbeat a couple of times. I may or may not have refused to learn her name, not refused, I'm going to be honest. I didn't think she'd stick around, didn't want to learn her name. Yes, I can honestly say I might have misjudged Valene from the beginning, but as time has gone on, I am constantly impressed by her and even more so than that, I'm rooting for this woman.

Speaker 1:

Go ahead and make an outlandish prediction. I don't see her and Gary going the long run. I mean, it's granted this is. I know this is going to move through the 80s and 90s. People get divorced. It's very, very common. But I just don't think, I don't know. I've never personally seen the connection between the two of them. I'm not saying that they don't have chemistry, because they do, but there's not really a connection. You see Sid and you see Karen and they have like this bond. You see how they play off of each other. You see how one feeds the other.

Speaker 1:

I don't know what Gary Ewing does for Valene other than her holding on to this dream and just this need to have her family. It is a wonderful opportunity, but if I'm counting the cost as well as I'm watching this. There is a sacrifice involved in moving to the West Coast, because Valene was more than willing to not only sneak around, she stood up to JR, she was willing to stay in Texas to be near Lucy. Gary, on the other hand, was not. Gary is slowly finding his footing and it could just be one of those things where the love is patient, love is kind. She is going to allow him the space and time that he needs to grow as a man. But, dare I say it, I feel like she's growing at a little bit more of a rapid pace because she's had to. She hasn't had the luxury of getting to throw a fit and disappear. She didn't run away from her life, she was chased away as where Gary kind of ran away. It's just, it's a little bit of a different vibe. I've never really felt like they were that compatible. But again, this is all still kind of very new to me.

Speaker 1:

I don't really feel like we see a lot of Gary or Valene right. Especially if you are a newbie watching this, I'm very curious to see if you agree with me. Go ahead and text me if you're listening. In the one of the apps, the text number is right underneath the show notes. If you are watching this somewhere else, leave a comment. I am so curious. I just I don't really feel it. I even feel a little bit more chemistry, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I see more chemistry between Laura and Richard, like there's something that they can kind of there's a pull and a push there, but with this it's like I just don't know. But maybe as we get to see Gary a bit more, I don't feel like he's in every other episode. He's not really front and center quite a bit, other than when he was drunk and that was baby. That was by far one of the most entertaining episodes I've ever seen of this first season.

Speaker 1:

My point in all of this is that where I'm watching Valene grow, one of the things I didn't really think about and it's not something that's been heavily discussed is her kind of maternal instincts. Yeah, they brought, they talked about Lucy when Lucy was a guest. They bring her up every now and again, but I never thought about that. Valene has missed out on raising a child. Her child is, by all intents and purposes, a full grown woman at this point. She doesn't need a lot of raising. Now they can just be friends. Now they can just have this relationship and it's this beautiful thing. But she missed her baby all this time.

Speaker 1:

So on this episode, what is this girl's name? I've already forgot her name Loras, not Loras. When Ginger's twin, abby, I swear they got to change hair colors. They were standing by each other when Kenny came into the door and Ginger's hair is darker. It's a little bit longer, but I swear I'm doing a double take every time she comes on the screen.

Speaker 1:

So Abby has her two children. She is a divorcee. She looks very young. I can't believe she has these two kids. She's very young, divorcee, about to move to San Diego. And Valene has kind of picked up on something. She kind of sensed it in the little girl and I think she sees it in Abby as well. Abby's not quite in the place where she can handle these kids, or so it appears. So Valene has kind of stepped in as this surrogate mother.

Speaker 1:

This episode to the point where, quote unquote, she begged Abby to let them spend the night at her house. She is waking him up, she is talking to the little boy. She understands his horn blowing. Now the little girl will speak to her. She gets them to behave. It reminds me of um.

Speaker 1:

One of my favorite movies is uh, talladega, talladega nights with will ferrell. And do you remember when the grandma took over with the little kids? You know she slapped him around, got him back into shape. That is what by dahlia valine is doing with these kids. I don't know about that, though. Here's the thing Today it's kind of taboo to correct other people's children. If you're out and about, you know, maybe you have a friend whose kid is always doing the most, always ripping and running, screaming and hollering. You want to snatch him up, not hurt him. But just hey, hey, hey, get somewhere and sit down. Valene's not afraid to do that.

