Post by TVFan on Oct 12, 2005 12:30:39 GMT -5
Recap Provided By Cellogal
June 24, 1954
Kitchen. We hear The Crew Cuts sing “Sh-Boom.” If there’s a more perfect 1950s band name than The Crew Cuts, I’ll be extremely surprised. A very, very perky blonde woman sprinkles shredded coconut on a cake, then sends her son, Otis, to fetch the Maraschinos. As the camera pans out, we see that she’s surrounded by quite a bit of baked goods. I’m starting to get an Izzie-from-Grey’s-Anatomy vibe with this chickadee. Otis returns with the cherries, and she puts a few of them on top of the cake, enthusiastically says she likes how that looks, then asks Otis’s opinion. He likes them, too. Then, she asks him for a really true, thought-out, from the heart answer, to this question: “Are we done?” Otis suggests they make chocolate, then says they should make every kind of sweet, ever. His mom wholeheartedly agrees, then tells him they can do anything they want, because they’re running on a never-ending, constantly replenishing fuel of love. Otis is thrilled by this, and she tells him to put the tray on the table as she goes to the oven and triumphantly retrieves “Dad’s Baked Alaska” and proclaims it beautiful, telling Otis that his dad loves this dessert. She marvels at how eggs shape up to look like the waves of the ocean, then waxes eloquent about nature as she splashes liquor over the cake. Otis holds up his toy cowboy and says he smells a forest fire as Mom strikes a match and lights the cake. She’s completely enraptured by the beauty and the colors of the flames and the cake, which they made only from “eggs and love.” She’s so enraptured, in fact, that she doesn’t notice that the flames have leapt off the cake and are starting to consume the tablecloth. Otis alerts her to this and tells her to get some water, but she tells him it’s okay, that it can’t hurt them, and it might even be a miracle. The ever-growing fire fades to a frozen field, where Mom lies dead. A sketch of her is placed in a box marked “Doe, J.”
Present Day
Squad room. Scotty explains to Sutton that an old lady just died, and they’ve tracked down her next of kin, a son. Sutton asks if this is a homicide. Hold on there, Chippy, he’s just getting started. He tells her that the woman died of old age and the son drove ten hours from Ohio to ID the woman, only to realize that the woman wasn’t his mother. Scotty explains to Sutton that this means that the woman on the slab is a fraud, not the real Bettie Petrowski, but has been using Bettie’s name and social security number. Sutton asks where the real Bettie is, and Scotty says she’s been unaccounted for since 1954. Sutton guesses that the real Bettie’s also dead, and Scotty says Lilly has a guy looking through Jane Does to see if she was murdered.
Morgue. Lilly’s there with Otis, and she introduces him to Scotty and Sutton. Otis apologizes for blinking weird, saying he’s had these glasses on for hours now. Scotty theorizes that the dead woman might have killed Otis’s mother to steal her identity, and Otis says that’s why he’s flipping through these books of the dead. Lilly says it also might explain why Otis hasn’t heard from his mother since he was eight years old, and Otis says that his mom was a mental patient who had a breakdown when Otis was eight, and almost burnt down the house with him in it. After that, he says, his dad committed her to the Philadelphia City Asylum. Scotty asks what was going on with Bettie, and Otis says it was manic depression, now called bipolar disorder. Sutton asks if Otis ever saw his mom after she was committed, and he says they visited her a few times, but he and his dad went their own way, and his dad remarried. Sutton asks Otis if he ever tried to find his mom, and Otis says he tried some, but always figured she forgot about him, like she forgot the rule about not setting fires around your kid. He then spies the sketch we saw earlier, taps it with a sigh, and says he doesn’t need to look at that twice. He gets up, and the detectives swarm in. He says it’s his mom’s face, that you never forget. Mom, Scotty determines, is Jane Doe No. 17, killed winter of 1954. Otis says they only committed her that summer. Sutton and Lilly sum up the question of the hour: if that’s Bettie Petrowski, who’s Frannie got in there?
Credits.
