S03.E05: You Only Get One

[MCMLXXVII]

With his club shuttered, a distraught Vincent follows a lead down a dangerous path. Paul reaches out to Tod's parents. Candy battles Harvey over her latest script and reunites with her estranged son, Adam. Lori hits the feature dancing circuit with mixed results. Abby reflects on her choices when she gets an unexpected visitor. Bobby does right by Black Frankie. Alston defends the plan to clean up Midtown. Gene reckons with his conflicted personal life.

[DiabLOL]

My only consistent complaint about this show is that I have always found the Vincent Frainkie storyline really unnecessary and boring to boot. If they wanted to show the mob side of things I wish they'd found another way to do so. Tonight really wore me down with the whole you killed my brother tedium.

Anyhow tonight I was also perturbed that the voice was inside Lori's head. I get it. The life is getting to her and the drugs aren't helping BUT I was genuinely freaked out by all the creepazoidal fans she was encountering and was into the show giving us this side. The hazards. Women who do this need security. I know they usually have it nowadays but as they said the tour she was doing (By car! Alone!) was a new thing at the time. The danger to her WAS REAL.

[Armchair Critic]

When Candy was watching scenes from her film she froze it on a man with makeup, was that her boyfriend? I figured he may have been lying to her about himself, there was never a company picnic.

Darlene is paying for her past and I assume the other women who leave that life will face the same problems.

I'm not sure if that voice was in Lori's head or if it actually happened. Maybe by the time the motel manager got there the guy was already gone. They didn't show the guy so I don't know. But I have had a feeling of doom about her for awhile.

Seems like I should like Abby more but her character doesn't do much for me. Same for Vincent.

[MCMLXXVII]

21 hours ago, DiabLOL said:

Anyhow tonight I was also perturbed that the voice was inside Lori's head. I get it. The life is getting to her and the drugs aren't helping BUT I was genuinely freaked out by all the creepazoidal fans she was encountering and was into the show giving us this side. The hazards. Women who do this need security. I know they usually have it nowadays but as they said the tour she was doing (By car! Alone!) was a new thing at the time. The danger to her WAS REAL.

Exactly! I’m sure half the reason Lori is with the boyfriend/suitcase pimp is that he’s de facto bodyguard in these situations. I’m kind of surprised he didn’t realize that and let her travel alone. You often hear of sex workers having unusually possessive/abusive partners, then there’s this guy. 

Her tapes were only $20 each, I feel like 1985 prices would have been higher? And no one selling Polaroids? I am impressed that the show created a whole faux hair band and single just for Lori to be a music video vixen, though her hair looked way too 90s in this episode, this was the height (pardon the pun) of big 80s perms.

Nice to see Darlene’s moved on, but you could tell that Abby realized she’s lost much  of her privilege in the eyes of the nursing school board by still managing the same bar. NYU grad Abby would have had more clout to advocate for Darlene.

Happy that Black Frankie is free. 

Edited October 9, 2019 by MCMLXXVII

[Mindthinkr]

The scenes with Paul tenderly caring for his partner Todd were spot on for the times. My heart broke for him losing his partner and then reaching out to his parents so he didn’t have to die alone. 

Many of the girls are reflecting on how their past is now going to effect their future. I’m scared for Lori. 

This is the last season of this show so I wonder how they are going to wrap it up. 

[arachne]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

This is the last season of this show so I wonder how they are going to wrap it up. 

It wouldn't surprise me if the series finale contained some reference to "personal computers."

[Traveller519]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

The scenes with Paul tenderly caring for his partner Todd were spot on for the times. My heart broke for him losing his partner and then reaching out to his parents so he didn’t have to die alone. 

Many of the girls are reflecting on how their past is now going to effect their future. I’m scared for Lori. 

This is the last season of this show so I wonder how they are going to wrap it up. 

I agree with everything regarding the Paul story. Chris Coy has been absolutely killing it this year with such a subtle performance. He played the quiet strength Paul needed so well through the first few episodes before allowing the to emotion creep-in during this episode, but not in an over-the-top manner. I doubt the Deuce has enough clout to get much Emmy buzz, but I'd love to see him get a nomination for his work this season, and I think this is the episode to do it.

The opening scene with the family watching the Frankie video was incredibly well done too, it felt very genuine, and of course the video fading out to a porn tape was excellent comic relief as a button.

Big props to Bobby on effectively playing the role of the man in the coma's "brother-in-law" and getting Black Frankie out in short order. I'm glad to see him do good.