Speaker 1:

Now, I'm not surprised. She is a Southern woman, I'm not surprised. But Abby is, she's unbothered by this. She's like, oh cool, somebody's watching them. She is completely unbothered. No, she doesn't seem to be doing much else this episode, but she's not fazed by Valeneene interfering. But I can kind of see the other women looking like, oh, that's interesting, and I kind of felt that way too. This is, this is deeper than just babysitting. This is deeper than I like them. She has all but adopted these kids. I'm wondering if it's going to be a source of tension a little bit later on, but it's just kind of interesting to watch her. I never thought about the fact that she needed that, like she needs to be a mother, and she and Gary don't seem to talk about that.

Speaker 1:

But once again he wants to take everything super duper slow and I'm like damn Gary, anybody got time to wait for you to fully grow up? We're already in it. We have a full blown North Texas. Lolita, let's go ahead and make a West Texas, let's make a West Coast concubine, or, oh, that sounds horrible. So is Lolita, but you know what I'm saying. You might as well, you're still young enough. Let's go ahead and get this thing going.

Speaker 1:

But he's you know, I guess he has to take this one step at a time, which is a whole nother aspect of the show. So on the first episode, at the kickback, gary does pull Karen aside and he's like listen, I love you, you don't have to do this. And she's like I don't know what you're talking about. She's serving juice instead of alcohol. And he's like I don't want anybody tiptoeing around me, I want you guys to live your life. Let me fight this good fight like I need to, so I can understand at this point in his life. He needs to focus on sobriety, he needs to make sure that he can stand on his own two feet and that he can be valuable to this marriage. I just kind of don't see that. It's not a long-term strategy. Don't see it working out Plus Miss Boothang it working out plus miss boo thing, miss abby, let's talk about her, let me. Let me get it together. Like I said, she's not doing a lot this episode. Besides, she's kind of running in and out. She seems to stumble into the room quite a bit and I didn't clock the fact that she was the vava voom girl until the music started playing.

Speaker 1:

I used to consider myself a very observant person, but I'm starting to believe I might be the person in Superman sitting right next to Clark Kent and like when Superman comes back from lunch and he puts back on his glasses, I'm like, oh my God, dude, you just missed Superman. I wouldn't know. No, I don't think it's that bad, but I just I didn't get that she was a sex symbol. Everybody kind of looks the same. She is wearing hot pants I think it's what they call them in heels, but I mean it's Southern California, what else are you going to wear? It's hot outside, I expect people to be in shorts and stuff. I wouldn't think it was weird if she's walking around in a bikini. That's what you do when it's hot, other than her just kind of popping into different spaces.

Speaker 1:

She does seem to be a little overtly flirtatious, but she seems self-aware. She knows what she's doing and nobody else seems to be bothered by it. So color me surprised when I finally heard the music and saw her sauntering towards none other than good old Gary Ewing. Now, is she a harmless flirt? She seems to be. I'm just going to kind of lean into that. I don't even know how many episodes she's going to be on, but she seems to be very harmless, just kind of like hey, I'm, maybe they're like amplifying her youth, I'm young and fun and ooh and oh, and you this and you're that. I think she mentions him being a Ewing, which I suppose is the obligatory statement they have to make. They're contractually obligated to remind us Gary Ewing is of the Texas Ewing's of Dallas, just in case this show flippity, flippity, flops. He's still got a job. He can head on back to Dallas and brood and stomp around kicking cow turds or whatever. I guess that's the plan. But she's I mean, she's flirty, she's fun, and she doesn't seem to mind the fact that Valene is kind of taking over with the kids.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to go ahead and skip to the end. So, towards the end, I guess this was a two or three day, four day trip. She's having a good time with the family and Valene starts talking to her. And she's having a good time with the family and Valene starts talking to her and she's like girl, what's in San Diego? She's like I don't know, just like the city, I want to be somewhere semi-close to their dad so that they can continue that relationship. Like I need to be mindful of that. And Valene's like, yeah, that's a good point, but do you have any family down there? Is his family down there? No, they're not. Why don't you just live here? You might as well stay, stay. Oh, okay, I just said that out loud. So I guess she is going to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

Speaker 1:

I totally forgot that. You know what it is. It's not that I forgot, it's just she's not the focal point of this episode. There's so much going on with Sid. There was just like so many layers and so many things you're paying attention to. She's just not the front and center of this. So I didn't forget. I guess I just wasn't thinking about it.