PPD Lobby. Scotty and Sutton encounter Gil Sherman, who greets Chippy with an enthusiastic, “What’s up, Jo?” and gives her a hug. Scotty comments that she’s cleaning them out in poker, that’s what, and Sutton adds that the players in Homicide are soft. Sherman quietly asks if that guy’s still parked outside her house, and Sutton says he’s keeping his distance, then tells him she has to run. She leaves, and Scotty asks what that was about. Sutton says it was about Sgt. White, and Scotty remarks that he’s heard rumors that they had a thing. “Yeah, only in his head,” Gil says. Scotty, confused, asks Gil if he’s saying that Sutton filed a report on Sgt. White, and Gil says she didn’t have to, that the guy made a spectacle of himself. Scotty tells him that everyone in Homicide thought she stirred it up, and Gil says it was all White’s doing, and she was lucky to get transferred out and leave that behind. Uh-oh, Vera…looks like Scotty’s about to burst your gossip bubble!
Evidence warehouse. Stillman says that the guy Otis identified as his mom was found dead in Fairmont Park on December 28, 1954, of blunt force trauma to the skull. Sutton gives us the original theory, which was that Bettie was a drifter, killed by another drifter, and Stillman says nobody ever made the connect that this Jane Doe was a mental patient. Vera, going through the files, learns that Bettie was signed out of the asylum by a Nurse Annika Olsen two days before her death. Sutton theorizes that with her family gone and just signed out of a mental hospital, it had to be a lonely time for Bettie, and Vera actually agrees with her, saying that a lot of people would have lined up to take advantage of a woman in that position, and Sutton adds the possible suspect pool from the hospital. Vera agrees again, wondering if any of the loonies were the head-bashing types. Stillman suggests going to talk to the nurse, and seeing if Otis can tell them anything about the hospital. Sutton asks what they’re going to do about their new Jane Doe, and Stillman tells her to survey her neighborhood in Fishtown, reminding them the sooner they ID Jane Doe, the closer they are to finding Bettie’s killer.
Hotel lobby. Otis introduces his daughter, saying that she jumped in the car with him when he found out he was coming there, and Lilly says it’s nice of her to keep her dad company. She chirps that she wants to learn about her grandmother, saying that just because someone’s manic-depressive doesn’t mean the family has to hide her. Otis shushes her, and Lilly and Scotty ask about City Asylum, and if Bettie had problems with anyone there. Otis says Bettie never complained, especially in her up moods, when the world was all sunshine and roses. The daughter pipes up that she read on the Internet that bipolar people can have full-on hallucinations, and Lilly says this means she might not have seen a dangerous situation for what it was. Otis says the day they committed her, that was definitely true. Scotty asks what danger she didn’t see, and Otis says it was the other lunatics in the asylum.
City Asylum, hallway. Nurse Olsen does her best Tour Guide From Hell routine, smirking to Otis that his mommy will have a wonderful relaxing time at their hospital, and that the superior Dr. Paquette will treat Bettie himself, and won’t that be nice for her? “Yes, ma’am,” Otis replies politely. Bettie looks around and says the place is really something else, and enthuses about the different kinds of people there and the stories she’ll come home with. She then says she wants to take a tour of the place with Otis, to explore it and learn every inch of it, but she’s interrupted by a scream and people running down the hallway. A dark-haired woman runs up to them, carrying a painting and yelling at the “fascists,” and another nurse says the painting is horrifying, and instructs Nurse Olsen to grab it. The dark-haired woman grabs Otis and says if they come any closer, she’ll show him the painting, and Nurse Olsen tells the woman, Carmen, to stop right there. The other nurse explains in a whisper that the painting shows a lady with a zipper for a mouth, and Bettie enthuses that Carmen’s a painter. Carmen says she’s been in a fever working on it, that it’s a vision of what’s happening to them, and she’s going to hang it on the wall as a cheerful reminder of another day in this dreadful place, then tells Bettie to hang on for dear life. Wow, no wonder they don’t let Carmen be the tour guide! Nurse Olsen tells Carmen she’s running out of chances, and Carmen swears she’ll show the picture to Otis. Another woman, who’s been leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette and watching the goings-on with disdain, challenges her to do it. Bettie asks if she can take a peek, saying she bets it’s just out of this world, and her husband, Terrence, tells her to simmer down. Carmen shows her the painting, and she says it’s beautiful, and sad, then drops the painting. Carmen shrieks at Bettie for losing the painting, and says she hates her.
