S01.E06: Tell

[formerlyfreedom]

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Stranded in the middle of nowhere, Ruby and Billy argue about what to do next. Each affected by the other's desperation, the two must come together to confront their actions. Meanwhile, Laurel makes a gruesome discovery and receives an eventful visit from Detective Babe Cloud.

Airing Sunday, May 17, 2020.

[scrb]

So Ruby doesn’t want to lose her kids and convinces Billy not to contact the police.

Billy confronts Ruby about leaving the family behind and she really didn’t give a good answer.

Not sure much else happened, unless Laurel the PWB character tells the cop and they catch up to Billy and Ruby.

Not contacting the police may or may not be consequential.

They may have a cliffhanger assuming they are renewed where they just arrive in LA as Lawrence and the cops close in on them.

Ruby asks Billy about the plans Fiona alluded to.  He says they are business plans but it may be this book proposal that Fiona was talking about.

[CarpeFelis]

Well, that was disappointing. Only one more episode left and nothing really happened in this one.

[GeminiDancer]

They’re hard to like. I’m going to be so mad if they get away with what they did. It killed me that the cops are so damn incompetent. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awww, the sheriff being so flustered was cute. PWB at karaoke cracked me up. 

Plotwise, not a lot happened but Billy and Ruby are finally being honest about their feelings. I know that Ruby should have told Billy she was pregnant before having an abortion but they were in college. Was he really going to drop out to become a single father? I get why he was upset that he had no say in the matter but realistically was he just going to move back home with his parents and raise a baby by himself? As much as I'm sure that part of him wants to have kids, it's a lot easier to fantasize about what could have been now that he's an adult with a shitload of money. The reality of having no job and a baby is a lot harsher.

[Blakeston]

I'll say this - this episode was the first time I felt any real chemistry between Ruby and Billy.

I still don't want them to get away with it all scot-free, though. If I'd contributed to a death the way that Billy did, there's no way that I'd be sweet-talking someone and romping with them in the woods a few hours later.

And I know I was supposed to be charmed by Babe Cloud and Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character, but that whole plotline was bizarre. You've just found a body impaled on a spike, and during the investigation you're flirting and playing with the taxidermied remains of some animal?

[DrSpaceman73]

7 hours ago, scrb said:

Billy confronts Ruby about leaving the family behind and she really didn’t give a good answer.

No, she really didn't.  Basically a "Life as a mom is hard" type answer that, sure, is true but doesn't cause most moms to run away with an ex without telling their family. 

What has not really been explained is why these two broke up in the first place. 

Legally, based on what Billy said happened, I have no idea if he could be criminally prosecuted.  The fact he is running and not calling the police certainly doesn't help his case though. 

[Accidental Martyr]

The whole bit with the local cops just seemed bizarre. I felt like they belonged in another show.

[taanja]

I guess I'm watching a different show cuz I really liked this. Billy's not sure if he 'pushed" Fiona or if she "fell" or if he "just let go" hahaha! 

Ruby leaving her phone behind (I saw it happen when she set the phone on the porch to fill the bucket to wash away Billy's puke) So I knew that was coming back to haunt them.

I am completely unspoiled and have no clue where they are going with this show-- half the time I can NOT predict what might happen so I am being entertained- which is a good thing

I guess I have no morality cuz I don't care if Ruby left her kids (and whinny husband) behind. and I don't care if Billy killed Fiona or if it was an "accident"  I want to see how this all plays out.

I kind of hope that make it !! I am rooting for Ruby and Billy!

9 hours ago, Blakeston said:

don't want them to get away with it all scot-free, though. If I'd contributed to a death the way that Billy did, there's no way that I'd be sweet-talking someone and romping with them in the woods a few hours later.

 

Oh I totally do! want them to get away with it!

[fountain]

I don’t know if I want them to get away with it but it has only been a few days so I don’t feel she abandoned her kids really. I actually understood the whole speech, it made a lot of sense to me really, especially if Ruby doesn’t have a career herself. You can love your family but still want your own identity.

I thought at the end of the trip they decide if they stay together and if they do I would think Ruby gets divorced and shares custody. If they don’t stay together I figure her spouse divorces her anyway and they share custody.

[iMonrey]

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And I know I was supposed to be charmed by Babe Cloud and Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character, but that whole plotline was bizarre. You've just found a body impaled on a spike, and during the investigation you're flirting and playing with the taxidermied remains of some animal?

I'm not wild about this subplot. It's being introduced late in the story and detracts from the main story about Billy and Ruby. It feels like something that was tacked on at the last minute to get Phoebe Waller-Bridge on the show. Like maybe HBO decided it wasn't enough for her to produce it, they wanted her on the screen and the writer had to go back and shoe-horn her in somehow. It feels a little too forced that she's so quirky just for the sake of being quirky.