Speaker 1:

Valene talks her into staying, like hey, you have family here, you have your brother, you have you know whatever, it's not that long, we can drive wherever you need to drive, you can get your kids wherever they need to go as far as their dad is concerned. Just stay here. Laura works for this real estate firm. I'm sure she can put in a good word. Now Laura can and does. She puts in a good word and, as happenstance would have it, there's a house right there on the cul-de-sac that is for rent, or maybe it was for sale, but they, they convinced the owners to rent it month to month. So so I guess that means she's staying. She's at least staying for a short while renting it. Maybe she, I don't know why don't I not make any assumptions?

Speaker 1:

It's only season two. Depending on what pops off the rest of this season we'll decide then. But she squeezes into the cul-de-sac and I'm saying wait a minute. I thought there was only four houses here. But again, wait a minute. I thought there was only four houses here, but again I remembered that I always skip the opening credits where they show the houses and they they come outside from time to time. I mean, they go over each other's houses all the time and they stand out in front of them but they just kind of congregate in front of one house like they're not all yelling from their porches like country boat. They're, I guess, respectful, walking over to each other's houses and you know they're always doing something with each other all day. So yeah, I'm trying to figure out where this extra house came in. I thought there was only four, but I will make it a point to watch the previews for the excuse me, the opening credits for episode three and go ahead and clear that up.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of geographic questions I had about this show. I didn't know where exactly Knott's Landing was. Is this, like, is it by San Diego? Is it by just a major city? No, it's in LA. Okay, cool, obviously it's on the West Coast. They have a beach, but I'm like, is it its own city? And then I kind of thought the street was called Knott's Landing and then I kind of thought that the neighborhood was called Knott's Landing but it is a suburb. I suppose I just had a thought.

Speaker 1:

I almost played myself. Shame on me. I've been watching soap operas vintage soap operas for two years and I almost let one of the most important tropes slip through. There is no way this girl is going to be good news. There is 0.00% chance, and I'll tell you why. Well, no, no, no, let me take that back. Let me take that back actually. Okay, if you're new to this, you may or may not know this.

Speaker 1:

Whenever a family member shows up out of the blue, it is very rarely a good thing, with the exception of the late, great and very wealthy Michael Ranson, aka Dr. Exception of the late, great and very wealthy Michael Ranson, aka Dr Cousins on Falcon Crest. I guess we can count Stephen returning from the dead. I guess that kind of works on Dynasty. Yeah, a family member showing up is never a good thing, never, ever. Now here's the only exception.

Speaker 1:

I thought I'm thinking of Aunt Terry on Falcon Crush. She's Maggie's sister, so she can try to seduce Chase if she wanted to, or at least remember she made a play. Oh, he wants me, blah, blah, blah. He was just pissed that she was wearing his rope, but I don't recall there ever being the husband's sister or the husband's sibling coming into town and everybody seems to be straight on these shows. So I don't think she's going to make a pass at his wife. So I mean, everybody's seeing and that's my thing too.

Speaker 1:

I'm kind of basing this off of the relationship that appears to be strong between she and Karen. Now Karen is kind of making a face, like when everybody's talking about how sweet she is, like she doesn't. She's not rolling her eyes, but she's probably thinking, yes, she's sweet, but she gotta do something about these kids. That was the impression I got and I started thinking to myself did we or did we not just come off of a Kristen takeover on Dallas? What am I thinking? I'm gonna keep my eye on her.

Speaker 1:

She is a soft flirt, as where Kristen was like it was very clear Miss, steal your man, miss, I'm going to do whatever it takes to steal your man. That's what she was giving. This girl is just like hey, hubba, hubba, I'm fresh out of you. Know, I no longer got a ball and chain. That's what I'm getting from her. But how dare I forget that? So it's a 50-50% chance. She doesn't seem to be struggling really. She just seems like she wants to have a good time and maybe she's just flirty, but the music they're putting behind her is giving me pause and plus she's a relative.

