S4 EP10 Knots Landing: Emergency - The "Crooners & Kidneys" Episode

“Emergency” sounds like a buzzword until Knots Landing makes it literal, and we are not ready for how fast everything flips. We break down Season 4 Episode 10 with a full recap that starts in familiar soap territory, hurt feelings, ego, and a marriage strain you can see from a mile away, then slams into a medical crisis that turns the whole cul-de-sac upside down. First, we talk through Ginger trying to be seen as more than “the one at home with the baby.” She brings Kenny a brand-new piece of music she helped create, only to watch him dismiss it until it becomes useful for CG’s career. The tension boils over at Daniel’s when CG performs the song live, Ginger realizes what happened, and the night turns into a confrontation about credit, boundaries, and what Kenny is really investing his time in. Then the true emergency hits: Diana collapses during a trip with Gary and Abby and ends up in the hospital as the doctors reveal worsening symptoms, kidney failure, and the reality of dialysis and transplant options. We dig into the family dynamics as Karen tries to keep it together, Abby gets iced out when she wants to help, and Mac unexpectedly steps up when the kids need an adult to lean on. The ending lands with a brutal question and a door-knock that changes everything: Karen needs Abby’s kidney. If you love Knots Landing recap podcasts, 1980s TV drama, and character-driven soap opera analysis, hit play, then subscribe, share with a fellow fan, and leave a review. What would you do if your family asked you for a kidney?

Transcript

Welcome Back And The Big Tease

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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome or welcome back to another fun tilt edition of Soaploor. I'm your host, Jet, still viewing and reviewing this Sophia's fuzziest time time storyline of 1982. We've got an emergency on the West Coast so everybody can stop what you're doing because we have got to jump right into our story. Whether you're new to this or through to this, sit back and enjoy. Some kids it's time to play outside or outside. So make no questions, suggestions, or concerns for the next 25 to 35 minutes. Everyone else in AirStop will quiet kick out of the only options you've got open because we are walking our store. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is dope lore. Welcome back to another function of the dope lore. I hope today is chimneying, shimmering, and shaping up well. I don't even know what I just said. But it is a fantastic day because I have allowed myself to do something I usually don't. This episode of the Knots Landing was so good that I said, Jet, you know what? To hell with the rules today. You're gonna do unduble. You're gonna go ahead and watch the second one because I need to know what's going on. I can't just leave myself hanging. I'm not gonna allow myself to wait till God knows when to get the rest of this. So I watched both episodes. I am going to record both episodes. Now, will they drop right away? Probably not. But baby, I finished episode one. Let me go ahead and run that back for y'all because we we have an emergency. It's a nail biter, it's intense. It's so, so good. So go ahead and pour yourself up something bubbly and bright. My neighbor just brought me over something, so I'm gonna go ahead and crack that open and see what this is really about. As we jump into season four, episode 10, I believe. Yeah, episode 10. Emergency.

What Counts As An Emergency

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Emergency is such an important word, but it's also a relative word. One time I was in a meeting, and my manager's phone just kept blowing up, kept blowing up, and she's like, Oh my god, it's my mom. So she excuses herself and she comes back and she's like, Do you know what she wanted? I said, No, what did she want? Mind you, her mother's probably about 70 years old, very healthy, but she likes to walk everywhere. I don't know why I said but she's very healthy and she enjoys walking everywhere. She is kind of old school, believing in being very visible in your neighborhood, which I also agree to, but I do it from the comfort of my automobile. Anyway, my manager's mama had called because she had got a hankering for some some fresh, hot and ready pizza. And she wanted to know what time the little Caesars opened, lest she'd strike out on her walk and be too early or too late. But in her mind, you know what? That was an emergency. That was a very pressing matter that needed an immediate answer. So she did the next best thing instead of calling little Caesars because she wasn't finna look up numbers. You know how some people are, especially old people, they don't care. I'm not finna look up all that information. This is why I had children many moons ago, so they can do these things for me. Every time I see little Caesars, I think about her. But I said that to say an emergency can range to something like a car accident, heart attack, something like that, or perhaps you trek halfway across the state to San Antonio, Texas, the weekend of Thanksgiving to be a bridesmaid in your best friend's wedding. Beautiful wedding that you've waited a very long time for. The gown is impeccable, everything is wonderful. Only maybe you didn't stop eating carbs a month before, and on Thanksgiving, you may or may not have had a couple, two, three, eight scoops of dressing. A little bit, you know what I'm saying? It is an emergency when you arrive in San Antonio and realize it where are my spanks and my two girdles that I need to squelch into this dress. That's an emergency. It's a little bit different on today's knots landing. I don't know what she brought me. This is strong. All right, let's go ahead and jump right into it.

