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S3 Ep18 Knots Landing: Expose-The "Pimps & Prose "Episode

• Jett Shae • Episode 302

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"The Exposé" delivers a gut-punch exploration of what happens when our talents and compromises collide with our relationships and integrity. At its heart are two parallel journeys of people discovering that their attempts to course-correct may have come too late. Valene has written a manuscript based on Gary's famous Texas family that's caught a publisher's interest. Her excitement quickly turns to anxiety when Gary finally reads it and declares it can never see the light of day. Though fictionalized, the story contains enough truth about the Ewings that Gary fears public humiliation. What follows is Valene's painful realization that her newfound talent has become a threat to her marriage. When she agrees to shelve the book in exchange for Gary spending less time with Abby, we see a woman sacrificing her creative voice to preserve her relationship. But Gary's immediate breaking of this promise triggers something in Valene that many viewers will recognize—that moment when compromise becomes capitulation, and you finally say "enough." Meanwhile, Richard Avery's storyline offers an equally compelling examination of compromise gone wrong. A talented lawyer reduced to arranging escorts for his firm's clients, Richard embodies the soul-crushing reality of being valued for all the wrong reasons. His desperate attempts to reclaim his professional dignity backfire spectacularly when Marnie, one of his regular call girls, secretly records him discussing his arrangements. The televised exposé leaves Richard professionally ruined, scapegoated by the very company that demanded these services. The episode brilliantly captures how we sometimes find ourselves trapped in stories not of our making. As our characters discover, you can make accommodations, follow the rules, even stand up for yourself when things go too far—and still end up paying the price. What would you sacrifice to tell your truth? Or to reclaim your dignity? These questions linger long after the credits roll. Ready to dive deeper into vintage primetime soap opera debauchery? Subscribe now and join our community of newbies and die-hard fans exploring the golden age of television drama together.

Speaker 1:

Gary does not strike me as a scholarly type. He doesn't even strike me as a curious type. I can't imagine he's cracking open any sort of literature outside of. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome or welcome back to Soap Floor, the official gathering place for newbies, novices and OG die-hard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jet. I'm still viewing and reviewing the Sophia Sedgwick's primetime storyline from 1981. We are back on the West Coast doing the absolute most. 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 earshot. Be cool, be quiet or you will be kicked out because we are watching our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Soap Lore. Hello, gorgeous, welcome or welcome back to another fun-filled edition of Soapboard. I hope your day is shaping up well. Boy oh boy, mine is awesome, don't get me wrong. However, there's something about this episode of Knots Landing that just has me in a weird headspace. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's. I can't, I don't know. Maybe you guys can help me understand what I'm not understanding about this. I don't know. This one feels extremely real to me for some reason. Let's go ahead and jump in.

Speaker 1:

We are on season three, episode 18 of Nance Landing, called the Exposé. The show opens up, simple enough Valene, the Vidalia Onion Queen, is on her morning run. She looks elated to be sprinting through her neighborhood. Color me impressed. I know an athlete when I see one. This woman's body language says she does this all the time, for real, for real. She comes sprinting up to the house because she sees Gary outside. So I imagine in her, her mind, her day is going to start with a brisk morning run. Then she's going to make Gary a little breakfast. They're going to get their kissy, kissy, boo, boo face stuff on before he goes to work, because she hardly sees him in the evening anymore.

Speaker 1:

Well, right about this time, here comes Abby in a pewter shooter suit. Gary's also in a three-piece suit and I was like what the heck? He's wearing an awful lot of clothes lately. I don't think I've ever seen him with this many clothes on. Anyway, abby's like oh my gosh, these numbers are just killing me, gary. I can't make heads or tails of them. Nothing is coming the way it should. We're going to have to crunch some numbers after work again and Valene is like you know.

Speaker 1:

Valene has made no qualms about how she feels about Abby. She already put Abby on notice. I'm watching you. Abby's like, yeah, you probably should. You could learn a thing or two.

Speaker 1:

Abby is far more used to confrontation. I can tell by this, because she is breezing through this interaction like nothing is wrong. Business, business, business, mind you. She jumps into gary's uh passenger side. He's gonna take her to work because she don't like to drive like that.

Speaker 1:

Valine is looking a little funny. Abby tells her girl, don't worry, I'll have him home before you know. He'll eat dinner at my house, it'll be fine. Valine makes it very clear gary only eats the vidalia onion queens meal. Baby girl, I'm the only person taking care of his nutritional needs. You can give him that fluff, all those empty calories, if you want, but I'm taking care of his meals. Perhaps I'm embellishing a little, but Valene does take offense to Abby thinking she's going to prepare a meal for her husband. I wouldn't worry anything about it, because we all watch Abby try to make that cake. There was flour all over the kitchen. You ain't got nothing to worry about Vidalia.

Speaker 1:

She walks into the house and Lily Mae is there folding towels like hey girl, did the mail come? Yet I doubt the mail comes at 7 am. This is what we learned this episode. Valene has already had the conversation with Joe about the manuscript. She sent it to New York, just like he said. His friends are going to look over it. Let them know if it's worth anything. Joe told Vidalia that if they like her, they're going to call you. If they don't, or if they're not going to be able to use it, they'll send you something in the mail.

Speaker 1:

So Valene is floating silently through this sort of excitement. There's a rush. Lily Mae has that same anticipation. You know Lily Mae is an artist. She understands like, oh my gosh, girl, I read it, you're going to be amazing. So Lily Mae's hyping her up. Val, what's wrong? Don't worry about it. Did the mailman come? Okay, so every day he doesn't come, that's more hope. And Val is, it's like she don't want to get her hopes up too much. But she's also toiling with the fact that Gary hasn't actually read her book. So she and Lily Mae are sitting on the steps. It's almost as if she's trying to justify it to herself.

Speaker 1:

Writing might also be very, very therapeutic for Valene. This is the first time she's ever got to really say everything all in one fell swoop. She didn't really have to worry about anyone's feelings when she was writing. She didn't have to worry about what it looked like, but what I am gathering from just other clues in the show, she did think about it. She's still aware that this is loosely based on Gary's family. Only the loosely part might not be as loose as she would need it to be. So she says, mama, I can't. I imagined it Like I told some stuff that I knew and then just some rumors that I heard about the Ewings. But I, you know, I imagined it. It's all from my imagination. She told a more sensationalized version of the truth, according to her, but she's very concerned that if Gary reads it he might feel away.

