2.20: KENSINGTON - Available!

[CC Fan]

Recap Provided By Cellogal

November 6, 1984

It’s an all John Mellencamp episode! “Jack and Diane” plays as a happy couple kisses inside a car, and then the guy hands the girl a hand-drawn card with a picture of the two of them, plus the wife’s pregnant belly, on the front, and “Happy birthday, baby; I love you, Joe” on the inside. He rubs her belly adorably, then gets out of the car and heads in to work at the Johnstone Carpet Factory as his wife drives away. Joe heads up to a few guys at the coffee wagon, where there’s general banter and merriment. One of the guys orders two coffees and a cocoa and starts to pay, but the other one, who I realize after a moment is Chad Allen from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, insists on paying on account of Joe’s promotion. The heavyset guy asks Joe if he’s the new “straw boss,” and Joe shrugs and says that we’ll see. Heavyset is confused, and is pretty sure the other guy applied for the job, but he says he withdrew his application. There’s more banter about who’s getting the promotion, and finally Joe offers to pay. Heavyset, who looks kinda like Vince Vaughn, gets all huffy, asking if Joe’s money is better than his, and Joe replies that he has to get his motor running, since it’s Mary’s birthday, and if he doesn’t have the “full tilt boogie” going, he’ll be sleeping on the couch.

A large white car pulls up, and an older guy, presumably their boss, gets out. Vince Vaughn’s twin points him out to Joe, and Joe wonders what the boss is doing there today. The Vince lookalike expresses some concern that, since all the textile mills in the area seem to be closing down, they might be next, but Joe reassures him that they’ll be A-OK. Another guy comes out and tells them to punch in, since the shift change is in ten minutes, and they head in.

On a rainy night, in front of his truck, Joe lies dead in a parking lot, his wallet lying next to him. His evidence box is placed on a shelf in the warehouse.

Jail. Scotty gripes to Lilly that he hopes the two-hour trip was worth it. Lilly’s pretty sure it is, saying she checked the records, and there was a Joe Young killed in 1985. Scotty asks, by way of confirmation, if James Hogan is the guy’s nephew, and Lilly agrees, saying he heard something about the case. Wait…James Hogan. THAT James Hogan? “You two are still pretty close, huh?” Scotty asks, and Lilly replies that she put him away for his grandma’s murder last year. Yup, it’s THAT James Hogan. Scotty eggs her on, saying he knows she’s got a soft spot for him, thanks to the desk drawer of love letters he’s written her. Eek. Lilly protests that they’re not love letters, and Scotty’s not so sure, suggesting that perhaps James brought Lilly out there just to have himself a smile.

James sits at a table, and Lilly asks him how he’s making out. Um…probably not the best choice of words, for a possibly psychopathic convicted killer who may or may not have been writing her love letters. James seems disappointed that Lilly brought someone with her. Lilly introduces Scotty, who jokingly offers to step out and let them be alone, but Lilly just wants to get down to it. She sits down at the table with James, and he tells her about their group counseling sessions, where each guy admits to the group the lowest thing he’s ever done, and someone named Ham Dunn from Kensington came across a dead body at a local filling station. Lilly surmises that this dead man was James’ uncle Joe, and James continues, saying that instead of reporting the crime to the police, Ham cleaned Joe out, sneaking away with twenty bucks. Scotty agrees that this is low. James says he always thought Joe was murdered in a robbery, but Scotty and Lilly conclude that if Joe was already dead when he was robbed, then the motive was something else. Scotty heads for the door, saying he’ll go chat with Ham, but James helpfully points out that Ham was released the previous week. Scotty says he’ll go find out where he went, and has one of those awesome conversations-in-a-glance with Lilly before heading out of the room.

Lilly asks James how he’s doing, and he says he’s okay, he guesses, then asks her if she’s gotten his letters. She has, and thanks him, and he asks if they came off creepy. She says no, they weren’t creepy; they were nice, and sweet. Well, I haven’t read them or anything, but I think they’re creepy already. James asks her why, then, she hasn’t written back. Again, eek.

Credits.

