S04.E07: Episode 7

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Helen goes to Joshua Tree in search of meaning. Noah and Anton begin an adventure with high hopes until an ominous phone call alters their course.

Ooh, a ominous phone call! Our hapless crew of unhappy wanderers is about to converge!

[LoveLeigh]

I am confused. Noah and Anton were on a flight from LA and then they disembarked and tried to get a connecting flight. Then, Cole picked them up in his Jeep. Where was the location where they were picked up? 

I was lost and cannot understand how Cole was contacted and inserted into all of that. Maybe it was because I could not read the text messages which I now gather was Cole calling Noah (about Alison?) and Noah replying and asking Cole to pick him and Anton up.

But if Anton and Noah were on a flight I still am all mixed up just where Cole picked them up but I get that Cole had his Jeep because he drove cross country. The logistics of it all are as mixed up as this post. 

Edited July 29, 2018 by DakotaLavender

[DiabLOL]

12 minutes ago, DakotaLavender said:

I am confused. Noah and Anton were on a flight from LA and then thy disembarked and tried to get a connecting flight. Then, Cole picked them up in his Jeep. Where was the location where they were picked up? 

I was lost and cannot understand how Cole was contacted and inserted into all of that. Maybe it was because I coul dnot read the text messages which I now gather was Cole calling Noah (about Alison?) and Noah replying and asking Cole to pick him and Anton up.

But if Anton and Noah were on a flight I still am all mixed up just where Cole picked them up but I get that Cole had his Jeep because he drove cross country. The logistics of it all are as mixed up as this post. 

I was confused too then I could swear I heard LaGuardia which also makes no sense.

[chabelisaywow]

CC said O’Hare

[cardigirl]

I'm guessing, if they were at O'Hare, that that was why Cole looked so rough.  He'd driven out there from the coast. Also why Noah was getting into the driver's side.

 

I liked this episode.  Poor Helen. Poor Vic. Was super scared the neighbor was going to reveal to Helen that she had slept with Vic. Now she has slept with both of them.  LOL... Maura Tierney continues to amaze me.  I'd hang out with this Helen any time. 

I'm not super excited by Noah's involvement with his boss, but I really like the relationship he's building with Anton.  Poor kid. Malcolm X napkins for a birthday?

 

This season has been really great, especially compared to last season.  Much better story telling, in my opinion.  

[Lozu68]

EXCELLENT episode!!  Will hold my tongue until more people get to watch! 

So well done!

[HollyG]

Finally they are merging the two stories.

14 hours ago, DakotaLavender said:

I am confused. Noah and Anton were on a flight from LA and then they disembarked and tried to get a connecting flight. Then, Cole picked them up in his Jeep. Where was the location where they were picked up? 

I was lost and cannot understand how Cole was contacted and inserted into all of that. Maybe it was because I could not read the text messages which I now gather was Cole calling Noah (about Alison?) and Noah replying and asking Cole to pick him and Anton up.

But if Anton and Noah were on a flight I still am all mixed up just where Cole picked them up but I get that Cole had his Jeep because he drove cross country. The logistics of it all are as mixed up as this post. 

Cole must have been on his way back from California when he got the call about Alison missing. I googled 'driving route from Morro Bay to NYC' and the first route it gave me was going through Chicago. So, just a happy coincidence that Cole happened to be close to Chicago when he called Noah. (rolls eyes, but hey, it's TV)

I did like this episode but I'm looking forward to the stories merging for next week ..... and more wise cracks from the kid in the backseat.

[Mindthinkr]

I rolled my eyes when Cole was close to O’Hare Airport. How convenient for the writers but I won’t belabor the point. 

Now I wonder if Sierra is going to blab to Vik about her affair with a married woman. 

I like that Noah has found purpose in helping Anton. It must take a little of the sting out of not having a good (if it all in his daughter's Whitney’s case) relationship with his own brood. 

[preeya]

19 hours ago, DakotaLavender said:

I am confused. Noah and Anton were on a flight from LA and then they disembarked and tried to get a connecting flight. Then, Cole picked them up in his Jeep. Where was the location where they were picked up? 

