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Divorce: “The Next Day”

by Alexandra Mitchell
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In the last episode, we saw the marriage of Frances (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Robert (Thomas Haden Church) officially hit the rocks. And when I say hit the rocks, I mean that boat bottomed out and in true Titanic fashion started sinking hardcore. Here’s what you missed.

I don’t think there is anything better than Robert doing a mic drop with his phone. Priceless. Frances finally realizes the damage she caused in having an affair, or at least the damage to her husband once he finds out. Boredom is not a good reason to cheat on your spouse. Well, there is really no good reason to cheat. Just have the shitty conversation you need to have and figure it out from there. But cheating causes serious damage, and now Frances gets to see the repercussions of that.

Episode Two centers around the next day. Frances has obviously come home and seen that the locks have been changed. In her attempt to keep the kids off the scent of impending marital implosion, she starts throwing rocks at Robert’s window to get him to let her inside. Her daughter Lila (Sterling Jerins) sees her and of course is taken aback. Now, kids are often oblivious to a lot of things, but they are also more intuitive than adults often given them credit for.

Frances wants to talk with Robert. In some ways, that is a good idea. But in other ways, you have to let someone process things. When someone is Divorce_NextDay-300x200that angry, over what is obviously a very very very deep betrayal, don’t try to force them into conversation immediately. Let them have space to sort it out emotionally. In that regard, I still see a lack of empathy from Frances. I feel that she realizes she made a mistake, but not a ton of remorse about it. It seems she just wants to move on, la ti da.  Because while she may be hurt that her marriage is falling apart, Robert has just had his world obliterated. Trust is gone and that is not something that can be rebuilt in a day. Particularly because even though she says she wants to work it out, I still don’t see that Frances really likes her husband. I feel that she wants to get back together because it is just more convenient than dealing with life on her own. What do you think?

One of the most fascinating parts of the episode is a confrontation in the hospital. Diane (Molly Shannon) is visiting her husband who is in a medically induced coma and Frances and Dallas (Talia Balsam) are visiting. Diane does not fully know what is going on until Robert also shows up to visit his comatose friend. Dallas is trying to help broker peace between Robert and Frances. Robert, obviously doesn’t want to hear it, and begins asking questions about Frances’ affair and what it was like for Dallas and Diane to hear all about it. Awkward but so brilliantly funny hearing Thomas Haden Church being lewd and graphic. Dallas is still trying to smooth it out, but Diane becomes incensed because she didn’t know. Her husband might die, but she is pissed at Frances for only telling Dallas about sexing it up with this guy. Perfect casting of Balsam and Shannon. Utterly hilarious.

Frances has gotten stuck with Diane’s dog because Diane doesn’t want her. Robert threatens to tell the kids that their mother is about to destroy this family and she races to stop it. The kids are of course distracted by the dog and don’t really care about what else is happening. Robert insists it is a ploy to get the kids on Frances’ side, which is not even the case but not something I would not put past her. In the end, Robert and Frances agree to tread carefully so as to not upset the kids. I understand that to a point, but based on their attitudes towards each other I don’t see this staying under the kids’ radar. As I said, kids are fairly intuitive and I don’t suspect it will be long before they pick up on what is really going on in the house. Will counseling help with any of this?  Here’s what to expect moving forward.

Frances and Robert  do agree enough to go to counseling, and I have a feeling this will be quite the experience. Frances refers to Robert as being the monster, and I can’t help but want to smack her. You’re the one who slept with someone else. He’s mad and pushed you away, which makes him the monster?  C’mon.  Seriously, Frances?  So far, I’m really not liking her character. Which I suppose makes me give mad props to SJP because I think she’s awesome as an actress. It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds, don’t you think?

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