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S2 Ep8 Knots Landing -Scapegoats: The "Artistic Outbursts and Dubious Deals" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 228

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Ever wondered how the complex layers of family dynamics and personal relationships play out in primetime soap operas? Join me, Jett in this episode of Soap Lore as we dissect "Scapegoat" from Knots Landing, season two, episode eight. We'll explore the tangled web of relationships that come to life when children enter the mix, sparking both nostalgia and drama. From vintage van memories to significant character throwbacks, get ready for an emotional rollercoaster that takes you right back to the heart of Knots Landing.

Meet 12-year-old Michael, whose nocturnal adventures shake up his family and lead to unexpected trouble at school. As Karen fights for a solution that recognizes her son's intelligence, the challenges of parenthood and the strain it puts on her marriage with Sid come into sharp focus. Michael's episodes spark heated conversations about balancing professional and personal responsibilities, leaving both parents grappling with their roles. This episode offers an in-depth look at how family tensions surface and are managed, making you appreciate the nuances of each character's journey.

Lastly, dive into the murky waters of shady business dealings at a car dealership, where Gary's ill-fated deal threatens to upend everything. As financial turmoil escalates, Gary faces a life-altering decision: Should he turn to his wealthy family for help or navigate the storm on his own? With Abby's timely suggestions and the intense confrontation that follows, the stakes have never been higher. Don't miss out on the intricate character development, the emotional highs and lows, and a humorous reminder about avoiding shady deals. Tune in next time for more drama-filled insights, and remember to stay moisturized, hydrated, and mind your own business.

Speaker 1:

Every time this baby goes to the beach, something happens. I'm starting to think the salty sea air is not his best friend. He needs to be inside of an air-conditioned building or as far away from the coastline as possible. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome and welcome back to Soap for the Official Gathering. Please send newbies, novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jet viewing, and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jet Buick, reviewing one of the most scandalous episodes Primetime Soap Opry of 1981. So, whether you're new to this or true to this, sit back and enjoy. Tell the kids it's time to play outside or out of sight, tell babe no questions, suggestions or concerns for the next 25 to 35 minutes. Everyone else in airshot, cool, quiet or kicked out are your only options, because we are watching our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is SoFlor. Hello, gorgeous, welcome or welcome back to another fun-filled edition of so floor. I hope the weekend was awesome, hope the day is shaping up well.

Speaker 1:

We're jumping into an exciting week of nots landing. That's right. We have three episodes of nots landing coming up. Scapegoat is the first episode, that is, season two, episode seven scapego. I like the way Knots Landing does their titles because they seem to be a little bit more about what's going on here. This episode is really good. We get into these different nuances in marriage, some of the things you don't really think about when you fall in love with someone or you decide to be in a relationship with someone. They have their family of origin. You have your family of origin. You have totally different ideals on how the world works, but you have to come together and you have to agree on certain things. Children often complicate that, as we will see on today's episode. We also get the obligatory reminder that this is a spin-off and on and off again episode with the mention of a very big character from a very big state. All this and much more on this exciting episode of Soap Lore. So go ahead and grab yourself something refreshing. We're going to do a little fan mail, then we'll jump into season two, episode seven Scapegoats. My bad guys, this is actually episode eight, season two, episode eight Scapegoats. Man, we're really pushing through.

Speaker 1:

So I watched this one this afternoon and I don't know, I have a very interesting take. You know how people will say oh, we didn't have that back in my day Nobody was. You know know what we'll get to that. Let's jump into a couple pieces of fan mail. These are pretty interesting. The first one comes from this is greeting from temple. I'm assuming that's temple texas. Hey there.