Evidence Warehouse. Lilly recaps for us, saying Joe was stabbed once in the chest by a serrated, double-edged blade. Scotty reads my mind and comments that it’s a pretty specific knife. Clearly, this will be important later. Stillman asks about suspects, and Lilly says there were none: the original detectives thought Joe was killed in a robbery. Stillman and Lilly give us a brief history of Kensington: it was the industrial heart of the city until the factories closed in the mid 1980s, and then it went downhill. Stillman asks if the gas station attendant on duty called in the murder, and Scotty confirms it, but says the attendant was more off-duty, as he was asleep behind the register. Stillman comments that the attendant wasn’t a lot of help, and Scotty adds that the job went cold fast. Stillman asks about Ham Dunn, and Lilly replies that he’s in a halfway house in Yeadon. Stillman then asks about Joe’s next of kin, and Scotty says that his widow, Mary, still lives in Bristol. Stillman suggests fanning out and letting Ham and Mary know that the case just warmed up.

Halfway house. “Walk Tall” plays as Scotty spies Ham shooting pool and comments on his life of leisure, then asks about the job he’s supposed to be proving he can hold down. Ham lines up his next shot and says he starts work next week. He adds that he’s owed some good times after what was taken from him. Scotty’s not in the mood for fun and games, and grabs the pool stick out of Ham’s hand, then points out that Ham ripped off an ATM and then buried the machine in his backyard. Ham insists that it was Kensington’s fault, not his, and that he had no choice. Lilly tells him to talk about that last night at the gas station, and Ham admits to pulling into the station, seeing Joe’s body, and stealing the money from him. Lilly asks him if he saw anything or anyone else, and he insists he didn’t, saying the street lights were all busted out, and in the nine months since the mill closed, the whole area was falling apart. Scotty sarcastically asks if Ham ripping off a dead guy was Kensington’s fault, too, and Ham says that doing that was “harder than you’ll ever know,” and explains that he worked with Joe every day for ten years.

Carpet factory, accompanied by “Face of the Nation.” They’re all hard at work when the boss hits the buzzer and the machines stop whirring. All the workers gather around, and the boss, Johnstone, says there’s some “mumble-grumble” going on that he needs to put an end to. He reminds them how the non-union factories in the South are running them out of business. Butch (the guy who looks like Vince Vaughn; glad he finally has a name) says he’s heard that there’ll be retirements and layoffs, and Johnstone says he’s not retiring anybody, but says that they’re being undersold by cheap labor in the South. Monty (from Dr. Quinn) asks if Johnstone is going to cut back their hours; he’s not saying that either. Joe knows one thing they’re not doing down south: making better carpets. This gets him a round of applause from his co-workers and a smile from Johnstone. Joe asks if this means he’s not closing down, and Johnstone says none of them are going anywhere, because he’s not going anywhere: he’s staying right there in Kensington, and that’s a promise. More applause, and then Johnstone hits the button again and the machines whir to life.

Ham tells Joe he’s not buying it, but Joe protests that Johnstone gave his word. Ham instructs him to get out in front of this, before there aren’t any jobs. Joe stares after him in disbelief.

Ham says he had a gut feeling the place was going down, and Lilly replies that, a few months later, it did. Ham says it’s lucky he could carve a side of beef and get a job at the grocery, but the other three were out of luck. Scotty’s incredulous that the guy with a job is stealing money off the guy without a job and asks him how that works. Ham answers that, despite the rules against it, he was extending credit to almost everyone, so he was broke, too.

Mary’s place. She stirs coffee and reminisces about how, on sleepless nights during her pregnancy, Joe would drive her around and they’d look at the stars. Vera comments that it sounds like nice times, then asks about Mary’s son. She says he’s in school in Iowa, studying to be a writer. Jeffries asks Mary if she knew of anyone who wanted to hurt Joe, and she says that everyone who knew Joe wanted to be around him, not hurt him. Vera reminds her of the hard times they faced, and she agrees, saying they couldn’t pay their bills, and lived off macaroni and baloney. Sounds like my college days! Jeffries asks if, after the mill closed, Mary saw a change in Joe, and she did, but not the one you’d think. She says she drove out to the carpet factory as soon as she heard the news, and found Joe in a good mood.

