It is a more than fitting visual metaphor for a show that has finally lowered itself from its ethereal plane, with all its transcendental spiritual ambitions, into the world of men. As the same aging Southern misfit – a mephistophelean figure known as “Lezlie with a Z” – had insisted only minutes before: to find enlightenment, “You’ve got to get in the world, you’ve got to get dirty.” Or better yet, “Who gives a shit!” It is a turning point both for Daniel and for the direction of the series as a whole. Rectify is no longer a show about God, time, memory and liberty; it is a show about place and relationships, about a world in which all “act as if” we belong in the face of an insuperable existential solitude. For his part, Ted Jr. has also given up his extended three-episode temper tantrum. Like a narcissistic adolescent Ted Jr. had perceived the whole world as conspiring against him since Daniel’s return. In his eyes, he had been betrayed on all fronts – his stepmother, his father and even his own wife had favored Daniel over him. Receding ever more into himself, he showed the world his discontent with brusque grunts and rude dismissals. Now at peace with himself, he timidly smiles and compliments Tawny as if to make good on the mistreatment and neglect he had dealt out so viciously in the weeks prior. Suddenly we see him more as a tender child than a moody teenager, and his eyes flicker in a display of innocent glee when Tawny informs him she might be pregnant. In contrast, Janet’s process has only just begun. Brought closer to her son by the symbolic kitchen renovation that Daniel impetuously undertook after so many weeks floating aimlessly through his freedom, Janet gives a reluctant window into the depth of her suffering and suggests the long process of emotional reconciliation that both have ahead of them. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing.
