Previously in The Village: So much happened. Sarah discovered Katie had actually known about her pregnancy for seven weeks. This caused some tension between mother and daughter that ultimately dissolved in a happy dance. Nick knows about Katie’s pregnancy too. Sarah asked him to not give advice to Katie about it. After all he’s only known Katie is his daughter for three weeks. It turns out he might have known much much earlier than that, although Sarah doesn’t know that yet. Nick also got some rather awful news from one of his veteran friends. He made a mistake that got another friend and fellow soldier killed. Elsewhere, the Davises and Officer Ben showed up at Ava’s hearing to support her. Little do they know she’s lying to them and the judge about not knowing her papers were forged, although it was her ex-husband’s idea apparently. Busy juggling Ava’s case, his school, and a disapproving girlfriend, Gabe made a big change and moved Enzo out of the nursing home into his apartment. Ron told Patricia they are having money troubles with their bar, and she told him her cancer is back. All that drama carries over into this week’s mostly very good installment, which was loaded with recognizable guest stars.
Lorraine Toussaint’s Patricia gets one of the most striking scenes of “In Your Bones.” After a visit to the doctor, during which Ron carefully repeats back the doctor’s instructions but can’t keep a tremble of fear from his voice, Patricia walks home alone. She stops at a church to tell God how she really feels. The amount of betrayal and anger in her voice can’t help but resonate. She lists off all the ways she’s tried to help others, only to have “this poison back in my blood.” And Toussaint is magnificent. That harshly whispered “How dare you!” gave me goosebumps. Patricia doesn’t want Ron to share her condition with anyone. We find out there’s more to it than that. Apparently the last time she was ill, Patricia left Ron because she couldn’t handle him trying to cope with her condition. This episode finds them united at the end, but it’s clearly going to be a difficult road ahead.
Ava makes bail thanks to a loan that Ben takes out, and she has of course realized that he has feelings for her. As we learned last week, he moved into the building after a personal tragedy. Ava helped him get back on his feet. Him taking such good care of her and Liam is not just part of showing his gratitude. The couple share a kiss too. It turns out Ava’s forged documents aren’t as shady as suggested. She calls her ex-husband Hamid (Pej Vahdat), and we find out that she was being threatened back in Iran. Since the threats were anonymous and untraceable, they had no choice but to fabricate evidence. That still leaves her in a precarious place, as she will have to head back to court. There’s not a chance the truth doesn’t come out one way or another.
Gabe also remains committed to helping Ava and has now taken on the additional responsibility of looking out for Enzo. We also meet Gabe’s dad Angelo (Paul Ben-Victor). Enzo previously revealed that one of his sons ditched his family, but, if that was Angelo, Gabe’s relationship with him seems solid enough. Except that Angelo wants Enzo encircled in bubble wrap, placed securely in double-taped box, and shipped back to the nursing home. He strongly hints that Gabe disregarding his wishes could have consequences. To his credit, Gabe doesn’t shirk. Enzo gets Ron’s help with a thank you present. He later shows Gabe a quiet room elsewhere in the building that he cleared out for Gabe to study in. He even brings his grandson a homecooked midnight snack of some scrumptious pasta. The Napolitanos might be the lowest tier of the story right now, but I am growing very fond of this odd couple.
Speaking of pairings, Michaela McManus and Grace Van Dien continue to have flawless mother/daughter/best friends synergy. Sarah wakes up at Chef John’s place after a night of Chardonnay and not much else. (How hilarious was McManus’s delivery of “Did I have sex?”) She tries to get back to the apartment before Katie is up, but her daughter is on her way out to meet her past/hopefully future boyfriend and baby daddy. She’s not in the mood for any good advice from Sarah.
“I’m not your baby. I’m HAVING a baby.”
I felt that, and it hurt. But it was also darkly funny. It will not surprise anyone that boyfriend Jagger doesn’t take the news with any amount of chill. When Sarah finds out that he was less than supportive, she confronts his mom Julie (Amy Carlson) about the issue. Katie doesn’t entirely lose her mind, but mom and daughter are on the outs again for a moment. Jagger’s parents invite Amy over, where they offer all sorts of things: counseling with a priest, a place to stay, help with education, etc. Once she recovers from finding out Jagger’s real name is Paul, Katie latches onto them referring to her situation as a “mess.” She gets out of there. And how bittersweet was that moment when she looks at Paul and says “You’re a kid.” Katie is growing up fast.
She’s still unaware that her own father is in the building. Nick is working through his own emotional hurdles. He visits his friend Cooper’s widow Amy (Nadine Nicole). She’s too awesome to be a throwaway character by the way. I hope the show has bigger plans for her than being a wedge between Nick and Sarah. He finds her renovating a building that she is going to turn into a boxing/pilate studio. It’s to Amy that Nick admits he’s known about having a daughter for seven years, a fact he’s scared to share with either Sarah or Katie for obvious reasons. He also wants to tell Amy the truth that he’s responsible for her husband’s death. She won’t let him, saying that anything that doesn’t end with Cooper alive in front of her doesn’t matter. He invites her over to Ava’s rooftop welcome back party. They flirt up a heat wave. Chef John, on the other hand, catches one glimpse of Sarah resting her head on Nick’s shoulder and bows out. Sarah later goes to Nick’s apartment but stops short of knocking on the door since...Nick and Amy are making out big time against it on the inside. (It was steamy and came after he did tell her the truth about Cooper’s death and she slapped him twice and then they gave that grief a workout. I still giggled at the placement though.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t conclude this review with a note on the beautiful conversation that Sarah and Katie shared about adoption. Katie asked Sarah where she thought each of them would be if Katie had been put up to be adopted. Sarah said she knew Katie would have been loved somewhere. She then talked about how mothers and babies exchange cells before birth, so they would have always been with each other in some way. It was really lovely the way she put it. I didn’t feel like the show was trying to make me cry. The lump in my throat felt earned by all the conversations we’ve seen mother and daughter have so far.
Next week we jump forward two months in time. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Are you ready to move into The Village? Ready to crochet a heart to beg for this show to not be evicted?