Carpet factory parking lot. “A Hand to Hold Onto” plays as a panicked Mary runs up to the guys and says she just heard the news, but Joe’s optimistic, saying Monty’s going to save them. Butch explains that Monty has an idea for a cab company that he’s been yapping about for years. Joe thinks it’s a winner, and says as soon as Monty gives the word, they’re all set to go into business together. Butch says that Monty has the ideas, and he has a car they can use. Mary asks Monty that, if everything’s so rosy, why he looks so spooked. He shrugs and says that a lot has to go right, starting with the hacker fee to turn Butch’s car into a taxi. Butch explains to Mary that they need a down payment by tomorrow, and Mary asks how much. Joe tells her that it’s $1100, reminding her that they have $1200 in savings they’ve been wanting to invest, then asks her what she thinks. Mary’s unsure, asking if they think it’ll work, and Butch jokingly says that it better work, as Monty’s Plan B is to go rip off Johnstone’s house. Joe says Monty’s done his homework, he’s just afraid to pull the trigger, and Butch agrees. Mary says that if they have Joe’s vote, they have hers. I’m all for trusting husbands, but with one as naïve as this, I’d say a little more discussion is in order, perhaps. Anyway, Joe says he’s willing to shake on it, which they do then and there.

Mary says that, in the end, the taxi business never got off the ground. She says Joe told her it was his fault; something about messing up payments and not reading the fine print. See, kids? Discussion is good. Vera comments that that must have been a big blow, then asks how Butch took it. She says Butch took it badly, and thought that they both blamed Joe for screwing up: she says that at Joe’s funeral, everyone they knew walked the streets behind his casket, except for Butch and Monty.

Lilly’s place. She opens the door to a guy who’s really not-bad-looking, in a cocky sort of way. He introduces himself as Mark Phillips, NYPD, and says he’s going to have to come in. Lil doesn’t think so, but Mark says it’s about Christina, that he’s looking for her. Hmmm…this could be interesting. When Lilly asks why, he just repeats that he’s looking for her. Lil finally lets him in, and he says he understands that he’s making her a little nervous, but it’ll behoove both of them if she cooperates. “Behoove us?” Lilly repeats incredulously. Olivia comes up then, and Mark crouches down to pet her, saying that this little gal knows there’s nothing to be afraid of. Hey, Lil…he likes cats! He’s already a better catch than Kite! Lilly bends down and picks up Olivia, saying she can’t help Mark, then Olivia meows and Lilly puts her down. Mark sees Lil’s gun then, and asks if she has a permit for that. “Yeah, same one you got,” she replies, then tells him she works Homicide, Philly PD. Ooooh, score one for Lil! Mark tells her she could have offered that up, and she retorts that he could have asked. He asks Lilly if she’s going to tell him where her sister is, and she asks if he’s going to tell her what this is about. “No can do,” he says. “Me neither,” she replies. He reminds her that she’s sworn an oath to uphold the law, but sometimes with family….but Lil cuts him off, saying she knows what she has to do, then shuts the door in his face. Not so fast, Lil: he’s kinda cute, he likes cats, and he’s looking to solve your Christina problem! This just might work!

Street, where Monty’s getting ready to fix a telephone wire. Scotty comments that Monty’s climbing spikes are pretty bad-ass, and Monty retorts that they’re more a pain in his ass, that he’s not cut out for this, not to mention too old. Scotty tells Monty that he’s looking back at Joe’s murder with a new angle from James Hogan. Monty remembers James from Joe’s wedding. Scotty surmises that this must have been when they were on better terms, as Monty was a no-show for the funeral. Monty remembers, and Scotty asks if Monty wants to tell him why. He doesn’t, particularly. Scotty tells him that Joe’s wife thinks it was about their failed taxi service, and asks if that has anything to do with it. Monty says it had everything to do with it.

Textile mill, where we hear “Between a Laugh and a Tear.” Joe and Butch are picking up their last paychecks, and Butch asks if any new jobs have come in. The woman at the window has one new listing: for a constable. Butch isn’t clear what that is, the woman tells him that it’s a job serving eviction notices. As they turn away from the window, Butch tells Joe to take a ball-peen hammer to the back of his head if he ever sees him doing that job. Monty’s hanging around in the back, and Butch asks him where he’s been, that they have a boatload of stuff to do. Joe expresses hope that they can be running fares by the end of next week, but Monty’s not as enthusiastic. He says he has good news and bad news: his uncle Samuel’s making room for him at the shoe repair shop. Butch insists that Monty not chicken out, but Monty’s already started to grow some feathers and a beak, it seems, because he started the new job that morning. Joe and Butch are understandably irked, and Joe tells Monty that they’ve got a lot riding on this. Monty shrugs and says he’s got a family to feed, but Butch argues that they all do, and that Joe’s going to lose his $1200. Joe reminds Monty that Mary’s due next month, and they need cash. Monty just looks at them, and Butch tells him to screw his chicken ass out of there. Monty says he would, but he needs his check. Butch and Joe stand there shaking their heads as Monty goes up to the window. Butch yells that he’s going to come back and burn the place down, before tossing a trash can and departing angrily.