Ginger’s New Song And Kenny’s Shade

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After a long hiatus, I don't know where this person has been. I damn near forgot their names, both of them. It is the triumphant return of baby two names. Near the top of the show, we see Kenny outside. He is playing with the baby for two or three seconds. I was like, why is he holding Daniel? Oh, wait, that's not Daniel. That's baby two names. She looks amazing. She is strong, she is healthy, she is enjoying this California sun, and she is an aeroplane that is until her mother comes flying out of the house. I kid you not, Ginger is holding a scroll, like a biblical scroll. Or so it looks the closer she gets, I realize, oh, she has a pirate map. I'm wrong on both accounts. What she's holding is a piece of custom music. See, what had happened was since she's no longer teaching the kindergartners, she has plenty of time to do millennial things, strangely, with baby two names who is a millennial. Apparently, they had playgroups in the 1980s. Now, I I mean, don't get me wrong. I I guess I sort of knew that. Maybe they didn't have magazine articles about it. You know, that that culture is very strong. The mommy groups, the mommy this, the mommy that. I'm not judging, but I'm saying it's it's a pretty prolific group of people who definitely document everything they do and organize really, really well. I'm very grateful for a lot of that. I think it's great. Not really my personality to have a schedule that strong, but anyway. Ginger goes to this playgroup, and apparently there is a stay-at-home dad or just a rando dad who rotates with his wife, and he and Ginger got to talking one time and they both realize that they love music. He happens to be a budding composer, I'm assuming, and I suppose Ginger wrote the words. I I only watched it once. I'm kind of glancing at it now as I record. I'm not really sure how that goes. The point, though, is Ginger comes out with this pirate's scroll of fresh music. I'm not even joking. It's like a sepia colored piece of paper. Kenny is lying on his back with baby two name sitting on his upper chest. But do you know when he reaches for this scroll of maritime melodies, he opens it and it blocks baby two name space. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I got a little bit distracted because I'm thinking about baby two names' future. This woman would be about mid-40s, economy is tight. I know what's gonna happen, okay? We live the same life. I know what's gonna happen. This kid is gonna need her residuals. Now, is she gonna get the residuals without her face being shown? I'm sure that's how that works. I'm sure it's the same. But in my mind, I immediately thought of some sort of crooked talent agent who 10 years later, 18 years later, when the actress who plays Baby Two Name comes to collect her knots landing residual checks, he's gonna be like, nah, nah, nah, nah, you wouldn't end that episode. And she'd be like, Yes, I was. He's like, nah, baby, your voice is blocked out. You have to be you have to be on screen for 12 minutes or something. I'm sure there's some sort of loophole. Anyway, let's get back to the story. Ginger is pumped, but she tells Kenny, could you play, take this music with you today? And he seems interested until he realizes that she and one of the Mr. Moms in the playgroup came up with it. She's married to the man, so she can tell he's dismissive with this. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. She said, Kenny, you discovered CG. How come I can't discover somebody? And plus, if it's a really good song, I can record the demo. He ain't trying to hear that. You need to stay at home and raise this baby. He does respect her enough to take the music. He takes it to Daniel, where CG is once again rehearsing. I've determined that Daniel's is a fancier establishment. They went to dinner and I guess they're closing around one or two, with CG being the entertainment from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., I believe. So she's singing, they're enjoying the music. There, as in Chip and Kenny, they're not really enjoying the music. Let me take that back. They're listening to the music, and it's just, it's cool. The song is I. But Kenny's like, no, you need something a little stronger. Chips Ahoy agrees. And Kenny's like, oh, wait, hold on. Let me let me flip through these pages. You see the sepia colored sheet music? Do you think you can play it, Mr. Piano Man? Miss Piano's like, oh, yeah, I can do whatever. He walks away. Piano Man does not have the sepia colored sheet music. CG begins to sing as she's filling it. So later on in this episode, Kenny either has a brain fart or a death wish because he invites Ginger over to