Any scenario I can see playing out for Lori from here, I don't particularly like.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Traveller519

[Mindthinkr]

1 minute ago, Traveller519 said:

I'd love to see him get a nomination for his work

So would I and I think you explained how he was masterful very well. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Eileen took a Pretty Woman turn in that lovely dress and hat ensemble. Her boyfriend was no Richard Gere though. Something's still fishy to me about that guy.

Was that $50 dollar bill Lori got at the strip club counterfeit? Why did she act so weird about it later?

Lol, they just left that guy's souped up Mustang running in the middle of the street. Guess it doesn't matter now.

Lori has a stalker. I didn't know that was a thing in 1984. (Or wait, did she hallucinate the guy banging on her door?)

[Mindthinkr]

2 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was that $50 dollar bill Lori got at the strip club counterfeit? Why did she act so weird about it later?

On it the man (Craig) had written: Will you marry me? And something else that I didn’t catch. Perhaps a phone number. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

It wouldn't surprise me if the series finale contained some reference to "personal computers."

Or if they flash forward to the early 90s and mention the first web browser. Ultimately wide availability of internet access and web browsers killed the type of porn delivery depicted on this show. Now anyone can produce it and upload it to the web. I guess monetizing it is still a business though.

[peridot]

47 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Eileen took a Pretty Woman turn in that lovely dress and hat ensemble. 

She looked amazing in that outfit!

I can't even imagine a world without cell phones.  Having to go back home to check your messages seems like a pain.

It was good to see Darlene again, now it's time to see what happened to her former pimp (forgot his name).

Abby said 15 years have passed, but everyone looks the same.

Lori's situation is very sad. She could have been killed, but her boyfriend / pimp is too stupid or just doesn't care to protect her. 

It was good to see Mike caring about his health, but since when did he advocate murder?

[Armchair Critic]

6 hours ago, arachne said:

It wouldn't surprise me if the series finale contained some reference to "personal computers."

In the late 90's I worked for a cable company and would get commission when I would sell a customer an internet package. I worked the late shift and back then guys would call in to order skin flicks (now you just do it on your remote), I made so much commission by talking them into buying the internet so they could look at porn whenever they wanted. 

[heisenberg]

4 hours ago, peridot said:

I can't even imagine a world without cell phones.  Having to go back home to check your messages seems like a pain.

I really miss those days.  Everything was moving slower and you had time to live, it was not a perpetual rush. 

[Snewtsie]

6 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

On it the man (Craig) had written: Will you marry me? And something else that I didn’t catch. Perhaps a phone number. 

It was his phone number, and then he also wrote, "I will see you later" - which was indeed a sign he was stalking her.  Paranoia from that, combined with her drug use, lead to her hallucination later at the motel. 

[Snewtsie]

12 hours ago, MCMLXXVII said:

Nice to see Darlene’s moved on, but you could tell that Abby realized she’s lost much  of her privilege in the eyes of the nursing school board by still managing the same bar. NYU grad Abby would have had more clout to advocate for Darlene.

Abby has been knocked down a peg, hasn't she?  She misjudged the WAP group last week, and she misjudged the nursing panel at Darlene's hearing. She did Darlene no favors with her blunt, "Yep she was a prostitute. Yep she stood outside on a corner. Yep she slept with men for money. And yep, she's been arrested for it." Geez, how about dialing it down a little? These people needed assurance Darlene's past was not that bad, and Abby blew the doors off that strategy.  I get what she was trying to say about everyone has a story and Darlene's past shouldn't define her forever, but Abby had only a few minutes to speak and she focused on exactly what they didn't want to hear.  Then when she said she was still managing the same bar, that was pretty telling... She was born into a world of money & privilege, and she's always been smug, but now people are not automatically impressed with her like they once were. 

[DangerousMinds]

7 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Eileen took a Pretty Woman turn in that lovely dress and hat ensemble. Her boyfriend was no Richard Gere though. Something's still fishy to me about that guy.

Was that $50 dollar bill Lori got at the strip club counterfeit? Why did she act so weird about it later?

Lol, they just left that guy's souped up Mustang running in the middle of the street. Guess it doesn't matter now.

Lori has a stalker. I didn't know that was a thing in 1984. (Or wait, did she hallucinate the guy banging on her door?)

There have always been stalkers.

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, heisenberg said:

I really miss those days.  Everything was moving slower and you had time to live, it was not a perpetual rush. 

Exactly. Most messages aren't urgent, no need to be checking them all the time. They could wait.

[txhorns79]

I really enjoyed Paul's storyline.  I was worried it would turn into one of those things where Paul was shut out by the parents, and was pleasantly surprised it went somewhere else.  The only thing that I found it hard to believe was that Paul wouldn't have Todd's healthcare proxy.  I would think both would have gone through this process with other friends and recognized the importance of having that long before Todd was in a place where he was no longer competent.  

