S02.E08: Don't Struggle Like That, Or I Will Only Love You More

[AnimeMania]

(Season Finale)

End of semester Christmas celebrations change everything for everyone – again. 

Premiere Date: October 16, 2024       Hulu  

[NeenerNeener]

Was not surprised that Stephen outed Lucy's long ago hookup with Evan right before Bree was supposed to walk down the aisle. He and Lucy could teach grad level classes in "Petty".

Also was not surprised to learn the teachers had an open marriage. But at least Bree got her earrings back.

Was surprised to learn that at some point Diana got a clue that Stephen was just using her for access to her father and played him instead. This is about the only time I could applaud one of the Stephen's f***buddies on this show.

Lucy is a total mess; I don't feel the least bit sorry for her anymore.

And why didn't Leo notice he was getting actual "sloppy seconds" when she went to his room after banging Stephen again?

This show makes me glad I lived at home during my college years.

[bilgistic]

Everyone on this show sucks so much.

[skotnikov]

This is such a guilty pleasure, and so well done. F**k and scheme, scheme and f**k. I hope we will get the 3rd season, it is by far one of the best things on TV rights now. 

Edited October 17 by skotnikov

[sadie]

The seasons are too short, we barely get going and it’s over.

Lucy, just ew girlfriend. Two guys in the span of a few hours and not even a shower in between. I’m wondering who is more deranged at this point, her or Stephen. She gets more hate able with every episode.

How much misery can they inflict on Wrigley. Seriously? Not cool.

Well played Diana, well played. I loved that she conned Stephen into showing his true colors. The scene where she tells Stephen to stop pretending and his face changes in a second was chilling. Run fast run far Diana.

The gross open marriage couple, just gross. And Stephen the psycho of course tells Bree five minutes before she walks down the aisle. And sorry Evan but have you met your friend Stephen? I wouldn’t tell that guy what I had for lunch let alone a secret that could ruin my life.

[bilgistic]

I love that the takeaway Bree, Lucy and Pippa had was disgust at the OPEN MARRIAGE of the 45-year-old professor who was screwing a 19-year-old. His open marriage is the least of the issues in this situation.

[This is not to blame Bree. A stable 45YO man should not touch a 19YO woman. This is to say that she seemed more disturbed by his open marriage than with Prof. Pervert himself. I have been a 19-20YO woman who made shitass choices in too-old men. (Absent Father Club member.) They absolutely should not have encouraged and/or pursued. Full stop.]

Edited October 17 by bilgistic

[gesundheit]

Too short a season, stuffing too many twists into just one episode! Have they been renewed yet? I really hope we don't have to wait multiple years for the next season this time. 

1 hour ago, sadie said:

Well played Diana, well played. I loved that she conned Stephen into showing his true colors. The scene where she tells Stephen to stop pretending and his face changes in a second was chilling. Run fast run far Diana.

I saw a few people predicting that she may have lied about the LSATs but then the show did so much doubling down with her crisis and the credit card, etc., that I had dismissed the theory. Very satisfying! That said, it was cruel to deprive us of her telling him that to his face. I want him to know what he lost.

I love the college timeline, but the 2015 timeline is just so depressing. Some of these folks have not only not changed, they've gotten worse. 

I'm trying to think of what the fallout would be of the big reveal to Bree before the wedding. Honestly, she already knows he cheated on her that time. It shouldn't be a dealbreaker that it was Lucy, so I imagine it's more about the friendship than the marriage? On the other hand, she might think the recording is recent, too. (Or maybe they'll reveal that she already knew?) But whatever that phone call was that she had might be the primary factor, in that she's actually happy to have a reason to bail.

 

Welp, no hope for personal growth for most of the key players. But at least there's Wrigley and Diana and Pippa. I hope. And we're still thinking Diana has done the math and knows it was actually Stephen driving that car, so that could come out in the 2015 timeline.

[bilgistic]

PSA to everyone: If you cheated on your college significant other one time, please keep it to yourself and never do it again.

[peachmangosteen]

On 10/16/2024 at 6:51 PM, bilgistic said:

Everyone on this show sucks so much.

I think it's mainly Stephen and Lucy that suck. Pippa and Wrigley and Bree are decent people imo. Diana, too.

On 10/17/2024 at 7:09 AM, skotnikov said:

This is such a guilty pleasure, and so well done. F**k and scheme, scheme and f**k. I hope we will get the 3rd season, it is by far one of the best things on TV rights now. 

This.

I wasn't that into season 1 but I watched them all and knew I'd watch season 2 but I watched the first ep when it premiered and was like I'm just not into it so I didn't keep up. But then a couple days ago I was bored and was like whatever let me try this again and fucking hell this season pulled me in so quick lol. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

The Wrigley actor was fantastic. I hate that they gave him so much trauma though. I just wish some of these people could be happy for once.