CG Sings It And Ginger Snaps

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Daniel's for a romantic dinner and to watch CG perform. Ginger and Kenny are sitting at Daniel's enjoying CG in a weird jumpsuit that I swear I just saw on Shein. It's like a Leotard up top with kulak pants right at the hips. So weird. Anyway, she finishes her first rock ballad. Place explodes in polite applause. Ginger is hate clapping. Can tell she's judging the entire time. Like, that was alright. But CG rolls into the next song. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming out tonight. Uh, I was introduced to a brand new song today, and I'm really, really happy to introduce it to you. Band. And a one and a two, and uh guys, I don't remember the song. For the sake of this story, I have to pretend it is a yo-ho-ho. CG starts singing something like I was at the park today playing with baby two names when a gentleman came up to me holding CPS. She music. Plong, plong, plong on the piano. Song, song, song. I'ma sing H note. There says a pirated song stolen from Ginger Graham, or whatever her last name is. Ginger is completely appalled. I know you lying. She flips. She absolutely loses her mind peacefully because she's not gonna make a scene. She has the class to allow CG to completely finish her set before she goes bursting in to CG's dressing room. Why does Daniels have a dressing room now that I'm thinking about it? There's literally no pots and pans or anything, it's just like a room to chill in. Don't matter. Ginger patiently waited for the entire set to be over. So you gotta remember this is 1-2 a.m. She comes bursting into CG's dressing room. You trifling. I know you're sleeping with my man. Now you're gonna sing my song? You're singing my song. CG had it takes her a second to realize what's going on. CG's thrown off a little bit, like, whoa, wait, I know it's your song. So you were cool saying you just sang my song? You stole it. CG's like, no, wait. I I listen, your man brought the song. I your man gave me the song. I thought you were cool with it since he brought it up here. Very valid point, CG. I could I could see how someone can come to that conclusion. Ginger continues. Ever since my husband started working with you, he didn't listen to anything I say. He spent all his time working with you, and now you're singing my songs. She's furious, she's barely blinking. Shout out to CG. This is the first time I thought to myself, okay, CG might have grown up in the projects just a little bit. Or maybe she has a whole bunch of brothers because she's not flinching. She's like, yo, if you have a problem with the song that your man brought over for me to sing, you need to bring it up to your man. No, I ain't trying to hear that. Y'all together all day, every day, 18 hours. It really takes 18 hours. He's giving you all the attention, but he won't go do nothing. My career? See, she's like, Yeah, let the record reflect that I put in 18 hours worth of work a day to get my career off the ground. You damn right I do. And let me tell you something, I'm getting real, real sick of the dirty looks. I hear you sniggling and stuff every time I'm singing. I know you're hating on me, but also that's not my problem. Talk to your man about it. That's your career. I'm working on mine 18 hours a day, Ginger. And I'm damn tired of your attitude. So go talk to your man. Ginger's like, Yo, that's that's rich. So you'll just use whoever you want to get to the top. CG tells him, if I like a song and I am talented enough to sing said song, I'm gonna sing that song. Ginger's like, I can't believe you stole my maritime sea shanty to further your career. I ain't gonna never forget this, B. I'm not gonna forget this. I'm watching you. It ain't over. CG's like, damn, all I want to do is get some Chinese food with Chip, but damn, okay, fine. It's like that, Ginger. Ginger's like, it's like that, CG. CG has a very valid point. I think we all know that, but so does Ginger. I can't stress this enough. When CG opened her mouth and started singing this ballad, Ginger's floored. She looks over to Kenny, and it's almost as if he thought she was gonna be happy about it. The kid has on blinders when it comes to his wife. Now, here's the thing: I wouldn't say CG's voice is any better than Ginger's, but Kenny's like, yo, I want you at home with baby two names, and I'm gonna spend my time getting this girl's career off the ground. Now, 18 hours a day seems like an awful lot of time. I can understand CG is practicing and such, but Kenny, what are you doing the rest of this time? CG also doesn't want Kenny. She didn't say this, but I wish she would have. Kenny wears nude lipstick with no gloss. Nobody wants that. I forgot the best part. Let me rewhrase that. She says, I'll get you for this, but she ginger tells that to CG, not Kenny. Then she throws the maritime music across at her, hits her all in her tits, and leaves. I haven't seen Not Landing do anything too outrageous, but as mad as Ginger's is, I kind of hope she does a whole Texas cheerleader mom thing. Waits in the parking lot under a cloak of darkness until CG comes out, tries to run her ass over with the car or something. I don't know. Ginger, go talk to your man. She has a very valid. There is a bigger issue here. There is an actual emergency. So we have to go back to the top of this

