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S3 EP17 Knots Landing -Letting Go: The "Morning Mergers, and Moving On" Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 298

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Karen Fairgate stands at a crossroads in "Letting Go," finally visiting Sid's grave after avoiding it since his funeral. "For the first time since you died, I feel alive again," she confesses, removing her wedding ring to place on a necklace—a powerful symbol of honoring the past while embracing the future. This pivotal moment comes after sharing her first kiss with Larry, triggering a flood of conflicting emotions about desire, guilt, and what it means to move forward after devastating loss.

Meanwhile, Joe's ex-girlfriend Lorraine arrives unexpectedly from New York, offering to compromise on the very things that once separated them: marriage and children. "You win," she tells him, but Joe recognizes the difference between genuine desire and reluctant compromise. His insistence that children deserve two parents who truly want them showcases surprising emotional wisdom and forces Lorraine to confront her own hesitations about family life.

The methanol business venture brings simmering tensions between Valene and Abby to a boiling point. When Abby uses questionable methods to convince a senator to support their cause, Val confronts her directly about her tactics. Their confrontation crystallizes into a defining philosophy clash: "Use what you have to get what you want," Abby advises unapologetically, while Val promises to watch her "like a hawk." This electric showdown sets the stage for an escalating power struggle between two fundamentally opposing worldviews.

A touching scene where the family watches home movies of Sid provides emotional counterbalance, allowing them to remember him through genuine moments of joy rather than just through the lens of loss. This beautiful sequence illustrates grief's evolution—from raw pain to something more complex that makes space for celebration alongside sadness.

What makes Knots Landing exceptional is precisely this willingness to explore genuine human emotions and ethical dilemmas without resorting to simplistic answers. Whether you're navigating grief, relationship compromises, or moral boundaries, these characters' struggles mirror real life in all its messy, complicated glory.

Speaker 1:

He wiggles his face the way Lance Bass wiggles his eyebrows and it drives me crazy. No shade to Lance. You know he's in sync. I love you forever. However, just damn eyebrows be just double dutching. It drives me crazy.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome, or welcome back to Soap Lure, the official gathering place for newbies, novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. Newbies, novices and OG diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm Rose Jett and I'm viewing and reviewing the Sophia Sudsy as primetime storylines of 1981 or 2. We're back on the cold set and we've got some business to tend to. 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 air. Shock, cool, quiet or kicked out of your only options. It is raining today, so you better make up your mind soon. We are watching our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Soap Lure. This is Soap Lore. Hello, gorgeous Welcome, or welcome back to another fun film edition of Soap Lore.

Speaker 1:

I am sort of feeling myself I'm in a new space today. I hope your day is going great. We have got a very interesting episode of Not Slander to jump into today, season 3, episode 17,. Letting Go it's all about the shuns and the shuns Intuition submission shun from public eye because you're embarrassed. Not on these shows, not today. I am going to enjoy myself a little bit of normal sparkling water along with a watermelon feta basil salad that I chopped very finely and put into a gorgeous dish because Martha said it would be fabulous. Martha said it would be fabulous and she was right. We have a little bit of fan mail that we're going to jump right into. Shout out to Shelly. I was also inspired by Shelly to take a walk after I read her email. Shelly writes thank you for the wonderful podcast. It brings me back to the glory days of my favorite nighttime soaps. I enjoy your comments and your commentary.

Speaker 1:

I loved Knott's Landing, dynasty and Dallas. In that order, I like Falcon Crest but it didn't really compare to the top three. My simple observation is this Knott's Landing has the best character development. A lot of the characters really grew or changed during the series. Dynasty by far had the best settings. Dallas has the best plots. Thank you so much, shelly. She says that she went on a four mile walk. I didn't get quite that far, but I sure appreciate you listening. I thought about this after I read her email.

Speaker 1:

I think I fell kind of head over heels in love with Falcon Crest at the beginning because it felt a little bit more like a drama and I think I was just more. I don't think I'm more inclined to like it, maybe I'm just more trained. You know what I'm saying. I'm just seeing more dramas. So I really enjoyed that punch and I to me my big three were Falcon Crest in Dallas.

Speaker 1:

But I can admit now that if I had started watching Knott's Landing first, I think my my thoughts on Falcon Crest might be a little bit different. But because I'm four seasons deep, I really fallen in love with the characters. I kind of like the way they do things. I love it. But I can admit to myself that had Knott's Landing, dynasty and Dallas shown up, I might have never heard about Falcon Crest, which I think is a lot of the the kind of grumblings from the Falcon Crest community. It always sort of comes up as an afterthought. Lucky for me got to wait till these were 40 years old before I started watching them. So, hey, thank god for streaming. I didn't have to choose, but you know what someone we care about does. Go ahead and pour yourself up something bubbly and bright.

Speaker 1:

I think I need just a little bit more to wash this down as we jump into season three, episode 17 of not slanding, letting go. This episode is riddled with shuns I don't know any way else to say it Like there's so many thoughts, there's so many nuances on this episode, starting with Uncle Joe. I'm so glad to have him as a new addition to this show. He brings a certain level of kind of not fierceness, but he's not afraid of Karen. I don't think anybody is outright like terrified she's going to do anything to them. But don't anybody want to go toe-to-toe with Karen? Nobody on that road wants to. So we're going to get rid of Joe first, because he is one of the big players.

Speaker 1:

We see this bright yellow cab pull up with not slamming cabco on it. It drops off this random brunette. This woman jumps out the car. I thought she was for sure a Jehovah's Witness or that she was about to start selling Avon or something. To my surprise, this is Joe's sweetheart. It's Miss Thang Thang from back east.

Speaker 1:

It's early in the morning. He comes outside. He looks like he's about to go to work when all of a sudden he sees her, lorraine, joe, reach out for each other and and share warm embrace. Oh my god, what are you doing here in la? Yeah, uh, uh, merger. We have some things to do out in la. And he's like, oh great, well, is there anything I can do for you? And she's like yeah, you can go ahead and break your girl off some.