Monty says that Butch did all the yelling, but Joe’s silence said the most. Scotty correctly surmises that this was the end of their friendship, and Monty says that he knew Joe wouldn’t have wanted him at the funeral, and he respected that. Scotty asks about Monty and Butch, and Monty says Butch wasn’t all that forgiving, either. Their conversation now over, Monty heads up the telephone pole.

Squad room. Stillman tells Lilly that Butch is there, but Vera derails their plans, telling Lilly she has a phone call from her boyfriend…again. Stillman tells her to tie that up; that he and Vera can take care of Butch. She takes the phone from Vera and tells James that there are boundaries that she has to keep. James says he forgot to ask Lilly who hurt her. She’s incredulous and tries to laugh it off, but he says she seems different than she was a year ago. She says she’s not; he disagrees. She tells him they can’t do this, and he asks about Joe’s murder. Lilly says they’re tracking down his pals. Joe remembers Monty, saying that when he was fourteen, Joe and Monty showed him around the mill. Joe says Monty advised him to choose a different path: Monty told him he was born in the mills and would die in the mills, but that James should keep his nose in the books. He realizes he probably should have taken that advice. Lilly says she has to run, but James reminds her how last year, she said she was his girl, and asks if that was just a trick. She says it wasn’t, and he asks what she meant by that. She says she meant she wanted to be “just friends.” He tells her that her heart’s good, and that if it isn’t going to be him, he hopes she can find someone she can talk to, and then hangs up. Again, eek.

Meanwhile, Vera brings Butch coffee and compliments his shirt. Butch says he always loved Italian fabrics, but could never afford them. Stillman asks about Monty blowing the cabbie deal, and Butch confirms it. Stillman says this put him on the outs with them, and Vera says that Monty avoided the funeral out of respect. Butch says he could see that, and Vera asks him why he skipped the funeral. Butch says it was the opposite for him, that Joe turned out to be a bigger fink than Monty, for what he did to Butch’s sister.

[TVFan]

Apartment, where “Crumblin’ Down” plays. Repo men are hauling out a mattress as Butch runs up to the window and calls to his sister, Janie. He runs in and asks her what’s going on, and she says they fell behind on rent. Butch is surprised to see Joe there, and Janie says Joe is the one who’s evicting them. Joe apologizes and admits to being scum, but says he took the constable job. He says Mary can’t buy bread or soap, and Butch retorts that his wife can’t, either, but he’s out there pounding the pavement and looking for something decent to do. Joe reminds him of the baby’s doctor bills. A car pulls up outside, and Janie’s husband, Tom, orders Joe out, then punches him, knocking him to the ground. He asks Janie where the Winchester is; she says it’s in the pantry. Butch glares at Joe for a minute.

Butch says this explains why he wasn’t interested in going to Joe’s funeral, and Stillman asks if his brother in law indeed got evicted. Butch confirms it, saying they were out on the street that very night. “A man’s home’s his castle,” Vera remarks. “Take it from him, you’ve got a tiffed-off king.” Hee. I love Vera.

Interview room. Tom tells Scotty and Lilly that he never had money problems until the mills closed, and then he went in the dumper like everyone else. Lilly reminds Tom that he threatened Joe with his Winchester, and Scotty points out that the two months Tom spent in Overbrook Hospital makes them wonder if he did something rash. He swears he didn’t. Lilly reminds him he was having moods, and Tom admits to that, saying one day he’d want to shoot you, and the next he’d be sobbing in his car listening to David Lee Roth singing “California Girls.” Scotty asks if they gave him anything for that, and Tom says they did, he takes the meds regularly, and they keep him even-keel. Lilly asks Tom if he ever saw Joe again after the eviction, and he did, every Wednesday, at their regular poker game. Lilly finds it hard to believe that Tom would play cards with someone he wanted to kill. Tom says everyone there had a reason to hate someone else, but they were the only people they knew. Scotty asks if, with all that bad blood in the room, it ever got ugly, and Tom says the game took on a whole new tone.

