If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Farid has trouble separating professional and personal perspectives after Ramon’s most recent incident. Kristen and Navid stumble onto potentially incriminating activity. Duc and Carmen make a pledge over tea. Ashley and Malcolm have dinner with the parents of Haley’s classmate, but come away with divergent opinions about the couple. (HBO)
Writer: J.R. Edwards
Director: Jeremy Podeswa
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 57mins
Now for the best episode of the season so far, all stemming from an epic showdown.
After another hallucination last week, Ramon is back to see Shokrani and Audrey and Greg seem a little more worried this time. Ramon told Shokrani that he didn’t recognize the woman he saw but the fact that she called him mijo echoed what a woman called Shorani in the last episode. Also, the woman had scratched across her face in the same way that he remembered Shokrani’s mother doing in his first dream which was something he didn’t reveal in their first session.
The face scratching echoed another dream from Shokrani when an older woman did the same. The four scratches, “11:11”, Ramon believed it was all connected. Ramon urged Shokrani to prescribe him some drugs to help him sleep. Hearing what was going on from the outside, Audrey and Greg stormed in and Audrey began to argue with Shokrani who believed they were interfering but there wasn’t much more that Shokrani can do.
Shokrani was worried about all the things Ramon knew about him and his family. Layla shrugged it off as coincidence but there were too many of them. He was adamant that he was taking his medication. He then returned to Ramon’s game which now featured butterflies. An “11:11” on a butterfly triggered another memory that turned into another of the violence he experienced.
When Ramon returned to his apartment, Henry returned. Ramon was mad at him for not being there when he needed him. The reason why Henry left was because his friend relapsed. Duc visited his appartment so they can talk about what happened and Duc can give him advice. Ramon thought he saw his mother and brought up Duc’s mother who he pretended not to care about (though he’s had mother issues in the past). Meanwhile, Duc met Carmen for drinks and reassured her that he was celibate by choice and she was more than okay with it. After some relations, Henry apologized to Ramon for not being there.
Ashley took Hailey to daycare where she was introduced to another mother of a young boy because she was black. Then she went to lunch with Greg. Something was wrong with her, she felt something was missing in her life which was being around people like her. Later, she was set to have dinner with the earlier young boy’s family. Things were fine until they learned that Ashley was adopted by a white family.
Kristen and Navid started to work on their class project. The problem was that since everybody was doing the same thing, Kristen wanted to do theirs on something that no one else would do. Later on, they spotted Henry and decided to follow him. Henry met a man at a tent under a bridge. He was there for two hours before he came out. Kristen wan’t sure what to do considering Ramon’s current state.
While looking for another therapist for Ramon, Audrey stumbled onto the escort site Greg used, including all the risque messages he sent. This made her very emotional. During her run with Duc, Audrey shared her many insecurities with Ramon but Duc told her to calm down. She visited an old acquaintance to try and get funding for her project. As a result, she was given the opportunity to speak to his board.
Greg was bored to death during a faculty meeting. He wondered why less students were enrolling in philosophy. No one seemed to care about it anymore. When he returned home, Greg shared his thoughts about the trip they wanted to take but she wasn’t amused. She confronted Greg about his cheating with his search history and got him to read some of his messages.
Kristen stopped watching the video she took of Henry once she heard Audrey and Greg fighting. Audrey sat down to reflect.
Overall, this was a great episode and the best so far this season. It was all over the place with the characters but it was still all connected in a compelling way. Bacon and Salama and Lee and Andrade had great chemistry as Kristen and Navid and Duc and Carmen respectively and were fun to watch together. Who knows how long Kristen will keep what she knows about Henry from Ramon? That last scene though between Audrey and Greg was intense thanks to Hunter and Robbins’ excellent performances. It was going to happen eventually, however, the fact that it happened here was surprising. Just wish we got to see and not just hear it. The only mystery left is the connection between Ramon and Shokrani and now Duc. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
Score: 9/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.