Speaker 1:

She flew all the way across the country to get a list I'm going to keep it cute, just in case there's a couple of kids. She needed a merger, a different kind of merger. She wants to merge with Joe. It's been a long flight. She's had some very long nights. Listen, let's go ahead and do what we need to do. Joe, now I'm surprised. I thought Joe had business to attend to, but he turns on his heels. They go upstairs and they have a morning merger and then they chase their morning merger with a little breakfast. It is at this point that Joe realizes, oh my God, I have a whole job I'm supposed to be at. He's thinking like wait a minute, this is LA, this is traffic. I have a noon class. He was clearly leaving the house at like 8 am, so he goes. I guess I'm not going to work today. Let me go ahead and call somebody Good to see you, lorraine.

Speaker 1:

Well, over the course of the show, one thing you start to notice is that they do have this wonderful chemistry. They're just kind of bouncing things off of each other. Remember this. Remember that you start to deduce that they probably had a really substantial relationship, but nobody seems upset about it. It's on the contrary, they seem to be pretty enamored with one another. But then you also start to notice that this woman ain't really going anywhere. He's like I thought you said you had to work. Oh yeah, I did, I do, but I just came into town a little bit earlier. You know what I'm saying. I just want to spend time with you. I wanted to see you, joe. I need mergers. I've had mergers in a while.

Speaker 1:

They also sort of casually mentioned in passing that Joe likes to gamble a little bit. Lorraine makes a comment like you'll bet on anything If you call up a bookie and say hey, put $10 on this whole, $5 on this, over and under, blah, blah, blah. That's called gambling. And Joe's like nah, it's not gambling, but everybody's smiling about it. So they don't outright say he has a gambling problem and maybe he doesn't. I'm just saying this is a soap opera. After all, everybody needs advice. He seems pretty squeaky clean at this point, so we will see if anything comes of that.

Speaker 1:

Shortly after Lorraine's arrival, karen comes home and Karen's usually like oh my God, lorraine, what are you doing here? Hey, girl, they get along fine. Apparently, they've met each other several times before, which adds to my suspicion that they had a substantial relationship she and joe, that is ray's like girl, your house is so cute. I can't believe. This is the first time I've been out to cali to see y'all. I'm so sorry about this. Um, yeah, I'm here for work. I'm working here. I'm here for work. Here's like oh, that's great, joe the word.

Speaker 1:

They go into the other room. She's like I know she's not sleeping in my house. Now, you think she won't sleep in my house. He's like well, of course she is. Karen turns into Joe's mom. There will be no fornication in my house. That's the invocation. Sean, no fornication of my house and doing god knows what, whatever you want under the blankets. That's inappropriate. He's like oh my god, breathe, relax. We'll get into why she she has that little fit here in a little bit. So the truth sort of oozes out, it trickles out slowly over the episode and it goes something like this Lorraine is and was, and most likely will always be, very focused on her career.

Speaker 1:

She's a great lawyer. She loves that and she loves Joe. Joe wanted a family in marriage but Lorraine wasn't there. I totally get where she's coming from late 70s, early 80s. She's trying to put stamp, her print or I can't even think of the word right now. She's trying to solidify her career. She wants to be a lawyer. She needs to put in a lot of time for that and you know marriage and kids just wasn't that.

Speaker 1:

I'm thinking that if she had Joe while she was, you know when she and Joe were together. You know he's teaching While she was. You know when she and Joe were together, you know he's teaching she's being a lawyer, they're happy. It's just you can always kind of kick the can down the road oh yeah, we'll have kids someday, someday, someday. Well, it seems like his someday ran out when he decided he wasn't going to go to California and now she's filling the void. All the things that were, you know semi pleasurable, are just horrible. Now they're mundane. She misses them all day and all night. So she's come to the conclusion that there's no time like the present. If this is what you want, then I want that too. I will want whatever you want, which immediately you already know if you're a real one makes me think of one of the greatest films ever, one of the first films I ever saw, which is wildly inappropriate when you think about my age coming to america. What kind of foods do you like? Whatever foods you like.

Speaker 1:

Unfortunately, joe does not tell lorraine to bark like a dog, a big dog. He doesn't do all that, but but instead she tells him hey, you win. He's like what do you mean? I went, you win on your terms, I want to be with you on your term. And he's like okay, cause you refresh my memory. What are my terms? Children and marriage. I want that because I want you. Now they're saying this under a pillow fort on the floor. It seems very innocent. He's smiling dimples on full display. But, like a lot of things, a light of day really brings things to fruition. So after she tells him this the night, that night, the next morning, it's just not really sitting well with Joe the next morning in their understated finest bathrobes from Sears, the truth is unraveled on the front lawn in a cul-de-sac. I just know Lily Mae is for show ear hustling from the window.

Speaker 1:

The way that Lorraine presented the marriage and children didn't sit right with Joe because she said you win, you can have the home and the family, the things you've been agitating for. That just feels like a microwave promise. That feels very like here. Fine, if you insist here, I'll do it. And he didn't feel that he's like that's not love, that's not devotion, it's a dream, poorly wrapped in contrition at best.

Speaker 1:

Lorraine wants him, not the family. That's the part that's really not sitting well with him. He's able to really articulate to her that wanting him and settling poor family is not the same thing. He loves her, but he also knows that she would only have the kids to appease him and not because she wanted them. He wants her to want her own children, not to say that she's going to hate him or anything like that, not to say that she wouldn't be a super awesome mom, but it's the principle of it. He wants his kids to grow up in a home where both parents want them. He wants them to grow up one. He commends Sid and Karen for raising their kids the way they did. He's like her. He says to Lorraine my sister's kids are strong, they're tough because they grew up in a house where two people wanted them to be there and they loved him. He's not really willing to compromise on that.

