.jpg)
Soaplore
Ever wondered what you missed out on before the golden age of streaming? Welcome to Soaplore, the podcast where we dive headfirst into the wonderfully over-the-top world of vintage soap operas from the 80s and 90s. I’m Jett, a TV-loving Millennial who’s finally escaping the monotony of modern shows and embracing the drama, the shoulder pads, and the catfights of yesteryear.
Join me as I experience the soapy sagas of "Dynasty," "Dallas," "Falcon Crest," and "Knots Landing" for the first time, episode by episode. With over 200 shows, we’ll laugh, we’ll cry, and we’ll probably question our life choices—just like the characters do, but with slightly less fabulous wardrobes.
Whether you’re a Xillenial who grew up with these iconic series, a Millennial like me who missed out the first time around, or a new fan discovering the glorious chaos of primetime soaps, "Soaplore" is your time machine to the melodramatic past. Tune in, relive the magic, and let’s marvel together at how people ever survived without binge-watching.
Pour yourself a glass of something strong, because, trust me, you’ll need it. This isn’t just nostalgia; this is Soaplore—where every episode is a rollercoaster of emotions, and nothing is ever as it seems.
Soaplore
S3 Ep19 Knots Landing :NIGHT- The "Off the Rails, Richard in Retrograde" Episode
The placid suburban streets of Knots Landing erupt into chaos when Richard Avery's mental health spirals out of control in one of the most gripping episodes of the series. What begins as a seemingly innocent dinner between Richard and Abby quickly reveals the depth of his deterioration when he misinterprets her intentions and becomes aggressive, earning himself a stinging slap across the face. Desperate to reclaim his former life, Richard orchestrates a scenario to bring his estranged wife Laura and their son Jason to his home. Using an elaborate train set as both bait and cover, he creates a disturbing hostage situation when he refuses to let them leave. The psychological tension builds masterfully as we witness Richard's transformation from a hurt, lonely man into someone genuinely dangerous. His sudden brandishing of a gun when neighbor Gary attempts to intervene pushes this domestic drama into terrifying territory. The episode brilliantly showcases the community dynamics of the cul-de-sac as neighbors react to the crisis. Karen's determination to reach Richard through their friendship provides the emotional anchor, while police negotiate from outside. The contrast between Richard's unraveling mental state and the pristine suburban setting creates a dissonance that heightens every moment. When he finally allows Laura to leave but turns the unloaded gun on himself, we see the true nature of his breakdown – not a desire to hurt others but a dramatic externalization of his internal pain. "Night" stands as a testament to what made Knots Landing different from other primetime soaps of its era – its willingness to explore the darker undercurrents of suburban life with nuance and psychological depth. By the episode's end, as Richard's belongings are packed away and he begins treatment in a psychiatric facility, viewers are left wondering about the fate of this complex character and the community forever changed by this night of reckoning. Subscribe to Soap Lore for more deep dives into these golden age primetime classics that still resonate with surprising relevance today.
because I'm a big, strong man and if that little mofo steps to me I'm gonna go ahead and squash him like a bug. I know I can take it. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome and welcome back to soap floor, the official gathering place for newbies, novices and og diehard fans of the golden age of primetime. I'm your host, jed. I'm viewing and reviewing the Sophia Sudsia's primetime storylines of 1981. So, whether you're new to this or true to this, sit back and enjoy. Tell the kids it's time to play outside or out of sight. Tell them there's no questions, suggestions or concerns for the next 25 to 35 minutes. Everyone else in Ayrshire, you need to be cool, quiet or kicked out because we are watching our stories. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Soap Lore. Hello, gorgeous, welcome and welcome back to another fun-filled edition of Soap Lore. I hope you are having the most fantastic day ever. I hope I am too, because, if I calculated this just right, this is on or right before my birthday. I have something very special planned for you guys too.
Speaker 1:Stay tuned for a very fun bonus episode. I need you to listen. Let that be your gift to me. Listen to the next episode. I promise you. You're either going to subscribe or you're going to unsubscribe. One way or the other. Either way we're going to have a good time regardless. But today we're going to have a serious time. Today I was completely blindsided. So go ahead and pour yourself up. Pour yourself of something bubbly and bright, maybe something a little stronger than usual, as we jump into season four lies? Not at all. What am I doing? This is Nance Landing. So we're on the West Coast. Baby, they really are doing the absolute most. I am very concerned with the property value in this neighborhood at this point Because after this little stunt pull tonight, I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1:Season 3, episode 19 of Knott's Landing Night. The freaks come out at night. The freaks come out at night. The freaks also stay home at night. Sometimes regular people become freaks in the middle of the day. I don't think this is a situation of any sort of freak-dom. I think this is a perfect storm and this is a recipe for Gosh. I don't even know. I gotta tell you what Nods Landing.
Speaker 1:I have waxed poetic about this show time and time again. I don't see that stopping anytime soon, but I've noticed probably the last three or four, maybe a little more episodes. It's getting harder and harder to come to a definite conclusion, which I love because that is real life. There's so much nuance to everything and this situation feels like the clues should have been there but nobody was really paying attention. Or you know what? Let's just get into it.
Speaker 1:When last we left, our good friend Richard and our girl Vidalia the Onion Queen, when last we left, our good friend Richard and our girl Vidalia the Onion Queen was going through it, richard standing up for himself saying hey, I'm not trying to book hookers, I'm trying to win court cases. I want to do my job, which is a noble endeavor, should always be celebrated. Unfortunately, that ended up in disaster. Richard was fired and basically had his business put all out in the street. This is the part of that last episode that kind of irritated me. I thought about it later.
