I’m not sure if this episode was actually bad, or if it seemed worse in comparison because last week’s was quite good? That being said, it did include: a lot of anguished facial expressions from a wife WE’VE NEVER MET and who we NEVER DO MEET; the worst Kennedy impersonation I’ve ever heard; a line of dialogue that implied RFK was on en route to California after which he promptly was shot, thereby correcting itself that he actually already WAS in California; the sentence, “I do get tired. SO TIRED”; a whole plotline wherein one of the Wives is an alcoholic but then maybe her husband returning to earth safely cured her of it, we don’t know????; Dirty Hippies Whose Lifestyle Teaches Louise A Lesson And Who Are Also Conveniently Metaphorical In Other Ways; someone pronouncing the word “capsule” as “caps-SUE-elle”; the line, “That’s the difference between an average life…AND AN EXTRAORDINARY ONE”; and Betty telling Jo, in times of sadness, to look to her “fence hole.” So, I am pretty sure it was actually just bad. (Although Betty giving Jo the wood from the hole they cut in the fence between their respective yards was kind of great.) That said, we’re also at a point where the 60s clothing is turned SUPER HIDEOUS on us, and that’s always fun. The wives:
Louise and Alan: Blah blah blah, after learning To Live Freely and Have Adventures thanks to some hippies who saved them after their car had a blow out, and a literal roll in the hay, Louise decides she’s fine with Alan having his Inner Ear Disorder Surgery, because he wants to go to the moon (which eventually he does, of course). FYI, this upcoming episode is the finale, which is the moon landing, and I find it super weird that we’ve never met Mrs Buzz Aldrin nor Mrs Neil Armstrong, and there are no actors credited for them on IMDb, so….THAT’S a weird choice, dramatically.
Jo and Wally: Wally retires after successfully launching Gus’s CAPSUELLE and then they move to Denver. There’s also a subplot about their son wanting to join the military and go to Vietnam, but he changes his mind for reasons that are never explained, other perhaps than that his mother was against the idea.
Trudy and Gordo: Are alive. Ditto Annie and John.
Scott and Rene: Scott’s still stuck at the bottom of the ocean or whatever, and Rene is depressed and at loose ends when RFK is assassinated and she (obviously) is no longer working on his presidential campaign. Annie finagles a way for Rene to get to be the newscaster covering the CAPSUELLE launch in this episode, which seems like a big deal and I can’t fact-check whether or not this actually happened for some reason but my guess is it didn’t?
Marge and Deke: Remember how Louise and Trudy found out that Harriet(??)’s husband had the secret family in Florida and might be a bigamist? Well, two hundred years later and Harriet wants to divorce him and Deke asks Marge to try to put a stop to this because it’s bad PR for NASA, and she is all, “BUT I’M DIVORCED” and he’s all, “oh, right, what is the deal with that suitcase full of stuff from when you were SINGLE IN JAPAN???” and she’s all “[some weird something about how it’s a metaphor for not letting herself be bossed around]” and he’s all “[something nice and supportive about how Marge is awesome in his eyes, because Deke rocks]” and then she THROWS THE SUITCASE INTO THE OCEAN, like it’s the necklace from Titanic and I can’t wait until, come season three, someone fishes it out for Britney Spears.
Everyone Else: Marilyn L is really worried that Susan Borman is an alcoholic, given that she keeps, you know, drinking and is also a total wreck otherwise. Is she? WHO EVEN KNOWS. Harriet does divorce The Dude With Another Family. And one Nameless Lady gets a lot of reaction shots. To the outfits! You’ve NEVER seen this many neckbows.