Speaker 1:

And Lorraine's like listen, it's not that I don't want it, but just I don't know that that's not the life I had. I don't know anything about having a happy family. I don't know anything about being in a secure place as a child. So it's not that she doesn't want it, and I can totally understand where she's coming from, especially if she loves him. She just can't imagine it. She doesn't have the imagination to allow her body or mind to kind of catch up. So she's like listen, this, this all I got. I'm standing out here in this red terry cloth robe offering you my heart and a family, but that's all I can give you. That's not enough. I don't know what else to tell you, joe. I don't know what to tell you.

Speaker 1:

So later on, towards the end of the show, you see lorraine and karen out there digging in the yard. It's very clear that lorraine has never dug in dirt in her life, not one time. She is struggling with that little shovel and she and Karen are talking. We'll get to their conversation at the end, but just know that it appears that she and Joe have a. Um seems like he rethinks it a little bit and I'm not mad at it. I really enjoy the dynamic of them there. But you know what we can talk about that once we get to Karen. So Karen remember, on the last episode she met a fellow called Larry. Very generic name, kind of a generic guy. Only a generic guy is what you need Sometimes. You don't need all the bells and whistles, you just need something plain which you need sometimes. You don't need all the bells and whistles, you just need something playing.

Speaker 1:

Every now and again I get a hankering for a. Mind you, I grew up in Texas, guys. So when I say coke, I mean like a coke, not just a coke. Okay, first and foremost, I do not mean the book of sugar a la Peter DeFilla Buster. That's not what I'm talking about. I am talking about a carbonated beverage in a can, not necessarily the brand coca-cola. So every now and then I want a coke. But the coke I want is this cheap. There's to be a store brand called sure fine. I hadn't seen it in years, but think of it as like the Walmart brand, just that, whatever the store's brand is a sure fine cream soda. Every now and again I get a hankering for sure fine cream soda. I want a good, cheap cream soda or good, cheap root beer. Now, truth be told, these are all probably made in the exact same factory as the higher end products, but it's just something about something being cheap and easily available that hits the spot. Sometimes that's what you need, larry. Is that cheap, sure fine cola? He's that cheap, sure fine root beer or cream soda.

Speaker 1:

They're hitting it off. He's showing up, he's hanging out at the house Hell, he even picked up the garbage to take it out without being prompted. Well, he feels like they've been going together for a little bit and he says Karen, I think it's time we move to the next level. Why ever? What do you mean Larry? Larry means kissing. I want to kiss you, karen. I want to share a passionate kiss with you. She's like well, okay, so they kiss. You see her sort of melt into a moment, but her eyes close. She opens her eyes and she's like hmm, I like that. So they do it again. She kisses them again. This is all wonderful.

Speaker 1:

It's not very clear at this point how long it's been. By my guesstimation, I guess it's been around nine-ish months since Sid has passed on For this episode. Although Laura is not in it, she is mentioned once or twice but she is my measuring tape for this hypothesis. I think that she was not pregnant when Sid died. Suddenly she's three. Well no, so I guess this could be about a year later. Laura is around. By my estimation. She's around about five, six months pregnant. I think it has been 10 to 14 months since it has passed away. Anyway, things are going good with Larry A little too good, but the thing about it is nothing about. It is too good to be true. He's genuine, he's into her and she's into him. Thank you party people for bearing with me. Up until now had a little bit of technical difficulties. I hope we are back on track. So, like I was saying, I'm using Laura as a measuring guide. It's been at least a year or so since Sid has passed away.

Speaker 1:

So Karen for lack of a better term, she was kind of shook after the kiss, not because it was a bad kiss because it was a kiss she liked so much. She is realizing for the first time that, you know, that part of her isn't gone. She thought her we grown here. She thought her libido is gone. She thought with the death of Sid, you know, she wasn't really trying to think about dating anyone, she didn't really want to open Pandora's box. But this seems to be the first time she's considering that as an option and so there's this sort of giddiness that she's suppressing. But there's also a lot of confusion surrounding this because after all, she's a widow. She's in mourning. Can a mourning widow have these sorts of desires? This is my interpretation. Guys, feel free to watch the show. I feel like you'll probably get sort of the same thing.

Speaker 1:

But the thing I love about watching Karen the most is that Karen is always Karen in front. Whether she's in front of somebody or behind the scenes, she's exactly the same person. She's totally unafraid to spill her guts or not spill her guts or, you know, yell at one of the kids and then pat him on the back. She's not afraid to show those emotions. So coming to this point where, under normal circumstances, barring her being a widow, let's say it's an alternate universe where she is a 38 year old woman meeting a man she really likes. It probably would not have been as difficult to just sort of allow those feelings to flow like she'd want them to. But she's very confused Is this too soon? Am I allowed to have these feelings? Am I still married? All of the things are kind of floating up to the surface.

Speaker 1:

Well, turns out, larry, who likes to travel and likes to buy cars in his leisure, really, really likes Karen, so much so that he's a little bit hesitant to get on a plane and fly back to Houston to take care of some business. Apparently, one of the work projects he was working on went bottoms up. They have to kind of rebuild, redo, and it feels like he's going to be gone for a significant amount of time. So he says hey, karen, why don't you come with me? I'd really love for you to go to houston and have a good time oh my god, my accent and have a good time in houston, not houston, houston. She shook, she don't want to do that. But she does want to do it because at the end of the day she's still a red-blooded American woman with midnight, midday and morning needs, and you know what Larry's looking like. He might know what he's talking about. He might know how to make a merger or two.

Speaker 1:

So let's flip back to Joe a little bit. So Karen is asked by Larry to travel with oh my God, I don't know, I have kids, I have all this blah, blah, blah. But the to travel with? Oh my god, I don't know, I have kids, I have all this blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, yes, she has kids, yes, they are semi sort of independent, but also her brother's there, and she has the best neighbors on earth, valene will, will raise those kids until they're 50, if need be. So she could. But it's like, do I really want? Anyway, she gets home and somebody comes around the corner. Oh my God, little Marine, is that you? Hey girl. Oh my God, karen, I'm so sorry about Sid. I can't believe. It's the first time I've been to your house. Every time we meet it's in New York. Yes, yes, it is girl. How long are you staying? Oh, I'm here for work, I'm working, I'm here for work. Okay, cool, joe. A word Joe and Karen go into a separate room where she rips into him about the fornication she will not allow under her roof.