Speaker 1:

You have no idea how cool a fully carpeted man was. I was born 78, but I inherited my dad's 1978 Ford F-250 Econoline I think that's how you say that Fully decked out with beads, a swivel table and a bench that doubled as a bed. It was my dad's man cave, before man caves were a thing. It was a silver blue color by the time I could drive it and had wall to wall orange red shag carpet. My friends and I spent more than a few evenings pushing that big hunk into a gas station. The fuel in parentheses says fuel gauge broken and it would violently shake if you got above 60 miles per hour. Pretty sure it wasn't street legal, but man, it was a good time. I drove that thing into the year 2000. My dad gave it to me in the mid 90s after he bought the exact van, but the 88 version, complete with velvet swivel chairs and curtains. I love this so much I feel like I'm with you. That is such a good early driving experience. Although I didn't have a shagging wagon I'm assuming this is the I was I went back to look at some of the episodes. I'm assuming this was the episode where Lucy gets kidnapped and that guy has that mean green machine with all the carpet in it. Remember her and Bobby got kidnapped the same season. Anyway, yeah, I could totally see that being a good time, especially when you're first learning to drive. If I'm doing the math right, you would have been graduating mid 90s ish. Sounds like a good time.

Speaker 1:

I too drove a van, although mine was not a big man like that. It was a min minivan, a Toyota Previa, where one door worked, had to crawl in. But, baby, you better believe I was in that thing. Every chance I got to use my own money for gas, listen to my music. I thought it was so cool because it had I think it was a six disc CD player. Man, great memories with that.

Speaker 1:

As a kid I read this piece of mail and then I went back to look because when when she says curtains, I remembered something that most of you kids, 80s kids, 90s kids you probably remember this there was a man in the white van. Remember you're not supposed to get in the van with the mic. The white van some guy was kidnapping kids left and right. I think it's just when, like america's most wanted was popular and you started to hear about kids getting snatched up in real time a little bit more. Anyway, I was terrified of white vans because you thought, oh, someone's going to kidnap you. But in the same breath there were definitely people in my neighborhood who had them and I definitely rode in them.

Speaker 1:

She said this one wasn't street legal. Not being street legal was very, very common. I remember a couple of those vans didn't even have seats, so I'm assuming that most they're usually used for like storage. I see people who paint with that kind of cargo van now, but I specifically remember riding in one with those blue swivel chairs and I just thought that was the coolest thing on earth. I'm not going to lie to you. I looked into getting a van probably about three months ago. It was like a Chevy van and it has like a flat screen TV. It's humongous, has all sorts of storage on the front Like. I would gladly drive one of those again. Vans are a good time and thank you so much for listening. Again, bands are a good time and thank you so much for listening.

Speaker 1:

Okay, the next piece of mail says the network definitely played linda and joan against one another, but I think there was a certain level of class that crystal exuded that made the rivalry so much more interesting when they got into it. I'd like to know, though, who do you think had the better wardrobe? Oh, so I would. That would be Crystal and Alexis. Um, let me think. Well, let me just say this first, I could see how they played them up against each other, like you can kind of tell as far as screen time and their looks are a little more intense. The writing is writing. Their little one-liners are a little zingier. This season I'm on season four the Ariel and whatever her alter ego was when she got legs, it's just kind of that thing. Um, because I think Alexis is incredibly classy and I think they just.

Speaker 1:

It always irritates me with Crystal because they try to make her hold a certain level of innocence that I do not think a woman over 40 has. Not that that's a bad thing, like that's a very good thing to be like worldly and kind of understand how things work, but she seems extremely naive. I understand she's a fish out of water. But this whole doe-eyed and I just you're so innocent Like no baby. You've been divorced twice. At this point you should know like she should be able to navigate men a little bit better than she does. But with that being said, she definitely puts that ish on.

Speaker 1:

I'll say this I have hated Crystal's hair this season. You know she doesn't have long hair. I would say she has a bob, at best a shoulder brushing bob, and they've tried to twist it into updos. It didn't really work for her. I think she has such a gorgeous face. I like when they just kind of frame it and leave her down.