Speaker 1:

So as the episode progresses, joe comes bursting into the house. This would appear to have been the same day. Lily, mae and Valene are chilling. In comes Joe and he's like oh my gosh, I could have called you, but I just had to see your face. My friend called me. He loves your book. Lily Mae is elated, leaps up from the couch. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Val is still kind of like breathing this, like, oh my god, this is so awesome, this is so awesome. I gotta tell Gary. She runs the hundred or so yards to Abby's house, tells Gary the good news. He's pumped. Well, let me finish up here and we'll celebrate properly. Valene's face drops.

Speaker 1:

Valene seems a whole lot more conscious than she was a few episodes ago about Gary and Abby, even though he's not giving any signs like there's anything wrong. So this is just a suspicion. I have come to the final conclusion. 100% Nothing else has happened. Based on something else he says a little bit later in the show Val don't like all this extra time and Gary could see he could take it or leave it. Honestly, he doesn't really want to be there. Crunchy numbers discussing this.

Speaker 1:

Weedahol, alcohol, gasahol does not really pick an up scene like it should, you know. Abby says oh, it'll be about an hour. Gary's like well, ok, let's skip some particulars. Honey, I'll be home in no less than 30 minutes. All right, cool. So peppered in a few scenes.

Speaker 1:

Between here we learned two kind of important things Karen's role, this episode kind of informing the audience. Karen is harassing Joe. The timing is a little bit funny because the way the scenes line up, it seems like all this happens the next day, like Joe goes to tell Valene the good news and then the next day, maybe that morning, karen starts to ask him about Valene's book. But it also seems like Val ran over straight away that night and then later on that night something else happened. It's irrelevant, it doesn't really matter.

Speaker 1:

Karen is beside herself. She has been trying to squeeze this information out of Val for a long time. She knows that her brother sent off a manuscript. She knows that Val accidentally wrote something, but she doesn't know what it is. So she's been just kind of keeping quiet, letting the context clues fall into place. Finally, she can't take it. No more. Joe, stop playing. You better tell me what Valene's book is about.

Speaker 1:

Joe is enjoying being a little brother. He tells his sister. You ask her. You ask her what it's about. Joe is enjoying being a little brother, he tells his sister. You ask her. You ask her what it's about. She goes I did, but she don't want to say nothing. She doesn't want to say anything until Gary reads it.

Speaker 1:

So as she's saying things out loud, she's putting it together. So she's like okay, if Val wrote something and she wants Gary to read it, it must have to do with Gary's family and that can't be good. If she's worried about him, that means that it's none too kind about his family. Mind you, she's just saying all this out loud. Joe isn't really cosigning or anything. He's just kind of giggling in the background and pretty soon he realizes she doesn't need his help, but she keeps putting it together.

Speaker 1:

She asked about Abby. She was like well, why would Abby want to help? Joe says well, that's, I mean, that's her friend. Karen's like nah, nah, nah, if Valene wrote something and it's about Gary's family and it's not in the best light, that could cause problems between them, which is why Abby is all of a sudden gung-ho on Valene's new writing career. That's why she was so helpful. I was wondering why she was so helpful. Well, by point, joe realizes she doesn't need him. So he leaves the room and Gary's just kind of sitting there discussing amongst herself.

Speaker 1:

Should I tell Valene, how do I even approach her with this? I don't know. Interesting take. Interesting point. I'm sure this scene was thrown in so that the audience who hadn't really fully caught on me a little bit too could catch up as to Abby's motives. Also, it lets us know Val's state of mind. This is something.

Speaker 1:

This is where I think a little bit of confusion comes in for me, because I feel like this whole episode is really about she and Richard. They are the same side of the same coin, but they're also so very different. But if you break it down to its most simple, basic form, it's the same thing. Valene has discovered that she is very talented. Her struggle now is if I am talented and I am successful, what will this cost me? On the back end of that? Also, she has this sort of doubt. I've never been good at anything. How come I'm suddenly good at this? Am I good at this because I'm a good writer or am I good at this because I had intel? Is it the subject matter or is it my style? I think anyone who is creative, anyone who wants to put their self out there, you have to think about that. Like, do people like me? Do they like my perspective, or do they just like the topic I'm talking about? It's one of those situations.

Speaker 1:

Let's jump over to Richard, because he's very similar. Richard is a phenomenal lawyer, no doubt about it. He saved a company more times than a little bit. Within three seasons he's already brought in big clientele. He's been able to navigate some kind of sticky situations. Every other episode someone is asking him for legal advice. Richard knows what he's talking about. He is a good lawyer. Only this new company don't want him lawyering, they want him pimping. He happens to be good at that. I thought about this and I still can't really understand why the boss looked at Richard and said oh you know hookers, could you please facilitate the entertainment for the evening whenever we have guests fly in? I don't know why he thought that, but he wasn't wrong. Part of me thinks well, he's a lawyer. I bet any lawyer would probably be pretty good at negotiating. You probably have a certain amount of people skills. So maybe it was just a test all along and unfortunately he was so good at the thing he didn't want to be good at. Now he's sort of stuck there.

Speaker 1:

Towards the beginning of this episode, richard enters his boss's lair. It is that same gorgeous green as Sammy Jo's apartment where she got smacked up, flipped up, not rubbed down. And his boss says, hey, could you order some more girls this week? And he's basically writing out a grocery list of what kind of women he wants. Richard immediately is like no, I don't want to do that anymore. I want the Orlando case. I have some really good ideas. I think this could really put us on the map. Just let me do my thing.

Speaker 1:

And the boss is being super, super vague. It's also worth noting that he has your standard issue supervillain mustache. I wonder if there's like a sepia colored pamphlet floating around from like the late 1800s, early 1900s that says anytime there's a villain on film, he must have dark hair with a side part, it must be greasy, it must be slick, he must have thick eyebrows and he needs like a Lego snap on mustache, because that is all you see on these shows. Every villain looks exactly the same if it is a dude. So the boss is halfway listening. It's very clear.

