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As Letty undoes all the work she and Javier put into her sobriety, Javier finds himself hitting what is his own kind of rock bottom.
Previous Recap: Episode 7 “Don’t Thank God, Thank Me”
| Network | |
| TNT | |
| Director(s) | Mikkel Norgaard |
| Writer(s) | Lenore Zion |
| Characters Introduced | |
| Dave | Thomas Blake Jr. |
| The Wife | Joanna Going |
| The Husband | Tom Amandes |
You Can’t Fix The Unfixable: Javier, Letty, Estelle
As we saw in the last episode, Letty is going on a real bender. Seemingly between what her grandmother said and Jacob almost being shot, she is completely done trying. Heck, even when it comes to her being a drifter, she is getting sloppy with that too. Which is a problem since now she is dead broke, her high is coming down, and she can’t even talk to Jacob.
Why? Well, after going silent on him for a week, Jacob seems to be acting out. Something which is surprising to Letty, as it was to Estelle, but seemingly further leads to Letty believing she screwed the boy’s life up. After all, what else besides him being with her for the weeks or months he was could have led to this?
Lest we forget, Jacob was beginning to pick up many of Letty’s habits. Especially in terms of lying. So maybe, in her mind, Letty was feeling guilty for undoing all of Estelle’s hard work. That alongside getting a painful reminder of how bad of a mom she was.
Which, of course, leads to her needing more alcohol and drugs to forget. Thus leading her to hit up her old friend Dave. Someone who has a bit of a crush on Letty, but even on the bender she is, things don’t get taken that far. For all she really wants is to party, do drugs, and forget. But, when she ends up lost in the woods, it seems things got a little too out of hand even for her. Thus leaving her quite frightened for on top of being lost, her phone is dead and Dave? Well, neither he nor his friends are anywhere to be found.
Idiota: Javier
Despite Javier not checking on Letty in the last episode, don’t think for a moment he has stopped caring. Prime example: He buys a million dollar mansion for him, Jacob, and Letty to live in and even after she tells him off, and clearly is intoxicated, he doesn’t wash his hands of her. If anything, that makes him wanna press harder but not necessarily out of love.
Though it is clear Letty gets more out of the relationship than Javier, it is not without benefits to him. For what he gets out of her is something beyond excitement, sex, and companionship – he is given a purpose. Not only that, he gets someone who validates the way Ava sees him. You know, someone seeing the good despite the bad or accidents Javier has been a part of. Something is rather hard to let go for while Javier deserves a whole lot of credit for Letty’s sobriety, Letty deserves credit for Javier not giving into his guilt.
I mean, think of how many times she prevented him from killing someone or going to jail. Something that likely would send Javier over his own personal cliff. While it would be hard to say whether or not that makes them even, it does help push that the relationship isn’t as one-sided as it often seems. Can you still argue it doesn’t benefit Javier as much? Absolutely! But then I’d play the family card.
Now, it is well established Javier is the black sheep of his family. Outside of Ava, and Carlos to a certain degree, Javier isn’t really close to any blood relation. However, as seen through his interactions with Estelle and Rob, as well as Jacob, there is this desire to be a family man. To be relied on and loved in the way only a family can. Which, albeit will be difficult when it comes to Estelle, since she turned him in, but considering how messed up Javier’s relationship is with his dad, yet he still tried to reconcile, what is being snitched on?
And I say all this because with Javier killing a woman by having her choke on mercury, he gets reminded that when it comes to being an assassin, even if he kills bad people, he may not have a rock bottom. Through killing the wife of a husband who was being poisoned, he reverts back to the cold and calculated figure that Letty pulled him away from being. So as much as he may seem like Letty’s purse who buys her affection and time, these few episodes of separation really drives home how much they are actually dependent on each other to be the best person they can be.
Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments
- Teo kills Carlos and is on the run.
Highlights
Reinforcing That Letty and Javier Need Each Other
Not to repeat myself, but there at times is this belief that Javier could do without Letty and run the show with her as a co-star. Yet, with these episodes having them not share a scene, even though Javier remains a stronger character, you see Letty still plays a central part in his narrative. The kind in which her absence is noticeable and has a direct effect on who he is as a person. For there is a certain part of him that Ava doesn’t have the ability to change. A shame he lives with and feels the need to be punished for. But, Letty dispels that. Because she is, for a lack of a better term, tainted, as well, they truly see one another.
It’s as Letty said earlier in the season, they started their relationship in reverse. They saw the absolute worse aspects yet stuck around. That isn’t something Javier can say about Ava. Once she learned the truth, she turned her back on Javier. Letty on the other hand, she may not have been happy about it, prevented him from working when she could, but even when she had multiple opportunities to let Javier fall, she didn’t. She kept him repeatedly from being arrested by Agent Lashever and when Estelle got him trapped, she made sure to get arrested with him. Heck, she finagled a way to get him out when, again, she could have just saved herself!
That kind of love and loyalty I don’t think, outside of maybe Silk, Javier has known and that is why he needs and wants Letty in his life. Even if it means getting down in the dirt again and forcing her to her feet. Maybe even watching her like a hawk and dealing with the difficulties which come from being in love with a recovering addict.
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