The Pippa/Wrigley friendship is kind of everything to me. I hate that it seems like they're maybe not as close anymore in the 2015 timeline. I hope we still get more of them if there's a season 3.

I don't care, I loved seeing Leo beat up Stephen. Although, the fact that Stephen wanted it made it less awesome.

I was just starting to maybe not hate Lucy but for fuck's sake she is about as horrible as Stephen. Their 'friends' need to ruin far far away from the both of them and never look back.

I figured something was up with Marianne because she seemed too nice. I don't really understand her though. She's pathetic.

The reveal that Diana was fucking with Stephen all along was absolutely amazing. I was about to give up on her.

Edited October 21 by peachmangosteen

[Lone Wolf]

On 10/16/2024 at 12:19 PM, NeenerNeener said:

And why didn't Leo notice he was getting actual "sloppy seconds" when she went to his room after banging Stephen again?

This is where that plotline fell apart. 

Not only does your point stand, but I have to to think that most girls would have cleaned themselves up.  To state the obvious, Lucy clearly has issues - maybe on some level she thought she was humiliating Stephen, or she wanted to degrade herself?  I just can't take that situation at face value. 

On 10/17/2024 at 5:43 AM, bilgistic said:

I love that the takeaway Bree, Lucy and Pippa had was disgust at the OPEN MARRIAGE of the 45-year-old professor who was screwing a 19-year-old. His open marriage is the least of the issues in this situation.

Came here to more or less say that. Their mindset seems to be that "hanging out" with as many guys as you want, as often as you want (including overlapping) is fine, but not once you're in a committed relationship, which is the conventional perception of marriage. 

That said, even open marriages frequently have boundaries, and sleeping with a spouse's co-worker (or in this case, student) seems like a pretty likely (and well-advised) one, so I don't know if I buy the likelihood of Oliver doing that.

I basically hate watched this series, but I would watch a Season 3 and I was sucked in enough this time that I'm going to get the book.  I did the same thing with Apples Never Fall, and the book was quite a bit better than the series, as books usually are. Curious to see if this will be the same.

 

[NeenerNeener]

3 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

I was sucked in enough this time that I'm going to get the book.  I did the same thing with Apples Never Fall, and the book was quite a bit better than the series, as books usually are. Curious to see if this will be the same.

The book was better, but they changed a lot for the series. I hated Lucy from the book a lot less. 

[Sweet-tea]

On 10/17/2024 at 6:34 AM, sadie said:

Well played Diana, well played. I loved that she conned Stephen into showing his true colors. The scene where she tells Stephen to stop pretending and his face changes in a second was chilling. Run fast run far Diana.

I didn't like Diana in the beginning, but she grew on me. I figured she was lying to Stephen about her LSAT scores, because she has been slightly ahead of him in everything. This is why Stephen has contempt for her; he is a competitive guy and he's ticked off that she's smarter and more accomplished than he is. However, he's also an opportunist, and he needs her connections. Good for her for finally extricating herself from psycho Stephen. I like the way she did it too. She let the crazy one think he was calling the shots. Smart and easier for her that way. 

Speaking of psychos, I don't think Stephen and Lucy are that different. They both manipulate people for their own gain and have no concern for them. Remember how in the first episode Lucy said people had told her she doesn't react much to things? I think that was foreshadowing that she's like Stephen. This is why she can't stay away from him. She is attracted to him because he's like her, but then she's also repelled because she realizes she doesn't want to be a psychopath. 

Given this realization, maybe she isn't at the level Stephen is, but she's still pretty bad. Look how she treated Max, Leo, Pippa, Bree... she uses people and discards them. She puts little thought into her actions. She simply reacts. She's like a goldfish. In bed with Stephen, then crying and upset. Then in bed with Leo. Then drawn in by Stephen again. My head was spinning. I can't keep up with her. 

I knew the Leo losing it scene was coming due to his admitted anger issues and Stephen's repeated goading. He's so nuts he probably liked that getting the crap beat out of him made him gain Lucy's sympathy (again).

I'll admit I was surprised at the way it went down with Bree and Oliver. I didn't see the open marriage thing coming, but I did wonder why Marianne didn't notice Bree was wearing those earrings at the party. Women notice things like this, and the earrings weren't subtle. Bree was right. Marianne does hate what Oliver is doing. Sad that she's chosen to accept it. 

Surprised Stephen would record the talk with Evan and save it for 7 years! Talk about long simmering resentment and revenge served cold. Sheesh. 

Poor Wrigley. I didn't think that was how Drew would die. I assumed it was suicide. 

I hope there is another season, but please spare me the Lucy-Stephen back and forth. I've had enough of those two together. I wouldn't mind seeing them both separately destroyed.

I want to see if Bree marries Evan. Also if the show returns, please scale back on the sex scenes! I'm fast-forwarding through them. It's become ridiculous. I'm surprised these people manage to get anything done as they can't seem to go a few hours without having sex with someone. 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Sweet-tea