Diana’s Trip Ends In Collapse

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episode. At the top of the episode, we see Karen's boys coming down the steps. They are a little bit apprehensive about the trip they're about to make. Yes, that Mac. Mr. I'm banging the lady from across the hallway, but I didn't tell my new main squeeze about it. I thought about this after the fact. On one hand, yes, they never have the conversation. We're totally exclusive. But also, Mac, you were sending all the wrong signals. We're not just hanging out. It's one thing if he and Karen are going out to dinner once or twice a week. Maybe they hang out every other weekend. They're keeping it very light and very casual, but he is coming over to the house to hang out and play video games. He's taking her on fishing trips. He's involved with the boys' life, so much so that it feels more like a co-parenting situation than it does a boyfriend-girlfriend situation. The boys are about to go head out with Mac. I guess they're going on a trip, and Diana is also heading out. She's gonna go with her auntie Abby and Gary up north somewhere so they can watch and play polo. Before we go any further, I have to say Diana has never looked better. She's had this haircut for a little while, but for what I don't know who styled her, I don't know if she wrapped her hair or if she slept on a silk pillow. I'm not really sure what she did, but it is finally settled. It looks so good this episode. I'm like, yes, this is the look I can tell you were going for. That's kind of the thing about short hair, though. If you've ever cut your hair into a very specific style, you know, with short hair, it goes through this really awkward stage. It feels like it's always way too short at the beginning. Then it grows out, it feels really fine. And if you decide you want to keep growing, it goes through that really weird phase. She's in the perfect stage. It is falling, it is bouncing and behaving, it looks so good. She is dressed like she lives in the northeast region of the United States of America and not SoCal. She's got on a button-down shirt, an ascot, and like this knitted sweater. Beautiful outfit, but she lived in Southern California. I guess they could be going up far enough north to where it's a little bit cooler. Sometimes I forget that California and Texas are very similar. Not necessarily all the time in the same ways as far as weather goes, but Southern California is very, very different from Northern California, as West Texas is very, very different from East Texas. North Texas and South Texas are two, I mean, you could be in two totally different, you are literally in two totally different parts of the country. And I forget that California is like that. So it is very possible that they are heading far enough north to where it is a little bit cooler. Gary and Abby are also dressed in several different layers. So okay, that makes sense now. I guess I hadn't really said it out loud, but apparently Diana had been upstairs resting, she wasn't feeling very well. You wouldn't know what to look at her. She looks fantastic. Hippity hopping down the stairs while Karen is talking to the boys. The boys are apprehensive because they're actually going to a game with Mac. They're not going out of town. So Mac shows up right about this time. And if he had played his cards right, actually nothing would be different because he's taking the boys to the game. Maybe Karen would be going with him, but she's gonna have the house all to herself. He shows up and it's not weird. It's just like she was telling the boys listen, I broke up with Mac. That doesn't mean y'all have to. Y'all got a good thing going, he's a good friend to you. That's cool. I appreciate her being able to separate these two things. However, it's awkward. It's awkward for me. She's putting on a brave face. She tries to give Mac back um a jacket or a sweater he gave her. You can tell they don't really know how to behave around each other. Mr. Word Vomit has suddenly found his voice. Now remember on the last episode, he couldn't come up with nothing. Oh, aye, just let me explain. Nothing. He can hardly talk. He's got equipped for everything. She says, Oh, the sweater looks better on you. You look great, everything's fine. Shut up, Mac. But also, I do kind of want them to work this out. Diana is being a very, very good daughter and giving him the dirtiest looks she can muster from behind her