Speaker 1:

And Richard is picking up on this. I think, coming from his old firm, the way he was burned there, he's trying his best not to get burned again. So he does what any respectable lawyer does he tries to negotiate. He said okay, cool, you like hookers, you like to party, you want to have a good time? That's fantastic. I like being a lawyer, I'd like to hear the law, but y'all ain't really letting me be that. Why don't you give me the Orlando case, I'll give you hookers, quit pro quo. And his boss is like man, I mean, I'll think about it.

Speaker 1:

Richard takes the little grocery list, goes about his day. Sadly, not only is he not where he wants to be in work, he's not where he wants to be in love. For all his good yearning of the law, he's not a good husband. He's not good at relationships and I think let me be very clear, let me rewind that a little bit, let me be a little bit more fair. It's not that he's not good at some relationships. You know friendships. You can kind of float in and out of those. I think that's where the lawyering part comes in. He's able to listen to people, be objective. He's able to give good advice. It's probably easy to do because you're not really talking about yourself, you're not correcting any of your own actions. He can't understand why Laura doesn't want him back.

Speaker 1:

Laura stops by. We learn that she has this brand new condo. Of course she does, and it's awesome because she's an awesome real estate agent. Great little condo right next to a park so Jason can go and play. She's got a babysitter to come and help her with the day-to-day Life is pretty good. But she comes back to the old neighborhood, says hey to Valene, and they're like girl, how you really doing, I'm fine, y'all don't worry about me, baby's doing fine, everything's cool. I'm only over here so that I can do the taxes with Richard. So she walks in with this beautiful like coral colored dress really cute, especially considering that she's pregnant but when she sits down to do the taxes with Richard she looks like she's pregnant in 1981.

Speaker 1:

Shout out to all of our moms who went through the 80s Prego maternity clothes have not made great leaps and bounds. I mean, maybe the last 10 years have probably gotten really good, but before that you just got to be creative and, god bless the women of the 80s, y'all didn't really have much to work with. She's wearing this sort of prairie print is what I call it. Every house I went into in the 90s, I swear, had this exact same thing. It was either a swan or it was like I guess it would be more of a goose or a bear, and this bear had on an old fashioned sort of prairie hat bonnet. I don't, I guess that's what you'd call it. She's wearing this bonnet and she usually had on some sort of apron dress and sometimes she'd have like little bears with her or little swans or geese or whatever they were. It always had this super tiny floral pattern. I promise you, I promise you, you've seen this. That's what her dress looked like and I'm like God, it's not really the pattern so much, it's just the cut. It was just not flattering. All of her maternity clothes kind of suck this episode, except for that opening dress.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, we're not here to read her for full for her clothes, we're here to talk about taxes. So as they're sitting down doing the taxes, laura is really like okay, we could probably deduct this trip because we did X, y and Z. We could probably deduct this because of this reason. All Richard is talking about is how beautiful she looked. This one time they went up and hung out on the beach all day and they made love all night. It was just wonderful, it was beautiful. To which Laura replies that would have been really nice to hear during that time. We're not talking about beach time, we're talking about taxes.

Speaker 1:

And he's like, oh, come on, it's so ridiculous that we're not together, he's not hearing her and it just kind of reminds you of the scene where she finally decided enough was enough. She didn't want to go to Europe, she didn't want to not mess around with Skeeter, but she did it for Richard, and all he could talk about is all the things he wanted to do. Now this in and of itself, is not a bad characteristic he's planning a trip that they're both going to be on, but it's clear that he doesn't see her as an individual person. He doesn't see her as someone who is not solely built for his pleasure, his comfort, his support. So when she's not in these roles, when she's in this, I'm an efficient, free-thinking woman. I've got all these things going for me and all I want to do is my taxes. I don't really want to have a conversation about what we used to be. He can't fathom how this is even possible. So Laura does what any respectable woman does who has to wear this hideous muumuu she picks up her briefcase, she stuffs it full of whatever she needs and she's like I'm out. I told you before I came over here don't start this mess. This is what you want to do. Now you're going to see ass and elbows, I'm out.

Speaker 1:

So she leaves and he is once again super lonely. That's kind of the tone here. He doesn't feel respected at work because he has to be this sort of corporate pimp. He doesn't feel anything at home because the house is quiet. His wife's not there, his son's not there and it's really, really difficult to have these nights without those extra people in the house. So he has a choice. He can either eat terrible takeout in front of the TV and watch the evening news, because everybody knows in 1981 there wasn't a whole lot on TV. Number two he can just kind of walk around the neighborhood and hope someone's out and about so that he can talk to them, spend a little time with one of the neighbors if he gets a chance. Or, number three he can visit a lady of the night, because you know what, she's always going to be a listening ear. She gets paid to work at night. Those are her office hours. It works out real well with him.

Speaker 1:

Kind of quenches, that thing that he's missing. He does just that. He goes to visit Marnie, he's missing. He does just that. He goes to visit Marnie, the adorable, lovable hooker, the heart of gold, or at least gold-plated, gold-foiled. We'll say that Marnie is also the one that OD'd that one time. The night that Laura made out with Skipper was the same night that he hooked up with this hooker. The Japanese businessman had left the suite. She OD'd for a little bit, he put her in the shower and then he went ahead and he's like I mean, I guess you're already on the clock, might as well take advantage of that.

Speaker 1:

Seems like Marnie is a regular, so he goes over and he's just sort of lamenting to her about how much his life sucks. She's like baby, I'm here for you. Tell mama all your woes, god, sometimes there's moments in life where you just wish just once you would rewind the clock, even just a couple of seconds. This usually happens to me when someone's like hey, do you know how to gift wrap? Do you know how to tie a bow? Oh sure, I know how to tie a bow. And then, right as you get to about the fourth word, you're like, oh crap, I'm going to end up volunteering to wrap 8 million Christmas presents when I don't really want to do it. It's moments like that where I'm like, god, just don't, just just play dumb, be careful, what you're good at.