Poker game, to the strains of “Lonely Ol’ Night.” Tom asks Monty about his shoe job, and Monty says the store closed, and he’s out on the street like all the rest of them. “But not Joe,” Butch adds with sarcastic pride. “He’s a constable.” Joe protests that he quit that job, and Tom demands to know if Monty’s in or out. He folds. “Of course you do,” Butch remarks. It’s down to Joe and Ham, and Ham sees his $2 and raises him $100. Butch protests that the game is dime-ante, and tells Ham not to go flashing his money around. Ham protests that he has money troubles, too, and they never set limits. Joe says he had $30 upstairs on his dresser, but Ham points out that $30 isn’t $100. He starts to gather up the chips and the cash, but Joe asks the others how much they have, saying if he wins, they’ll split the pot three ways. Monty has $30, and says they need $40 more. Butch is reluctant, saying his cash has to last until next Friday, not that it ever does. Ham points out that Butch owes a lot of credit at the store; Butch is well aware of this and orders Ham to stop talking about it. He reluctantly adds $40 to the pile, and Joe calls it. Ham has a flush, but Joe’s got a full house. The others start celebrating and begin to rake in the pile, but Ham stops them and accuses Joe of cheating. Ham thinks it’s a conspiracy, since he’s the only one with a job, and demands his money back. When the others are less than forthcoming, Ham smacks the pile, screams at Joe, and storms out.

Tom points out that the following weekend, Joe was dead. Lilly asks if Ham’s threat was real, and Tom says it was desperate times, and none of them were themselves.

Exterior, PPD. Chris walks up to Lilly, and they exchange terse greetings. Chris asks what was so urgent, and Lilly tells her that there’s a New York Detective Phillips looking for her. Chris asks why. “You tell me,” Lilly replies. Chris doesn’t know. Lilly says she’s made some calls and is hearing credit card fraud. Chris protests that it wasn’t her, it was her boss at the flower shop where she worked in Soho. She says Greg, the owner, had a scam. Lilly asks if Greg is the dangerous New York guy, then decides that she doesn’t want to know, and she’s just passing on information. Chris asks Lilly what she told Mark, and Lilly says she didn’t tell him anything. Chris asks Lilly what she should do, and Lil says Chris can do whatever she wants, but she doesn’t want any more early morning visits from NYPD. Sounds like a fair request to me.

Halfway house. Scotty reminds Ham of the poker game, saying he pushed Joe into making that bet, then whined when he lost. Ham says he doesn’t feel bad about that, that they all owed him money, especially Joe. “Which still bugs you to this day,” Jeffries observes, then says this provides him motive. Ham says maybe he should just muzzle himself, and Scotty tells him that’s fine, but he’s coming with them. He protests that he’s just breathing the air again, and Jeffries says Ham should then give them a reason to believe he didn’t hunt Joe down. Ham says he could give them a reason, but he doesn’t want to, because it’s embarrassing. I have a feeling, though, that he’s going to tell us anyway.

Joe’s place. Hey, I was right! We hear “Hurts So Good” as Mary answers the door to find Ham and his wife standing on their porch. Ham’s wife, Pat, demands the poker money back, saying that Joe cheated, and Mary protests that Joe would never cheat. Pat sarcastically calls Joe a saint and says he’d never do anything wrong. Ham tries to convince her to leave, but Pat swats him away, demanding to know if he wants their gas shut off tomorrow. Pat tells Mary to get Joe, because they’re not leaving. Joe arrives and demands to know what’s going on, and Ham says they need the $100 back. Mary’s incredulous that it’s that much, but Pat agrees with Ham. Mary says the money is theirs now, and the baby needs his shots this week. Pat argues that Jenny’s plugging the holes in her Keds with cardboard and Michael needs workbooks. Joe informs Ham that he better tell Pat that he didn’t cheat anybody, and Pat demands to know whether Joe cheated or not. Ham doesn’t answer, but the look on his face is all the answer she needs. She then turns on Joe, telling him he should have quit the mill when Ham told him about the contracts. Joe doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but Ham says he saw the paperwork in Johnstone’s office the day before his big speech, and knew he was selling the mill. Joe can’t believe Johnstone lied, but Ham confirms it, saying he lied without so much as a flinch, and Joe announces that it’s time for Plan B.