I was lost and cannot understand how Cole was contacted and inserted into all of that. Maybe it was because I could not read the text messages which I now gather was Cole calling Noah (about Alison?) and Noah replying and asking Cole to pick him and Anton up.

But if Anton and Noah were on a flight I still am all mixed up just where Cole picked them up but I get that Cole had his Jeep because he drove cross country. The logistics of it all are as mixed up as this post. 

It was Chicago (O'Hare)

And Noah SHLONGoway does it again. This guy must be fuk'n hung.

[LilaFowler]

Noah is a sexual god in his own POV. I'd love to get Janelle's POV.

[snarts]

Did I skip an episode? Last week Alison was in LA with Noah, when did she disappear? If Cole was still out in Morro Bay, who was watching the kid? Also, if Cole is on his way back (& coincidentally so close to Chicago), how does he know that Alison is missing? 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I rolled my eyes when Cole was close to O’Hare Airport. How convenient for the writers but I won’t belabor the point. 

 

AND right after Noah exclaims, "They're gonna run out of cars," in front of the rental car place.

Also huge laughs at the ludicrous Burning Lady meeting in the desert sponsored by Free People. 

And then the whole driving lesson with Spock, Jr. (was Trevor's left eyebrow always so pointed?!). Was the child drunk that he couldn't steer straight in an open parking lot? 

And was Anton ever even accepted into Princeton? Good to know Anton's fallback school is the U.S. Marines. Makes total sense. 

Every Monday morning after this show airs I feel like calling my ophthalmologist to complain about my eye pain from all the eye rolling the night before. 

[chick binewski]

I'm sorry there are only 3 more episodes left this season. Even though Sierra was as irritating as Furcat this epsiode. 

O'Hare didn't hang me up as much as that house in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park. How did they walk there? 

[Armchair Critic]

Ugh Trevor is the worst, Noah is a putz but I can see why he would want to feel appreciated by Anton. Of course Noah is a sexual god (in his point of view at least) who gives the woman a life changing orgasm. I would have liked it if the neighbor (Sierra?) would have told Helen about sleeping with Vik right after she did it with Helen, it would be interesting to see if Helen would have been a bit more understanding about it. Probably not.

[Jax7917]

Helen and Vik can compare notes now . That'll give them something to talk about besides Helen getting pregnant at 50. By choice . 

[Blakeston]

So Helen decides to explain to Sierra that infidelity is horrible and destructive right after cheating with her.

That takes some serious chutzpah.

[Bandolero]

So Helen doesn’t know she’s approaching menopause? I found that hard to believe. The first thing she does is run go get a pregnancy test? Okay Helen.

I’m glad she and Vic actually seem to have connected again.

Again Noah’s kids are just little assholes. I swear. 

Edited July 30, 2018 by Bandolero

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

So Helen decides to explain to Sierra that infidelity is horrible and destructive right after cheating with her.

Eating ain't cheating. (Sorry I couldn't help it)

[hoodooznoodooz]

“I’ve seen all your pay stubs.”

”Well, then you should have known not to eat all my prosciutto.”

[LilaFowler]

Well, technically, Helen only admonished Sierra for sleeping with a married man, not cheating in general. Sierra seems to be under the impression that Helen and Vik are married, but are they? I didn't think they were.

[CarpeFelis]

2 hours ago, Bandolero said:

So Helen doesn’t know she’s approaching menopause? I found that hard to believe. The first thing she does is run go get a pregnancy test? Okay Helen.

It’s not unheard of for “oops” pregnancies to occur when the woman is going through menopause (my mother, who was a nurse, called them “change of life babies”), so I didn’t find that too hard to believe. Plus there was some wishful thinking going on — even though she didn’t really want it, she wanted to please Vik.

[scrb]

I thought the sensory deprivation tank was going to make Helen realize that Sierra was talking about screwing Vik.

But instead, the epiphany she got was to run to Vik and tell him not to die?

Sierra is a bomb thrower, indiscriminately taking out both the husband and the wife.