Speaker 1:

Relatives are never, ever, ever a good thing, even on this show. I'm trying to think it was like Sid's daughter. That was a bust. Ginger's sister was cool. I guess she didn't really bring any drama. She was also pretty young. We're gonna have to wait and see. Also turns out, bad girl Kristen is gonna be on, not Slanding I kind of forgot about that and she's technically on the west coast. So I suppose it's only a matter of time, although if she's like in LA, california is huge, so is Texas, so the odds of you bumping into somebody seem slim to none. But this is the world of vintage primetime soap operas. Let's get down to the main event. This accusation is wreaking havoc on Karen, sid's and Richard's life Immediately after the hearing.

Speaker 1:

Sid is still kind of awestruck. It is worth noting that. I think I know why he looks so good. They have upped his wardrobe. He looks a lot better this season. He's not wearing like the dad flannel, you know, it's not unbuttoned to his belly button. He's only wearing dirty, filthy, nasty coveralls one time, this episode. But by and large he is he's. He stepped up his game. I don't know who. I don't know who the stylist is on this, but he's got on the fuzzy wuzzy was a bear sweaters with the matching turtleneck. A turtleneck and a blazer goes a long way. So does a turtleneck and a fuzzy wuzzy was a bear sweater. It's all like the same colorway. He looks good and he got a haircut, so they have spiffied him up this episode. I guess he needed to look wealthy, because I was thinking about that and he'd been walking around those coveralls like he usually does. You might think he he's probably doing okay, but if I'm looking at the girl, I'm looking at him, they look about the same.

Speaker 1:

If I need to make like a judgment just off of visuals alone, they reconvene in the fair gates living room and Richard is kind of going over this whole thing saying listen, don't worry, I'm gonna make sure that this doesn't go as far as it has to go, we're gonna. We're gonna figure something out. So I guess it hasn't quite gone to trial, but it's. It's gonna be put in front of a grand jury. I suppose there was a probable cause. They're gonna put put in front of a grand jury. I suppose there was a probable cause. They're going to put it in front of a grand jury and this little girl, miss Pam, is a wonderful, wonderful interview.

Speaker 1:

She's become somewhat of a media darling in this case, where she's like yeah, I like to have a good time, but that doesn't mean you can rape me. I like to do this, that and the third, but that doesn't mean you can put your hands on me anytime you want. So it's an interesting take. And that's Karen's point. Like, okay, so this girl gets to tell the whole town that she's about that life. She's having a hot girl summer. But when it comes to Sid, who really is a stand-up guy, nobody wants to hear that. And the fallout is coming in the way of the kids first. So their youngest son can't remember which name it's Michael or something, I can't remember who he is. He gets in a fist fight at the beach because some kid calls his dad a pedo. Then the older son I guess he's going through stuff too. He's just he didn't really want to talk about it.

Speaker 1:

But Diane or Diana, whatever her name is, dee shows up for the rehearsal for the Kiss cover band and to her shock, awe and surprise, there is another girl there preparing to start singing. When the boy sees her, he's like oh, I'm so sorry, we just didn't. You know, we didn't know if you were going to show up. She's like well, of course, I was only late because of the science project. And the insinuation is that, like you know, we're getting all this press is kind of bad and we're trying to get booked. We, we want to do, you know, we got big plans, we're trying to do pinceñeras and we're trying to get booked at school dances and things, and we can't do that if you're here. So she runs off, she goes home and she, she kind of witnesses this, this meeting between her parents and Laura and Richard. So Richard is just like okay, this is a circumstantial case. I know the public isn't buying it, but we I mean, there has to be. There's no proof, it's your word against hers. We have to play this, just so.