Speaker 1:So the expose happens Marnie is behind a silkscreen. We don't know who she is. We don't really know who the person the Joe or the John or whatever they call him, who that is, while it's on the news, it's just put out in the greater Los Angeles area, unless it was picked up nationally. Nobody knows who these people are. When his firm, who was identified on the tape, who was identified on television, put out their message. They named Richard specifically. I really wish he had a little bit more anonymity.
Speaker 1:Valene, on the other hand, discovered that she might be the next Daniel Steele, the next Stephen King, the next RL Stine. I don't know. I'm sure that novel's somewhat of a horror. She might be that girl in the literary world, only the subject matter is so scandalous, so intense, that her husband says listen, baby, make sure that never seems the light of day and I'll do anything your precious little onion, loving heart desires. She's like cool, stop spending so much time with that lady who don't mind if a husband has a wife or not. Could you not hang out with the girl we know sleeps around? Could you not do that please? He's like sure, only to 14 and a half seconds later be like no, no, no, we got business to do and it's at night. She's like okay, bet, guess what, I'm signing this book deal. Now I'm going to celebrate.
Speaker 1:I didn't really expect this episode to be about that, but I definitely. There's no realm of my imagination that I think this episode was about what it is about. Imagination, did I think this episode was about what it is about. So let's start from the top. So at the top of the show we see it's night and Richard is pulling into the driveway, I guess, of his house. We all know he's lonely. He hates night, even at this. Okay. So even with these clues, I didn't really know this episode was going to be about Richard. But he's in the car. He's in the car with Abby. Apparently they've gone out to dinner. I don't think that's unusual, since they're neighbors, they're single. But she makes a comment from the car. We can't actually see inside the car, we just hear their voices. We see the car pull into one place. She goes oh, and this is the wrong house. He reverses and pulls into another. I don't think Abby has a driveway, though we'll get to that at the end of the episode.
Speaker 1:So they go into Abby's house and it's very clear she's kind of tired, but she's not necessarily tired of him, she's just exhausted, thinking okay, we went out to eat, let's go on and get this over with. But he's like oh, can I have a drink? Give me a drink and I promise I'll leave. Okay, dance with me and I promise I'll leave. Well, as they Dance with me and I promise I'll leave. Well, as they start dancing, she keeps saying Richard, I'm really tired, let's just wrap this up.
Speaker 1:He starts to try to neck her. She's like yo, what are you doing? He's like what do you think I'm doing? What do you think this is all about? She says I thought we had dinner. That's what I thought this was about.
Speaker 1:He's like you think I spent a hundred plus bucks for dinner. I kind of laughed when he said that, because I'm like obviously everybody knows if Abby goes to a restaurant she's going to eat. She's not ashamed, she eats like a 300 pound woman, despite being a little wisp of a thing. But he thought he spent all this money for a good time and she was like well, if you want a good time, why don't you call them hookers? I don't even think that's a low blow. Normally I would say that is, but it's not. It's A accurate and not a bad idea. If that's what he was looking for, he gets mad like I can't believe you think I'd spend this much money on you Also accurate, on you, also accurate. So maybe the pot calling the kettle black got their feelings hurt, but I'm team abby on this homie. I thought we was having dinner. I didn't know this was, I'd eat different people all the time.
Speaker 1:When he starts getting aggressive and when I tell you abby cunningham comes from the slap a hoe tribe like crystal and them. I don't know where abby's from. She might be from the bay area, from what I heard I know. Judgment, california. I'm not slap a whole tribe like Crystal and them. I don't know where Abby's from. She might be from the Bay Area, from what I heard I know. Judgment, california. I'm not. I watched a lot of Boys in the Hood and stuff like that back in the day. But anybody can be from anywhere. Abby seems like wherever she's from. She learned to slap real good, I mean she's from. She learned to slap real good. I mean ain't no way. That was a stage slap. She slapped every taste bud, every molecule of moisture out of Richard's mouth and he deserved every piece of that palm and all five fingers that connected with his face. She did what she had to do and as he throws her back down you could tell she was genuinely freaked out like okay, I bet rich was really embarrassed.
Speaker 1:Honestly, he storms out of her house, walks to 50 or so feet to his own front door. House is dark and the house is a mess. The house looks like someone who has kind of given up a little bit. It's quite messy for him to be the only person and like all the mess is concentrated downstairs, he must be thinking the same thing. He don't seem like he likes it. He he starts to pour himself a drink. I thought he turned on his laptop and then I remember what year it was. Suddenly the tv is much, much closer. I don't know if he got like a smaller tv or what, but he starts to sort of settle in for yet another night doing things that he already hates doing, and he just kind of looks at himself like what am I doing with myself? Let me get my life together. He decides he's going to clean up the house on a whim. It ain't like he got to get up and go to work tomorrow. It ain't like he has a warm body waiting for him in bed, so he might as well spend the night being productive. Let me go and get myself together. He works through the night and gets his house spick and span clean.