 

I don't buy Anton's father's objection to Princeton.  If Anton got accepted with a full ride, I find it very hard to believe he'd object to his son going there.  Was it all a setup so that Noah and Anton would do this trip and then it turns into a road trip with Cole to look for Alison?

Seems like they're trying to force a mystery element into the season, as if they don't want to be seen as just a soap opera about all these affairs.  These people already dealt with murder or involuntary manslaughter.  

As for Noah and the principal, it's a wonder they waited until almost the end of the season.  Now Anton is starting to like Noah, listening to his audio book and everything.  But does he know Noah and his moms are a thing?  He'd have to be blind not to see it.  

[cardigirl]

2 hours ago, LilaFowler said:

Well, technically, Helen only admonished Sierra for sleeping with a married man, not cheating in general. Sierra seems to be under the impression that Helen and Vik are married, but are they? I didn't think they were.

They are not married, but Sierra might not know that. Sierra did say that she had a habit of sleeping with married men, and that it never ended well. I think that’s what Helen was responding to when she talked about sleeping with married men. 

And it was referencing what happened in her marriage to Noah. The affair he began with Allison did mess with Helen’s and Noah’s history, their children. It wasn’t a clean way to begin a relationship. 

I really enjoyed this episode. 

[Blakeston]

1 hour ago, cardigirl said:

They are not married, but Sierra might not know that. Sierra did say that she had a habit of sleeping with married men, and that it never ended well. I think that’s what Helen was responding to when she talked about sleeping with married men. 

And it was referencing what happened in her marriage to Noah. The affair he began with Allison did mess with Helen’s and Noah’s history, their children. It wasn’t a clean way to begin a relationship. 

Everything that Helen said about cheating taking a toll on both partners, and disrespecting the years they put into the relationship, applies to a relationship like Helen and Vik's (where they've been living together monogamously long-term, and raising children together) the same way it would to a marriage.

Has it been confirmed on the show that they aren't married?

[Rock knocker]

How come Cole got in the passenger door of his jeep when he picked up Anton and Noah.  He knows Noah is a crappy driver, and why did the Chicago airport parking lot llok like it was in the middle of a desert?

[Trillian]

5 hours ago, LilaFowler said:

Well, technically, Helen only admonished Sierra for sleeping with a married man, not cheating in general. Sierra seems to be under the impression that Helen and Vik are married, but are they? I didn't think they were.

I thought they were. In this episode, I noticed that Helen referred to Noah as her “first husband”.  That’s not a term that most women would use unless there’s a second husband - otherwise, she would have just said “ex-husband”.  Then again, I know long-cohabitating couples who refer to themselves as husband and wife.  By the time I clued into this, I couldn’t get a good look at Helen’s left hand, although I saw, during their lovemaking scene, that Vic was not wearing a ring.  Will have to pay more attention in the future, although rings or lack thereof isn’t definitive. I do hope Helen wasn’t stupid enough to move her kids across the country without the financial legal protections of marriage, or at least a damn strong cohabitation agreement.

Regardless of their status, I enjoyed the image of Noah, lonely and forlorn, standing in Helen’s gorgeous house and getting a glimpse of their normal domestic life with his children. Not to mention being told that Helen does not consider him to be a friend.  It probably doesn’t help that I find the actor singularly unattractive (as opposed to just not finding him attractive), but Noah the character deserves it after what he put Helen through.  Ya reap what you sow, buddy. 

[DFWGina]

They were in line at Southwest airlines -- SWA only flies into Midway in the Chicago area.  So not O'hare if we are to believe they were on Southwest...

[weaver]

10 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

AND right after Noah exclaims, "They're gonna run out of cars," in front of the rental car place.

Also huge laughs at the ludicrous Burning Lady meeting in the desert sponsored by Free People. 

And then the whole driving lesson with Spock, Jr. (was Trevor's left eyebrow always so pointed?!). Was the child drunk that he couldn't steer straight in an open parking lot? 

And was Anton ever even accepted into Princeton? Good to know Anton's fallback school is the U.S. Marines. Makes total sense. 