Speaker 1:

But as far as her wardrobe, it is impeccable for the most part. She's put on a couple of ridiculous outfits here and there, but all in all I would say it was impeccable. And I would actually say that about Alexis as well. Actually every woman on Dynasty presents really well. They're so confident. At least the rich ones are. Kirby kind of struggles, but I mean she's pregnant, she's going through it. They're putting her in these matronly dresses or she kind of looks like Madeline. Do y'all remember that Madeline, the little French girl? She's got like the little sailor outfit on. She kind of gives up. So I can't really pick between Alexis or Crystal as to whose wardrobe is better. I do think Alexis has better furs but I think Crystal probably has like better if she's going to a gala or something. Whenever she's in an evening gown she kills it so gorgeous and quiet is kept. I think Falcon Crust outfits are actually a little bit better to me because they're more wearable. They're more for the lay person.

Speaker 1:

Pam's wardrobe from Dallas and Lucy's this season is so good. Lucy looks amazing like in every shot and she's not really doing anything too out there. You know she's not wearing a jacket or anything, but she's wearing a lot of suspenders but you can tell they're kind of tailored to her. So I really like Lucy's looks this season and I think by and large Pam dresses really well too. She does some fun stuff. She's not as stuffy. I feel like Dallas is a little bit more down home. They're still like wealthy, well-dressed, rich people. I think falcon crafts are extremely well-dressed rich people but the average person could probably buy a piece or two and then Dynasty is like you couldn't even smell this. You can get nowhere near this. This is all couture. This is a hundred thousand dollar wardrobe every season. So yeah, thank you guys.

Speaker 1:

Remember you can always leave a comment. If you are listening on your mobile device, check the show notes. If you're listening on a different platform, if you want to leave a review somewhere, you can leave a comment there. You can also hit me up at soplorkpodcast at gmailcom and I will get back to you. Let's go ahead and jump into this episode. Back to you. Let's go ahead and jump into this episode.

Speaker 1:

I love the way Noxzema. I love the way Notlanding, not Noxzema. No, I do love the way Noxzema smells. As a matter of fact, I'm going to slather some on when I'm done recording. But I love the way Noxzema paces their story. Noxzema I said it again, sorry Notlanding Paces their stories out. Something might happen on episode four. They don't really talk about it. Episode five, they might mention a little on six, but they'll pick back up on seven. I love that pacing because it's never long enough for you to forget and it kind of stays in the front of your mind throughout every episode.

Speaker 1:

So, without being said, I've been wondering about the whole Gary and the shady mafioso dudes thing alleged mafioso guys. Did he make a bad deal? Is it going to come back to bite them. But nobody said anything. So I'm like, okay, perhaps he really does have a cousin in the New Mexico Senate who has, you know, insight. But that just didn't feel like a true statement to me. This episode they finally touch back to that. So it'll be about Gary, a little bit about Abby and her intel, a whole lot about Sid and Karen and how they view parenting, and a couple of little things sprinkled in and out.

Speaker 1:

So we're going to start with the Farragates. They are lying in bed, sid and Karen asleep, not lying. They are asleep when they can here asleep, not lying there asleep. When they can hear something downstairs, a lot of movement. Karen's like, hey, wake up. Someone's downstairs. So she gets up. He tells her to stay in bed. She absolutely does not. She heads downstairs and they see their youngest boy, michael, just kind of taking laps around the living room. He's just kind of staring at the floor doing laps. Michael, are you okay? He's like yeah, I'm fine. Everybody's weirded out. Collectively, they all think it's weird.

Speaker 1:

So the next morning it's obvious that Karen finds this to be significantly more weird than Sid does. No surprise there. So she's like I wonder why he would do do that. That is so odd to just be walking around like that. Sid's whole thought is that's not weird. People sleepwalk all the time, it's no big deal, she goes. Yeah, but he wasn't asleep, he was just up walking around. It's revealed a little bit later on in this episode that he's 12 years old. I thought Michael was a little bit younger, but he's 12.

Speaker 1:

Middle child big brother comes downstairs with his fresh new mustache peppering his upper lip and he's like oh, he does that all the time. Mom, don't even worry about it, she goes, he does. Well, did you ask him why? She's like yeah, he doesn't know why he does it, but he gets up in the middle night and he walks around all the time. He's not really tripping, but he is. He's kind of a nice middle man. He's okay. Yeah, it's weird, but he's not hurting anybody. He doesn, but he is. He's kind of a nice middle man, he's okay. Yeah, it's weird, but he's not hurting anybody. He doesn't know why he does it, but don't worry, mom, we'll take care of him. Don't worry about it, we'll watch him. Wonderful middle child. I'm just saying. I'm just saying so.