Speaker 1:Side note, I feel like, even though I'm watching this 40 plus years later, I feel like the producers are listening to me because Richard goes into his wallet and he starts looking at pictures. There's a picture of Jason, who is absolutely the cutest freaking child. I don't know who he is. I hope that kid grew up, has a wonderful, happy life and I hope he has 10 kids that look just like him, just precious, adorable little boy. But there's a picture of Jason. There's a picture of Richard and Jason. There's a closeup of, I think, laura. That kind of don't look like her to me, but I guess it could be. But that's my point. Richard may or may not have been taking a real picture with Jason. That could just be a little dark headed boy that he has a picture with, but it looks natural. So maybe on TV. If it's a wallet size photo it's easier to do, but for some reason when it's a big photo all they can do is find headshots. It makes it really unnatural, doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:Speaking of unnatural, next morning house is all cleaned up or whatever. Richard's in his car. It looks like he got to keep the coupe that he gave Laura for Christmas. She kept Scooter's car because it's the Benz and I mean she is a real estate agent. She needs the image. But Kenny and Ginger are headed to San Francisco. I forgot Ginger was still singing. She's got a singing gig.
Speaker 1:Tell me why she walks out of the house with baby two names. Kenny is going on and on about. Is this turned off? Is this turned on? I'm not buying him as Danny Tanner, I'm just not buying it. But he's going on about that. Ginger gets into the front seat with baby two names and I can see the car seat in the back seat. I just it just blows my mind. It blows my mind. You could ride all the way to san francisco holding a baby in the front seat. That is wild. That's neither here nor there. Kenny and jenner will be gone for the rest of this episode. We won't see them until the closing credits.
Speaker 1:Richard goes to to Jason's karate class. You don't really notice it at first, but eventually you start to hear who this woman is clearly not the sensei. I don't know what she's doing. She looks like she's about to go solve a mystery in Britain, or she's about to go talk to her homegirl, angela Lansbury. They're going to write up some murder, but she seems to be the class mother or whatever. Her kids are getting on her nerves. Her kids are arguing in the background, so maybe she's a parent waiting for her kids class, because there's already kids in class doing their thing and we sort of see Jason and this woman and Richard in the background having a conversation. The woman says oh, this is Mrs Avery's day. I didn't know you were coming. I'm only supposed to release Jason to her. Richard's like well, I mean, she must've forgot to tell you. I guess she got her wires crossed. I'm here to get him. Do you want to call her? I'll wait.
Speaker 1:The first time I saw this I didn't really think too much of it. I'm like okay, maybe there's a mix up on days or maybe he's not respecting a boundary. Surprise, surprise, surprise, I clocked the sweater and I'm like I didn't. Again, I didn't think anything of it. I will have an opinion on it here in a minute. But as I'm watching his body language to her, he seems perfectly natural, perfectly normal. Although he seems perfectly natural and perfectly normal, I just kept staring like what is something about?
Speaker 1:The way he looks is reminding me of something and I thought, as I stammer through this, I rewound it now to look at it again and I know exactly what it is, because it really shows up later on. He has a frame of somebody who might be able to fight. Hear me out. He's wearing this sort of maybe light kind of gray, creamish, brown, creamish, I don't know a light colored sweater which kind of reminds me of a sweater from Scream. Maybe that was the body language I was picking up on, but I noticed you might think that he's slouching, like his back seems to be bowed over, but it's that same stance people take when they start to flex and I even noticed later on I'm like dang Richard kind of has pecs Like Richard might be built like Bruce Lee under all that. That's what I'm saying. Picture Bruce Lee in a sweater. You're going to start. You'll see the kind of the back muscles. I guess that's what that is as I look at it again. But I was like he looks different but maybe stronger, even though his body language is bowed over like he should be in a I don't know. Watch it and you'll see what I mean. You'll look at him and be like, okay, yeah, he kind of has a frame of someone who might be a little stronger and as the show progresses I noticed it really big time. I noticed his chest in the kitchen in a scene or two from here.
Speaker 1:Anyway, he takes Jason from karate class. The woman who's supposed to be watching him is just so distracted because her kids are acting up that she's like, okay, we'll just take him Fine. So when we see Richard at his house, he's cleaned up everything. He has an amazing layout. I love it, but he's cleared all the furniture out of the way because he bought the world's most giant train set. Jason is elated. Is this for me? Yes for you, it's for us.
Speaker 1:So he gets on the floor, he turns on the train. The train is quite loud, but the phone rings and of course it's Laura. Laura is big pissed because, again, this is 1982. No cell phones. Murder. She wrote, didn't get up and use the karate studio's phone to reach her at work. And even if she tried, it is very possible that Laura would have been on her way.
Speaker 1:I am team Laura in this scene because I would be so pissed if I drove all the way across town to go pick up my son only to find out his dad snuck in. Didn't I tell you not to show up unannounced? Didn't we have an agreement? Didn't we have a schedule? This is exactly what I'm talking about, richard. She's furious over the phone, but rich was like well, just come over. Just come over, I got some paperwork I want you to look at. He says look at, not sign. She here sign, probably thinking this is going to put the final nail in the coffin. Absolutely, I'll drive over there, pick up my baby, sign this and gone about my day. Only it's just not that. So when she comes over, richard has smooth talked her into sailing, sailing into staying.
Speaker 1:By way of delicious treats, this man makes a home cooked meal, he lays out this beautiful quiche. He's got a bucket of champagne in the middle of the table. Again, baby two names is riding around the California coast loose leaf, not in her car seat, and Richard and his pregnant soon to be ex wife are enjoying glasses of champagne. Because, you know, babies are not important Millennials. I know this is hard to look at, but no one cared. Maybe that's why we act up the way we do now. We act up the way we do now. Do y'all remember college power hours? Let's move on. Anyway.
Speaker 1:Richard talks about how much he loves cooking. I don't think he cooked a lot when he was there, when she was there. I remember Lorde making lamb and all that kind of stuff, but he goes to the oven, I think a la Carrie Bradshaw pulls out a huge box and he has this gorgeous fur coat inside. Lord, do you like it? Now, all of a sudden, this quiche tastes a little weird. The champagne seems a little flat.