Speaker 1:

Richard sort of leans into Marnie like well, I mean, sure, I guess I can tell you what's going on. She goes hold on, baby, let me go get a little more oil. She crawls over to her nightstand and pushes record on a tape deck. If you know anything about those old school tape decks or recording cassette players, I guess is what it would be called a cassette player. You have to push two buttons at the same time and it's kind of loud. But Marnie's a genius because she I guess he would think it was the sound of the lid of the oil coming off, not her pushing record. So she does squirt a little bit of oil into her hand. Kudos to her for already taking the top off.

Speaker 1:

That worked out beautifully. She covers up the tape recorder with this little doily thing, climbs on his back and starts massaging him. He's like hi, my name is Richie Pulls a full on curvy. Hi, my name is Richard Avery. I am a lawyer at blah, blah, blah and I'm a bent. I order hookers from all over the greater Los Angeles area and Martin is like oh man, you call hookers? He's like of course I do. That's why I call you all the time he starts telling everything. He's like Parkhurst and whoever my lawyering firm. Yeah, the hookers are basically in the book. It's a tax write-off. Every time someone comes into town we order more girls. They have a good time. We're kind of building a reputation on it. Again, my name is Richard. I'm Richard Avery corporate pimp, corporate chump, something to that effect.

Speaker 1:

My heart sank. My heart sank because at first I couldn't understand why she would be. Why would she do this? She's already getting paid. He's basically sending her new clientele all the time. This seems like a good deal.

Speaker 1:

Well, it turns out Miss Marnie has other aspirations. She doesn't always want to be a hooker. She doesn't want to be a call girl for the rest of her life. Marnie has hopes and dreams as large as a silver screen, and with someone with a face like hers, I gotta admit she's a cross between Elvira and Peggy Bundy. She is stunning. She could probably do well, or so she thinks. But also she starts to feel a little bit bad because Richard's kind of her pal. He's as much of a pal as a Joe could or a John could be.

Speaker 1:

So when we see Marnie again, she is talking to some gentleman, telling him yo, I don't really think we should do this expose. I don't really feel good about this. Of course he starts selling her the pipe dream and it feels a whole lot like Richard Avery's boss. Yeah sure We'll think about the Orlando, for you know that sort of thing. Yeah sure you could have that, richard, but nothing in writing. Well, this guy happens to be a television producer. He starts selling her the same thing. Oh, marnie, you can't back out now. I had big plans for you. I was going to submit your name to a firm and get you an acting gig on the TV movie of the week. She's like, really. He's like well, yeah, I mean it wouldn't be a speaking position or anything, but you could possibly talk to the guy doing the casting. Not much of a deal, but it's just tempting enough to dangle in front of her. It is a way out, even if she's not going to be an A-list celebrity right away. It is an opportunity to act. So she folds and she continues.

Speaker 1:

Richard ends up going to talk to his boss the next day. He is empowered by this. He's like yo, you need to give me the Orlando case. I haven't ordered the hookers yet. You better give me the Orlando case. His boss cannot believe that this guy has the audacity to come in here and ask him to do more urine of the law. Richard, richard, richard, I thought you'd like to listen. I really need you on this. I would hate for our clients to be disappointed. Richard says I get that, but you got to give me something in return. Do I have the deal? I'm like, I was like, I guess. So Again, not a firm yes, but just enough, dangled in front of Richard so that he takes the bait. Okay, twelve hookers coming up and I'll make sure they're extra. What did the guy ask for? He asked for them to be showy I think is a word. He wants flashier hookers than the hookers before. He wants to get caught, is what I heard. But whatever, do you do you mustachio baddie, do you?

Speaker 1:

Meanwhile, back at Val and Gary's, I breathe a sigh of relief as soon as the scene started. Gary is back to his baby blue draws. I was wondering if he was sick. Not that I was waiting, let me be clear. I wasn't waiting for him to be naked. I'm just saying he usually finds a way to show a little something. He's awfully covered up for a while Ever since he talked about having that cold. I was like God. I wonder if he's not feeling well. He seems to be feeling fine. He is back with those baby blue ho shorts and he gets in bed. Valine is looking over this contract from the publisher a lot of little twists and turns, which I'm sure richard be more than happy to help her navigate. But she says, gary, I'm definitely not going to sign any of this until you read the book. I just need need you to read it. I don't feel good about doing anything until I know that you've put eyes on it and he's like, okay, yeah, I will, I will, I will.

Speaker 1:

Gary's hella busy Not only between this new endeavor that he has. It takes up all of his free time after work and some of his time at work. If we're being honest, he is also vice president of Knott's Landing Motors, so he is quite literally working all the day long. Plus, I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. You should never judge a jock by his draws. But Gary does not strike me as a scholarly type. He doesn't even strike me as a curious type. I can't imagine he's cracking open any sort of literature outside of probably like the Sears catalog or wherever he buys his painted on clothes. I don't know. I know he ain't reading no books. That's what I know. I know if he's in the library it's because he has a meeting there. Not calling him dumb, but sometimes you can tell some things just don't interest certain people. He don't like books. I can tell you that now.

Speaker 1:

Well, until this night he can't sleep for some reason. Maybe it's the way Val said it, maybe it's insomnia, maybe it's just this sort of intuition, I don't know, but something makes him get up and go downstairs. He finds Valene's other manuscript. I guess this would be the copy that Abby had made. Remember, she's ear rocks. Everything it's in a box, so I'm assuming this is probably a copy, the copy that she made. And he sits down and he reads through the night. He reads well over 500 pages and he's sort of frozen in this state. When Val finds him the next morning she goes to give him a hug and it's the lack of reception, or maybe it's the fact that she can see what he's reading. It kind of makes her stop and she's like oh crap, okay, gary. Well, what did you think Before we go there?

Speaker 1:

I forgot a very, very important statement that was made by Karen a little earlier this episode, when Karen was putting the clues together when she was on her Carmen Sandiego tip. She said if that book was about Gary's family, it must not be all that kind to them and that would be terrible, considering his dad just died recently. Gary has not said boo about his father. Valene has not said boo about his father. Louis may have said a little something, but we'll get to her here in a minute. So in this scene I was a little surprised that Gary didn't bring that up. But I don't know how they're filming this. I really don't know how they're stretching this out. I've heard from you guys that it really doesn't matter. The story isn't tainted in any way by Jock's death and plus we know the actor really died. So I mean, I'm really happy to hear that they didn't do anything weird or creepy.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, he starts off with a compliment Valene, I tell you what, for your first time out of the gate, this is very good, amazing even. However, comma, as good as I think this is and as happy as I am for you, this book cannot see the light of day. And she's like Gary. No, come on, like, why not, val? This is clearly about my family. She's like, I know, but I made it all up, though I didn't really put true stuff. He's like everything from from our daughter to my parents. Like you, put everything in there. Anybody who knows us is gonna know it's us.