Speaker 1:

Karen once again makes her final plea Richard, richard, don't you think you can get a criminal lawyer just to step in? I'm not even saying you leave, but just someone else who's kind of into this a little bit more. Can you please do it? He's like no, we don't need to do that, this will ruin everything. Blah, blah, blah. So finally he sees that everybody is squirming in their seats and he's like okay, well, I wasn't gonna say anything, but listen, I got an in with the other lawyer and they're willing. Let me look at my notes. They're willing to not take this to trial if Sid admits to harassment and simple assault and they will drop the what is it called? Contribution to delinquency and assault with the intent to rape.

Speaker 1:

Karen jumps out of her skin, she jumps up and she's like oh no, hell, no, are you for real? Absolutely not, absolutely not. We're not doing any of that. Richard's like just think about it. Just think about it. Sid's like I don't have to think about this at all, we're going to fight it. I'm going to fight for my reputation.

Speaker 1:

Now Diana is bearing witness to all this. She's getting increasingly upset. Karen and Richard get into it one more time. To all this. She's getting increasingly upset. Karen and Richard get into it one more time. They get up to leave and you know Laura's trying to smooth it over. Rich will take care of everything, but quietly outside.

Speaker 1:

She's like Richard, seriously, why don't you just ask someone else at your firm? And he tells her well, I can't do that because I'm already invisible there. Plus, I already told my boss that I didn't need any help. He's thinking he's going to win this. He's like I've got all this evidence piled up against this girl, I've got somebody following her, I'm going to present all this in court, we're going to win this and then I won't be invisible anymore. And Laura's like but what if you don't like? This is your friend's life. You really want to risk it? He's like yeah, I do. I do because I'm tired of being invisible and I can't go crawling back to my boss now saying that I need his help.

Speaker 1:

He also has a nerve to be upset because she doesn't quote unquote believe in him. Which leads me to what I was saying yesterday or on the last episode is that he's very soft with her on some things and then he's extremely harsh and narrow-minded and just really narcissistic. I hate to overuse that word, but he really is. He really kills her nonstop about her office job because she looks at envelopes. But she is supposed to believe in him, and I mean she does. But this is listen, it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt and it does prove Karen's point. She feels like Richard takes a shortcut with everything. He cuts corners. He's not willing to do the hard work he always wants to take the quick, easy way out. Please, please, please. She's like babe, please call Stan Lesser. Call Stan Lesser, he's this criminal attorney. She wants him real bad. She's just not feeling, richard, at the moment.

Speaker 1:

Diana begins, proceeds to go off on her parents why did you pick up that girl? Do you know you are ruining our lives? She's going in and up and off at the landing point of the stairs and then she rushes up to her room. Sid comes in and they don't have a heart to heart. Diana tries to check him. Like don't come in here giving me any advice, I don't want a heart to heart. And he's like I don't have a heart to heart. I don't know. I've never been in this position. I don't know what to do. He's so raw, right there, I don't know what to do. And imagine how your mother feels. She sleeps next to this man. I'm. It is the worst thing ever. I don't know how to deal with this. And Diana's like well, you're just ruining her life, you're just ruining everything. And he goes well, you ruin pretty easy. Little girl, you better toughen up because life is gonna roll you if this, if this is gonna break you. You ain't nothing but a baby. You better figure out how to deal with this and with the quickness. Okay, let's power through this. So Karen ends up going over to Pam's house and she meets Mother Miss Kissinger, kissinger, whatever.

Speaker 1:

I kept trying to place this woman like. She is such a familiar face to me and I was thinking is she Mimi from the Drew Carey show? That's not who she is. She's on, oh God, two and a Half Men, the nanny or the maid lady, that lady. She's also in Edward Scissorhands. I kept remembering, remember, the kind of overly religious lady that came like scurrying up anytime they were having a good time. I thought was that her? No, it's not her, she's another one in it. But she has red hair. And I'm telling you what I wish I'd seen her in more serious roles. I mean, I know she's still with us. I hadn't noticed her in anything lately, but she's one of those familiar faces. Showtime one time had this whole series was like oh, it's that guy, she's, oh, it's that lady. You've seen her in a hundred things I promise you have.

Speaker 1:

Karen goes over to the kids house. She's trying to have a one-on-one, like Pam. You know good and well, this never happened. And Pam's like well, you should. You don't know your husband. Karen's like, please, I have a daughter your same age. Like ruining everything. She's like, oh, I bet you do. I bet he just loves your daughter. Like she's being absolutely disgusting, she's being really ugly about it.

