The November 15 episode of Sullivan’s Crossing titled “Second Chances” had a focus on grief and the pillars of family that we lean on in those times of need.
The loss of Roy sent ripples through the community, causing some to reflect on the party past, others to look to the future, and a few to even lash out in their grief.
Maggie is stuck in between the past and the future, the life she had in Sullivan’s Crossing and the “perfect” life in Boston. She’s been offered a house, a marriage, and a future with Andrew. Yet she’s still grieving the loss of her home in Sullivan’s Crossing as a child and the disruption of her career in Boston has caused her to question her path.
Andrew wants to be part of Maggie’s future, yet acts out irrationally in possible grief over the failed marriage from his own past. That loss of control of his life with a wife that cheated on him has caused him to try to control Maggie, choosing her future with the proposal and the house. He defines her by the actions of those who have hurt him before and decides she’s cheating on him, losing control and physically lashing out against Cal. While of course I do not condone his actions, or timing, I appreciate that he finally told her his grievances and cut ties. Even before her career collapsed I thought it was obvious she didn’t want to be with him and should have been honest with him.
Now that another connection to her Boston life has been severed, Maggie finally turns to Sully to lean on during her grief. I whispered “No, no, no” as they walked up the stairs at the end of the episode, knowing what she would find. He had painted over their mural, painted over her past. Her future in Boston crumbling, her past painted over, Maggie feels lost and unwanted with no home. Where will she go from here?
That question of the future while dealing with the past was worked through all the character’s stories within the episode.
Lola grieving the loss of her grandfather, Roy, the final member of her family, and fearing going into the future alone. Cal reminded her of her strength and resilience, especially after her hit-and-run accident when she was younger. I’m going to bet that the person that hit her was Maggie during her brief disastrous return to Sullivan’s Crossing as a teenager, and that that will be a big story going forward.
Edna and Frank are still shaken over Frank’s recent shooting. They both want to prepare for the future, yet Edna wants them to heal the past with his family.
Jackson is grieving the loss of his family’s structure, while his parents fight over his future.
Sydney and her brother Rob are also at odds over the best way to raise Rob’s son as Finn continues to act out of his own grief.
Written by the trio of Kerri MacDonald, Dee Raffo, and Roma Roth, and directed by Gail Harvey, whose episodes never fail to bring a tear to my eye.
Morgan Kohan, as I’ve said, is so in tune with her character and reprised her cool and distant persona from the first episode when she first got to the town, as though she was back to square one with the people and place of her old home. Once again she let her guard down in different amounts with different people, not fully letting out her emotions til the end of the episode. Her line reading of her final line in the episode as Maggie questioned why her father would paint over their mural was heartbreaking.
The past few episodes have finally revealed the core of Cal’s character and here Chad Michael Murray was given a large range of emotions to play. Reflecting on the loss of his wife, supporting others in their own grief, and his calm poker face before the tension of the fight, and he excelled at every one of them.
The other characters of the community, and the actors playing them, also got more to work with. And here is one of the few faults I have with the show. I want more from them. All those people and stories are so engaging, yet we get mere moments with each of them. Obviously they are not the stars of the show and I love the stars we have and their own stories, that the community stories are meant to reflect and echo those. The show has a much shorter episode count than a standard season amount (even these days) and so of course does not have much time to explore characters and conflict outside of the central trio. I’d still like to see more of certain characters, especially Jackson, and wish their stories would progress a little faster. However, I guess when my main issue is that I just want more, the show is doing pretty well!
I give the episode 7 out of 10 bar room fights.
New-to-the-U.S. episodes of Sullivan’s Crossing air Wednesdays on The CW.