Speaker 1:Richard, why don't I have a gift? He's like I want you to baby. Come on, please, please, please. I'm ready to do things your way. We can have our relationship completely on your terms and she goes cool, my terms are non-existent. It's a full factory reset. I don't know you, you don't know me. We have a kid together, we have two kids together, but we don't live together. I hate coming over here, because when I'm here, I just I mean, all we do is fight Richard. I don't want to do this. Please let it be. He doesn't. He's not accepting this, he's getting pissed off. Okay, I've ran that scene back At this point in the show.
Speaker 1:You still think everything's cool. They're just having an argument. Laura is able to keep her cool, but it's. You can feel her frustration because even this season, how many times have we had this conversation? How many times have we done this? He just can't let it go, and I think it's the fact that she's pregnant. I really do wonder if this conversation will be totally, totally different if there weren't a baby.
Speaker 1:Okay, so she getting tired of all this jaw jacking. She's pregnant, she's tired, she's had a long day. She had to drive an extra six miles out of her way. She ain't fooling with Richard, no more, so gets up in that. You know, cool Laura face, so I'm gonna go home. He's like you're not leaving.
Speaker 1:She goes to to walk around him because, again, who, who ain't leaving? I'm leaving. No, no, no. He blocks her and then he starts arching his eyebrow and I'm like, oh, okay, okay, still not really thinking too much of it. He's just, he's just upset.
Speaker 1:I also sort of clocked his frame at this point I guess that was probably what really did it for me, because he was blocking her way and I'm like, okay, yes, she's pregnant, she has a couple inches on him and now she's got a little bit of baby weight. Yes, I'm not condoning pregnant women bulldozing people over, however, oh yeah, and pregnant women don't have really great balance, that's true. Something about carrying a baby throws off your equilibrium. You run into things all the time. It is very strange, but I thought she looks like if she needed to, she could take him If she absolutely needed to. That's what I thought before, but as I'm watching him in this, it's more of a tan. It's a very, very light tan sweater. I'm like, oh, he's a little, he's stronger than I thought he was physically. I wonder if the sweater was a specific choice.
Speaker 1:So while this is going on, over at Karen's house, karen's got the family and Lily Mae over and they are doing something I've never seen done. I absolutely will incorporate this into family time, fun time, hanging out with friends time. This is so cool to me. Not all of my friends are bookish. I think my family will kind of be into it, but they're all sitting around reading either from a play, from playbooks or from a poetry book. It feels more like a play To me. Everybody has an assigned character or two and they're reading them in different voices and they're having a good old time.
Speaker 1:Lily Mae is playing with Michael's toes and this little piggy went to market. This little piggy went home. Don't call me an uncultured swine, but I had no idea that that was a real poem. I thought it was just something you said to chubby little babies Do you have an excuse to play with their cute little feet? But apparently it's part of a real play.
Speaker 1:Michael, I have an eighth Like my God. Can I please do anything else? Can I go? Karen's like cool, you can go upstairs, but you bet not turn on your TV. Turn on your TV, tell me you're wealthy without telling me you're wealthy.
Speaker 1:Kids in 1982, did you have TVs in your room? Most of the kids I knew in the 90s did not have a TV in their room until later, like right around 2000-ish. Okay, I'm lying. I definitely had a TV, I think I inherited. So my sister graduated, I think, 95 and I inherited her. No, we built another like part of the house on. So my parents got this really wonderful master suite and my brother and I got our own room. So, yes, late nineties, I got a television, you telling me in 1982, but I was not. Everybody had one In 1982, they had their own TV. And what was he going to watch upstairs? Seriously, either way.
Speaker 1:He sits back down. He wants to read, but suddenly you can hear voices. They hear yelling and he's like well, somebody's yelling across the street. He's smart because he knows his mama is nosy. This ish is not going down in Karen's neighborhood mark because he knows his mama is nosy. This ish is not going down in Karen's neighborhood. So Karen goes walking outside, joe follows her to protect his sister and right as she's coming outside it looks like Val and Gary are coming back from somewhere. So they pull up and I guess they can. They see her face, they see how urgently she's running out of the house heading over to Richard and Laura's, and so Gary jumps out too, val jumps out and Karen's like they're screaming in there, we need to go in there and interrupt. Joe's like no, mind your businesses. Gary agrees with him, val agrees with Karen no, no, no, if Laura's over there, they need to go in the house. And Karen's like, yeah, and Jason's there, they don't need to be yelling in front of Jason.
Speaker 1:This is one of those situations where it's like everybody has their own rules and regulations in their house. Sometimes things get heated. Yes, you should not, are you in front of children? Sometimes things get out of hand. But it must've been an unusual occurrence, despite their previous relationship, despite Laura and Richard being there all this time before. This must be very unusual, because her heckles, karen's are completely up. She is thoroughly freaked out and a little bit later on there's more of a revelation.
Speaker 1:But the first thing I thought was like this isn't a man. Is this a man versus woman thing? Like men are like hey, just let them work it out. Men can punch each other in the face at breakfast and be cool by lunch. That will never happen with women. It's not happening. Not that we aren't involved, but it's like a fight is so much bigger. It means something where there's something we need to heal there. But I think the reality is like you don't know for certain, please don't go bursting in there, cause you could maybe blow this out of proportion.
Speaker 1:Karen ain't trying to hear none of that. She is dressed like what's's her name? Daphne from Scooby-Doo. She's got on the the burgundy colorway whatever. I'm going up here. She's matching. She's monochrome, her hair is flipped. She's hauling ass up that uh driveway up the sidewalk.