Speaker 1:

Carol's mom is sitting there the whole time. Karen catches the mom, kind of she can tell the mom's having her doubts. But she's like, please, like you don't understand, I just came over here so you can understand what you are ruining by following through with this lie. The mother steps in and she goes we are a lot of things, but we're not liars. I'm proud of her for standing up for herself. So Karen storms out and the mother goes chasing her. And Karen turns on the mom and she's like you know she was lying, I saw your face in there. You know good and well. She's lying and the mom goes. You know what? I've had my doubts, but I'm proud of her for turning over a new leaf. Old habits die hard. I'm proud of her for standing up for herself where a lot of things were not liars.

Speaker 1:

Karen's like she's lying. My husband did not do this and you can see the. This girl has done this before. And the mom says well, if you're. Are you sure? Karen's like of course she goes. Well, why did you send his sleazy little lawyer over here trying to bribe us? Karen's shocked like what she's. Yeah, if your husband's so innocent, why did he send his lawyer over here to bribe us with money? We wouldn't even hear him out. Go talk to your husband, ask him why he's trying to pay us off if he's so innocent. So she goes to jump in the in the station wagon and peel out. Only she can't because this van same van that Sid saw when he went to go help her pulls up in front of her. She can't get out. She's kind of irritated and the guy jumps out and he's just like putting his arms out, like you know. So super annoying. So she goes home and this is the point where she tells Sid about it. He decides that Richard is fired. Richard is not taking this well.

Speaker 1:

One of the favorite scenes of this episode is a glitch in the editing. Richard is drunk. He's having a good drunk after he's been fired and his boss had asked him okay, he gets fired first. His boss then's like hey, I'm putting so-and-so a criminal lawyer on the case with you. It'll look really good for the firm once we win.

Speaker 1:

This is a high profile case. And Richard's like well, unfortunately I'm no longer their lawyer. So he goes home to make Alfredo and he's cooking in this saucepan Like there's a pot of boiling water, allegedly, and then he's making the sauce in the pan. So he's grating the cheese, he's doing whatever, and he takes this big scoop, he tastes it and he's telling care. He's telling Laura about the events of the day and how he was fired and how he can't stand Sid now. But he's just good and drunk and she's like trying to talk him off the ledge. Mind you, he just took a scoop of cheese from the saucepan. When you look down again, it's this big old silver shiny pot. So I'm like oh, I love it.

Speaker 1:

First time I've ever noticed that on the show and I think her dress is different too. I'm not going to go back and watch it again, but if you so choose to watch this, let me know. If Karen's dress magically changes, I feel like the border of it changes. Just know that there is a fallout, there is tension. Richard feels a way. He feels like his friend betrayed him. Sid feels a way, because he felt like Richard lied to him and like this is you're playing with my life. What if she goes and she tells us that we tried to bribe her again? It makes me look super guilty by doing all this Now, quite skipped. I wouldn't say that Richard would be wrong had he done this earlier, and I know it's not moral, I know it's not the quote unquote right thing to do, but I think if money had come up much sooner I'm talking same night she got arrested all of this would have went away. That's what I think. But maybe, maybe not. Maybe she saw bigger dollar signs and this is why you need somebody like Stan Lesser.

Speaker 1:

Stan Lesser is played by a guy named Ron Griffin. I've seen him in a lot of stuff too. I just couldn't really name it at the moment. So the rest of the episode goes a little something like this Stan Lesser is very thorough. He wants to go over every single detail of that night, like where were you, where were you going? Where did you stop? Where did you see her? What did you say? Who did you see? What did you do, everything.

Speaker 1:

So part of this involves he, karen and Sid getting in the car and re-driving the route, like kind of going through the events of that night. They do it at night. He's immersive, you know what I'm saying. He's like a character lawyer, not character actor lawyer. So Sid's in the car. He, you know, pulls up to the pastrami spot and he's like she was standing right there. She came up to the window because that spot and he's like she was standing right there. She came up to the window because that's the thing. Did you solicit her? Did she come up to the window? No, she came up to the window and she pretty much she's giving me this whole thing about. It's good for the environment, I should get in, I should get in, but I had somewhere to be, so I said no. So he's like right there, I saw this van and there were three guys like accosting her, trying to get in and out of the van. So I felt bad. So I reversed and I told her to get in the car and Karen is like yeah, you know what?