Every Monday morning after this show airs I feel like calling my ophthalmologist to complain about my eye pain from all the eye rolling the night before. 

Agree with all.  I almost turned off after the Burning Lady episode.  Who was the guru, Paris Hilton?  

Why can't they just write the development of the characters without introducing these implausible scenes, like Cole at O'Hare?  

As for Anton, Princeton accepted him last year, but then he was suspended for plagiarism.  So why do they all assume he is accepted again?  Did he even send that ridiculous essay to them yet?  

And I don't think there are too many, if any, treatments for pancreatic cancer.  Given that Vik has waited to start anything, shouldn't he be very ill by now?  

[Pallas]

9 hours ago, Bandolero said:

So Helen doesn’t know she’s approaching menopause? I found that hard to believe. The first thing she does is run go get a pregnancy test?

I don't think she ran; I don't think getting a pregnancy test was the first thing she did. The decision to buy one seemed more about needle-scratching the flirtation between the two young fertile people who were paying no heed to the washed-up veteran at their elbow.

Helen's been tested and told that she's in perimenopause. That doesn't mean it feels real to her, after four children (pregnancy, delivery and breast-feeding), 35 years or so of menstruation and 30 years of intermittent contraception around those pregnancies. It also doesn't mean she can't conceive, especially if this is her first missed period. Mostly, though, she takes the test in order to tell Vik that she took the test: it's not a stick, it's an olive branch. 

Vik isn't having it, though -- because Helen's having his child after he dies may be the issue, but it's not the point. Helen gets there by the end.

[LilaFowler]

38 minutes ago, weaver said:

Agree with all.  I almost turned off after the Burning Lady episode.  Who was the guru, Paris Hilton?  

Why can't they just write the development of the characters without introducing these implausible scenes, like Cole at O'Hare?  

As for Anton, Princeton accepted him last year, but then he was suspended for plagiarism.  So why do they all assume he is accepted again?  Did he even send that ridiculous essay to them yet?  

And I don't think there are too many, if any, treatments for pancreatic cancer.  Given that Vik has waited to start anything, shouldn't he be very ill by now?  

Yeah, I don't know why anyone thinks that being forced to repeat a year of high school because he plagiarized would make him an attractive candidate for any selective college, let alone the Ivy League. Oh, but Noah's old friend is now the head of the English department (did you know that? has Noah mentioned it enough?) so he might have some pull there.

[cardigirl]

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Everything that Helen said about cheating taking a toll on both partners, and disrespecting the years they put into the relationship, applies to a relationship like Helen and Vik's (where they've been living together monogamously long-term, and raising children together) the same way it would to a marriage.

Has it been confirmed on the show that they aren't married?

Her relationship (and history) with Vic is not nearly as longterm as her relationship and history with Noah was.  4 kids. I love that they have shown Vic (Vik) to be involved parentally with the two youngest kids.  But what Helen was talking about is why sleeping with married men does not bode well for the things Sierra said she wanted.  

Pic of Vic from Showtime website. 

[Mindthinkr]

6 hours ago, scrb said:

But instead, the epiphany she got was to run to Vik and tell him not to die?

I think it was that she didn’t want to be alone. 

[cardigirl]

50 minutes ago, weaver said:

As for Anton, Princeton accepted him last year, but then he was suspended for plagiarism.  So why do they all assume he is accepted again?  Did he even send that ridiculous essay to them yet?   

 

I didn't think Princeton suspended him, his mother did. She made him repeat his senior year because she thought he had plagiarized a paper.   

[TexasGal]

33 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I think it was that she didn’t want to be alone. 

I don't know how people do those sensory deprivation chambers, I had a panic attack at having to have an MRI taken and that only last a few minutes.  So - I may be projecting - but I thought she felt like she was in a coffin which would obviously make her think of Vic dying.

Love how she came home and said "don't die."  Like he's doing it voluntarily.  Even though he's refusing treatment, late stage pancreatic cancer isn't something you are likely to recover from anyway so I can understand him not wanting to do it.