mama. She wants him to know. I don't care if she forgives you, I'm still watching you, you dirty SOB. Actually, kind of proud of Diana for making this a little bit awkward. He tries to say, Hey Diana, when she when he walks here, she says, Don't hi me. Diana decides she's gonna go across the way over to Val's house to say goodbye to Chip, only Chip's not there. So Val and Lily May end up coming outside, and riders are coming outside. Gary and Abby are flying up the driveway to pick up Diana. Val has to be brave and look at Gary and Abby, which I don't know. We'll get into it a little more this episode because I guess they have a little more of an interaction. But I keep thinking back to when Val was on her book tour at that hotel. She saw them in Dallas, and she and Abby seemed very, very cordial, if nothing else. I think it's very clear nobody likes the way this turned out except Abby. But Val was cordial. Abby seemed to appreciate that Val was cordial, no bad blood. But I guess it's still kind of weird to see. It's one thing to see them in Dallas. It's another thing to see them on the street knowing they move now. They're living at the beach. Also, when are we gonna work out these divorce details while he's spending up all this money? Back to Diana. Chip's not home. Diana sees that Abby and Gary are there, so she goes and she climbs into the back of his little two-seater. Karen does stick her head in the window and she's like, hey, y'all kind of keep an eye on Diana. She's not really feeling this, she's not feeling well this weekend. She says that. Okay, sorry. Karen says that before Diana gets in the car. She tells them that Diana's not feeling well. And they're like, no worries. Well, I mean, if we notice that she's not feeling well, we'll stop whatever we're doing. Make sure that she's taken care of. So flash forward to this polo event. It is the creme de la creme. We're talking Bentleys, Mercedes, blah blah blah blah. Whatever cars are there are driven by a chauffeur, with the exception of Gary and his Thunderbird, I guess. Could be a transam. I can't really tell. It's either Trans Am or Thunderbird. Abby happens upon record producer extraordinaire guy from the last episode. They're chattering it up a little bit. And it's very clear that he was into CG. He's like, yo, CG was amazing, but I know that Kenny Ward's on that project, and I don't really work with the group. I'm a dolo type producer. And I think that might be a problem for your fledgling, your fledgling record company. Abby says, Listen, don't you worry. I'm already, I got Kenny under control. If you want to jump in on a record or two and you want to completely produce it, don't even worry about it. I promise I'll make sure that everything is everything. Well, right about this time, Gary comes waltzing up and he sees Record Producer Extraordinaire and he's like, Oh, that's weird. What are you doing here? Record producer Extraordinaire says, I'm rich and I have several homes across the country. So whenever I'm in Cali, I like to hang out up here. The amenities are amazing. I thought I'd come and play rich people games. What are you doing here? It is at this moment that Gary Ewing puts two and two together and he says, Oh, to himself, this feels like a setup. He's also run into Abby and record producer extraordinaire because Diana's not feeling well. Now she's not feeling well. She looks a little, looks a little gray. She thinks she's had a little too much food at lunch, so she wants to go. Lie down at the hotel, I'm assuming. Once record producer Extraordinaire leaves, Gary's like, Abby, did you just use Diana and I as an excuse to come up here? She was like, No, I wanted to come up here and hang out and get some fresh air, or whatever. Mind you, not three episodes ago, she was disgusted that he wanted to live out in nature with all the horses and all that. But wealthy horses ridden by wealthy people, totally different than farm animals. I I 100% understand where she's coming from. So before they can get into this argument too deep, there they notice there's a little bit of a kerfluffle somewhere. Out of the way a little bit. They can hear people gasping and on, like, what the heck's going on? Abby elbows her way through the crowd, which I thought is an unusual choice, but we'll let it slide. Elbows her way through the crowd, only to discover that dirty Diana has collapsed. She is lying on the pavement and she is sent to the hospital.