Speaker 1:

I had not realized that on Dallas, or even on Knott's Landing, even though Lily May said, oh, the Ewing's from Texas, I didn't realize they were that popular. I didn't realize they were that big. In my mind, in my elder millennial minds, it'd have to be a name like Hilton or Jackson or Obama or Trump, a big, big name that you would just know. Okay, I know this family. They're known worldwide. I couldn't name an oil family like that now. Well, maybe I could name one or two, but also a group in Texas. That's a little bit different. Can you name oil barons from around the world? I can't. It doesn't matter. Gary's saying we are popular enough, we are famous enough, we are well known enough. They're going to read this. It says a family from Texas. It doesn't take a whiz to figure this all out. So it's kind of a hard.

Speaker 1:

No, val gets upset and I'm glad to see it because it's the first time you realize maybe she knew more than she was letting on. I'm not saying she did it to be malicious. That's not fair To me when you were telling your story and there are other people in your story, you don't always have to protect their image. If something happened to you which in her case I was chased out of town, I was run off this property, I had to leave my child and anytime I went back I was threatened with death, I don't really see why I had to leave my child and anytime I went back I was threatened with death. I don't really see why she would need to protect the people who were threatening her life, despite being married to Gary. On the other hand, I can also understand that you want to keep the peace. This is a tough situation.

Speaker 1:

Do you expand on this new gift and go ahead and drop the book she and Joe had at some point? I'm mixing up scenes, but it has been said by both she and Joe. Maybe I could just use a different name. If I don't put Valene Ewing, then people aren't going to associate the Ewing with the family in Texas. If I put Vidalia, the Georgia onion queen, they might not know Gary's like. No, absolutely not. I don't want this book to see the light of day. Gary's coming from a place of. Although this is a true-ish story, it makes my family look absolutely terrible. They look like villains and idiots and a bunch of hillbillies wreaking havoc. He's also not buying the, even if you change your name. I think the only reason they want this book is because your name is Ewing and this is about a family in Texas. The scandal would be enormous. That's the only reason they want it.

Speaker 1:

Valene is defending her work the way she should. She's like every writer knows you write what you know, but most of this came from my imagination. Most of this is made up. You know, like every writer knows you write what you know, but most of this came from my imagination. Most of this is made up. You know this. I know this. Why would people assume that everything was true? That's kind of wild. Neither one of them are wrong in this instance. Neither one of them are wrong. I think a lot of Valene's thing is if I am talented and I'm good, will I ever really know if these people want me because of the scandal or do they want me because I'm a good writer? I think it's a little bit of both. If you were a crappy writer and it was about the Ewing family, I think it's very, very possible that the book still would be published. They'd just bring in a ghost writer. They'd edit it to death. It would be almost a completely different thing than the thing she created.

Speaker 1:

She just happens to be really, really good at this and he knows that she made a path of this. He's supportive, but he's also protective, damn near forbidding her from from putting this out. Those are listen, I know this. I hate that this is happening. I know how much time that this is happening. I know how much time you put into this. I know how good you are, but, babe, this just cannot see the light of day. End of story.

Speaker 1:

Valine's obviously heartbroken and she clearly tells her mother because for the rest of this episode, lily may want smoke with. Lily may want all the smoke with Gary. Gary ain't ish in her eyes. She turns into that mother-in-law matter of fact. She's so upset she goes over to Karen's house to talk ish about Gary. Karen and Joe are cooking dinner. Well, karen is cooking dinner, lily Mae is helping. Joe is butchering the most hideous salad I have literally ever seen in my life wilted lettuce, big lobs of it just draped over the side of those faux wood bowls. He is dicing this onion like it kills them. It is horrible. That is a sickest, nastiest looking lettuce ever. But karen's like lily, may you really think she would withdraw this book if gary's uncomfortable with it. Lily may like hmm, talking about it's going to hurt his family.

Speaker 1:

At the top of the show, lily Mae called his family scoundrels and scallywags and nothing has changed since then. She will add to it before she takes it away. She's like you know, as far as I'm concerned, every time I turn around, balene is accommodating him, him. What does he do for her? Nothing. When's the last time he supported her? Never, talking about put your book away. It's going to embarrass my scoundrel, scallywag family. I absolutely adore the word scallywag. Anyway, that's how Lily Mae feels Now. She really did just go over to get that off her chest. And karen's like dang, you really, really think she wouldn't publish the book? It'd be a shame. Joe's like yeah, it'd be a shame. The book is good, karen, you'll know what you're missing. So karen's like maybe I should talk to gary. Lily may say oh, no, no, no, that's between husband and wife, don't let it bother you, but just know that I think him and his family are scallywags. Matter of fact, lily Mae thinks everything bad that ever, ever happened to Balene has happened because of the Ewings, or Gary and her, but she conveniently leaves that part out. She must not be in the book. I don't think she'd have nearly this much of a braudo if that were the case. In her opinion, to hell with the whole scallywag ewing clan. Put them all out there, put them on the book and tell everybody about them.

Speaker 1:

Though karen and joe were kind of convinced after talking to lily may, because lily may is like dude. All she did was express her pain. She was, she had a cathartic experience, put it on paper and she expressed how much agony she's in which explains to Lily may might not be perfect, but if this is your daughter and you get to actually see her sort of standing up for herself in a way, you want her to do it. But Lily may is convinced she's never going to do this because it'll hurt Gary and Gary is way too important for her. But Karen and Joe were like man we really should. Maybe we could talk to him Like we'll figure out something. This is when Joe were like man we really should. Maybe we could talk to him like we'll figure out something. This is when Joe brings up. We should do it under a different name. I kind of feel like that's a good compromise. Do it under a totally different name and then later on, you know, maybe you can come. I don't know Karen's right, though. You shouldn't have, especially if this is your story but maybe a family in Connecticut or Tennessee Tennessee is a different place and people can infer that it's about the Ewings and that the names have been changed. But let them think what they want. It's a little less on the nose, but it's still the truth. You should not have to hide the truth.