The daughter angsts that if someone took her poetry away, she would totally be in a mental hospital, and Otis argues that she would totally be in law school. Heh. Scotty asks about Carmen’s disturbing paintings of women. The daughter proclaims it a metaphor, Otis says it was twisted, then says that kids at school used to ask him where his mother was, and wonders what he was supposed to say; that she was “taking a retreat with a maniac painter and assorted psychos?” Lilly looks reflective for a moment, then tells Otis that she used to say her mom was on tour with a rock band. Aw, Lil. Scotty asks Otis if Carmen was upset with Bettie, and Otis says she was foaming at the mouth, and after he met Carmen, he was sure his mom would meet her end at that place.
Squad room. Jeffries tells Nurse Olsen that she was the last person to see Bettie alive, and Vera tells her she signed Bettie out herself. Nurse Olsen says everyone who came or went did so through her, that she was a one woman security check. Vera asks about Bettie the day she left, and Nurse Olsen says Bettie wore the clothes she came in with, that she was in good spirits, and insisted on leaving despite not having any family to meet her. Jeffries compliments her good memory, and she’s not arguing with him. Vera asks if Bettie was worried about anything, and Nurse Olsen says Bettie was happy to leave, that most of them were. Jeffries asks if Bettie made any enemies during her stay, and Nurse Olsen says of course she did: “120 women in the same building with only the task of recovery to busy their idle minds.” “We talkin’ catfights?” Vera asks, and Nurse Olsen says it was more like cannibalism. Jeffries asks about Carmen, and Nurse Olsen says Carmen was moody and explosive, with a distorted view of reality, but it was Zelda that Bettie was truly afraid of.
City Asylum, where they’re having some kind of group meeting. Bettie blathers about not being able to get out of bed some days, but she tries to store casseroles in the freezer for those days so the boys won’t go hungry. She then realizes she’s babbling, and Zelda, the observant smoker from earlier, sarcastically tells her to go on. Nurse Olsen scolds her that it’s not her turn to speak, and Bettie continues, saying her son’s the only thing she’s done right, but now he’s afraid of her. “Boo,” Zelda comments. “I thought you were gonna die at the end. That’s the only kinda story I like.” Another girl proclaims Zelda absolutely vile, and says she won’t listen to it, but Zelda tells her to can it, then holds up Otis’s toy cowboy. Bettie orders Zelda to give her the cowboy, saying Otis gave it to her the day she came there, then starts begging. Zelda demands to know what she’s gonna get, then rants that Bettie has everything she wants, why can’t she get one lousy stinkin’ thing? Nurse Olsen tells her to sit down with her arms crossed, but they’re not paying attention. Zelda says she lost a son at two months and has a cripple husband; Carmen points out that Zelda pushed him down the stairs. Bettie doesn’t believe this, but Zelda says she did push him, because he irked her, like Bettie, and says, as she’s dragged away, that maybe she ought to do an encore.
Jeffries concludes that Zelda was jealous of Bettie’s life, and Nurse Olsen agrees, saying anything would be better than her own. Vera says this is good motive for identity theft, and Jeffries asks if Zelda is still committed. Nurse Olsen says she was too tricky for that, and Vera asks if she got out despite there being “bats in the belfry.” Nurse Olsen says Zelda persuaded Dr. Paquette, though she doesn’t dare imagine how, and that she signed Zelda out herself, the morning Bettie was released. “And there’s her opportunity,” Jeffries remarks.
Outside a grocery store. Scotty and Vera spy Zelda, then ask about her Bettie Petrowski, and if Zelda knew her at the asylum. “Yes, he said asylum. Carry on,” she instructs a curious onlooker. Scotty reminds Zelda of her threats to kill Bettie, and Zelda gets philosophical: if a worthless drunk SOB falls down the stairs and no one’s around, did he really fall? Vera’s not in the mood for philosophy. “According to the police report, yes,” he says, “and at your hand.” Scotty theorizes that Zelda waited for Bettie outside the hospital, that she hated her for having what Zelda didn’t. Zelda protests that she didn’t hate Bettie, and tells the detectives to keep themselves up to date. Scotty suggests she do the honor, and Zelda says Bettie stuck up for her, making those other hens realize she wasn’t as loony as they thought.