Speaker 1:Well, inside, karen's instincts are right. It is getting ugly. Mind you, jason is still playing with the train, so it's super, super loud, loud enough to just muffle the voices. Think about that, though. They could hear the argument from Karen's house, but as she gets to the door you can still hear it, but she hears the train as well, so I guess it's more concentrated volume there. And Laura and Richard had moved from the kitchen to the living room so it was probably easier to hear in the kitchen.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I got to make it make sense. You know I am. She knocks on the door and Laura says Karen, she definitely yells out. So Karen's like oh no, hell, no, richard grabs this woman by her mouth and covers it. Sorry, I almost covered my mouth. I just realized that Richard grabs Laura, covers her mouth and he says Laura in a very calm voice Laura, if you keep making noise I'm going to have to hurt you.
Speaker 1:Karen's at the door. I'm painting the picture for you. On just on the other side of that door is Richard. There is Laura with her mouth clamped and there is Jason playing on the floor with the train. Karen says Richard, can I come in? I'd rather you not. I thought I heard Laura. Yeah, she's here. She just went upstairs. What are you guys doing? We're arguing, do you mind? Basically tells her to scram, just go away. It's not happening. Yeah, she's here. She just went upstairs. What are you guys doing? We're arguing, do you mind? Basically tells her to scram, just go away. It's not happening, go away. And she's like Richard. I really wish you would just let me come in, let me talk to you. Not happening, karen, we'll talk tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Karen and Richard are friends at this point. You know they've been hanging out quite a bit ever since Sid died, so I'm not really sure what she was thinking right at first. I don't know if she knew something was up for real, for real and maybe she's the only one who did, because she's the only person who has been talking to him frequently. This is a thing I didn't really pick up on and this is why I love this show. Because there are several couples. We get to see their lives as couples. We also get to see them individually sometimes, and because this is a regular neighborhood, the reality is, yeah, you're not going to always know what's going on with everybody all the time. There's going to be certain seasons where you're probably a little more in tune with one neighbor or one friend more than the other. But I hadn't really noticed that since Sid died. The guys don't really get together like that.
Speaker 1:I thought things were cool. Kenny and Richard are definitely cool enough. You know they order hookers together. They were perfect. Ginger and Kenny were perfectly fine.
Speaker 1:With Richard coming over, they invited him over for dinner. Come and sit down, but him and Gary don't like each other. They tolerate each other. Karen is his friend. Val doesn't really seem to deal with him and that could be Val being respectful of Gary, knowing that's not his friend like that, so she don't really interact with him like that.
Speaker 1:I don't know, cutie pie, jason does look kind of terrified. But also, what do you do? You're a little kid, you can't break up a fight and also it's a worst position to ever be in, to be a child in that situation, because, no matter what you do, you're going to hurt one parent and that's exactly what you don't want to do. Richard has not thought this through, but he is serious enough to be like you are not leaving this place until we resolve this law. We got to talk all night and all day, which is where the title comes from night. That's what it's going to have to be. When he goes to lock the door, you can you see his frame again. Yes, he's slight, yes, he's kind of unassuming, but look at that back, look at his chest. He could do something. He doesn't have a crappy posture back. He has a. I might lift a weight or two at one point in my life. I'm probably a little athletic underneath clothes. I'm not checking out Richard, I'm just saying he is definitely giving Stu from Scream vibes.
Speaker 1:Now Laura has a choice to make. Richard tells Jason to go upstairs. He wants to talk to him. We're going to chatter, chatter, chit, chit. Let me explain this to you. He tells Jason mommy and I just need to talk. We're going to get our family back together and the baby's like but she don't want a family with you, like that dad. He's like I know, but if we talk we can work it out. Promise me, you'll stay in your room all night. The baby says, yes, he'll stay in his room all night. I hope he has an en suite because, like what if he has to pee? He's a little kid. He didn't bring any snacks or anything upstairs and he also has a TV in his room. So maybe California, a little more standard, I guess on TV it's more standard anyway.
Speaker 1:Laura then can't leave. Think about that. She can't run out of the house because the baby's there. She must not be afraid that he'll really hurt her, but it is very uncomfortable. He does not seem like he's doing well when he talks to her. So she goes downstairs. She starts cleaning the dishes.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile Karen goes to Val and Gary's house and she starts calling. The phone is ringing and ringing, and ringing, ringing. Then she'll hang up. So Lily Mae's there, val's there, you know she's French, she's making coffee and snacks and do whatever in the background. But Gary at this point is like wait, I don't like that. So you sure Laura's there. She's like yeah, laura's there. I swear I heard her voice. Then he says she went upstairs.
Speaker 1:Gary doesn't like that. Something about that is just not sitting well with him. So he's like okay, I'm just going to go over there because I'm a big, strong man and if that little mofo steps to me I'm going to go ahead and squash him like a bug. I know I can take him if it comes to that. So Gary is very smart. He goes around and back, he goes through the backyard and he gets over to the. He can see Laura through the window. She like the phone is incessantly ringing. It is so annoying. I'm so grateful that we can silence our phones. Now she finally picks up and she tells Karen everything's fine, everything's fine she's. Her voice doesn't sound like everything's fine, but she's trying. I'm okay, girl, don't worry about me. Well, she hangs up the phone but Richard is upstairs. Richard had picked up the phone and say yeah, she's fine, don't worry about it, everything's cool, just let it be.