Speaker 1:

A friend of mine and I are both NSYNC fans. When the whole Britney thing came out Britney's book and she's talking about Justin Timberlake in it. I am a huge Justin Timberlake fan. Feel how you feel. It is what it is my friend was so upset she's like, oh my God, I can't believe she could print that and I'm like, okay, listen, books like this do not not pass through lawyers' hands. I'm sure he knew some of this was going to come out and as much as I love him, I will stand by what I say.

Speaker 1:

If something happens to you, if you're in a relationship, you're having an experience and you choose to talk about it. No, you shouldn't sensationalize it. No, you shouldn't throw other people under the bus. But if it was traumatic to you in some way, I don't feel like you need to not talk about it just because someone else doesn't want to speak on it. You know what I'm saying. In a relationship, I think that's a totally different thing. You should not have to not tell your story. But if expelling this truth of telling your story it helps in your healing, I say go for it. I really do not believe in holding in like these deep, dark, terrible, painful secrets. It can make you sick. It can make you sick. It's your story too.

Speaker 1:

This doesn't seem to be a done deal, at least not in Valene's mind. So when Gary comes home, he plops himself on the couch. He's exhausted. He's making a big show of being tired. Val says I didn't realize you were working late tonight. I thought we were going to talk about this. And he's like oh my God, what Are we still talking about this book? Yes, yes, gary, we are still talking about this book. I already told you how I feel about that. Val Vidalia says that's one. That's how you feel.

Speaker 1:

I feel one way. Maybe I'll post it, excuse me, maybe I'll publish it, maybe I won't, but it will be our decision and not my decision. We can't make decisions. You can't make this decision by forbidding me from doing something and she throws it. I forget how she says it, but you can't make these decisions by remote control. I thought that was a funny sort of a weird turn of phrase at first, but then I thought about it. She doesn't mean, like the little handheld remote control, you change the channel, like you are making me stay in one spot with this decision. Maybe it's just the post-pandemic me understanding what it means to work remotely, that you can kind of tap in and out whenever you want, you can remote into your work and you can separate yourself from it just as easy. I kind of feel like that's what she means. You just you want to. You want to control this without actually having to be in my face and have the hard conversations. So she insists and she's doing all this while shining boots. I do not know why that gave me such delight.

Speaker 1:

Also, there was a scene where Richard goes over to Kenny and Ginger's house claiming that he was out on a walk and he heard baby two names crying. Only baby two names had been asleep for two hours. You go inside Ginger and Kenny's house and there's this picture of Kenny I've mentioned this. It is so distracting Big old Kenny face behind Richard's face. And then there's like a picture of someone holding some random baby. We're led to believe it's baby two names. But I'm like, is it really so difficult to just put anyone's pictures up? It could be cousins, it could be anyone. Put a black and white photo up for crying out loud in 1981. As long as it's a white couple, we're going to assume it's one of their parents. I really it's so why they got this man's big ass? Was there not another picture available or a vase?

Speaker 1:

Anyway, back to Vidalia and Gary. So he's like oh my gosh, you always want to argue and fuss. He goes I don't want to argue and fuss, I want to come to a conclusion, make a decision together. He's like okay, cool, so I don't want the book out. What is it going to take for you not to publish this book? That kind of pissed me off, as if he was buying her, as if she was a lady of the night. How much is it going to cost to keep you quiet? I expected her to say just as much. But she was like stop talking to Abby. Oh, stop talking to Abby.

Speaker 1:

And here is where my theory, or my thoughts, were solidified. Gary's like okay, cool, he didn't blink twice. I mean, he was being a little sarcastic. He goes what? Do you want me to find a new job too? Do you want me to never talk to her again? Move somewhere else. Don't do that. You are doing performative comparisons, that's you're exaggerating way more than you need to. That's not what she said. She's like this isn't a warranted ask because you are always working late. I understand you got a, but every single piece of your night goes to someone else. I don't think that's asking too much as your wife. And he's like OK, cool, I won't see Abby anymore. We will only work on the project during daylight hours. We will only work at it at Knott's Landing Motors. Anything after that, it's just going to have to be what it's going to have to be. If it keeps you from posting this book, so be it.

Speaker 1:

Val feels a little bit like okay, now I feel like the little wife who doesn't want you doing anything. I want you to want to do it. He's like I want to do it. I really do. I believe him. I believe him also because the violins come in after this. Mind you, she is throwing them boots on the table. Slam the boots on the table. I'm proud of her for standing up for herself, but there's something about this that I don't like. It's doesn't matter if I like it or not. Okay, it really don't matter if I like it or not. You know what? I take back everything I just said. I take back every defense I had for him.

Speaker 1:

I'm rewatching this scene because I wanted to make sure I was remembering this correctly. There is something devious about his posture on that couch. Where have I seen this before? I don't know. Watch it for yourself. He's just kind of sitting. He looks tired. He looks like a frat boy. He looks like he just came home from a very prestigious East Coast Ivy League college. He's in some sort of fraternity where they have to wear suits every now and then. He's probably on the skulls or something. He's sitting gap-legged on the couch shaking hands with Val, but it's like he even hesitated to grab her hand. He's just looking really douchey. It really actually irritates me.

Speaker 1:

So tell me, but don't tell me, guys. Does he grow out of this? Is this a Shackleford thing is he, is he in anything else I can watch? I feel like I need to see him in a film or in a play or something else where he's not Gary Ewing, because it's these sort of intestinal gas faces he makes all the time like he he's. His chin is down, he's kind of squished face looking at her. She know he lying too. I could tell by the way she's looking at him. She knows he's lying. He's just saying this in the moment and we figure this out later on.

Speaker 1:

He does tell Abby in the car hey, um, if your wife has a problem with another woman, even if you think it's ridiculous, it is your job to protect your wife, your spouse, whoever, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, whoever. It is not your job to tell the person that they have a problem with. Oh, you know, she didn't want me hanging around you anymore. You are adding fuel to the fire, sir. You are giving her ammo, abby, that is, you are giving Abby ammo.