Speaker 1:

You already heard the spiel in Joe's segment of the podcast, so I won't repeat it here. But once she's done after he tells her to relax she goes up to her room, follows her. He's like yo, what's really going on? And she tells him hey, bro, I kissed larry today. I kissed larry and I really, really liked it. I don't know what to do with that emotion, though, like, do you like, am I doing too much? And this is where kid brother comes in. This is probably one of the only people who can just be really blunt with her. She's gonna listen to him without hesitation because, I mean, they're family. It's also interesting, though.

Speaker 1:

On this scene we find out that she's never actually been to see his grave after they buried him. She has never gone back. So she's sitting on the edge of the bed pondering the idea that maybe her pain is in remission, maybe it's easing up a little bit now. Joe thinks she needs to be in transition because at the end of the day as he puts it, karen, life is moving on, Things are going to happen, whether you jump on board or not, and, honey, at the end of the day, you are no longer Sid Farragate's wife.

Speaker 1:

You don't even have a choice in that. I need you to hear me. You are not his wife. You don't even have a choice in that. I need you to hear me. You are not his wife. He's not here. That is a hard thing to hear. God bless, I'm not a widow, but I mean the whole term widow and widower. Widower is that you have lost your spouse, like there's a whole title in the English language to describe what you are now. It doesn't even it makes you know I've never even considered that before this episode that I mean yeah, you're. I mean, are you no longer married? If someone said I guess not, you know you could move on. Nobody's going to judge you for that, but I suppose it's up to the person left living to decide how long that's going to be. So that's basically what's going on this episode. Karen is deciding how long she is going to be Sid's widow. She'll always be his widow, but she will never, ever be his wife again.

Speaker 1:

So Joe decides I can tell he's probably thinking after watching the show seems like he had a little plan. He needs to help his sister out. So he decides he's going to cook dinner. He's going to kill two birds with one stone. Number one. He needs everybody fat, full and satisfied so that there'll be a little bit more pliable ie Karen, because he needs Lorraine to stay at the house so they can have a couple more mergers. Also he wants to, you know, get the family together. It's familiar, this is me projecting a little bit, but it seems like a good plan.

Speaker 1:

Lorraine very much seems like part of the family, if nothing else, the kids are used to having her around. They know who she is. She is a pseudo aunt, even though she doesn't have the title. But I love this scene of them just doing nothing. They're just eating at the table, talking about New York, talking about good times. They're arguing, everybody's going back and forth but you can tell it's just all love and it's all so comfortable. And it feels good to me watching the show to see so much life in Karen's house. I will say I feel like they've handled the whole said thing really wonderfully. Everybody's gone through their little thing. The kids are dealing with it really really well and I think Karen is too.

Speaker 1:

But there's still so much under the surface that we didn't know. So after dinner Joe just kind of casually mentions that he wants to watch home movies. There's so much we haven't seen. And he's using Lorraine kind of as an excuse, like, oh well, she didn't see this. Blah blah, blah blah, I hadn't seen this. I've never seen any of your home movies. Let's go ahead and fire up that projector. I have to say I envy anyone who ever had a projector like as an option. Never had one of those in my home. I mean, I think we might have something that we use for backyard party one time at my mother-in-law's I don't even know where it's at.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, they sit in the living room and they start watching home movies of Sid. Of course they're at the beach, they're talking, they're all having a good time and what you sort of feel is it's not sad like you would think it would be. But what you realize is that there's tons of little moments that sit that Karen and the kids have sort of forgotten. And watching the film they get to talk. You know they get to. They could talk about a little bit and the more they watch, the more they see that. You know some things never change. Diana and Karen are still arguing every chance they get. Michael's still not good at holding a camera, although he's a baby.

Speaker 1:

I don't know why you give this because, you know, those little projectors probably weigh 35 pounds I'm exaggerating, but at least 10, 15 pounds, and he can't be any more than like four if he's holding the camera four or five years ago. But it's just, it's really beautiful. And how do I put this into words? It's almost like a gift. You get to see someone you love. You get to see the person you have missed so desperately and that you will always miss desperately. But now they're at a point where they can talk about him not as this tragedy, but just as him. Sid gets to be just Sid. He's still their dad. He was Karen's husband, he's just him. Now he's not wrapped in just kind of misery and sadness. There's no gray cloud over it, it's just sort of tiny little moments of realization, tiny little memories that were re-sparked, and everybody seems to be doing good. It seems like Michael and Karen weren't really keen on watching the films, but they both did pretty okay during it.

Speaker 1:

So with that, karen decides that it is time to kind of finally, let's put a bookend on this. Let me end not my love, not your memory, not my longing for you, but maybe, just maybe, I can begin the end of my mourning in that way I'm going to begin the stagnant mourning. I'm going to move forward. I'm going to put a little motion in motion. I didn't mean to say that, but kind of that's what she means.

Speaker 1:

So this for the first time since the last time Karen goes to the graveyard and it all feels a little silly to her to talk to this headstone because she knows Sid's not there. She shares this little anecdote about how when she was a kid she'd try to pray and she wasn't really sure that God could hear her unless she did it over the radio. So she'd pretend like she was on a radio. So she does the same thing for Sid. She expresses to him in another part of the show that she doesn't know what her moral compass is at this point. She doesn't know if she's going to end up in perdition If she moves on and starts, you know, having little fornications, mergers with other people. But she has to keep it real with this con with Sid. Hey, dude, for the first time since you died I feel alive again. I didn't realize I wasn't alive until now.