Speaker 1:Laura hangs up first and then Karen's like well, richard, are you still there? He suddenly drops the phone. Now you see him in his room. See him in his room. He's rubbing his neck like he's got a lot of tension. He goes into the bathroom and he takes two pills I'm assuming they're aspirin. He didn't have any sort of manic episode later, or this could all be a manic episode, I don't really know.
Speaker 1:Well, by this point gary has made it to the sliding glass door. As soon as laura sees, he opens and she just starts crying in his arm. She's hugging him like oh my god, gary, he's going crazy. He got trained. He's blowing money like he's not buying hookers and stuff anymore. He won't let me leave, gary. Gary, he said I can't leave the house. He said me and Jason can't leave. We're scared, help us. He grabbed me and Karen tried to call. So Gary's hearing this and he's getting progressive. He's like what the he did, what he said, what who can't leave? Yo, richard. I love this.
Speaker 1:I love this scene because I think Gary has been secretly wanting to put a North Texas ass whooping on Richard for quite a little bit. He's like I've grown, I'm going to be a good man. So he goes around and he's like yo, richard, he's at the bottom of the stairs, just come down, let's talk to me, please, please, talk to me. Laura said you won't let her leave. She wants to go home. So Richard comes down the stairs and he okay. So maybe he's not Bruce Lee, but he is more built than she would think. I guarantee you he is.
Speaker 1:He's got his hands behind his back and as Gary tries to proceed, he's seen up the stairs. After he threatens to listen, I will open a can of whoop ass on you. He starts to walk up the stairs. After he threatens to listen, I will open a can of hoolfass on you. He starts to walk up the stairs and richard pulls out the blicky. Richard's got a pistola and he's got that same exact look on his face, the same look that when laura was in the kitchen and she wanted to leave. It's this sort of very resolved. I'm calm, I'm a little disturbed and I mean when I say, gary, I will pump you full of lead if you interrupt us. I'm paraphrasing. But just know, richard is looking at that door like I wish you would, laura, you and your prayer dress, get over there and lock that door so all the women folk are outside. Gary's like y'all not gonna believe.
Speaker 1:This month this mother lover pulled a gun on me. A gun, everybody's A gun, everybody's like in California. Now this was Dallas. Yeah, he definitely. He would have pulled a shotgun on you 1982, 100%. So by this point Joe has come out the house and he's like wait, what gary's like? Yo, this fool pulled a gun on me. I was like you got a gun that don't even sound like him. So karen was like no, no, let me go over there, let me talk to him. Joseph, are you nuts? Did you not hear the gun part? You're not going over there? Well, they insist on calling the police. I was like let's just, let's call the cops. Joe agrees, they do just that. And, ladies and gentlemen, night has finally befalled upon us.
Speaker 1:If my calculations are correct, in season one on the United we Stand or United we Fall, aka the Dirtbags on Dirtbikes episode, I do believe the police was called for this little coldest thing. Refresh my memory there was a B&E when. God bless America. These people love slapping up children and pregnant kids, pregnant women on this show. So the dirtbags on dirt bikes beat up Sid and Karen's youngest boy. On season two with the B&E they kidnapped everybody at Ginger's baby showers. We had a good pregnant woman. There was also a slap there. Laura slapped Abby because she was boning Richard, you know what I'm saying. So now I got to worry about on Mott's Landing.
Speaker 1:When you get a slap across the face or a child gets hit in the head, I'm going to expect the cops to flood their cul-de-sac again. At what point does a property value drop, laura? Could you answer that? At what point? We've had the SWAT team twice in two seasons on this cul-de-sac in behind the two of y'all. If I was the rest of the neighbors, there's got to be at least two on the street we might have a little meeting. I know Karen is the neighborhood watch leader, but listen, you and your friends are kind of a problem.
Speaker 1:Seems like every time the Avery's show up or involved in something, there seems to be sort of you know, police presence in a way that we don't really enjoy. This is a cul-de-sac, so you can imagine if it's filled with coppers nobody can get to their house. It's quite annoying, anyway, it's stressful. But we get to meet a woman cop named Sanchez. She's there there, and then they have a negotiator come throughout the rest of this episode, despite there being a police presence, despite there being a threat outside the house. It's not that Richard is not aware of it, he just doesn't care. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, so intense and the worst part is he's so focused on Laura that he's not able to really think clearly about anything else.
Speaker 1:It is Laura, laura, laura, you were the missing piece. Why don't you want to come back to Laura, please? We just have to talk to this. I'm asking you what do you want me to do? For three months? I'll be exactly the man you want me to be. I'll do whatever you need me to be.
Speaker 1:They're back at Karen's. So meanwhile, at Karen's, I thought I'm like how the heck did Abby get there? She was there reading the poetry, so she was staying with the kids. She never actually went outside. They ran to Val's house and then everybody met back at Karen's and now they kind of got to stick around there because the cops are there. The cops told Karen to find a place for her kids. But now I'm wondering where are Abby's kids? I thought their daddy is the restraining order just against Abby, or is it the kids too? That doesn't seem like a good idea, is it? He can't possibly be getting visitations after he kidnapped them, and that's another thing. Kidnap, kidnap two whole children no SWAT. Okay, so the negotiator gets on the phone. He's trying to call, but he's also calling someone who was a professional negotiator, despite being unceremoniously dumped for doing the work he was asked to do. I hope he pursues that lawsuit.
