‘Til Death: 2.13 ‘Sob Story’ Recap
April 30, 2008 by Chandra
Original Air Date: April 30, 2008
The Starks disagree about EDDIE and the state of their marriage after Eddie fails to shed a single tear during a sad movie. JOY thinks this indicates her husband isn’t in touch with his feelings, while Eddie thinks it demonstrates he knows the difference between make believe (the movie) and reality (not the movie).
To nip the problem in the bud while they still can, Joy suggests the couple attend a so-called Living Loving Sharing workshop that a neighbor went to. Eddie thinks that would be a waste of time since, after so long being married, they should get off the accelerator and just let their relationship coast to its natural end.
Later, Joy whips out a few home videos to drive home her point that Eddie is devoid of emotions, one of her crying at their wedding and another of Eddie joking around at their daughter’s birth (when asked if he’d like to cut the umbilical cord, Eddie asks are they sure the baby won’t deflate and start floating around the room like a balloon).
Since Joy is so visibly upset, Eddie gets moody … but not necessarily emotional. KENNY drops by around then and tries to play Montel, taking Eddie back to sad childhood memories of when schoolmates used to call him Buttface because he was freakishly tall (as Eddie says, there’s really no correlation between the trait and the nickname). Even that doesn’t make Eddie sad, however.
So, it’s off to a retreat led by loopy new age intimacy — “into me I see” — guru DR. CONNIE FRIEDMAN (Guest Star Wendie Malick of Just Shoot Me!), who sports a lifeless-looking same-sex lover named BEATRICE who’s twenty years older, doesn’t speak, and apparently doubles as a hostage/assistant.
In between marketing her book and accompanying workbook, Dr. Friedman teaches the couples in attendance about expressing their innermost feelings, such as by trying to communicate using only primal sounds and no language. Initially, Joy is all into the “doctor” and the couples retreat … until Dr. Friedman turns the situation on Joy, accusing Joy of being the reason for Eddie’s inability to express emotions.
The doctor claims that although Eddie has created a safe space for Joy, which is why she can cry in front of him, she hasn’t done the same for him in return, which is why he can’t cry in front of her. Eddie has believed the workshop is nonsense from the get-go, but with Joy now angry and finally agreeing, the two leave to get hammered (Joy’s favorite) and some ham (Eddie’s favorite).
