S02.E01: Mrs. McRoberts Is Dead

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Detectives question Allison about the night before. After the trauma of the break in, Kevin searches for meaning by running for city council. Kurt plants a seed of doubt while Allison and Patty deal with the repercussions of their actions.

Original air date 2022.08.22

[Spartan Girl]

Thank God Kevin won’t be in politics after all. I had to love Allison cackling at how she sabotaged his commercial. Yeah, it was a short-lived victory since he’s still famous, but he still won’t be city councilman.

Patty is right: Alison is not a victim, and it’s long past time for her to stop playing the card. She has options, and even if they aren’t perfect, they have to be much easier than murder or faking her death. I guess she’ll have to figure that out the hard way.

Wow, Neil isn’t quite as stupid as he is in sitcomland. Choking someone is trying to kill someone, so he doesn’t have the morality advantage over Alison here.

Cant help noticing that Alison isn’t even trying to hide how much she hates Kevin in sitcomland anymore. He’s just too stupid to notice.

[Broderbits]

26 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Yeah, it was a short-lived victory since he’s still famous, but he still won’t be city councilman.

Unless all his fans write his name on the ballot, which is a possibility since Kevin never seems to lose.

Alison needs to dye her hair, buy a burner phone, set fire to her car, and hop a plane to anywhere else.

[thuganomics85]

I knew that Allison's plan was going to backfire as soon as I saw the video, because I figured there was going to be a lot of folks out there that actually got a kick out of it and actually love Kevin and his antics.  Hell, probably found him "relatable" in a lot of ways.  He really is one of those guys who will keep falling upwards.

Continue to like how the show isn't painting Allison has some kind of saint because while Kevin is obnoxious on so many, many levels, there are clearly plenty of ways that Allison could escape this situation without resorting to attempted murder or trying to sabotage him (in order to attempt murder again?)  Unless it's all going to be revealed that he has been abusing her in ways that we don't see in "sitcom land", she really isn't as big of a victim as she likes to think she is.  I guess faking your own death is a step above trying to murder someone, but I don't see what working out for her either.

Not sure what is going to happen with Neil now, since he's still alive but clearly remembers everything.  I guess they'll find some way to not have him go to the cops.  Maybe he will be worried Allison will use how he choked her as a counterattack (especially since there is a noticeable mark)?

Not sure how long Patty will be able to keep Tammy in the dark.  Patty's poker face isn't exactly a strong one to say the least.

Glad the show is finally back!

[BusyOctober]

I didn’t love this show last season, but stuck it out. Overall, I was not enjoying it, but figured I had to tune in to this season to see what the plan would be.  Once I started, I realized I can’t keep watching this.  I actively hate every character.  The “sitcom” scenes irk me to no end and induce the urge to kill Kevin, his dad and Neil myself.  I get that those scenes are written and acted  OTT by design, but I HATE Kevin more this season than last. And I hate looking at his stupid face. For my own sanity, I won’t watch anymore.  I will check in here to see how it turns out after the finale.  Kinda hoping everyone dies and does this factionalized version of Worcester a huge f***in’ favor.

[seacliffsal]

I noticed that my perspectives about Allison and Kevin have completely reversed.  I now find her the villain and Kevin more the victim.  Although Kevin is self-centered and loutish, but that really pales compared to Allison and her attempts at murder, her responsibility for the death of the guy she hired to kill Kevin, and the serious condition that Neil is now in. 

Last season she addressed divorce with the typical 'I'll have nothing' response, but, really, part of her issue is wanting to be the 'victim' even though she has made the decisions that shaped her life.

[Harvey]

4 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I didn’t love this show last season, but stuck it out. Overall, I was not enjoying it, but figured I had to tune in to this season to see what the plan would be.  Once I started, I realized I can’t keep watching this.  I actively hate every character.  The “sitcom” scenes irk me to no end and induce the urge to kill Kevin, his dad and Neil myself.  I get that those scenes are written and acted  OTT by design, but I HATE Kevin more this season than last. And I hate looking at his stupid face. For my own sanity, I won’t watch anymore.  I will check in here to see how it turns out after the finale.  Kinda hoping everyone dies and does this factionalized version of Worcester a huge f***in’ favor.