Edited July 30, 2018 by TexasGal

[preeya]

6 hours ago, scrb said:

As for Noah and the principal, it's a wonder they waited until almost the end of the season.  Now Anton is starting to like Noah, listening to his audio book and everything.  But does he know Noah and his moms are a thing?  He'd have to be blind not to see it.  

1

He did mention that he knew "something is going on between Noah and his mother"

[Pallas]

 I think the point of Helen's coming home to say, "I don't want you to die" and "Don't die," is that she is finally feeling what she feels, and speaking her heart. That frees Vic to do the same. Until now, Helen has been "blocked" in her reaction; she has refused to "surrender more" to life's power. She may not take in her own advice to the other, younger women, but these are things she knows -- just not about this latest catastrophe; not just yet. 

[weaver]

1 hour ago, LilaFowler said:

Yeah, I don't know why anyone thinks that being forced to repeat a year of high school because he plagiarized would make him an attractive candidate for any selective college, let alone the Ivy League. Oh, but Noah's old friend is now the head of the English department (did you know that? has Noah mentioned it enough?) so he might have some pull there.

I think I missed that reference, haha.  Gee, he can even arrange for Anton to sit in on a class.   Noah couldn't even get a job for himself except at a charter school.  

[CarpeFelis]

On a lighter note: did anyone else snort when Noah described Cole as “an old friend” to Anton as they waited for him to pick them up at the airport?

[CarpeFelis]

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

I don't think she ran; I don't think getting a pregnancy test was the first thing she did. The decision to buy one seemed more about needle-scratching the flirtation between the two young fertile people who were paying no heed to the washed-up veteran at their elbow.

YES. I’d forgotten that, but during that scene when the guy called her something dismissive like “sweetheart” (might as well have said “grandma”!) I was kinda expecting her to sarcastically do the same right back to him and disappointed that she didn’t.

And during the scene where Sierra told her she was “still fuckable” I so wanted/expected her to tell Sierra that what a woman looks like is hardly the most important thing about her!

[Mindthinkr]

36 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

On a lighter note: did anyone else snort when Noah described Cole as “an old friend” to Anton as they waited for him to pick them up at the airport?

No, I figured that was the politest way that they figured that they could greet without calling attention to their backstory in front on Anton. 

[Milburn Stone]

3 hours ago, Rock knocker said:

and why did the Chicago airport parking lot look like it was in the middle of a desert?

I'm glad you folks have explained how Cole ended up at O'Hare--and even that the airport was supposed to be O'Hare--because that really confused me. Part of the reason for my confusion was how un-O'Hare that place looked, inside and out. Trust me, I'm well aware that not-real locations fill in for real locations in movies and TV all the time, so that per se doesn't shock or confuse me--but this location looked so unlike O'Hare that I thought maybe I was supposed to understand that it was somewhere else, like maybe they got part of the way to NY by landing in Allentown or something, where Cole had a reasonable chance of driving from Long Island.

But now that I think of it...we know that Cole was on his way through Chicago anyway--but how in hell could Noah even guess it? I mean, you're stranded in Chicago, you don't know what to do, you're thinking of your options--and somehow you think of texting a guy in Long Island to come pick you up? Because why would Noah imagine Cole to be anywhere else but there?

[cardigirl]

4 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

I'm glad you folks have explained how Cole ended up at O'Hare--and even that the airport was supposed to be O'Hare--because that really confused me. Part of the reason for my confusion was how un-O'Hare that place looked, inside and out. Trust me, I'm well aware that not-real locations fill in for real locations in movies and TV all the time, so that per se doesn't shock or confuse me--but this location looked so unlike O'Hare that I thought maybe I was supposed to understand that it was somewhere else, like maybe they got part of the way to NY by landing in Allentown or something, where Cole had a reasonable chance of driving from Long Island.

But now that I think of it...we know that Cole was on his way through Chicago anyway--but how in hell could Noah even guess it? I mean, you're stranded in Chicago, you don't know what to do, you're thinking of your options--and somehow you think of texting a guy in Long Island to come pick you up? Because why would Noah imagine Cole to be anywhere else but there?

