THE UNDOING Episode 4, Let’s Discuss!!

Four episodes in and I am beginning to think this is more about the “undoing” of a marriage than a murder mystery. Grace is not married to the man she thinks she is. He hasn’t worked at the hospital in several months. The convention in Cleveland was fake. He not only had an affair but has a child with a woman he is grieving terribly for. Grace is blindsided when she realizes that she has been living a life with a man she thought was a loyal husband, caring doctor of child cancer patients, and loving father to their son.

Grace’s father isn’t who Grace thought he was either. Franklin tells Grace that basing her ideal marriage on that of her parents’ is foolish — he was unfaithful to her mother countless times. Grace’s memories are of her father showering her mother with flowers and gifts. “The gifts were penance,” he says, before confessing his fears of Grace accepting Jonathan back as her mother did him. Grace exclaims “How weak of a person do you think I am?” That remains to be seen…

Grace is no longer a suspect since there are photos of her on her walk as the murder took place. Apparently, Grace just walks around Harlem in the middle of the night for a grounding experience. Ok…

Oh and she is not going take the stand.

Hayley learns more about Jonathan’s past, including that he’s been long estranged from his parents, and Elena was not the only other woman in his marriage (“There was a one-off years ago,” he confesses.). Hmmm, what if the one-off was Sylvia? What if Sylvia fell in love with Jonathan (he is SOOOO charismatic) but he broke it off with her and went back to Grace? Sylvia continued her friendship with Grace (keep your enemies closer) and later when he needed Sylvia to represent him for the trouble he got into at the hospital, how could she say no? Enter Elena. Sylvia sees Elena at the committee meeting with her baby nursing on her perfect breasts. At the fundraiser, Sylvia sees how much Jonathan is in love with Elena and follows him from the fundraiser. She is so jealous of his love for Elena, Sylvia kills Elena after he makes love to her. Remember the brief glance Jonathan & Sylvia shared at Jonathan’s arraignment? There is more here….

Grace meets with Badger to get his professional opinion. His gut instinct is he still thinks he is a dick, just not one who could commit murder. I tend to agree.

Franklin agrees to post bail for his philandering son-in-law. Now Franklin is out $2.5m. $2m for bail and $500,000 FOR WHAT??? Are we ever going to discuss WHY Jonathan borrowed $500K and where it mysteriously went? Especially since Franklin believes Jonathan murdered “that woman.”

Cut to a very odd run-in between Henry and Miguel at school. There is no way Reardon would have even allowed either student to continue attending after the investigation started, right?

This incident lands Henry in Headmaster Connaver’s office where Franklin is soon found shortly thereafter. Sutherland gives an epic performance if I do say so myself. “Make no mistake, I am a cocksucker. And I don’t mean that in the sense of gay belittlement as it’s currently come to be interpreted. No, I’m an old-fashioned cocksucker. The more traditional kind. The kind who fucks over anyone who hurts me or a loved one. You speak of ugliness, Mr. Connaver, you have not yet met ugliness.” Well, we certainly see Franklin’s true colors after all.

Detectives Mendoza and O’Rourke pay another visit to Grace. They reveal a picture of a portrait of her that Elena painted. Grace denies knowing anything about the portrait and so does Jonathan when she questions him in the park. She also makes it very clear “while you may not be a murderer, you’re not my husband.” “What we had, you and I, was too big to undo,” Jonathan says. “But you did, you managed to undo it,” she responds. Did he ever! His manipulation tactics are extraordinary!

Grace takes another “grounding” walk that night in the park and winds up passing out from stress (or guilt??). Was Fernando in the park too or was she imagining that he was following her? Grace wakes up in the hospital with Henry and Franklin by her side. Jonathan showing up to be an all-loving doctor was weird and uncomfortable. I was waiting for Franklin to jump across Grace and murder him.

Next stop – the craziest scene in episode 4. Jonathan and his balls of steel show up at Fernando’s apartment to try to convince Fernando and Miguel he did NOT murder Elena. He knew this could put him back in prison, correct? Have you met your daughter before? Have you fed her? YUP! There may be good reason Elena went a little psycho!

And for the grand finale… Hayley thinks it is time for Jonathan to plead his case to the American public on prime time TV in an interview with retired news legend Connie Chung. Jonathan gives a tell with Grace, Franklin, Fernando, Sylvia, and Henry watching at home. “Let’s not forget that in all this I lost someone I love,” admits Jonathan, an acknowledgment that leaves Grace looking on in horror. Jonathan drops a bomb when he confesses he has an idea of who did kill Elena. And now we wait.
UNTIL NEXT WEEK!!!

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