Speaker 1:

The kid goes to school and he has a little incident art class now at me watching it. It looks like, besides the acting, let's pretend like they're not acting, let's pretend like we're really watching something. He totally knocks over this cup of water onto this other kid's painting. The kid gets rightfully pissed. Water guy paint, water boy gets pissed and he's like hey, what's wrong with you, michael, michael, what's your problem? He's not gonna take responsibility for that's the next thing. You know. They're swinging on each other in the middle of art class. Teacher has to break it up. They both got to go. By the time they get to the principal's office we discovered this isn't the first, second or third time that Michael has popped off in school. He's been acting up lately.

Speaker 1:

The principal is having one hell of a day. I don't know if her spanks are on too tight. I don't know if her feet hurt. I don't know if her spanks were on too tight. I don't know if her feet hurt. I don't know if she's got deadlines, but she's answering the phone and she's totally distracted while Karen sits in front of her.

Speaker 1:

Now, I'm not necessarily blaming this woman, because I understand sometimes you're short-staffed. Just things happen. It seems like anytime you're at work or anytime you decide to sit down and do something, you get a hundred calls all of a sudden. Everybody needs you for something. That's definitely the energy that is happening in the principal's office. However, it seems like it's a situation where Northland might be a bigger school I know, in the States at least, and a lot of high schools are in bigger cities. Kids might have you'll have one principal assigned to you, but there could be like four or five principals within one school because it's so big. This is what it appears to be to me, and the following statement kind of made me think so too.

Speaker 1:

So the principal is she doesn't seem to be really familiar with Michael, but she knows that he's been in trouble lately, she knows that he was in a fight, so she tells Karen we're going to suspend him. Karen's like oh my God, in that kind of extreme, he's so young, I don't want to suspend him. Isn't there another option? Now the principal is answering the phone in between this and she's very short with everybody on the phone. She's short with Karen, she ain't having, she having a day and she says the only other option would be if we put him in the SL class. She's like what is SL? Is that sign language? No, that's slow learner classes. Karen's called like slow learner. Have you seen his test scores? He's not a slow learner.

Speaker 1:

The principal it has an attitude, but she's out of pocket all of a sudden. She's like everybody thinks their kids are smart. That would have been a problem and I'm so glad she said it to Karen because I knew Karen was going to handle this. She's like I know he's smart. Have you looked at his test scores? Have you done your due diligence? And by this time Karen's pissed because the phone keeps ringing, the principal keeps answering, so she covers the thing and she's like you need to hold your calls. This pisses the principal off a little bit more, but she does indeed hold her calls for five minutes. Listen, your boy is getting into fights. If you have a better solution, please let me know. She's like cool, but Karen's like cool. But I need you to look at his record. Fine, I'll look at his record. If you come up with a better solution, reach out to me. We'll see what we can do.

Speaker 1:

Now this it's frustrating, but you can tell that Karen is just kind of putting things together like something is not right. Him walking around in the middle of the night in and of itself is not a dangerous situation. But it's odd. It's odd behavior for him. Michael is absolutely no help. In the background he is being the Tasmanian devil. He is showing his entire behind in the principal's office, not making a very good case for not getting suspended.

Speaker 1:

So Karen eventually starts talking to Sid a little bit more about it and she's just at her wit's end. She's upset with him being so cabal, like, oh, everything's fine, everything. No, it's not, sid, I need you to tap in. Every time something comes up. You you're swearing up and down. It's just normal schmormal. How would you know what was normal? Because you're never here, you're always working on that damn engine. And there we go, there we go.