Speaker 1:

So she decides on her own that she's going to no longer wear the wedding band. She's going to put it on a necklace, a locket necklace that he gave her and she's going to enjoy it. She just doesn't mean I don't love you Doesn't mean I don't care about you and this is silly, I'm just talking to a headstone anyway but this is me loving you and moving on. I think that's the best part you can. Two things can be true at once. Five things can be true at once. She could be totally devastated that he's gone, miss him so dearly, wish he was around. But also her heart is healing. She's able to discover love and she also thanks him for that. Thank you for teaching me how to love. Thank you for giving me the gift of love that I can now hopefully find again. I loved it Perfection and I love how just open she is all the time. But you can tell this was a harder subject for her, but she always had like this little smile on her face. It's that kind of wrestling with that giddiness and like in between, being giddy and dazed and confused Seems to be a little more confusion.

Speaker 1:

On the cul-de-sac, let's go ahead and jump into my favorite people to talk about sideways, the Ewing's featuring Abby Cunningham. Did I tell you, guys, I was staying at a hotel and I went down to the front desk. I forgot why I was going down there, but I picked up a card and, like the hotel's manager's name was Abby Cunningham. I got so excited. The kid had no idea what I was talking about. I guess we have to start with the beginning.

Speaker 1:

Methanol Methanol is supposed to be this great new alternative energy that could change the way the world runs. This adorable guy from North Mexico had an old bootleg distillery and he decided to make. Turn lemons into lemonade, if you will. Turn booze into cruise fuel. Turn a little wheat into methanane, methanol, whatever.

Speaker 1:

I learned this episode? That it is not drinkable, which is completely devastating. If all this doesn't work out, you're going to have maybe they could distill it a couple more times and call it put some hair on your chest or something like that. But here's the deal. Not only is this technology old and new, the way to produce it is old, the use is new, which makes people a little bit hesitant. But unfortunately there's this antiquated law on the books. We discover this when Richard is over at the house. He's talking to Abby and Gary, while Val is chilling upstairs in her Laura Ingalls Wilder robe. God, the robes on the show suck.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, richard was like listen, there's all sorts of prohibition laws that make it really illegal to bring liquor across the border. To those of us who are, I think millennials were probably the last people who got to do this freely. If you live on one of the border states and I do mean in the US, california, new Mexico, in the US California, new Mexico, arizona or Texas then you know it was a rite of passage to go to Mexico on your 18th birthday to drink. Not saying everybody did it, but it was very, very common for people to drive down on the weekend and have a good time. Where I lived, they would go to OJ and have a good old time and then come back Like people used to do it all the time. Matter of fact, I think I've said this before on the show people would cross the border all the time like back and forth. People would go shopping for sturdy furniture, just different things like that. Probably we're the last generation who got to do that.

Speaker 1:

Things started getting a little funny in the you know, the mid 2000s, 2010. So it's not nearly as friendly I would imagine. If you live, maybe, in Canada and you or Detroit, you know what I mean. There's border states, border countries there's it's not always what you see on the news. A lot of time it's pretty friendly. You just kind of walk back and forth. Where was I going with all that? Oh, okay, that's where I was going with that.

Speaker 1:

So because of this kind of knowledge in the back of my head, I was very surprised to hear that you could not cross the border with alcohol. But that makes a lot of sense If you have to go through customs. I figured as long as it was sealed, that wouldn't be a problem. But apparently in 1981 or 1982, that was still a big issue you could not cross the border with grain alcohol. So Abby and Gary are completely like flabbergasted, like how is this? Even who kicked Really? Richard's like yeah, I'm so sorry, that's what it is.

Speaker 1:

Richard leaves Abby and Gary start talking ish about how uptight richard is since laura left him, like he had anything to do with prohibition. So they quickly deduce that they have to get to the state capitol, which in this case would be sacramento, and they need to bring this um. Hold on, let me get my life together. Oh, my american government is a little bit rusty. But they need to get to the House, they need to get to the Capitol so that they can talk to someone, talk to a congressman to get this bill put before the House. Basically, they need a bill. It's not an addendum, what was that called? They need to basically have this bill removed or they need to add another bill that vetoes this old bill. You know what I'm saying? I forget all that works.

Speaker 1:

So remember, I told you Valene is upstairs looking like Laura Ingalls. Well, she comes downstairs, I guess after she doesn't hear Richard's voice because I know she is Lily Mae's child, so I know she was here hustling at the top of the steps. Well, she comes down when it's just Abby and Gary and she happens to see Abby's hand on his face. I'm going to be playing devil's advocate this entire episode because I really do think in that moment it was kind of innocent. She was I hate to use the word soothing Gary, but she was like hey, don't worry about it. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I need to make a brief correction. Val's robe isn't hideous, it isn't horrible. It isn't terrible, it just isn't very glamorous. Had I had nothing else to compare it to, I would have thought it was pretty cute. It's not bad. More importantly, she ain't having it. So anyway. Anyway, she comes down the stairs.

Speaker 1:

So Gary's a little discouraged to find out that there's this sort of random but huge obstacle in the way of his dream. He tells Abby okay, find out who the chairman is of the committee, who's in charge of bringing bills before the house, and we'll figure out how to talk to him. And Abby just kind of has her hand on his cheek the way you would like your nephew. It's not really sensual in that way. It seems very innocent. But if you already don't like somebody, you don't like somebody. So when Valene comes down the stairs she sees Abby's palm on Gary's chin and Abby looks up real happy oh hi, val Val don't say nothing. And Abby looks up real happy. Oh hi, val Val don't say nothing. She can't stand this woman. And okay, so now we have the Vidalia Onion Queen is turning up the heat just a little bit, okay.