Cole reached out to Noah because he couldn't find Alison.  It seems logical that Noah would have told him he was stuck in O'Hare, and Cole would have then said he could pick him up, because he was on his way back to the coast. 

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

But now that I think of it...we know that Cole was on his way through Chicago anyway--but how in hell could Noah even guess it? I mean, you're stranded in Chicago, you don't know what to do, you're thinking of your options--and somehow you think of texting a guy in Long Island to come pick you up? Because why would Noah imagine Cole to be anywhere else but there?

Noah didn’t know it. He had missed 3 calls from Cole and then answered on Cole’s 4th try. After hearing about Allison (and knowing nothing about where she was or what she was up to) he probably explained to Cole that he was stuck in Chicago (due to high winds canceling flights). Cole probably wasn’t too far away and detoured to come pick Noah and Anton up. 

[CleoCaesar]

Not a bad episode. I hate all the characters I've seen her play, but I do think Maura Tierney is a very good actress. She adds a certain gravitas. So I liked her half of the episode. The neighbor chick is such a ditz that her whining about her late-20s existential crisis was very tiresome to listen to, but painfully realistic.

Had to fast-forward most of Noah's scenes because I just don't care about him.

3 hours ago, Trillian said:

I enjoyed the image of Noah, lonely and forlorn, standing in Helen’s gorgeous house and getting a glimpse of their normal domestic life with his children.

It was delicious karmic punishment for him. He threw away a 20-year marriage and family life with 4 kids to chase some overly dramatic waitress...and this is his just deserts.

[Milburn Stone]

Thanks, @cardigirl and @Mindthinkr, for refreshing my memory on the sequence of events at O'Hare.

Re sensory deprivation tanks and Helen's panic attack...I did the tank thing back in the eighties a few times. I was always explicitly informed before getting in that the hatch was totally openable by me from the inside, should I feel the need to do that, and it was. (I never did feel the need--but a big reason I never felt the need was that I never panicked, and a big reason I never panicked was that I knew I could exit the tank at any time.) It strains my credulity that Helen's tank would not be the same way. I mean, can you imagine a good rationale for a tank to be constructed to make it impossible for the occupant to get out on his own? And can you imagine getting into one that was built that way?

[Mindthinkr]

3 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

And can you imagine getting into one that was built that way?

Nope. I just wouldn’t. I think I could do it under the circumstances that you did but take away my freedom of exit and it’s a firm no from me. 

Edited to add: it may not have necessary been locked. Helen was tapping on the door to get out. She might not have been aware that she just had to push it open. Still she should have been informed before entering. 

Edited July 30, 2018 by Mindthinkr

[CarpeFelis]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

No, I figured that was the politest way that they figured that they could greet without calling attention to their backstory in front on Anton. 

I’m sure it was (and they’ve had to at least become civil over the past few years because of Joanie), but it still made me laugh.

[Lady Iris]

Dammit Helen and Vic, you guys made me cry at your admissions.

Hasn't Allison gone missing before? Who even reported her missing? Who has Joanie? What is going on?

[cardigirl]

I forgot to mention how much I LOVED Helen taking Vic's new car to Joshua Tree. 

[chabelisaywow]

Where in the timeline does Allison's visit fit in? Technically shouldn't she still be at Helen and Vik's?

Quote

If Anton got accepted with a full ride, I find it very hard to believe he'd object to his son going there.

Call me stupid, but I understand. My daughter was offered a full ride to an out of state public (rare).  We went to visit - and our whole family just didn't "feel" it.  This school is known for football and Greek Life - but to know that they condone segregation, was a deal breaker.  My daughter wasn't even sure she wanted to do a sorority, but still.  This school totes its "family" - but when we tried to explain why we were saying thank you, no thank you - all we got was hostility.  Yes, you are a "family" - but not if you aren't white or even black.  As an Asian/Latino family - we just didn't feel accepted or welcomed. My daughter ended up at another school with a generous scholarship - so it worked out.