scarletlettered

I wish there were recaps of this show, if only to help me keep the freaking cousins, fathers and half-sisters straight. Anyway I did a recap of episode 2.5 for anyone interested. I take no responsibility for spelling names incorrectly; closed captioning is super-inconsistent. ESCAPING POLYGAMY EPISODE 2.5: “Trouble for Mom” SITUATIONAL URGENCY Eskill (brother of Amanda, Kami, Rachel and son of Verl Kingston and Lori Grant), wants to leave because he doesn’t want to abuse women or neglect his children. Verl is trying to schedule a reprogramming session for Eskill with the family prophet, Paul Kingston. We are told that Paul has essentially magical brainwashing powers and that Eskill must escape before he is spiritually lobotomized, information presented with intercut footage of alleged brainwashing victims fawning over Paul. It’s impossible to know whether these supposed sessions are a one-hour conversation or a weekend of mental and physical abuse, so Eskill’s actual peril level is hard to suss out. Shirley (wife of Daniel Kingston, mother of Shannell and Kolleen and their older brother whose name I’ve forgotten, and sister-wife of Kathy) is being fired from her Order-assigned job and evicted from her Order-assigned crap apartment. Daniel is also threatening to “sue” her—in the totally non-legal court of the Order itself. She also has a few underage children who will presumably be homeless with her. Shirley is being evicted in part for letting the film crew watch the local Health Department inspect her extremely not-up-to-code apartment during episode 1.2. Fellow binge-watchers will not recognize the “Previously on” footage of said inspection because the mother of one of the subjects of that episode has sued A&E, forcing the network to pull the episode from broadcast and streaming. Score (on a scale from spiritual disillusionment to imminent child rape): 5 FAMILY GRUESOMENESS One of Verl’s wives is his half-sister; Verl is also treating Lori badly because of all the defections of her children. Daniel has been punishing Shirley (and Shirley’s children) for some time, by neglecting her, isolating her and forcing her to live in squalor. He has never physically abused her; but she’s worried that his behavior might escalate if she doesn’t leave the property by tomorrow. Score: (on a scale from shitty apartments to child sexual abuse) 5 ESCAPEE LIKEABILITY Eskill has a cherubic face and this amazing “sweet little brother vibe.” When he says he never wants to treat a woman the way his mom is being treated, it’s hard not to want to hug him. He is also impressively kind and articulate about his reasons when explaining his choice to his weeping mother. Shirley has been a staple character since the first season. She is perpetually aggrieved, frazzled and indecisive, which is generally not a good look. But these qualities have been at least partially inculcated by living in a perpetual system of intellectual, emotional and economic abuse. And you have to feel for her as her life comes completely apart. Score: 8 CULTIC REVELATIONS We learn that Verl is one of the Kingston Clan’s “Numbered Men”—a high status group that comprise one of the inner circles of cult patriarchs. We also hear that a Kingston patriarch’s responsibilities to a wife (and her children) are limited to finding her ‘a place to live and a place to work.’ Score (on a scale from ‘we’re not allowed to cut our hair’ to ‘Paul Kingston is a descendant of Jesus Christ’): 4 ESCAPE AWESOMENESS Despite the producers’ attempts to suggest imminent danger, and a bit of off-timing, Eskill’s escape goes off pretty smoothly. Meanwhile, Shirley panics over packing, moving and finding a new job, driving the moving crew a bit crazy. Then Daniel, apparently getting word that Shirley was talking to the film crew, first phones Shirley to level vague threats, then does a drive-by at the apartment and finishes by calling 911 to report trespassers and “hostile children” at his home. After driving up, Daniel immediately turns around upon seeing the film crew; Shannell and Kolleen hilariously shout at him as he speeds off, calling him a coward. Shirley also has a very satisfying conversation with the police officer who arrives, informing him that Daniel is neither her husband nor a legal tenant of her apartment. Score: 7 FAUX DRAMA The crew arranges by text to meet Eskill in a parking garage, then freaks out that the text may have been sent by a Kingston mole rather than Eskill himself. The crew arranges to move Eskill out while everyone is at church; there’s a mini-panic when Lori leaves the house a few minutes late. Score (on a scale from telling it how it is to Kody Brown fleeing fake CPS agents): -2 TOTAL: 27