Speaker 1:

So there was a series of non-Google-able research moments. Abby pretty much figures out that the Senator Senator Riker, what a coincidence is about to be heading out of town. I guess she just made a phone call. I just made that way more complicated than it needs to be. I was like, oh my gosh, how did she get his personal schedule? She probably called and talked to his secretary so they figure out that he is about to go on a trip and if he goes on this trip he will not be able to present this bill to the committee in front of the house and get it vetoed. Like they're pretty confident that no one cares about corn liquor from Mexico. Like, no harm, no foul, everybody's drunk anyway over here. Let's just do it. But the gotcha gotcha is he's not in the office that day. He's actually playing golf.

Speaker 1:

So they decide okay, well, let's just go to Sacramento. It's like an hour flight. We can be down there and back in no time. It doesn't hurt Closed mouth, don't get fed, right? Well? Gary's like well, girl, well, don't, we have a full job to do. She goes it's slow here and it's slow here. And she's right, in the car business it's not going to be booming every single day. Actually, most days are pretty slow. So he's like okay, yeah, I guess we should. And her thing is don't forget that we have money invested in this, let's just go do this.

Speaker 1:

Gary's acting all fidgety and weird, but the truth is he's worried and Abby clocks it. So Abby's like listen, is this because your wife doesn't like seeing us together. Now here we go here. Now that I know who she is a little bit. She's telling the truth, but she's also stirring the pot. They always say every, every good lie has a little bit of truth in it. So she's like okay, gary, do you not want to go? Because your wife is going to be upset. And he's like it's complicated. She's like it's not that complicated. I have a lot of money invested into this company too. We have to take care of business and I'm not going to. I mean, I don't think it's fair that you're you won't want to go because your wife is jealous of me.

Speaker 1:

Did anybody say she was jealous, abby? That's not what he said. That's not how. I don't know how Val felt. I don't think she's jealous, she's just suspicious. She has her suspicions about y'all's interactions, plus y'all spend a lot of time together. I'm sure she don't really like that. Plus she knows a history, plus she knows that her man has a history. So a lot of this sort of venom that she's not actually spewing and I do mean Val probably comes from the fact that she knows Gary has already stepped out. She knows Abby has already stepped out. Well, I guess Abby didn't step out. It's not adultery on her part, but she knows how Abby works. I suppose if Gary will go for someone who is calm and very put together, like Judy not at all as seductress then what is he going to do with Abby? I'm assuming this, this is me projecting. Val has not actually said this, not like that at least.

Speaker 1:

So Gary goes home to say he walks in the door and the first thing he says is hey, we got to go to Sacramento. And she's like, oh my God, I'm not packed, like what are we going for? He says, hey, we got to go to Sacramento. She's like, oh my God, I'm not packed. What are we going for? He goes, no, not not you and me, me and Abby, we got to go. I'm kind of on the fence. He walks in and like he's told Abby he already knows that this is sort of a tense situation, but here's the truth, here's the tea. Here's the tea.

Speaker 1:

You can have a feeling about something with no proof. We call it intuition. It took me a really long time to trust that intuition. Val's definitely got it. She's able to put pieces together. Like I said, she's going off of Gary's past. She sees what she sees in front of her. She'd be a fool not to be at least a little bit suspicious.

Speaker 1:

So he comes in and he says that and he's already pissed, as he's saying it because he quote unquote knows that she's going to be pissed. That's such a lose-lose situation. I hate when people do that, like, don't give me bad news and not give me the opportunity to react the way I choose to react. If you get to react, how come I don't get to react? It has nothing to do with being mature, but it's like you can't Bogart this. That's very manipulative, even though I don't think he's trying to be manipulative here. But he's just, he's okay, let me just. Let me move on.

Speaker 1:

He starts in we have to go to San Diego, we have to go to Sacramento. She thinks that he means she and him. He tells her it's him and Abby, and then he immediately starts getting a little bit louder because he can tell she's upset and he says damn it, val. I want you to know this business isn't just a nine to five. We're going to have to work together. We're going to have to do these things. I know you don't trust me.

Speaker 1:

Now here's the other thing when Val has intuition. I think Gary is dealing with a little bit of guilt because he is lying by omission. He has not told her about the kiss. I've had a little time between the kiss and now. I am not defending it, but I will say I'm not granting you a lot of grace, but I can understand you getting caught up in the moment. I can, ok, we can, we can account for being excited. But he is walking around with the full knowledge that you know he had a moment of passion. He's spending a lot of time around this person. I still like I'm I'm standing by that. He's not really given that I want her vibe, but I think that he thinks Val might know a little bit more than she's letting on.

Speaker 1:

So this conversation is really, really tense. He's like I have to work, I need to go, why don't you just come with us? She then bows like see now. So now you're going to have me looking like the jealous old wife who won't let her husband do anything. He doesn't know the jealous old wife who won't let her husband do anything. He tells her no, just come, learn about my business, be involved. I want you there, I want you to come. I'm kind of on his side right now. Just y'all better enjoy it Cause the way. Okay, enjoy it for about 35 seconds so I'll tell you about the look on his face. I think that's kind of a great thing. That's actually a pretty good compromise. Come learn Then I.

Speaker 1:

He also said that he felt guilty. He's kind of a great thing. That's actually a pretty good compromise. Come learn then I.

Speaker 1:

He also said that he felt guilty. He's tired of feeling guilty. I think that's kind of a double meaning. You're tired of feeling guilty because you're not being you did not honest about at least that kiss. Or you feel guilty too because you're working so many hours. It's taking a lot from he and Belle and also he's working withby so much. It's not a lose-lose situation, but god dang it if this man don't stop.

Speaker 1:

Just he makes god. You know, when you go to the dentist you have a little work done and you can't quite fill your face. He, he moves his face so much he wiggles. He wiggles his face the way lance bass wiggles his eyebrows, and it drives me crazy. No shade to Lance. You know he's in sync. I love you forever. However, just damn Eyebrows be just double dutching. It drives me crazy. And this kid's face is the same thing. Like damn, gary. Okay, jackalford, we know you're acting. Damn. Where was I? They get on the first thing smoking and they go to Sacramento and these people pull up on this Senator on the golf cart course.