You are right. This is a bad show and a massive waste of what was a great premise. For me I'll watch it anyway since there really isn't much else out there at the moment and this is the final season, but I don't expect to be woved by it anymore.

[qtpye]

15 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Patty is right: Alison is not a victim, and it’s long past time for her to stop playing the card. She has options, and even if they aren’t perfect, they have to be much easier than murder or faking her death. I guess she’ll have to figure that out the hard way.

44 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I noticed that my perspectives about Allison and Kevin have completely reversed.  I now find her the villain and Kevin more the victim.  Although Kevin is self-centered and loutish, but that really pales compared to Allison and her attempts at murder, her responsibility for the death of the guy she hired to kill Kevin, and the serious condition that Neil is now in. 

Last season she addressed divorce with the typical 'I'll have nothing' response, but, really, part of her issue is wanting to be the 'victim' even though she has made the decisions that shaped her life.

I do find this show fascinating. This is due to my coming of age during the fat guy/ shrew hot wife era of TV.

However, I have to ask...why not divorce the asshole? She wanted to be a widow because it was more prestigious than being a divorcee but faking her own death will require getting a totally new identity. It's not like that have a bank account full of savings for her to run away with to start a fresh life.

Also, I agree with her not accepting that her own decisions helped lead her to Kevin.

If she does not change her victim mentality she will just end up with another Kevin (or even worse) in her new life.

[cardigirl]

Sometimes when a writer has an agenda, it's difficult to tell the story well, and that's what I think happened with this show. It was an interesting premise about how the world is conditioned to believe that loutish men deserve perfect (in appearance) wives, and that being less than complete partners with them in marriage was acceptable. The creator wanted to unmask this conditioning for the false reality it presents. But she has not done a great job in setting up the story so we have more understanding of what is motivating Alison to take this extreme action of murdering Kevin. And therefore the audience (me) has trouble being sympathetic to her situation. 

When she drove drunk and then was not arrested because of who she is married to, I lost what little respect I might have had left. I've no idea where this show is going to go.  In the first season, the divide between the sitcom world and her reality was effective, but never did we see Kevin be anything but boorish and self-centered. Reasons to leave him? For sure. Reasons to kill him? Not so sure. 

Anyway, like a lot of people, I'll keep watching, in the hopes there's a turning point where I'm invested in the characters. Patty I can care about. But that's about it. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by cardigirl

[Starchild]

IIRC, the murder aspect came up after she found out that he blew all their savings, most (if not all) of which was contributed by her, and a divorce would leave her penniless and at a huge disadvantage as a blue-collar woman with little education.

This left her feeling almost violated by him, and I guess she then thought that she would at least get some sort of insurance payout if he died, which he pretty much deserved for what she felt was the theft of her life, past present and future.

They both expected to support each other in having a good life when they got married, but so far only he has benefitted. Now she thinks it's her turn.

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, Starchild said:

IIRC, the murder aspect came up after she found out that he blew all their savings, most (if not all) of which was contributed by her, and a divorce would leave her penniless and at a huge disadvantage as a blue-collar woman with little education.

Why would she let Kevin be the only one checking on the money?  In this day and age, one only has to log into an app to see what is in the accounts. It seemed like she gave Kevin all the money and somehow never suspected that he might not be responsible. She also seemed never to look at the balances once in ten years.

The problem is that this show wanted to deconstruct the oafish lout of a husband from the wife's point of view. However, Kevin has to be a truly abusive asshole for us to root for his death. That would make this show feel too much like Law & Order. 

My pure speculation is that she does not kill Kevin by the end of the series and just divorces him. This allows her to finally take agency for her own life.

