What happens when you try to detox off the drug you've been addicted to? You get Beth Boland and the relapse is almost inevitable. Elsewhere, Ruby and Annie tried a hustle of their own to make some quick cash with disastrous results and Turner and Noah set out to slay their white whale. Let's discuss.
GLUTEN IS BAD!
We Got This
Annie and Ruby are barely scraping by financially and they need the kind of cash that doesn't come from overtime. Annie is trying to get Sadie hormones to start his transition and Ruby needs to find a competent lawyer to save Stan from prison. It was fun to see them plan a way to get money separate from Beth and we finally got a solo scene with those two and Rio. Annie's idea to traffic drugs over the border for Rio using Sara's troop was not the brightest and it was surprising Ruby even went a long with it, but she is trying to save her family once more.
Annie's loose lips have clearly given Noah all the ammo he needs because when she asks for the day off to take a 'field trip' Noah gets even more dirt he needs to build his case. This still really bothers me, he is sleeping with Annie and also working his case, how is this even ethical? These things make Noah a very unlikable and unrootable character, there are shades of regret in some of his expressions especially when he talks about Annie to Turner, but the way he is getting his intel is dirty. I do understand that cops who've been deep undercover sometimes cross this line, but he barely knows Annie and went straight for her bed. It almost would have made more sense to have someone like Rio be undercover because then, you could buy the emotional connection taking root. While Noah is planning his raid, Annie is up north attempting to retrieve Rio's drugs and it does not go well.
The Trip up north does not go well because when Annie gets the drugs, Ruby has a crisis of conscious when a sweet elderly woman compliments her on how wonderful Sara is. This makes Ruby slam on the brakes and she ditches the drugs in a trash can without telling Annie. Ruby made the right call for the sake of her daughter here. Sara is already knocking her parents off their pedestals and seeing her mother hauled off by border agents would almost be too much to come back from. As a mother, Annie should have understood this especially since it could have taken her away from Sadie. Annie's short sided anger once she finds out what Ruby did leads to the latter giving Annie some cold hard facts. Beth has been being reckless, but part of why it thrills her so much is because she's always had to be so many things to so many depending on her, Annie has never had anyone depend on her in that way and that is why Annie is so willing and able to make bigs swings without contemplating the consequences. This scene was probably one of the best in the episode because Beth wasn't involved at all but we saw her through the lens of the two people who know her best. In the end, Ruby and Annie are empty handed on both fronts. Annie did wake up to Noah being more than he seems when Beth questioned how the feds would even know about the dealership, the lightbulb went off in her head and she is onto Noah's game.
Odds and Ends:
* By episode's end, Ruby is determined to find Stan a lawyer because she simply cannot let him give up. Was this decision because she knows Beth is most likely back in the game? I think so and things are about to get messy!
* Annie needing hormones for Sadie her insurance won't provide is important to showcase as he transitions but why isn't Gregg stepping in as well? He is both of theirs and this is a journey Sadie is going to need both his parents for. Annie may be short sided and a disaster most of the time, but she wants the best for her son and this needs to be a collaborative effort.
* In another life, Beth should have opened a bakery because those sweets looked beautiful and delicious.
* The two PTA moms were enough to push anyone back to a life of crime.
* Dean seems to realize Beth is a time bomb and it'll be interesting to see if he keeps pushing back on what she is doing or finally just gives in.
* If Beth put those ledger pages in the ceiling, the FBI has horrible sweeping skills and it proves she isn't as savvy as I have been giving her credit for.
* Rio was totally low key hurt Beth blocked his number right? Put all the other mess aside, she totally used him last episode and it seems to sting in his own Rio way.
That is all for now! Let me know what do you think about how things are shaping up?