Hospital Shock And Dialysis Reality

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By the time they get to the hospital, Karen is in there. This was so real. Shout out to Naz Landy for keeping it a buck. Because even though Diana is swaying to and fro, she's clearly not feeling great. She still has to fill out the effing paperwork. They're asking her all sorts of invasive questions at the check-in site. And then she is wheeled back. Now, if this was 2026, you know they'd run your insurance and probably your credit card first. If you live in the United States, if not, I don't know how that works over there, but God bless you. Abby feels the need to explain the situation. Not that she's explaining it away, but she already knows that Karen feels a way she can tell by her body language. Abby feels like she's taking the brunt of this. I'm with Abby on this one. You can't blame me for this. Karen is pissed. I told you she wasn't feeling well, and you insisted that she go. Karen, you're also her mother. This girl is also 18 years old. Also, she was bounding down the steps. Anybody would have thought she felt good. That's the thing I try to explain to my kids sometimes is that the older you get, the easier it is to explain physical symptoms away. And by that I mean if you say you don't feel good in the morning, maybe you feel a little bit nauseous. If you've ever had a stomach bug, you know what that feels like. If you've ever just eaten something that didn't agree with you, you know what that feels like. I would argue you probably can tell pretty well by age 15 or so. You can tell if you have a cold, your sinuses, it's it gets easier to tell the older you get. It's easier to sort of dismiss symptoms. I feel like that's all Diana did. She wasn't vomiting, she had energy, probably running off of adrenaline and excitement. So she decided to go on the trip and she fainted. You can't blame anyone for that. It's not like they went took her to Ohinaga and she got drunk or anything. She's sick. Well, we're hoping it's a little flu or a little stomach bug, or maybe you know, something like that. No, no, no. Turns out this is a crazy emergency. Not the pepperoni pizza type emergency, not that I left my Sphinx five hours away from home emergency. So a hot black doctor comes and lets her know, Karen that is, that not much has changed with Diana's condition. Her blood pressure's high, she's also anemic, and they're starting to find traces of blood in her urine. So they're not gonna jump to any conclusions, but they want to run a few more tests on her kidneys and whatnot just to make sure everything is everything. But I don't have an update. Now, this doctor is a little too casual for my taste, but I suppose you need to keep a level head when you're delivering this sort of news. Abby is very astute and she's listening to all these symptoms. She's like, wait a minute, shouldn't she be talking to a specialist? I said, damn Abby, you're right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, doc. Why is she talking to a specialist? He's like, because we're not jumping to conclusions. Karen puts on a brave face as she goes into the room to see Diana, and Diana is visibly shaken. It's like it's all starting to really hit her, and she's like, Mom, I'm freaking out, I'm scared. Oh. And it takes me back to that very, very deceitful episode at the top of season three. This is a bit much knots landing. I understand we need drama, but I'm starting to understand what sort of program this is gonna be. Y'all don't really care. You're gonna take me on a roller coaster ride, I can tell. So Karen holds her daughter and she holds herself together as best she can until she is visited once again by Hot Black Doctor and new specialist lady. They find Karen sleeping in the um visitor's lounge, and they calmly tell her that things are actually much, much worse than they thought. Your daughter is in critical condition, my love. Her blood pressure is too high, her potassium is also very high. She's showing signs of early heart failure. Her kidneys and all of her other tests are coming back abnormal. Basically, her body is shutting down. So, Karen, who has just been startled from a sound sleep, is starting to panic. The baby girl's kidneys have completely shut down, and she's gonna have to be on dialysis immediately. So, Karen starts asking the obvious questions that I think the audience would want to know at this point. Wait a minute, this girl was perfectly fine this morning. Why, why, how did this happen? She was a little bit sick. How is this how? And they explained to her that kids are are, you know, they tend to run themselves in the ground. She probably just thought she wasn't feeling well. I get that. And I that makes sense, but damn, I'm just gonna tell y'all, I was not expecting that. With an emergency, I thought this was gonna be appendicitis. I legit thought she would just need to have her appendix out. They're like, no, her organs are failing. I know you just buried your husband, but I need you to freak out a little bit more in the same freaking hospital. So once Karen starts getting a little, I don't want to use the word hysterical. That actually pisses me off. She is reacting the way anyone would react hearing this news. The doctors are like, listen, we ain't got time to fight with you. We have to get down and help your daughter. We're gonna go help her. You handle this how you handle it. Val ends up showing up, and Karen is instantly comforted because she doesn't have Mac to lean on. And of course, she doesn't want to lean on her children. Not in a situation like this. She has to be the mom, she has to be the backbone. So it's like, thank God Val's here. But here's a messed up part to me. This is where I'm team Abby again. Abby and Gary come into the waiting room. They just want to, they want to know how Diana is doing. Karen asks them to leave. She says, Val's here with me now. And just honestly, you being here kind of makes us uncomfortable. She went all mean, girl on her. And I know she's going through some things, but also at the end of the day, Abby's never done anything to your daughter. And that's Abby's niece. She is blood related. That's family. Like, let me look, like I can't go check on my niece. Yeah, it's just really messed up. So she sends Abby and Gary on their way. I just thought I remember thinking that's this is just so messed up. I don't appreciate this. This is real foul. But this is also real life. Not everything's gonna make sense. And and damn it, Karen, quite frankly, stop blaming this lady on this. It'd be very easy to turn the finger back, point the finger back at Karen and be like, how come you didn't notice your daughter's been sick? She didn't develop this ailment in one day. But this, we're not gonna blame