Speaker 1:

This is kind of the underlying thing that has never fully exploded, at least least not with them. But it's always kind of been there, ever since that episode where she she talks about where she was going to hook up with Mr Crane and she talks about her college dreams. And then she had the kids. Maybe that was that the same episode. It's either the episode she gets pregnant and it's a little bit in the episode where she is with Mr Crane. But she did put her life on hold in the best possible way. She does not regret it. She's raising her children, she's active in her community, but it is very clear that she bears a lot of the parenting which can eventually become a whole lot, especially when you run into a situation where one of the kids is acting a little bit more odd and Sid is just a little bit too quick to it's fine, it's fine, she's not really having that. A lot of that can be family of origin too.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes some people just take things really seriously, some people don't. I think they're both rights, but it's worth looking into. This is me, a more modern woman in the year 2024, who doesn't think there's anything wrong with speaking to somebody. We need a little help. This is a faux pas circa 1980 and forever, according to some people.

Speaker 1:

Karen said let's take him to a psychiatrist. Let's just get him checked out accounts or something. Sid does not want to do. That he's basically like let our business be our business, that's nobody else's business. The kid doesn't sleep, it's fine, he's perfectly fine. I'm going to take him to the beach. Let's go. Let's take the whole family to the beach. I'm going to spend a little more time with them. You're right. I have been working on this one particular engine for several years. I suppose I think I can spare a little time for Mike. Why don't we go down to the beach? Well, they go to the beach. And this little tiny caveat Ginger is there with Dr Boyfriend. Dr Boyfriend is still here and the more I think about this, the more I'm like that's okay.

Speaker 1:

This is not the best timing, but Carl doctor has a kid. He understands that she has a relationship. She had a relationship with her husband but she hadn't told Kenny yet. And Carl's like are you going to tell him? Like eventually you got to say something, like you need to face this head on. I'm your friend, I'm in your corner and I am loving me some.

Speaker 1:

Carl, all episode long he doesn't seem to be love bombing. He's not necessarily injecting himself into things that don't make, that aren't his business. He's just there to help. He's a good shoulder to cry on.

Speaker 1:

Well, sid has a brief conversation with Michael and Michael says sometimes he just gets. He gets so frustrated because he just he can't get it right. He's trying to do something and at first it seems fine, but then it's just like he starts messing up and he gets frustrated. So it's like like that's okay, that's perfectly normal, it's for everybody. Let's play a little volleyball. So the gang's all there, everybody's playing volleyball.

Speaker 1:

Richard and I are on the same accord Now, not that I don't believe in being active or anything like that, but I understand that my athletic prowess leaves something to be desired. Richard is from the same ilk. We would be keeping the books in certainty. I'll keep score, not necessarily because you don't want to jump that and have fun, but it's like if listen, if you want your team to win certain things I'm just not going to participate in. So Richard and everyone else is out there playing volleyball and I would say that Michael gets a little bit impassioned and he ends up knocking over his little girl, cousin Abby's little girl. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. I feel like he's a little kid. He didn't do it on purpose, he just kind of bumped into her.

Speaker 1:

Sid flips in the calmest way. You know how Sid is. Get off the court, michael. Get off the court. And I'm thinking what happened to all that rah-rah-sips-koom-pah about people making mistakes and it's perfectly normal? And the kid is like what are you talking about? I didn't mean to. Even his brother with the little feather duster mustache is like he didn't mean it. It's not, it's okay, it's fine. No, no, no, I want him off. I want him off.

Speaker 1:

Everybody collectively thinks that Sid is tripping, but they end up taking him off the court. So. So Sid thinks, okay, the court wasn't the place for this, why don't I take him to work and he can come and work on this engine with me. And the boy is super pumped. He's so excited about that. Yes, dad, yes, let's do it. So he goes to Sid's shop or car dealership, and the first ever woman mechanic is there. She's being very helpful. She's like yeah, you can hang out with me while you go find him something to wear.

