Well that was much more of what I've been hoping to see from the show. They intertwined the two fantasies this week and I think it worked really well. It added a resolution to Eileens fantasy that I didn't expect.
Ruby spent the episode really missing her husband. She tried to call him, but The Island wouldn’t let the call go through.
As expected, Elena advised Ruby to take the approach she seems to have taken in her own life: to move forward and leave her old life behind.
I think I missed the moment that changed Elena’s mind, but she decided to meet Ruby ‘where she was’, by bringing her a few precious items from home. Including a photo album and note from Mel. It was a sweet, lovely moment that also softened Elena.
Guests: Eileen
Fantasy: To mend her relationship with her daughter.
Eileen is a larger than life DIVA. She’s selfish and self-absorbed and unable to fathom why her daughter has cut her off.
Eileen never noticed that her daughter spent most of her childhood waiting to be abandoned for good. The woman actually referred to her daughter as “my little backpack”!?!
The final straw for her daughter was finding that her mother had left her baby grandson alone in her house to go to a party. Because Eileen was supremely lucky and nothing unfortunate happened to the child, Eileen refuses to acknowledge the gravity of her actions.
The Island decides that the best way to force Eileen to entertain anyone else’s point of view is to make her invisible. She can’t make herself the center of every situation because only Ruby and Elena can see her.
Another interesting aspect of this punishment was the fact that becoming invisible is Eileen’s biggest fear when it comes to growing older. She screams into the world to make sure no one forgets her.
This is a woman ripe for years of therapy, but this is television, the story has to be wrapped up in 43 minutes.
I rather liked the way the writers approached it. They didn’t try to fix Eileen by the end of the episode; instead the writers focused the story on getting Eileen to recognize the situation. You have to acknowledge there’s a problem before you can begin to fix it.
Ruby, once again, proved why The Island felt she would be a valuable. Her words of wisdom, once again, had a real impact.(Is she an employee; an extension of The Island? Any thoughts?)
Guests: Charles
Fantasy: Wants to experience something he can’t explain.
Charles is a scientist who has determined that everything in life is explainable. That simple fact has left him miserable. His fantasy is to encounter something he cannot explain through science. Enter Eileen.
What left me a little puzzled was the fact that he tosses out a few theories, but accepts Eileen’s deceleration that he’s incapable of dealing with irrationality a little too easily.
Perhaps that was the point. Maybe the unexplainable thing he stumbled onto was the possibility of love.
What are your theories on that? I am really interested to hear your thoughts.
Or it could be the simple fact that Eileen’s presence is just so big that Charles wasn’t able to think about anything else? I bet you a nickle that, if they’re together for the next 10 years...he’ll be answering to "Charlie".
Eileen’s first instinct is to try to circumvent The Island’s lesson, but Charles wouldn’t let her. However, he was able to facilitate the Eileen’s first steps back into her daughter’s life.
When Charles decided to help Eileen, it became evident that he is a horrible actor. LOL This guy was definitely intended to be a scientist.
I think one of the main reasons I enjoyed this episode so much was Debbi Morgan’s performance. (I first saw Debbi Morgan as part of one of those ‘summer teen story lines’ on All My Children.) Her energy was infectious. She had me smiling every moment she was onscreen.
The other piece of the puzzle was the fact that I felt more connected to all of the guests this week. I was drawn into their stories in a way I wasn't last week.
What did you think about the episode?