Mac Steps Up As Family Spirals

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anyone. Meanwhile, across town, Mac is playing tennis with little Miss, what's her name, Patrice? Charmaine or Patrice, whatever her name is, from across the hall. They are good, good friends. And I'm gonna be real, if this is how Mac lives his life, whatever lady he's with, he treats him like a girlfriend. I can understand now why he's not making these proclamations to women, why he's not actually defining anything or explaining anything. He treats every woman in his life like this. But Patrice or Charmaine, I can't remember her name, knows that something is up and she's a little bit tired of hearing him complain about Karen. He's like, whatever, I'm not mad about Karen, I'm not stressing about Karen. Look how good I look. I've been in the gym, bro. I've been hitting, look at these gains. I've never been healthier, I've never looked better. And while he's talking, she sachets off because she has other things to do, and she knows this is a lost cause. This used to be casual. I'm not really trying to be your therapist. Also, around this time, Lily May's at home doing spells or something, and she drops the news on Chips Ahoy that, oh, your girl is sick? You ain't know about your girl, Diana. She's in the hospital. And he's like, Oh man, dang, you know that check I collie, my check didn't come in again last week. How are you still receiving checks from a job you walked away from months ago? Where are these checks coming from? Lily May, of course, fishes her coin purse out of a bag, hands him a cussle couple loose leaf dollars. She's like, Okay, go get Diana something nice, and y'all be good. I'm gonna keep here, I'm gonna sit here and continue casting spells or reading these tarot cards or whatever. A little later in the episode, Abby ends up blowing up at Gary. She wants to pick a fight, and he is surprisingly emotionally intelligent enough to realize that she's not really mad at him. She's mad at the situation. She can't understand why Karen won't allow her to see her niece. This is my flesh and blood. Because I pissed you off one time because I'm with Gary. I can't come to the hospital. Extremely messed up. In the episode, Diana is spiraling. She is purple, she kind of looks like that girl. What's her name? Is it Farooza Bulk? Or is that a is that Farooza Bulk a real person? Or is that the name of the little girl on um Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? That's what I'm thinking of. The little nightmare girl. Everybody was kind of satisfied when she went down that chute and turned it, or the one who turned into the purple gumdrop. You know, whatever one. She reminds me of the girl who turned into the big bloated Missy Elliott style uh purple gumdrop girl. She was a blueberry, my bad. Diana looks like a blueberry, and she is howling like a banshee. She wants death. She wants to die. She does not want to live the rest of her life plugged up to a dialys machine. Now, I understand this is brand new information. She's being a total brat. I guess you can be a total brat if your life's on the line, but it is quite insensitive to yell this at your mother, considering she's already lost a member of the family. It's just really in poor taste. But I understand she's going through what she's going through. She feels how she feels. Because she's Diana, you know, she's got to take it through the umpteenth level. And she starts trying to rip out IVs and whatnot. So her mother has to physically restrain her and keep her bound to the bed lest she start ripping out these vital medicines. I tell you what, everybody is stressed. We all just need to calm down. It's time to refresh your drink if you're watching this in real life. In real time, that is, pardon me. Karen is frazzled after the whole Diana's trying to rip out medicine fiasco. So when the boys show up at the hospital, they know that she's sick, but they don't really know how grave the situation is. One of them says an off-handed comment, she's that Karen pops off at them. Everybody is snapping at everybody. And now they're thoroughly freaked out and worried. So Karen's middle boy, the mustachioed one, is thoroughly freaked out enough that he goes running over to Mac's place. Now Mac is a complete mess. He's got his door wide open. He done popped a fresh bowl of popcorn and grabbed all six of the beers, the brew skis, from the refrigerator. I guess he's gonna, I hope he's gonna drink them all quickly, lest he drinks one ice cold beer, one marginally chilled beer, and four lukewarm beers. I don't know why he would grab all of them, but Eric don't give a damn. He says, Hey Mac, I need you to get it together. My sister's sick. She's in the hospital. My mom needs you. Mac and his sweater go into the back room and add another sports coat to this Southern California outfit. Eric sands his mustache tells. Reiterates that Mac is needed and Karen head okay. They head to the hospital. Okay, so Karen is free. Like I said, she's thoroughly freaked out because Diana is refusing medicine at this time. So getting her on dialysis doesn't seem like it's really gonna be a viable option. So she goes and she locates Lady Doctor, and the doctor says, You can live a really great life on dialysis. She's gonna need it three to four times a week for the rest of her life, though. Like the damage is already done to her poor little livers and stuff. The only other option would be a transplant. So she would need a fresh kidney. And Karen's like, okay, so could you break this down for me? The doctor's like, yes. Identical twins have the absolute best chance of an easy transplant. Probably gonna take 100%. The next best thing is a blood relative. So someone the closer the better. Mom, dad, siblings. Karen doesn't want to ask the kids because it means that both of the kids would be vulnerable for the rest of their lives. But the doctor just keeps breaking it down. She's like, okay, so the closer the relative, that's like 80% chance it's gonna be really awesome. After that, we could get a cadaver if none of the relatives close enough to her are a viable option. And that is like a 50-50 thing. Everybody's all upset, obviously, when they hear the news. The kids are like, damn, they want to, they want to absolutely help their sister. The boys are like, Can we please, please, like test us? Karen ain't really going for it at first. She eventually has to relent. Mac shows up to the hospital with the mustachio, well, formerly mustachioed Eric. And instead of pushing him away, she immediately just starts letting him know what's going on. And it's it's beautiful. And you can tell that Mac is like, damn, I didn't think she was that sick. But Karen is also Karen's glad that he's Aaron. Mac gives this rousing, very motivational speech to the boys. He needs to be somebody's t-ball or baseball coach. He's like, I know this is a rough time for your family, but I need you to be strong. You're so lucky to have the sister that you do. Be strong and be strong for your mother. You can do that for me, can't you? And the boys, by God, they buy into it. They're like, Yeah. Damn it, I hate to say it. He's a great influence on these kids. And he doesn't seem to be running away from this. This is a difficult situation. It would be okay if he decided to sit this one out, but he's not. He's showing up, he's front and center. He's not letting the awkwardness take him away from this moment because he knows that she needs him.