Speaker 1:

Steve goes to get his infamous coveralls which I'm sure he has 900 pair, like Mr Rogers, I promise you, he has a closet with at least 900 pair pulls one out, gives it to the boy, but then he needs to go off and take a call or something. I can't really remember exactly what it was. And here goes Michael again. First, he just starts. He uses a little air blower to blow all these paper cups off the shelves. Okay, once that's done, he goes over to the water little spigot thing and he starts spraying water all over the damn place. Then, when he gets bored with that, he turns around and he's about to start using the blow torch and says like, hey, calm down, my god, stop it. What are you doing? And it's like the kid was in a trance. He snaps out. He's like, oh my gosh, I can help, I'll go clean it up. Well, he's forgotten that he's already sloshed water all over the place. So he runs and pow, bust his head again.

Speaker 1:

As the kid's head slams into the concrete, I am reminded. I'm like, oh my god, this kid has been through the ringer lately. He was assaulted and targeted by the dirt bags on dirt bikes. Remember one of them put him in a little headlock. He had a concussion. Then his dad has gone through this whole thing. He's fist fighting people on the beach. Seems like every time this baby goes to the beach something happens. I'm starting to think the salty sea air is not his best friend. He needs to be inside of an air conditioned building or as far away from the coastline as possible where he goes. This is concussion number three or two in the last six months and I I'm like, damn, no wonder. So I'm thinking as I'm watching this maybe he was extra concussed and this is just. It's kind of. These are the repercussions of something I don't think people took. This is me watching that Will Smith movie. Doesn't seem like people thought concussions were real things for a very long time.

Speaker 1:

So after this incident he's in the hospital. They end up watching him overnight and luckily Jinder is dating Carl. So Carl shows up because their pediatrician is out of. I don't know. Their pediatrician is unavailable. So Carl steps in I guess you need that at the hospital and he's talking to the nurses. He basically explains to Sid and Karen that he's okay. But let's, let's do like some blood work. Let's start. Let's just kind of check him out. If he's saying he's been acting weird, he's been acting differently, talk to a psychiatrist. But let's, let's just just run a few samples. I just want to run a few tests. I don't even want to say anything. I'm pretty sure it's nothing. But let's just do our due diligence. So they agree to run the test now.

Speaker 1:

State is growing increasingly uncomfortable by this. He's already feels bad that his boy has yet another concussion. He feels bad that he hasn't been spending the time with him. Now they got to go into this, so they had indeed already gone to speak to a psychiatrist and Michael showed his entire behind in that waiting room too. He's knocking things over, he's throwing paper over against the wall, he's playing basketball with a trash can. He's just doing a lot. But the doctor had asked some poignant questions. He's like well, has he been through anything significant in the last six months? Uh yeah, dirt bags on dirt bikes with Kmart special outfits. His dad rung through the mud for taking on a hitchhiker. It's been a lot. Now I mean, he's just he's stressed and I do believe this is the same doctor who treated another Michael several miles away, halfway across the country in Billings Montana, right before he discovered his name was Adam.

Speaker 1:

That looks like Adam's doctor. I looked it up and sure enough it's him. His name is Robert Simmons. He played Dr Ronald Phillips on Knot's Landing when the boy was showing his entire behind, and he was Dr Jonas Edwards on Dynasty. I love it and I love the fact that he's treating a young kid named Michael who's all of a sudden acting differently. So I don't know. Luckily for Michael Fairgate, his parents don't believe in medication. They just want to kind of figure out what this whole situation is. So Carl comes back with the blood work and he's able to let them know that.

Speaker 1:

Basically, michael is hyperkinetic, it's just he's a little bit old to be developing symptoms. Usually, kids who have this are a lot younger and, mind you, this is like 1980, 1981. Kids are a lot younger when it manifests, but he's 12. So he's a little bit old, but he's hyperactive and, in other terms, I believe I hadn't really done any research on this, but this sounds like the H in ADHD, which brings me to my point.

Speaker 1:

I hear people all the time say, oh, kids, we never had this, we never had that when we were younger. I feel like we all had. There's always men stuff. If you think back to like the Salem witch trials and stuff, these women might've just been having like episodes, there might've been a chemical imbalance or something, but people are quick to be like, oh, she's possessed. No, it's. There's just not a definition for the symptoms that she's experiencing. In this case, how many kids were running around the classroom and we just didn't have a word for it at the time. I think this is what this felt like and I thought people always say none of the kids had ADHD back in the day, maybe, maybe not. I find it very, very hard to believe that people didn't. But I'm surprised. This is the first time I've ever even heard that term on television. I don't think I've heard ADHD very much. It was like definitely after the 2000s, I would say.