Painting class. Carmen complains that paint-by-numbers make her feel like a trained seal. I dunno, I always thought they were kinda fun. Bettie glances at Carmen’s easel, noting a still life of a fruit basket, and enthusiastically tells everyone to come take a peek, telling Carmen that her painting is delightful. Carmen shyly brushes off the compliment, and Zelda snarks to a girl she calls Bones that she could use some of that food. Bones tells Bettie that Carmen took private lessons from famous artists, since her family had railroad money. Carmen gripes that they’re putting their money to good use keeping her locked away in there. Bettie asks Carmen why she’s there, and Carmen says she paints nude ladies, skeletons, and sometimes derelicts wih a bottle of booze in their hands: she’s a pervert and a ne’er do well. Bettie says that if Carmen’s a pervert, then she’s Mamie Eisenhower. They’re interrupted by Zelda instructing them to can it, saying she hears them, that all she wants to do is dance. She closes her eyes and starts to groove, and the others explain to Bettie that Zelda thinks she hears Elvis Presley. “He sings Negro music,” Bones explains. “He invades my dreams,” Zelda retorts. Bones says it’s more like her head, and Zelda snarks that at least she doesn’t have knee bones wider than her head. Bettie smiles and says she hears it, too, then rushes forward and grabs a young black orderly, Anton, who’s brought a portable radio, which is, in fact, playing Elvis. “That’s All Right Mama,” to be exact. Everyone starts dancing gleefully.
Zelda says that’s when Anton got his new hobby: Bettie Petrowski, whom she says he pursued like a dog on a scent. Scotty asks if Anton knew Bettie was married, and Zelda says Anton would strut around and say he’d be the one to turn her head. Vera asks if she returned the feelings, and Zelda reminds them that it was 1954, and asks incredulously if they think a young black man with the hots for a married older woman stood a snowball’s chance.
Interview room. Lilly suggests to Anton that they talk about Bettie, and Jeffries says they heard Anton had it bad for her. Anton says she was a nice lady, and Lilly informs him of her death, that her head was bashed in over her right eye, an act of rage. Anton doesn’t know anything about that. Jeffries supposes that it must have hurt, that even though all these ladies were locked up and sick in the head, he still wasn’t going to be good enough for them; he’s just the black boy changing the sheets. Anton says it wasn’t like that, that in the hospital, they could be friends in a way they couldn’t on the outside. Lilly theorizes that Anton didn’t want to settle for being just friends with Bettie; Anton argues that Bettie was devoted to her husband and son, that they were what kept her going in there. He smiles and says he’s a romantic, and Lilly guesses that Anton and Bettie got close. He agrees, saying Bettie got real low a few weeks in, and that they gave her a hydrobath treatment. Lilly asks what that is, and he explains that they’re bathtubs full of ice that the girls would soak in to snap them out of depression. Okay, great, so instead of just being depressed, now they’re depressed AND cold? Brilliant. Anton says he’d spend time with the girls and learn things about them.
Hydrobath chamber, where Julie London sings “Cry Me A River.” The girls peek in on Bettie as Anton approaches, and Carmen says Bettie’s not moving and tells Anton to take her out. Bones protests that he should leave her in, that it’ll work soon enough, and Zelda demands to know if Bones has had it. Zelda has, and it doesn’t work. Anton unlocks the door and starts to head in, and Zelda gives him Otis’s toy. A nurse dumps more ice into the bath as Bettie lies there, and Anton crouches down next to her. She asks him to let her out, and he says he’s not supposed to, but gives her Otis’s toy, saying Zelda told him to give it to her, and that all her friends are thinking about her. She smiles slightly, remembering Otis, and Anton suggests that she tell him about Otis, about her favorite time with him. Bettie says it was at the park, where they went to the swings. Anton comments that all his sisters loved that. She says it started to rain: a warm, spring rain, and everyone ran to their cars except them, because Otis wanted to stay, so they did. Anton tells her that’s wonderful, then tells her she’s all better now, and they should get her out. He moves to get a towel, then helps Bettie out of the tub at the moment Terrence walks in. He demands to know what they’re doing, and insists that Anton put her down. Anton protests that he was making her warm; Terrence tells him not to touch her. He starts to yell at Bettie, but Anton steps in, saying she’s not feeling well since she’s been in the tub, but Terrence orders Anton out. He then asks Bettie what she’s doing to him, then tells Anton he’d better run.