[Spartan Girl]

I don’t mind Alison being unlikable. The whole point of the show is that all the characters are toxic 8n their own way, and that’s why they all wind up in toxic relationships. That’s why Alison can’t truly rid herself of Kevin yet: if she isn’t chained to him, then she can’t be the victim. Maybe her foiled plans are a subconscious way of self-sabotaging herself. Each failure keeps feeding her anger and hatred, and then her ideas get more outlandish and bound to fail.

“That’s why you tried to kill him? Because he doesn’t care when you whine?” Neil wasn’t exactly wrong. Neither was he wrong when he pointed out that Alison is using Patty, just like the other girl back in high school. Even Tammy could surmise as much. Alison might be the “giver” in her relationship with Kevin, but she’s definitely “the taker” when it comes to Patty. And Patty is clearly getting tired of getting sucked into Alison’s mess.

[chocolatine]

7 hours ago, qtpye said:

However, I have to ask...why not divorce the asshole? She wanted to be a widow because it was more prestigious than being a divorcee but faking her own death will require getting a totally new identity. It's not like that have a bank account full of savings for her to run away with to start a fresh life.

That's my problem with the faking her own death scenario as well. She'd have to leave town, move somewhere where nobody knows her, start from zero, and always live in fear of being discovered. If she thinks that Kevin will turn the whole town against her if she divorces him - well, she can still move far away and start fresh, just the same as she would if she faked her death, but she'd be able to keep her own identity and not worry about getting found out or being liable for any (more) crimes. 

[arc]

Neil has a helluva nerve saying Allison walks all over Patty. I mean, he's not wrong, but that is his own exact dynamic with Kevin. Allison even said as much to him up when they were alone: "maybe he doesn't care when I whine, but he laughs when you bleed."

Why does Allison's contacts list have one called "Love of my life"?

18 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

her responsibility for the death of the guy she hired to kill Kevin

Isn't it near-death? I thought the whole reason they kept bringing up Nick was because he had survived somehow.

Allison should have planned to Gone Girl Kevin from the start.

[DanaK]

Allison certainly didn’t expect that result with Kevin’s ad. Now she feels stuck. Why she doesn’t leave him at this point makes no sense to me

It seems the ladies still have to figure out what to do about Neil

That constant drumming on the soundtrack drove me a little nuts

[Starchild]

2 hours ago, arc said:

Neil has a helluva nerve saying Allison walks all over Patty. I mean, he's not wrong, but that is his own exact dynamic with Kevin. Allison even said as much to him up when they were alone: "maybe he doesn't care when I whine, but he laughs when you bleed."

Not to mention that's how Neil himself treats Patty. Letting her basically be his substitute mom while he lives life as a man-child.

Let's face it, Patty allows this over and over.

[qtpye]

7 hours ago, Starchild said:

Not to mention that's how Neil himself treats Patty. Letting her basically be his substitute mom while he lives life as a man-child.

Let's face it, Patty allows this over and over.

I also picked up on the hint that Neil is not an idiot but pretends to be one so Patty and Kevin will pay for everything in his life.

[Barbarblacksheep]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:20 AM, arc said:

Why does Allison's contacts list have one called "Love of my life"?

I don't know if it was explicitly mentioned or just implied, but I believe the explanation was that Kevin programmed her phone and contacts list and that's how he listed himself. Or is there a separate "Kevin" on the list? I can't remember.

On 8/24/2022 at 4:20 AM, arc said:

Isn't it near-death? I thought the whole reason they kept bringing up Nick was because he had survived somehow.

Correct, unless something has changed from last season, Nick is still alive (taken off life support, but hanging on). I can't see the writers dropping that thread, because it had to be deliberate.

Neil seems to be a very different person outside of sitcom-land. He even speaks differently. And obviously,  as many have noticed, is a lot more violent. I think there's a backstory for all of the characters that haven't been explored yet. Still very curious about Allison's "near drowning at a water park" for instance.