Ham says Joe looked like someone had punched him in the gut. Jeffries asks if this was because of Johnstone’s betrayal, and Ham confirms it, saying that if Joe had a flaw, it was trusting people when they gave their word; he says Joe never thought the boss would lie. Scotty asks about Plan B; Ham doesn’t know what it was. Jeffries does. Hey, we do, too, come to think of it.

Interview room. Butch protests that he’s got nothing to hide. Vera suggests that they talk about Plan B, and Butch says he doesn’t know what that is. Jeffries says he knows about the robbery, that Butch, Joe, and Monty were planning to stick it to Johnstone. Butch admits to maybe talking about a plan, but guys can talk. Jeffries isn’t done yet; he has police logs saying Johnstone’s neighbors reported seeing Joe’s truck in the area. Vera adds that two other guys were seen in the cab with him, and Jeffries thinks one of them was Butch. Vera understands Butch not wanting to incriminate himself in the robbery, since this would also put him with Joe the night he died, but Jeffries says that if all he did was a robbery 20 years ago, he doesn’t have much to worry about. Vera tells Butch he has to talk, and Butch finally admits to maybe trespassing, but nothing more.

Johnstone’s house, where we’re serenaded by “Authority Song.” Joe, Monty, and Butch enter through the gate and cross the yard, planning what they’ll steal and how much it’ll be worth. Butch is going for the bedroom and the jewelry, and the others are going for the china cabinet, Joe saying Mary’s never had a nice set of dishes. Monty starts to freak out, but Butch orders him to stop pulling that crap. Joe gets into the house; the others follow, and he tells them to spread out, but they quickly realize that Johnstone’s gone, and he’s taken all his stuff with him. Butch has an outburst; Monty orders him to keep quiet, but Butch asks why it matters. Joe agrees, saying there’s not a thing here, which makes him the biggest jerk in town, because he believed everything Johnstone said. He punches the wall, and in doing so, rattles the crystal chandelier that still hangs from the ceiling. Butch notices it and says it’s gotta be worth something, so they gather underneath it and boost him up. He reaches for it, but can’t quite make it, and they topple in a heap. Butch and Joe lament Johnstone’s broken promises, and Joe laughs that they just tried to steal a light fixture. “Pitiful,” Butch remarks.

Butch says he and Monty went off drinking, and that’s the last they ever saw of Joe. Jeffries asks if Monty will say the same thing, but Stillman enters the observation room just then, telling Scotty and Lilly that he got a phone call from Monty’s wife, who said she got a note from him on their kitchen table, saying he was going off to die. Scotty observes that this isn’t exactly a road map, and Stillman asks where a guy like Monty would go to die. “They live and die in the mills,” Lilly says, and explains that James told her that’s what Monty said he’d do.

Carpet factory. Monty sits there with a knife, which I can’t help but notice is a very specific knife: a double-edged serrated knife, to be exact. Scotty and Lilly walk in and see him, and Lilly tells him easy does it. Monty says he’s not doing anything; Scotty tells him to show them what he’s got in his hand. He does, and Lilly makes the same observation about the knife that I just did. Scotty realizes this must be the murder weapon. Monty puts the knife to his throat, making some comment I can’t for the life of me catch, and Scotty orders him to stay with them. Monty lowers the knife, saying he’s with them, and it’s just something they used to say to each other, goofing around. “You and Joe?” Lilly asks, then suggests they talk about Joe. That’s the last thing Monty wants to do. Scotty suggests talking about Butch, and says that after all these years, they’re still tight. Monty disagrees, Lilly asks why. Monty says Butch is a ghost; a reminder from his past, just like the mill. He points the knife at a nearby loom and says he must have fixed it a dozen times. Lilly respects that, but Monty says it was tedious. Scotty jumps in, saying it must have been even more tedious for a guy with dreams. Everybody says have dreams, he comments, but it’s a different story when they don’t pan out. Monty says having dreams was his curse. He says he could fix a loom, and weave as well as the weavers, and it was a good life for them all. We see a brief flashback to the mill in its glory days, and then we cut back to the present, where Monty says he wishes he could have been content, like Joe. “But you weren’t,” Lilly realizes softly. Monty says Joe told him dreaming up stuff was a good thing, but putting a dreamer and a chicken in the same body causes problems. He then puts the knife to his throat again. Lilly tells him not to take the easy way, but Monty says it’s the perfect way, since he’s been a chicken his whole life.