I found the scene with Eileen and her son interesting as well.  His anger at his mother was both legitimate and completely calculated.  I wonder how many times she has heard a variation of his rant followed by a request for money.      

7 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Lori has a stalker. I didn't know that was a thing in 1984. (Or wait, did she hallucinate the guy banging on her door?)

Celebrities being stalked and harassed by "fans" was a thing long before the 80s.  For example, Play Misty for Me came out in 1971.  I feel for Lori.  It seems like she is one of the women Eileen was talking about, who are circling the drain on their time doing porn, and will simply vanish into oblivion when their time is up.  It's even more sad for Lori, as she is seemingly famous, but has no one. 

Quote

These people needed assurance Darlene's past was not that bad, and Abby blew the doors off that strategy. 

Darlene had arrests for solicitation and loitering.  Nothing Abby was saying about Darlene's past was surprising to that nursing board. 

[MCMLXXVII]

10 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

 I feel for Lori.  It seems like she is one of the women Eileen was talking about, who are circling the drain on their time doing porn, and will simply vanish into oblivion when their time is up.  It's even more sad for Lori, as she is seemingly famous, but has no one. 

I know! Weird that she has no female friends. I was inspired to google Ginger Lynn this morning since she would have been the top star in 1985 and there seems to have been camaraderie among the stars of the day. 

[tennisgurl]

Eileen looked very pretty woman when she was in her picnic outfit, she looked really lovely. That conversation with her son was interesting, its sad to see how bad their relationship has become and how much he seems to be floundering and bitter. Eileen was never much of a presence in his life, but you could always tell how much she loved him. I also liked to see her ruminate more on what the feminist group said about what happens to many of the women who are in porn. What happens to them? They just disappear after they get too old or worn out. 

The story with Paul broke my heart. You could really see how hard he was trying to keep it together for his partners sake, even though he was falling apart, especially as his condition got worse and worse. It just killed me, especially their last scene together, and when he called his dad. I also liked how things went with the parents, I expected them to just ignore Paul's calls or something, but I liked the way it played out. You could really tell how filled with regret the mom was at not spending time with her son while she had the chance. 

Great to see Darlene again, and that she is doing well (and looks great!) even if she is struggling to move beyond her past, because people just wont let her. I wonder if we will see Larry again next. Maybe auditioning for a play in Paul's theater!

The video of Frankie was a nice cap to the character, very touching and in character, and it turning into porn at the end is just so Frankie, that it made the scene an even better tribute. 

I worry that Lori is going to be one of those girls that just disappears after porn gets tired of her. She is famous and successful in her industry, but is still terribly lonely and unhappy. I hope maybe she can make some more female friends in porn who can understand her fears and frustrations, like some kind of porn star support group! So was that guy in her head, manifesting her fears about stalkers and creepy fans, or was someone there? Which is the better option?

[heisenberg]

2 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Exactly. Most messages aren't urgent, no need to be checking them all the time. They could wait.

In those days people knew that it could take a while before you get the message, they had to be tolerant and patient. Today everyone is supposed to get in touch with you on the spot no matter what.  I am still resisting sometimes but it is getting harder to do so.  A trick is to leave the cell phone at home like if it was a hard line but people expect you to carry it all the time.

[DoctorAtomic]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:08 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Eileen took a Pretty Woman turn in that lovely dress and hat ensemble. Her boyfriend was no Richard Gere though. Something's still fishy to me about that guy.

Was that $50 dollar bill Lori got at the strip club counterfeit? Why did she act so weird about it later?

Lol, they just left that guy's souped up Mustang running in the middle of the street. Guess it doesn't matter now.

Lori has a stalker. I didn't know that was a thing in 1984. (Or wait, did she hallucinate the guy banging on her door?)

See Star 80 - which was predicted for Lori by others here. I hope it doesn't turn out that way.

On 10/8/2019 at 12:02 PM, peridot said:

Having to go back home to check your messages seems like a pain.

Yeah, it was easier to just go track your friends down at their work, etc., if they were close by enough.

I'd say re: messages, back then, you only left messages that were actually important. Now, I get emails for literally everything. Which I just delete anyway. I especially like work-related things that need to be done immediately when I'm in bed. No. You come to my office and speak to me like an adult.

[msrachelj]

On 10/8/2019 at 9:04 PM, DangerousMinds said:

Exactly. Most messages aren't urgent, no need to be checking them all the time. They could wait.

Just yesterday I kept getting "urgent" texts and phone calls from a friend while I was in my car, trying to shop etc. I don't want to be available for  your bullshit drama 24/7. And if you don't answer they give you hell because everyone thinks you should have your cell phone attached to your hand at all times.