No Match So Karen Knocks On Abby’s Door

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And despite Diana being a complete nightmare 90% of the time, she's lying on her deathbed. She's getting more and more blue as the episode progresses. So they're gonna have to make a decision here real quick. Karen talks to Diana. She tries to give her a more motivational speech, basically saying, Okay, if this doesn't work, we'll get through it. Don't worry about it. Mac is in the lounge talking to Val, saying, She gotta let me help her. This is crazy. This is too much for one family to go through. Oh, y'all. I had to rewind it back just to make sure I got this right. You remember the scene when Sid died, and Karen has to walk down that hallway to go tell the kids? I'm getting like, oh, it's upsetting. She's coming out of Diana's room, and it's that same walk. She's making that same walk down a hallway, but this time it's her baby. And also this time at the end of the hall, Mac is waiting for her. She collapses into his arms, and they're having this moment. Lady Doctor does not have the best bed side and manner. She comes out the daggone elevator with her updo and tells Karen, like she just ordered a pizza. Oh, neither one of y'all are good matches. You, you boys, you'll suck. Kidneys are absolutely incompatible. But we can see if a dead body turned up or so, and we'll see. Yeah, I mean, we'll put you on the list, we'll see what happens. Three to six months, something like that. Karen's like, no, we can't wait three to six months. This is my baby. And doctor's like, Dang, y'all ain't got no other family. Karen's like, Well, I guess so. There is one. So Abby is chilling at her new beachside home, reading the newspaper or whatever, and they hear a rat-a-tat-tat on the door. She has to run up the stairs. She sees it as Karen, and she's like, Oh my god, what's going on? Karen drops a bomb on her. Diana needs a transplant, or she's gonna die. Gary's somewhat emotionally intelligent self says, What can we do to help? Karen says, Only Abby can help now. Basically, Abby is a close relative, she would be the substitute for Sid. Abby, I need you to get tested, and I might need you to come up off that kidney. End scene. This is a perfect ending too. It just ends with Abby's eyes all big, like, damn. My wait, my kidney, she needs kidneys or kidney beans? Because I got a can in the cabinet. I don't know about my my appendages. Damn. Okay.

Final Thoughts And How To Reach Us

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Excellent, excellent episode. That was way deeper than I thought it was gonna be. I really did think we were taking out an appendix. But I'm gonna allow myself the distinct honor and pleasure of watching the next episode so we can see how it goes down. Thank you for joining me today. Remember, you can always reach out within the show notes, send us a text, let me know what you think. What did you think the first time you watched this? If you're watching this for the first time, how do you think it's gonna end? You can reach out to me via email at sofloorpodcast at gmail.com. That's S O A P L O R E P-O-D, P-A-S-D at gmail.com. In the meantime, in between now, if a guy with a brand new phone new look for no block and tell me what it's backed up, backed up to give it a white line, that is not. They hydrated, they want to add my drama. They need to do all of your drama, but it's a good one.