“Then, do it,” Scotty shouts, stepping forward. Lilly and I both glance at him in alarm. Scotty says he wants to see it, to witness it. Monty asks incredulously if Scotty wants to watch him kill himself, and Scotty says he does; he wants to see “that last step off the bridge, knowing you won’t be in this world anymore,” and it becomes clear by the expression on his face and the pain in his voice that he’s not just talking to Monty anymore. Monty asks why, and Scotty, sounding near tears, says that, for the ones left behind, there are so many questions. “If I watch you,” he says, “maybe I’ll be able to help your people.” Monty tearfully protests that he doesn’t want Scotty to help his family, that that’s for him to do. Scotty tells him he has to choose, and Monty, after a long moment, puts down the knife, and I let out a breath I’ve been holding since Scotty started to talk. I am so proud of Scotty, y’all. And Danny Pino just knocked that scene out of the park.

Lilly comes forward then and tells Monty gently that he’s doing the right thing. “Chicken thing, you mean,” Monty corrects bitterly, and Scotty disagrees, telling Monty he’s facing up. Lilly’s ready for the rest, and tells him to talk about that last night with Joe and Butch. Monty says it was the one night he wasn’t chicken, and it ended up being the worst thing that ever happened to him.

Filling station. Joe and his buddies drive in silence in a rainstorm. They all get out as Joe fills up, and Butch heads in to pay. Monty says he’s got it, and Butch asks if his money isn’t good enough for Monty. Monty steps toward Butch, and says they both know he doesn’t have $5 to spare. “Oh, you do?” Butch retorts. Meanwhile, I’m thinking that $5 today would get you, what, a gallon and a half? Sorry for the tangent. Joe suggests that they split it three ways, but Monty’s not paying attention. He says if Butch has money, he wants to see it. “Up yours, Monty,” Butch replies. Joe’s tired of the arguing and says he’ll pay, but Butch turns on him, too, demanding to know if he thinks he’s better than they are just because he got that promotion. Joe argues that Johnstone never hired on that job, that the mill closed first, but Butch argues that Joe had it in the bag, and while he and Monty never had two nickels to put together, Joe had the knowledge of a promotion coming. Joe argues that the job was still up for grabs, but Butch disagrees, saying Monty pulled out of the job because he knew it was Joe’s. Monty protests he didn’t pull out, but Butch tells him he pulls out of everything. Joe is incredulous that they’re fighting over something that doesn’t even exist, but Monty and Butch aren’t paying attention. Butch accuses Monty of thinking that big ideas and no guts are going to feed his family, and Monty tells him he’d better press rewind. Butch laughs at him, saying “Or what?” and Monty pulls the knife on him. Butch keeps laughing, but Joe orders Monty to put the knife away. Butch agrees, saying that “straw boss” is right, and Monty looks like a jackass. Monty threatens Butch, and Butch eggs him on, telling him for once in his life to just do it, and Joe gets between them, trying to break it up. He says they have to hang together, and Monty finally starts to cry and lowers the knife. Butch starts clucking like a chicken just then, and Monty lunges at him, but Joe gets between them, and Monty stabs Joe instead. They lower him to the ground, where he breathes his last and Butch takes his money. Monty runs off, and Butch goes in the opposite direction a moment later.

“Small Town” starts up as Lilly and Scotty escort Monty from the mill, and we see a flashback of Joe and the mill, both in happier days. We get another shot of Monty, and then some shots of Kensington.

Vera handcuffs Butch and leads him through the squad room, and then we get more shots of Kensington. That place does indeed look like it’s seen better days.

Ham plays poker in the halfway house, and we see shots of the earlier poker game, followed by more shots of Kensington.

Jeffries visits Mary, and she sits down at the kitchen table and looks at old photo albums, one of which has Joe’s card from the beginning in it.

Lilly heads back into the squad room and packs up Joe’s evidence box.

James looks out through the bars of his jail cell.

Lilly opens the drawer full of letters from James, and then she takes a fresh sheet of paper and begins a letter to him. Once again, eek. Lilly…please find a real boyfriend. Or just go hang out with your cats.