Speaker 1:

She's like oh my God, I can't believe she's. I mean, this is ridiculous. You can't work because your wife's jealous of me. Yeah, she is, and what and what. I didn't appreciate that. Let me be fair. He may not use the words. My wife is tripping because it's you. He's like well, the business is taking up too much time.

Speaker 1:

Abby's like I think that's very petty. She's clearly jealous. We need to make these deals, however, so we're gonna do this. I just, I just can't believe you would put up with that. But you know what. You're the boss.

Speaker 1:

What she's doing is is is polarizing the right word to use? Right there, she's. She's the word. The phrase I would want to use is she's polarizing herself. That's I don't think that's proper. She's the word. The phrase I would want to use is she's polarizing herself. That's. I don't think that's proper. She is setting herself apart.

Speaker 1:

Whatever Valene does, she needs to be the opposite. If Valene is tough, she's going to be soft. If she Valene is too giddy, abby's going to be cool. She is making sure that he has a completely different experience when it comes to Abby. So Abby is more of oh my gosh, I admire you. You're the boss, you're the man.

Speaker 1:

I wouldn't go against what you said. I certainly wouldn't do that. You've got to work, gary. I wouldn't have a problem with that. Yeah, okay, kudos, she is laying this out perfectly. This is a beautiful spider's web. If I'm being perfectly honest, this is kind of impressive.

Speaker 1:

One of her tasks, though, if she's listening to her boss, gary, is that whatever meeting they were supposed to have over the weekend with this guy who's interested can't happen, or she's just going to have to go ahead ahead of him and handle it. He cannot not be home this weekend. He made a deal with his wife and this is what's going to keep her from publishing the book. He also says if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes, like it's a very small price to pay, which leads me to believe he could really take it or leave it. It really ain't about the extra time for him. It is truly about getting this business off the ground. I really, really, really, really think that's all it really is, and maybe he likes the attention a little bit, but he seems to be focused on what he's focused on. Oh, richard, richard, richard. Richard is focusing on himself.

Speaker 1:

He misses Laura and he misses Jason. So he shows up at Laura's condo unannounced. The babysitter is freaking out like Mr Avery. I'm so sorry. Mrs Avery told me not to let anyone in. I think she really wants to know if you're here. There's no cell phones in 1981. She can't call ahead. Even if Laura's still at the office, there's a pretty good chance she's going to miss her. This is about time for her to come home. Richard's like oh, don't worry, laura knows I'm coming. He brings over gifts for Jason. I mean, that's his kid, it's all fine, well and good.

Speaker 1:

Laura gets home and she's annoyed. But she does not make a scene. She says Richard, you got to start keeping your word, sir. This is not your home. I don't want you over here. If I'm not here, you need to call ahead. You cannot stop by unannounced.

Speaker 1:

He gets a little bit upset. He's in his feelings a little bit Again. He's lonely, but he's going about it. Gosh, here we go again. This is another situation where I can't outwardly say he's wrong. They're both right in this situation. This is her home. They have an agreement. I will say Laura is more right because they have an agreement that she is sticking to. Richard can't seem to stick to that agreement, so he gets huffy. But I also understand. He wants to see his kid. He's not going to bring any harm, he's not going to do anything bad, he just wants to see the kid Comes over unannounced. It's not going well. She tells him to get his tings and get out and he goes. You know you've become a real drag. He ain't heard half of it yet.

Speaker 1:

Laura is the least of your problems because Marnie is going in front of God and everybody behind a silk screen, so all we see is a silhouette. But she is going to give an expose on being a modern day hooker and her corporate clients, so she's explaining herself on TV. Richard is sitting in front of the TV because his options are to walk around the neighborhood to see if anybody's home, to sit in front of the TV and eat bad takeout or to hang out with Marnie. Marnie is busy, I guess he don't feel like walking, so he's sitting in front of the TV and eat bad takeout, or to hang out with Marnie. Marnie is busy, I guess he don't feel like walking, so he's sitting in front of the TV drinking terrible wine and eating bad takeout, watching the news. This woman behind this silhouette can't see her face. She's talking to the newscaster, telling him about what it's like to be a modern day hooker. And then all of a sudden they go to play the tape. Marnie's freaking out because she's like yo, you said that was just background, why are you playing that? And he's like, oh, I have to. I'm sorry, it's above me now. It's above me, tell me why.

Speaker 1:

The tape comes on and all of the greater Los Angeles area hears Richard Avery's voice telling about the exact parker so-and-so and so-and-so that he works for they hire hookers. Every time they have clientele he gives his name and they have the decency to beep out his name. But he says corporate, pimp, corporate chump, blase, blase. He just sort of sinks in the couch and I sank with him. My heart literally dropped. I was like oh, richard, richard, richard, why, why were you so open and vulnerable? It's easy to say it's because he was lonely, but the reality is he probably would have been cocky enough to do that. From what I've seen of Richard who's a very complex character, by the way, he's fast becoming one of my favorite people to watch on here I think I don't know.

Speaker 1:

This feels a little bit inevitable. He wasn't talking to Laura about these sort of things. According to her, they weren't really talking like that. So he had to tell someone, he had to tell something, he had to say something to somebody. He just damn, it just happened to be the night she wanted to set him up. I feel a way, I feel a way, however, not to fear.

Speaker 1:

Richard is really good at the law, so he goes to work the next day. He's already got a plan. He's got like a five page plan. His boss ain't trying to hear. If he's like okay, richard, uh, coffee or tea? Okay, let me pour this for you. As Richard's like okay, I think we can sue them on the grounds of this. We take this step. So we get this little press conference, we put this out and his boss is like oh, don't worry, we're sending out something in like 30 minutes. I'm gonna read it to you. And his boss reads this page that is going to be posted everywhere, where he tells the world that Richard Avery has left Parker so and so and so and there's going to be a full investigation.

Speaker 1:

Parker so-and-so and so-and-so does not condone this sort of behavior. He got farred, as they would say. Richard's like wait what? Yeah, dude, sorry, we need a scapegoat. You're the scapegoat. The public wants one, the partners want one. Somebody has to take the fall homeboy and it's going to be you today. He's like but I didn't. I got hookers because you asked me to Like, you sought me out. And the dude's like yo, it sucks to suck, and today you suck. You're definitely going to be that guy. I'm really sorry, richard. So at the end of the episode, richard shows up unannounced at Laura's house. Let me just say this real quick Val is over there with Ginger and they're talking about the book and she's telling them how she decided not to post it or I keep saying post, publish it because she and Gary have this deal.