Speaker 1:

Long story short, the Senator was in the middle of a golf game. He didn't really want to talk about this during his golf game, but you know, three heads are better than one. They managed to convince him mostly Abby that hey, we're not going to bother you, we're not going to interrupt your game, but there's this little oversight on the state law books about prohibition. We think it's time to maybe cut that. Do you think you can get that done? We will only talk to you between holes. I do not know enough about golf to tell you what that means. But in between those, while you're chilling, we'll just talk to you about it. And from what I know about golf, golf takes a really long time to play. So, yeah, not a bad idea.

Speaker 1:

Well, gary and Valene, all but give up, because the Senator's like you know what. Dude, I totally understand what you're saying. I sure would hate for you guys to lose any money with your new business endeavors and whatnot. But I just don't think I can do this and plus I'm going out of town tomorrow. So I'm really sorry. Let's just you know, maybe we'll we'll talk about it. I'm not saying no, I'm just saying no like no today. So Val and Gary are like dang, I guess we're going to go back home. And Abby says well, y'all go ahead and go. I have some friends, a couple up here that I know I'm just going to hang out with them tonight. Maybe they have a few strings they can pull. Let me, let me continue to work. Y'all go ahead and go home and be happy.

Speaker 1:

She's got her mind on her money, her money on her mind. So she goes and she puts on her finest golden girl dress and she shows up at the senator's office under the cloak of darkness. Now, why he would be at his office this late, I'm sure I don't know, but he is, and I'm glad he is because she has the opportunity to walk in and strut her stuff. So here's another side of Abby that I'm discovering. First of all, she does her homework. Actually, I'm not surprised by that, because she was all in those books on the whole ghost episode she prepares. So she did her studying, she did her research and she's able to kind of schmooze the Senator.

Speaker 1:

Senator, I know who you are and I'm an admirer of your work. I've seen the bills you've passed, I've seen the causes you've taken up and I think partnering with you would be perfection. We are trying to bring a new sustainable fuel option to the United States of America. Think what you could do, not only for me, not only for my partner and his business, but for this country. We could change it. Like she sells it, I'm like damn, I'm tempted to go out here and pour a little booze in my gas tank. Only we all know that didn't work out.

Speaker 1:

So the senator is absorbing what she's saying and you know what she's hitting all the right notes. My ego is struck. I'm not really inconvenienced. She's making a lot of sense. What if I brought a new source, a new sustainable source of energy, to the United States? What could that do for me?

Speaker 1:

This is me riffing here, guys. What could this do for my political career? All I hear is wins. All I do is win. What did you say? Your name was young lady. My name is Abby Cunningham. Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight? We can discuss it over dinner. Here's a thing I say this every time I watch this show this is what knots landing does best.

Speaker 1:

Now we can deduce from everything you know about abby from season two to now where do you think they went to dinner? Do you think it extended past dinner? Or can we accept that maybe she is not only? She's got more than boobs, she's boobs and brain, and not for nothing. She reads people like a book. It is, it's perfection. She understands what humans want and what they need.

Speaker 1:

So the next time we see Gary, he is giving a just country bumpkin, whooping, holler, whoo, I'm not even gonna do it in this house. He hollers, he is right, excited, as they say Val's like what, you, what, what happened, what happened? And he says Abby got the senator to basically go along with us. He's gonna present the bill tonight. Blah, blahah, blah, blah. It's probably going to pass. Blah, blah, blah. Val is excited. Oh my God, that's so awesome. They're celebrating in the kitchen. I think this is where she's wearing that raggedy robe. It's not raggedy, it's just not Dynasty. It's not Val and Chris.

Speaker 1:

So, in the midst of all this celebrating Val, writing Val is, you know, asking the standard questions. Oh my gosh, I can't believe she got it done. Way to go, abby. Was she still in Sacramento? And Gary says no, she's back home, it's morning. Val's like she's already back home. Yeah, gary, he don't care. All he heard is that we about to make this money. So he's not, he don't care where she's at, he don't care how she got home, but all Val is hearing like, wait a minute, she must, okay, she must have worked all night. Is that what you're saying? And he goes. Maybe, I guess, I don't know. Money, money, money, money, money.

Speaker 1:

So Valene starts to thinking, the onion rings start to steaming and she deduces okay, I can't just sit here, I got to get up and go say something. This is where, for the first time, I find myself sort of challenging her logic just a little bit. But there you go Intuition. You don't have to know why, you know. Sometimes, you just know some stuff.

Speaker 1:

Also, just like two things can be true at the same time, you can be right about something in the wrong moment, meaning, let's say, you have a sticky finger friend or Uncle Klepto. Every time he comes to your house, something's missing. You've never seen him take it. But two plus two is four. Unless he's around, then it gets stolen. One time you run up on him when he's padding his back pocket, after, I don't know, one of your Glade plugins goes missing. You're like hey, uncle Klepto, empty your pockets. Sure enough, he empties his pockets and his pockets are empty. Okay, you was wrong, but tell me why? He gets in the car and he removes your necklace from his neck. It's kind of one of those situations Like okay, I just haven't caught you, but I know, like I know, like I know, something is going on.

Speaker 1:

Enter the best scene of this episode Vidalia, the onion queen, feels a way. She walks I don't know a hundred yards, a hundred feet to Abby's house and knocks on the door. Abby's like hey, girl, abby's wearing a hideous robe. That's what I kept thinking about. Abby has on the plainest red robe ever. It's almost an insult to her, but I guess she needs to be demure this episode. She's like hey, val, what's going on, girl? I love this scene. I love this scene. I love this scene.

Speaker 1:

So Val comes in. She's obviously been pondering what's going on. She decided she's going to have a little newbie, and not this morning. Instead forgive me if you can hear the thunder instead of a little ponytail. She says Abby, I got to ask you something. Did you convince the senator to change his mind or did your friends? Now Abby still has a smile on her face and she's like well, she's kind of surprised. I'm also surprised that Val would approach her in this way.