Speaker 1:

At the police station she was popping off at me, she was going off about Sid telling her to get inside the van and what those guys were going to do with her in the van. Blah, blah, blah. And the lawyer's going over his notes and it does not seem like she mentioned that in her statement. So this is where you know things are starting to cook a little bit. Karen's like okay, I'm not one to sit, I'm the captain and president of the PTA, let me go rally the troops and let's get to business.

Speaker 1:

So she goes home the next day she gets a little sister's like okay, abby, there's this van, I need you to come help me. You know that's his sister, she's a hundred percent down. They get a Polaroid, a fresh container of film, and they hit the ground running. They're looking around, they're kind of talking about and she's feeling, you know Karen is filling her in, filling Abby in on all the details. They find the van. Abby jumps, she takes about 15 pictures. She takes her time with it. I was like God, this would have been so much easier with the phone. But hey, people made it work. When they made it work, women will rally and figure out how to make it do what it do. So, miss Hot to Trot, we hear her music again.

Speaker 1:

She goes down to the police station. That is Abby and she's talking to the cops. Now they of course think she's hot. So she's talking to them about the case and both of the cops that Pam was flirting with are very much saying yeah, yeah, she didn't say anything about a van, but I did hear her shout that at you, at your sister for sure she was going off of her about this van and these guys in the van. So they start looking into the girl's past and it turns out that she because she's a minor, of course there's not a lot of things listed, but she was arrested a few months prior, her and this guy for something very, very similar Seems like she's done this few times. So they're able to kind of piece this together and they figure out who the guy is.

Speaker 1:

So, day of buzzer beater, they're in the judge's chambers, the mom and Pam are sitting down. When in walks the van guy, the kid with the van, he comes in with a cop and he confesses that hey, what really happens is that this is something that she and I do from time to time. If we start running low on money, apparently the girl's like always out. She comes home. When she feels like she's running off on money, apparently the girl's like always out. She comes home when she feels like she's running off and he's like, yeah, when, um, whenever we run a little low on cash. We have this game that we were with a scam that we run, where she finds a nice car, she gets in and then she makes like I give him a hundred dollars or she. She tells him she's gonna say that he tried to rape her. She denies it first and she kind of confesses, but they have his confession so all is wiped clean. All is well, so far at least.

Speaker 1:

Now, throughout the episode that there's the, the impact of this accusation is everywhere. People aren't coming into the dealership, the kids are feeling it, karen's feeling it. So I'm hoping I'm assuming this is the first episode. I don't know if it's going to drag out for the rest of this season. You know, the court of public opinion is very different. It doesn't matter, I said earlier, it doesn't matter how you feel, it matters what you can prove in the court of public opinion. It doesn't matter what was quote unquote proven, it matters what it looks like and it looks like. You know, unless they can blow up this girl's spot and put all her business in the newspaper, this still looks kind of bad on them. But all's well that ends well. The end of this episode Kind of an intense season opener.

Speaker 1:

Very intense actually, emotionally draining but wonderful entertainment. So we got Abby on deck. We've got Vidalia with some new little onion buds that she's taking care of. Karen and Sid have something to overcome. We've got Vidalia with some new little onion buds that she's taking care of. Karen and Sid have something to overcome. Ginger and Kenny are still estranged and it looks like our girl Ginger not Ginger was her name Laura is on the up and up while Richard is still feeling away. I'm sure he'll get over it. All right, guys, that's it. That's all. Thank you for joining me for the exciting conclusion of season two, episode twos, two-parter hitchhiker. Join me next time for episode three. I can't wait to get into it. In the meantime, in between time, baby, carry around a polaroid, carry your phone and go ahead and pay that 10 50 for the background check when a new weirdo comes strolling into your life again. Don't pick up a hitchhiker. Mind your business, stay hydrated, stay moisturized and keep all of your drama on tv. Thank you, bye.