Speaker 1:

Tell me why Laura's like being quiet couldn't be me, ma'am, since when? Because seasons one, two and half of three you were all the way up behind doing exactly what he told you. Whenever he told you couldn't be me, girl, you just found your spine. Please don't have a seat. Well, they don't really get to get into it any more than that. Because here comes Richard. He just comes in and he does this thing. I don't like, if you know, something is about to hit the fan and, yes, you really really need some help. I get you being like just just be with me, just hear me out, just, you know, hear me out, yeah, but don't be like. You got to be on my side. You got to be on my side. Wait, what are we getting into? I don't know what you did. I mean, let me know, let me make a sound decision. But he is kind of in shambles by the end of this.

Speaker 1:

Not only has Abby not canceled the weekend meeting, she went ahead and pushed it further. We got to do this tonight. How's he interested by her and says listen, we got it, we got to put this to bed tonight. Let me tell Gary he can't do anything on the weekend but I'll tell him about tonight. So she tells him and Gary's like oh my God, I promise Val. Abby's like listen, if you don't sign this paperwork today, we could lose the capital that we need. Gary, we got to make this happen. She just don't have to understand. This is business.

Speaker 1:

Well, gary goes home and announces that he's going out, he's got a business to attend to him and Abby are going to go take care of business period, point blank, like she's just supposed to take it. So Val's like okay, cool. As soon as he leaves, she starts rage signing those papers. She rage signed a contract. You know what? Forget you and your scallywags. I'm going to tell everybody about you and your trifling family. You can't keep your word. I can't keep my word, oh my gosh, when I tell you I cannot wait to press play on the next episode. I can't wait to see his face. Those of you who've watched this before, this could be a blip. I kind of get the feeling that this is not going to be a very big storyline for very long, but right now, right now, lord, this is good. I almost wish there was a real copy of the book I could read. I think I finally understand what has been bugging me about this.

Speaker 1:

In the case of both Val and Richard, it's almost as if they were squeezed into someone else's story. I mean, not Richard as much, but hear me out, richard showed up as this lawyer, really good at his job. That's probably why he was hired there. Yet he allowed the narrative to be spun in a different way, all by saying yes, all by being accommodating way, all by saying yes, all by being accommodating, all by following the rules playing along. He even had enough gall eventually to stand up for himself, and it still turned out for the worst for him. Valene is the same. She had this whole story her whole life and she didn't really have these talents or whatever. Gets this opportunity decides. You know what it's more important that my man feels comfortable. That's what is totally respectable. She made the accommodations, she was willing to put her dream on the back burner and it still didn't turn out in her favor.

Speaker 1:

I think the thing that bugs me is that in both situations and in real life, you can do the thing that is the noble thing. You can stand up for yourself after you feel like you've gone down the wrong path and it could still not turn out the best. It's just such a hard thing to navigate. You know what I mean. Life is not black and white. There are so many nuances in daily choices and major choices. Always possible to do the right thing and end up on the wrong way. It's always possible to course correct and still have to pay the consequences of the first mistake. I think about kids like you teach kids okay, stand up for yourself, always be yourself. But the reality is you can do those things, you can be accommodating, you can stand up for yourself and someone can still disrespect you. I think that's what it is.

Speaker 1:

It's like they both thought about what they were doing, decided that they weren't comfortable moving forward in the way that the story was already going, did what they had to do to change that and it still didn't matter, gosh, not to be dramatic, but wow, I think it hits a little differently too, like if you're working, you want to move jobs, you want to move careers. Sometimes you make decisions, you make accommodations, you get in it and then before you know it, you realize this was the absolute wrong decisions. That's the whole thing. There's no certainty. You really do have to just sort of take this leap of faith. The only thing you can control is yourself. And they both really, really tried.

Speaker 1:

Now Val's probably going to turn out all right. I'm sure the Ewing's will be pissed, but I mean what's new, and you know what I'm saying Are they going to expose themselves? They're probably going to go for her neck. Honestly, I don't think JR is going to take this sitting down. I don't see Sue Ellen taking this sitting down either.

Speaker 1:

But Richard, oh man, richard's hurt the most because it's like this guy went to law school. He studied, he did all the things. He became the lawyer and I kept asking myself why is this so painful? I think it's so painful because it's like no matter how good he is, no matter how great his ideas are, no matter how much money he's saving the company or earning the company, people can't seem to get past what they want him to be. They wanted him to be basically a glorified secretary at his first job. Now this one wants him to be a pimp. It makes no sense why a man as intelligent as him can't walk in there and do the job that he wants to do. You know how rare that is to find people who want to go to work and actually work Present, company excluded, of course, we all go to work and do our jobs right, but you know what I mean.

Speaker 1:

He wants to be better. He wants the challenge, he wants to prove himself and I don't think he necessarily wants to prove himself to other people, but it feels like he wants. He needs to have some sort of success in this arena because he's already invested so much time. He don't even have a family like that anymore. He's about to have a brand new baby who may never live in the same house as him. He left a crappy job only to have his wife, who's been a stay-at-home woman all this time, become this super realtor in LA of all places.

Speaker 1:

The world is slipping away and it's like dang you made the decision, you did the thing, you studied hard, you became the thing, and now you may never be able to do that again. Valene's like. I found my husband. I reconciled, I'm making deals, I'm trying to be as caring and supportive of him as I can be. I'll even throw away this talent if I have to, only to have it be still not quite enough. I think there's a bigger lesson. I feel like there's still something simmering under the surface, but that just hit me. That hit me right in the feels like dang. Am I on the wrong path? Have I been doing something way longer than I need to do this and many other questions we may or may not answer on the next episode of Soap Floor. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you have enjoyed yourself. Join me next time as we jump back into some vintage primetime soap opera debauchery. Stay hydrated, stay moisturized, stay the course or abandon it. Choice is yours. Mind your business and keep all of your drama on TV.