Speaker 1:

But the long and short of it is that Michael is going to need a lot, and I mean a ton of attention. That means taking him to the track where he's going to run five miles, and you're going to take him to swimming. Basically, you're just going to wear him out. They're going to put him in jazzercise, they're going to put him in gymnastics, they're going to put him in fencing Anything they can get their hands on. He has to be there and then someone has to watch them. We all know who that's going to be. It's going to be Karen, and she says as much. She doesn't seem upset about it.

Speaker 1:

Everybody's taking this really well and they don't want to give them stimulants, which it makes sense. To me, I feel like they give kids who have ADHD and adults. They give them stimulants. They don't want him on medication which sounds very familiar with our other, mikey, but I don't see him transforming into a creepy creep like Adam, who I adore, by the way. So that's pretty much the end. Well, that's pretty much the end. Well, that's pretty much the diagnosis for that. So that's just kind of another angle that Karen will be dealing with now. I mean, luckily it's the youngest kid, so the other two are fairly independent. It's just it's going to take the whole family all hands on deck, and at least he now has. He has a reason, he has a diagnosis so he can understand himself.

Speaker 1:

He was also kind of piggybacking on what Sid was saying. He didn't want to go see a psychiatrist because he believed that meant he was crazy. It being 2024, with everyone having, you know, going to therapy and having counselors and stuff, I sometimes forget how taboo that must have been. And especially when a child is young, you don't want to do anything that separates you from the crowd, let alone something that is going to label you in a certain way. It's very sad. So I totally understand where they were coming from.

Speaker 1:

The doctor, I mean he had a job in Billings a couple hours later, so it was no big deal. He didn't really do anything. Dr Carl came through and he was. So he's such a good doctor, tv or not, his bedside manner is superb and I think it helps that he has like a kindergartner, like if it was my kid. I probably wouldn't do it. I don't want you to freak out, it's just going to take effort. He didn't sugarcoat everything. All is well that ends well.

Speaker 1:

Speaking of being well and unwell, we got to talk about Garibay's very, very shady deals and the consequences of being a liar liar pants on fire. I knew something was that when he was fully clothed, every time I saw him, he wasn't showing everybody how sexy fine he thinks he is. Now that he's, you know, walking around banging vulnerable women, I can't stand gary, I can't. Well, this episode, forgive me, I didn't really. You can watch it yourself and just maybe listen a little bit harder. I don't think it's that.

Speaker 1:

But that deal he made with the shady business guys from New Mexico is not turning a profit for the car dealership. Slash the car shop like he'd hoped for. Either the cars are running too good to need maintenance or they're requiring so much work that it's costing them a lot of money. I tend to believe the latter, because the former wouldn't really wouldn't really affect their bottom line, because they were going to get a discount on that anyway, if I'm understanding that right. But Sid and Gary are looking over the paperwork and Gary wants to go back to the guys and be like hey, is there anything we can do? Can we maybe renegotiate this, since, like, I think we're gonna eat crow, but if you want to try, I'm not gonna stop, you couldn't hurt. I mean, a crow's mouth doesn't get fed. Let's go ask them. Well, gary goes to lunch with him and they start talking about well, we can get you pars. I think we can make this, we can sweeten the deal a little bit. For a like a huge discount, like 50k. Now this number seems like a lot to me. I also don't know what parts they're talking about. They didn't give like an inventory list, but Gary immediately he's like that number seems a little bit low. The price for those parts should be at least three times as much, if, if he's doing the math right. So when, when he brings the deal to Sid, sid's immediately like Gary, you know good and well, there's no way. These parts seem a little bit criminal, stolen, lifted, if you will, and Gary's like well, I mean, they're going to make us a good deal. He at this point realizes he's made a mistake and that this was probably the plan all along from those guys.

