Sorry For Your Loss: Season 2, Episode 9 “The Whale” – Recap, Review (with Spoilers)

Danny and Leigh hit the kind of wall which might not be surmountable, as Tommy pushes Leigh to do more than deal with her addictions but also her fears.

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Network
Facebook Watch
Director(s)	Kat Candler
Writer(s)	Sheila Callaghan
Air Date	11/12/2019

Recap

I’m A Person, Not A Project: Tommy, Jules

It seems to be a habit of Shaw family members to try to better their partners, if not bring them into the fold to the point of being dependent on them. Amy having it where she is her daughters’ employer is one example, and probably not paying them well enough to live on their own is another example. So with Tommy seeing Jules trying to have them do a class, do CPR training, and things like that, they realize what is going on and shut that down quickly. Which leaves Jules taken back a bit, since she is doing so because she cares for Tommy. Problem is, Jules going overboard like that makes Tommy feel like a project, and while, as they note, they aren’t perfect, they aren’t broken either. Much less, they’d rather work on themselves, and ask for help if needed, than for someone to swoop in and try to play the role of a savior.

That whole conversation, and Tommy pushing Jules to face her own fears and work on herself beyond her alcoholism, it makes her realize it is time to go to Vietnam and call Amy back from her sabbatical.

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Misery Loves Company: Leigh, Danny, Matt

Over and over, Danny and Leigh find themselves more in conversation about their perspectives on Matt than their future with each other. And whenever they seem like they could move past that, Danny decides to push the narrative that Matt isn’t a saint. Why? Well, maybe because if Matt is seen as a saint then Danny has to be something evil? After all, if you are the one person who sees flaws and doesn’t have warm and fuzzy memories, and you express that, how else can you be seen?

And, to a certain degree, Danny gets that he can’t share his views of Matt, and he allows this to eat at his joy. But, when it comes to Leigh, since she is recovering thanks to her relationship with Danny, it means she wants to know more about what’s going on. After all, they are having sex, spending time together, and had a previous relationship. So to take things to the next level, they need a deeper form of intimacy.

However, Danny appears to be an all or nothing kind of guy, and with Leigh refusing to see Matt in a negative light, even after Danny reveals Matt fell for Nina, it seems clear Danny will harbor ill feelings for Matt alone. Hence him punching a wall and sealing the idea that Danny isn’t ready for a relationship right now – especially with Leigh.

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

What if I dig for gold and hit a sewage pipe?
— Jules

I’m not perfect, but I’m not broken either.
— Tommy

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Review

Highlights

Leigh Not Letting Danny Steal Her Joy

While Danny has the right to feel how he felt, for he spent his life with Matt, and Leigh only had a few years, that doesn’t give him the right to try to rewrite how Leigh sees Matt. In fact, it comes off rather cruel and malicious. But I think it says a low about Leigh that, even with hearing that Matt may have fallen for another woman, she held strong in the fact of Danny’s vitriol. For I think, deep down, she knows Danny is hurting in ways she can’t ease. She wants to be able to do that, but what Danny is dealing with is pain from a lifetime and not just a chapter of his life. Hence why his statement about mourning Matt differently from Leigh is so true.

After all, at the end of the day, Leigh is mourning someone who rarely dropped a façade with her and only presented his best self. Be it due to feelings of not deserving her, not wanting to be like his dad, or having more stable relationships than his brother. Meanwhile, Danny experienced the cruelty of Matt in the form of him messing up his Pokémon cards to having him bearing the weight of knowing his brother is tempted to have an affair.

Jules Heading To Vietnam

Though the likelihood of us seeing Jules in Vietnam are low, the fact she is finally seeking out her birth parents and finding what seems to be a missing piece of herself is huge. Especially in a time like now for it seems she is firm in being a Shaw right now, as shown by how she tried to treat Tommy. But what about her is due to nature and not nurture is a complicated thing to ask, but it needs to be researched. So here is hoping we get some scenes that help flesh out her family, and they go beyond Jules recounting what happened.

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Tommy Pushing Jules To See Them As More Than Something To Better

As noted in the recent season of Atypical, there really aren’t enough characters who seem to be happy with doing fine and not being overachievers. If not people who are trying to be rich or hustle to the point of exhaustion. For while it is commendable to a point, it is also fostering a culture that doesn’t seem sustainable in the long run. So to have someone like Tommy who doesn’t want to take on another job, get all these certifications they don’t want, and instead wants to live the sustainable life they have, which gives them time to do personal things, you really do have to love it.

Heck, it is, partly, what seemed to inspire Jules to focus on herself, what makes her happy, rather than work all day, and clean during the night, even when injured, to keep her mother’s business going.

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