Speaker 1:

Anytime you've seen Val approach somebody, it hasn't been based on an inkling, it hasn't been based on her opinion. She's like the feds. She's showing up with the facts. Not this time. She's going straight from the heart. Was it you or was it your friends? Abby and abby's like excuse me, then, val, that was another hook. I just wasn't. I wasn't expecting her to say she goes, if it was you, you shouldn't be ashamed of it, implying that this, this is another one of those double meanings. If I'm understanding this correctly, if you did sleep with the Senator to get this bill passed and you're okay doing that, you shouldn't be ashamed. Or if you did that and you had to do it, then you shouldn't be ashamed. Or if you just convinced him, you shouldn't be ashamed. It's a challenge. It's not a statement, it is a challenge. This is the moment Mark, this date, this time On episode three, excuse me, season three, episode 17,.

Speaker 1:

Excuse me, season three, episode 17,. Letting Go was the day that Jet Shae realized Abby is not one to play with. I've had suspicions, my intuition told me that, but this is one of the best scenes Girl, guys, fellas and ladies. Baby, she's something else. In the same breath, valene, the Vidalia Onion Queen, might have grown some thorns or some thickles or something. I don't know. What's going on with her today. She's not one to play with.

Speaker 1:

She says Abby, if you did, you shouldn't be ashamed and you should tell Gary so that you get credit for this bill passing. Abby kind of scoffs and she's like girl. You know Gary wouldn't understand. The law is going to be repealed, val, that's all that matters. So in my judgment, in my kind of understanding of this scene, it's like Val.

Speaker 1:

That was my biggest question. I've been pondering this for a little bit. Why does Val insist that Abby tell Gary about this? Does she want her to admit that maybe she slept with the senator to get these favors? In my mind, val wants Gary to know what Abby is willing to do. It's almost like I want you to prove me right, but also I want him to see what he's falling into or what he could be falling into. I don't know. I don't know if this is really for her or if it's really for Gary, because at the end of the day, we all know she's calling her bluff. Val is calling Abby's bluff. She knows she's not going to tell. And, let's be honest, abby's calling Val's bluff. She knows that Val don't want her to tell. And, let's be honest, abby's calling Val's bluff. She knows that Val don't want her to tell him. She knows this. So Val's like that's all that counts. Huh, that's all you worried about.

Speaker 1:

Abby said listen, valina, there's things called resources. You use them. People use what they have. Some people have a lot of money. They use that to get what they want. Some people have a lot of power. They use that to get what they want. Some people have a lot of power. They use that to get what they want.

Speaker 1:

You have to be smart. I am paraphrasing here. You have to be wise. You have to use what you have and the resources available to you to get what you want. Basically, she's saying be smart, use what you got to get what you want. Use things to get what you want. You let that sit with you and Val's like well, what about what's right and what's wrong. Now see, that's what I'm like, val. You're contradicting yourself. What are you implying here? We all know what this is. This is it. This is the moment I'm calling it now. This is at least for me. I don't know about anybody else. I envy you OGs who know what's on the other side of this, but also I would never tell somebody to envy me. I God, this is amazing. I'm so, so, so, so glad I'm getting to see this.

Speaker 1:

Val tells her you know what do you? What about right and wrong? Abby says worry about right and wrong when you're fed. Basically, take care of yourself first. When you know where your next meal's coming from, then you can worry about good and evil, right and wrong.

Speaker 1:

I believe millennials Aladdin told us the exact same thing. Did he or did he not? Was he a street rat or was he just hungry? Did he or did he not use scheming and scamming and a genie to get what he wanted? I'm just saying this pisses Val off. She's like girl. First off, don't talk about being hungry. You rich biatch, are you for real right now? That's how you really feel, abby? Abby calls her blood. What do you think, val? Oh, I love this.

Speaker 1:

This is like 20 seconds. I have stretched it out to two minutes, but it's like a 20 second scene. What do you think Val? Val says I think I need to keep both eyes on you. I think I'm going to be watching you. I'll be watching you like a hawk in the sky.

Speaker 1:

Now, I suppose in some circles, especially in the South, that might be an insult, but, as we discovered several episodes ago, abby is unfaithful. She's not bothered by your opinion and she says you know what, val, you do that. Keep a good eye on me, baby. How else you gonna learn? Oh, she said watch and learn. Vidalia, lord, have mercy. Is this a line in the sand? Abby, is it just? I am blown away by her kind of I don't want to say it's a lack of a conscience, but sort of she's not bothered. She is truly unbothered by people. Tell them, val is basically what she's saying. Tell them you want me to tell him, you really want me to tell him.

Speaker 1:

This is an interesting play because, at the end of the day, gary is still growing. I forget that he is coming off of this. I'm not the good enough son. I'm not a real Ewing. He's not that he really cared about being a Ewing, but you know what I mean. They're known for their business acumen. And him not only. You know he's not in the mafioso. This time he's found something brand new. It's energy-based, it's beautiful. There's got to be a small part of him that wants to make sure. Not only he wants it to succeed because it's exciting and it's business. But this could change everything for him, maybe, maybe. I love the fangs that came out. I love this.

Speaker 1:

So there was no admission from Gabby. She's like okay, you think what you think, but I'm going to tell you something Use your resources wisely to get what you want. My, oh, my Baby. That was delightful. I think I'm going to pour myself a little more bubbly. It's sparkling water. I might go Google and see what Martha talking about as far as cocktails, but oh my gosh. So so, so good. Go ahead and join me next time as we jump back into another classic, vintage primetime soap opera. In the meantime, in between time, there's no other way to say it Use what you got to get what you want. But don't be surprised if you run up on the Vidalia Onion Queen and wake up dead messing with her. Stay hydrated, stay moisturized, mind your own business and keep all of your drama on TV.