Speaker 1:

Abby has started working at the dealership Now. She is a little bit of a nosy Nancy, which I don't mind because she's doing her job right. So the guys from New Mexico come by the shop so that they can have a meeting with Gary, and Abby is kind enough to like to lead them into Gary's office, but she just puts the speakerphone on so she can go back to her desk and be nosy. Shout out to Abby for that level of just being messy. I tip my hat. She was sitting at her desk, all in their business, so she heard the entire thing.

Speaker 1:

And they're starting, they're basically shaking down Gary, like, whether you like it or not, we have a deal. He's like we don't have a deal, I didn't sign any papers, I don't shake your hand. They're like no, no, no, no, no, no. But you did, though. You talked to us and in our world talking is the same thing as signing papers. So we're gonna need that 50,000. You better get it to us quick. And he's looking all nervous and of course you know Garrett trying to prove himself. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in this case, but he's all snippety, snappity. He and Valene are eating dinner on her beautiful, fine china and he's snapping at her. She just went hey, I'm sorry, I just want to know what's going on. He don't want to talk about it. We're going to talk about it at dinner.

Speaker 1:

Now, remember I said Abby had been nosy. Abby comes in the next day with um this message, like hey, the guys from the New Mexico cab company called, they needed this paper or another. And Gary's like no, they don't. Like, how do you even know about that? She eventually confesses to being nosy and she says you know, gary, how's your family? How's your family doing back in Texas? Well, you know, if you need money, that might be a good place to start. You don't have 50k, but I don't know, maybe your brother does. And that's where we get the obligatory. Don't forget to watch Dallas Thursday nights right before not landing. Realistically, she's not wrong. She's like yo call your family, get this money. Matter of fact, your brother's probably going to be in LA next week. Everybody's going to these oil conventions in LA. I made the mistake on Dynasty saying that it was in San Francisco. La makes a little bit more sense, seems a little bit more industrial to me. So he doesn't really want to do it.

Speaker 1:

But by the end of the episode the guys come back to the shop and Abby is with Gary for some reason, and one of the guys is he just insists on kind of manhandling her. I'm like why would she be being shoved around what? She would be none the wiser. They have no reason to believe that she knows anything about these shady deals. But they kind of of push her into the building, they push Gary in and one of the guys picks up this giant wrench, the same wrench, in fact, that the aviator Adonis used on Lance. Remember when Lance was talking slick and got hit in the stomach with that? Well, the mafioso guy is like hey, it would be a shame if our money didn't come in by next week. You know, because accidents happen and he promptly drops this.

Speaker 1:

I've picked up one of those before. My brother and I used to kind of play with those when we went down to the dog houses. It's at least 35, 40. It's a heavy, solid piece, probably 30 pounds. Drops it on Gary's booted toe. He's got on cowboy boots in LA, I couldn't hardly believe it. Drops it on his foot. So now he knows that they mean business.

Speaker 1:

So by episode's end Gary knows he's in over his head. It may be time to bank on that. Ewing last name, $50,000 is no problem. They're arguing about $10,000, $10 million a day. They got it. I would call Bobby or Pam. Bobby or Pam or Lucy. Lucy probably has 50K somewhere.

Speaker 1:

Stig and Karen, though, do recognize that they are. They're an odd couple. You know that the pairing would be a perfect combination for the perfect children, and they're learning that this, this diagnosis for Michael, has nothing to do with them. They're great people. Their love will pull them through all the wonderful things. I do really love their maturity by the end of the episode, but I mean it just.

Speaker 1:

It goes to show that there's going to be different approaches to things, and it's okay to be different approaches to things and it's okay to think outside the box. Do what you got to do, and I hope Gary does that. As much as he gets on my nerves, as much as I enjoy, I do kind of want to see him get roughed up. I hope he gets roughed up just a little bit. I think everything will be okay. All right, guys, join me next time as we jump into season two, episode nine of Not Slaving. Remember, don't ever do any deals in the backseat of a cab. That's just common sense. You'll have four less toes in behind this ridiculous move. Stay moisturized, stay hydrated, mind your own business. All of your drama on TV.