Speaker 1:Richard ignores the first few calls and throughout the episode there's just a lot of phone ringing. So if you can block that part out and watch this, wow, he's so intense, but he's also this is what I'm saying, not slamming, what the hell? What are you doing? To me, this is they understand nuance, so okay. So you see Richard and you see these little glimpses of him being broken Like honey. Please, I miss you, can we just do this? But then you see, I am fully off my rocker because he's just sort of flipping the gun back and forth in his hands. He's sweating, he's not well. It's almost as if you think a loud noise could set him off. A loud noise could end Laura, and I think if he did something to Laura he'd do something himself. That's just my thoughts as I'm watching this, like, oh my God, is this necessary? There's also the thought like, do we need all the cops? I say yes, but it's not really helping anything. At this point it's really not. Karen asked to be on the phone to talk to him and that's not really helping anything. At this point it's really not. Karen asked to be on the phone to talk to him and that's not really happening. So okay, let's just kind of wrap this up Ten's environment. It is very much giving no country for old men. Javier Bardero I've said this many times before he is the scariest part of that movie.
Speaker 1:Not because he's a killer, it's because he's so resolved, he's so trained on the job at hand. He doesn't really show any emotions one way or another. He is going to kill you because it is on his to-do list. It feels like that is on Richard's to-do list. Not necessarily kill you, but, laura, you literally are not leaving this house until you say yes, I don't care if a hundred people are outside waiting to blow me away. You're going to say yes to this. So Laura flips. You know. She's like okay, let me play along with this. He offers her some wine. He offers a pregnant lady yet another glass of wine to chase the champagne. She's like cool, yeah, oh, is this that wine we got at that one place. She starts to initiate the conversation and you see him start to melt a little. We start to see less no country for old men and more Richard.
Speaker 1:I think that movie was also set in 1982 or 1980, I can't remember. I'll have to go back and look. This is working, working. So on the other side of all this, you have Karen advocating with every fiber of her being for Richard. She is begging the cops to let her call. They're like no, ma'am, we have this professional. She's like professional is not his friend, he's too smart for that. He's not going to believe you anyway.
Speaker 1:Well, in all the commotion, someone on the police force has decided to pull up the blueprints for the house. They decide that you know only so many rooms could be the kids room and they decide they're going to get used an aluminum ladder, which is the most terrifying part of this whole episode. Honestly, god, I hate those things. And they climb up and they, they extract jason. He is very brave. He climbs down the daggone aluminum ladder with a person he doesn't know and they extract Jason. He is very brave. He climbs down the daggone aluminum ladder with a person he doesn't know and they take him over to Val's, which is the very best place for him. She's going to make him some hot chocolate.
Speaker 1:She's going to do X, y and Z, but she sort of gets on to Gary for not being more supportive of Richard. She's like remember when you were acting a teetotal fool? You were dribbling drunk for three weeks all up and down Knott's Landing Coast. You know how embarrassed I was. Do you remember that? Do you remember that Richard was a person who came to get you? And Gary's like don't come. I mean, did he save me? No, did he show up and threatened to sue me? Yes, val thing is like you went over there for laura, you didn't even go over there for him. They don't like each other. And gary says as much richard don't even like me, like that. She's like well, when you was a drunk, skunk all up and down knots landing avenue, drinking backwash, booze fist, fighting people over two dollar bottles of wine, who helped you? Did he help you or did he come help me. He went to help help you. He's like I mean, damn, you want me to get shot. What you want me to do, I'm sorry. What do you?
Speaker 1:This is a little bit of revisionist history. I understand the point being made here. The point being made is that it's not just Laura's life in danger, which she to me. I'm sorry, she's a priority, her and Jason. Jason's out of the the house. Laura is pregnant with a man who was obsessed with her with a gun. We should be concerned, even if it's out of character for him. I think that's why you should be concerned. This is not the person you know. This is not the guy you love, and and kiki with this is somebody who was on the edge.
Speaker 1:Once he hears hears a commotion, richard that is. He runs upstairs and he figures out that Jason is no longer in his room and he cracks Shout out to Laura for keeping it cool. Also, her real name, her real government name Constance McCashen. What that needs to be a super pimp or a super villain name somewhere. Constant McCashen, I get constant McCashen. I love it. Anyway, she is being Laura. She's as cool as she could be.
Speaker 1:Phone's ringing off the hook. She's like let me just answer it, richard. Richard, I just don't think this is going to work out. Finally he picks up the phone. Richard's like okay, you have my kid. I really don't think this is going to work out. Finally he picks up the phone. Richard's like okay, you have my kid. I really don't have anything else to lose, so just let me go ahead and get this done. You might as well go home. I'm not going over there.
Speaker 1:Well, karen pulls a Richard, she goes and she picks up the phone and she's talking to him. Swat guy tries to go in the kitchen and bust her up, but Joe steps in because he's a good brother and he's like listen, you're going to kill him 20 minutes from now. Why are you going to do it right now? We just let her talk to him. What's the worst? Are we going to blow him away? Anyway? Let her talk to him, let her get his mind right. The negotiator's like he must sort of agree with this. Plus, he'd probably like to get home to his bed. So he goes into the kitchen. He's like Karen, just make sure you don't lie to him.
Speaker 1:Richard seems to think this has been blown out of proportion. I can't say I agree, I'm that. But he and karen share this really intimate moment where she talks about how much she cares about him. But richard is just saying it. So the SWAT team already has orders to basically kind of bust up in there. They have like five minutes to do it while richard is distracted. This is the first time lord's had some real breathing room since he went upstairs to talk to Jason.
Speaker 1:Richard is being very honest. He's being very vulnerable. Like none of the cops can help me. The only person who can help me right now is Laura and Karen's. Like no baby. You got to help you. First you got to get this mental state under control and then then you can figure out what's next.