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I thought at the end of the trip they decide if they stay together and if they do I would think Ruby gets divorced and shares custody. If they don’t stay together I figure her spouse divorces her anyway and they share custody.

No judge is going to take kids away from their mother just because she ran off somewhere for a week. It's not like she didn't call. I'm not sure what Ruby is so worried about, unless her husband really has something much worse on her. I also feel like Ruby is hedging her bets so that she can go back to her husband if she decides not to stay with Billy. 

[taanja]

13 minutes ago, fountain said:

I don’t know if I want them to get away with it but it has only been a few days so I don’t feel she abandoned her kids really. I actually understood the whole speech, it made a lot of sense to me really, especially if Ruby doesn’t have a career herself. You can love your family but still want your own identity.

I thought at the end of the trip they decide if they stay together and if they do I would think Ruby gets divorced and shares custody. If they don’t stay together I figure her spouse divorces her anyway and they share custody.

I didn't see or hear any conclusions made between Billy and Ruby -- only that they want to continue to the destination. The 'journey" is only supposed to be a week? Then they would decide where to go from there.

But everything changed when Fiona bit the dust!

[kieyra]

7 hours ago, Accidental Martyr said:

The whole bit with the local cops just seemed bizarre. I felt like they belonged in another show.

It felt like a strange Fargo homage or something. 

I love PWB beyond all reason, but her American accent is from everywhere.

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

No judge is going to take kids away from their mother just because she ran off somewhere for a week. It's not like she didn't call. I'm not sure what Ruby is so worried about, unless her husband really has something much worse on her. I also feel like Ruby is hedging her bets so that she can go back to her husband if she decides not to stay with Billy. 

No, but she was worried about reporting the death and getting wrapped up into the investigation of a death that looks pretty freakin' suspicious.  If she was under suspicion or even indicted, I would imagine she'd fear her husband would have a good case.  I don't know enough about the law and custody to know if that's true but I think her worry that it would look terrible and her husband probably has more money to fight the issue in court makes sense.

However, a lot of this could have been avoided had they called right away. 

I did find it interesting that after Ruby had her outburst about what being a wife and mother felt like (i.e. her life not belonging to her anymore) that Billy started lamenting about the fact that she had an abortion.  She might (and I do stress might as I think part of Billy's appeal is that she sees him as an escape from her regular life as opposed to her regular life) have been happier being married to him but she'd probably still feel like she didn't have control of her life. And it'd likely be even worse since she was younger. 

 

[Armchair Critic]

The police gave me a Fargo vibe but kind of late in the game to add that in unless they plan on another season?

[whiporee]

I think Ruby has a history of mental instability, and this would be another example of that so she would lose her kids. She's texted Billy twice -- once 12 years ago and once five, and my guess is the five was the breakdown Laurence insinuated. I don't think she'd lose her kids, but she might lose custody. 

I don't think Billy pushed Fiona, and Fiona is the bad guy in this. She did stalk them; she did extort and she did steal. While she didn't deserve to die, she's not a victim of Billy and Ruby. I think if they had chosen to talk to the police immediately they might have gotten away with things, but not without a lot of difficulty. If the taxidermist doesn't say anything, though, i think they can get off. Plenty of reasons for there to be Billy and Ruby's DNA on Fiona, and if the train does not have video of them jumping, or if the train doesn't have video of them getting back on ... as long as there's no real witness to them not being on the train, the story might work. 

Except for cell phone tracking. I don't know how that all works. 

 

[DrSpaceman73]

3 hours ago, whiporee said:

I think Ruby has a history of mental instability, and this would be another example of that so she would lose her kids. She's texted Billy twice -- once 12 years ago and once five, and my guess is the five was the breakdown Laurence insinuated. I don't think she'd lose her kids, but she might lose custody. 

Yes I get the impression she is likely Bipolar.  Or at least that is what they are trying to portray.  While the running off with Billy might not cause her to lose all custody of her kids depending on how all this turns out, it doesn't help her case by any means in the divorce by any means.  I would think a judge if they saw some evidence of continued recent mental illness would be at the very least splitting time of her kids with the two of them

 

4 hours ago, whiporee said:

I don't think Billy pushed Fiona, and Fiona is the bad guy in this. She did stalk them; she did extort and she did steal. While she didn't deserve to die, she's not a victim of Billy and Ruby. 

I wouldn't blame Billy for her death even if he just let her go.  But I am not sure I would call Fiona the "bad guy"  We don't really know enough about their business relationship or personal relationship to know if that is true.  If he was stealing money from the business in that account, she had a right to try and go get it back.  She did not exactly go about it the right way but she had a right to at least try and keep him from stealing it.