Speaker 1:And she she compares the breakup of their marriage to a death. It kind of throws him off. He's like what are you saying? Like why are you talking about death? I don't know, maybe because you're wielding a gun around, you're wielding a pistol around in front of everybody. But she's basically telling him boy, it's over. You need to, you need to allow yourself to mourn this marriage. This is too much. It is you, baby. It's you. You were the only person brandishing a weapon. You were the only person not allowing people you love to move forward and grow and do whatever and I swear to you his beard grows tenfold over this night in this scene. But also baby boy is acting. I love it that he's not really overdoing it.
Speaker 1:You still see pieces of Richard, but then you see not well Richard. You see two versions of him kind of battling each other. And then he stands up and that look that same look, the look that he started the show with, like I'm going, you're gonna stay here. The look he gave Gary when he was brandishing the weapon at the top of the stairs is the same look he gives Laura. He arches that eyebrow, starts lurching towards her. She had her hands behind her back. I thought she picked up a vase or something. It was going to come across his head. But she doesn't even have to because he tells her she can leave. She's like, are you sure? Yeah, you can leave. She was very smart. She moonwalks out of there. Don't you dare turn your back. She moonwalks out of there. She feels for the door, she opens it and I was terrified. I know this is TV. I don't know in real life how this would go, but I thought that the SWAT team might have started shooting at her. But maybe they're. I mean, they're trained, they understand that there's a slight possibility that the hostage could be released. Luckily she was.
Speaker 1:Richard comes out of the house after this and this is where the show is a little bit unrealistic. Based on, this is me growing up and living in the times we live in now. I don't think he would have got very far with the pistol outside. So he comes out slowly. Nobody rushes him. He's still brandishing the weapon. Well, he's holding the weapon. He starts to sort of cock it and raise it up. He gets to raise it all the way up to his head. Nobody shoots at him, not one person. That feels very. This is why this is a soap opera, ain't no way, because he's pointing it out first before he points it up.
Speaker 1:Oh, this scene is hard, hard, hard to watch. I was literally holding my breath this entire episode. Oh my god, ever since what? Not even in the kitchen where he goes to grab laura did I think okay. I still kind of had the thought that this is going to be okay. He's just tripping, they're going to cast each other out and then she'll leave. When he put his hand over her face as she tried to leave. I was like, oh my god, held my breath the entire time.
Speaker 1:Richard gets the gun all the way up to his head and he pulls the trigger. He looks like he's about to burst out crying, but he just keeps clicking it like one, two, three. You realize it was never loaded by episodes in which this is karen's task with boxing up the train set, joe has to load it all in the back of laura's car and richard is in the psych ward for a little bit. No shame in getting a little bit of help, but she talks about keeping the water on and a little bit of electricity. But the house appears to be cleared out. It would seem that Laura and Richard are leaving. I don't know if Richard's going to come back. Are they gone? It just hit me. This literally hit me in the moment I put it back on, so I could really like watch this.
Speaker 1:So this show is about the city or this cul-de-sac. This is the first time I ever considered. You know, I know people leave the show. But is he he's? Is he gone now? Don't tell me. But tell me, don't tell me. I hope not. Oh, man, and she's a real okay, I mean, well, hell, I feel like they set all that up. She's a real estate agent. He's gone. It's a big. He did say the house was too big. At one point I forgot who I guess he was talking to karen. He said the house was just so big and it's so empty and it echoes off of everything. Dang, I don't know. Laura kind of leaves it open. It led me to believe that he may not move back into the house.
Speaker 1:Kenny and ginger come and baby two names is just nobody cared about us. I'm telling you, baby two names is holding on for dear life as ginger lets her dangle like a rag doll. I literally thought it was a doll, like a prop doll, when they walked up. But they were like, hey, we were at the grocery store and they said something about some cops in the neighborhood and karen's like let's go to your house and I'll tell you all about it. Okay, I love this last scene because they're outside Anytime they're outside. I just love to orient myself to the neighborhood layout and Abby does have a driveway. I've always admired her steps. Like I really, really like the front of Abby's house. I didn't think she had a driveway, but she does.
Speaker 1:Fantastic episode. What the actual? What the actual I don't know what I thought it was going to be about. I don't know. I don't know how I feel about that. Like he's still brandish your weapon. It's hard to get. Listen, I live in a different time. I live in a very different time where we take gun threats in a psych ward, like maybe the fact that there were no bullets gives him an opportunity to okay, there was never any real threat to violence, maybe that's the thing. But wow, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Very good episode, richard, richard, richard. I hope he's okay and I hope he's still on the show. I hope they don't just move away. I suppose laura would show up from time to time. Maybe she'll buy the house. I don't know, I can't believe it.
Speaker 1:We got to talk about this property value, though. I mean, at what point is there? A neighborhood no longer safe? I would say at the SWAT? Is there more than a few times a year? That's, it's, it's concerning. We might need to up the uh, the membership of the neighborhood watch. Might be time to add a couple extra locks to the doors. I don't really know. All right, guys, that's it. That's all for this episode. Join me next time as I jump back into some fun-filled soap opera debauchery in the meantime. In between time, don't underestimate a slight man who works in corporate america. He could be lifting weights, pumping iron, doing god knows what behind the scenes, filling out the murder me sweater like stew from scream. Stay, stay hydrated, stay moisturized, mind your own business unless you think your friend is being held hostage and keep all of your drama on TV. Bye, thank you, bye, bye, bye.