Anton says Terrence looked at him, and he thought he was a dead man, but says Terrence never followed up with him. Lilly suggests that Terrence didn’t take it out on Anton, but on Bettie.
June 24, 1954
Kitchen. We hear The Crew Cuts sing “Sh-Boom.” If there’s a more perfect 1950s band name than The Crew Cuts, I’ll be extremely surprised. A very, very perky blonde woman sprinkles shredded coconut on a cake, then sends her son, Otis, to fetch the Maraschinos. As the camera pans out, we see that she’s surrounded by quite a bit of baked goods. I’m starting to get an Izzie-from-Grey’s-Anatomy vibe with this chickadee. Otis returns with the cherries, and she puts a few of them on top of the cake, enthusiastically says she likes how that looks, then asks Otis’s opinion. He likes them, too. Then, she asks him for a really true, thought-out, from the heart answer, to this question: “Are we done?” Otis suggests they make chocolate, then says they should make every kind of sweet, ever. His mom wholeheartedly agrees, then tells him they can do anything they want, because they’re running on a never-ending, constantly replenishing fuel of love. Otis is thrilled by this, and she tells him to put the tray on the table as she goes to the oven and triumphantly retrieves “Dad’s Baked Alaska” and proclaims it beautiful, telling Otis that his dad loves this dessert. She marvels at how eggs shape up to look like the waves of the ocean, then waxes eloquent about nature as she splashes liquor over the cake. Otis holds up his toy cowboy and says he smells a forest fire as Mom strikes a match and lights the cake. She’s completely enraptured by the beauty and the colors of the flames and the cake, which they made only from “eggs and love.” She’s so enraptured, in fact, that she doesn’t notice that the flames have leapt off the cake and are starting to consume the tablecloth. Otis alerts her to this and tells her to get some water, but she tells him it’s okay, that it can’t hurt them, and it might even be a miracle. The ever-growing fire fades to a frozen field, where Mom lies dead. A sketch of her is placed in a box marked “Doe, J.”
Present Day
Squad room. Scotty explains to Sutton that an old lady just died, and they’ve tracked down her next of kin, a son. Sutton asks if this is a homicide. Hold on there, Chippy, he’s just getting started. He tells her that the woman died of old age and the son drove ten hours from Ohio to ID the woman, only to realize that the woman wasn’t his mother. Scotty explains to Sutton that this means that the woman on the slab is a fraud, not the real Bettie Petrowski, but has been using Bettie’s name and social security number. Sutton asks where the real Bettie is, and Scotty says she’s been unaccounted for since 1954. Sutton guesses that the real Bettie’s also dead, and Scotty says Lilly has a guy looking through Jane Does to see if she was murdered.
Morgue. Lilly’s there with Otis, and she introduces him to Scotty and Sutton. Otis apologizes for blinking weird, saying he’s had these glasses on for hours now. Scotty theorizes that the dead woman might have killed Otis’s mother to steal her identity, and Otis says that’s why he’s flipping through these books of the dead. Lilly says it also might explain why Otis hasn’t heard from his mother since he was eight years old, and Otis says that his mom was a mental patient who had a breakdown when Otis was eight, and almost burnt down the house with him in it. After that, he says, his dad committed her to the Philadelphia City Asylum. Scotty asks what was going on with Bettie, and Otis says it was manic depression, now called bipolar disorder. Sutton asks if Otis ever saw his mom after she was committed, and he says they visited her a few times, but he and his dad went their own way, and his dad remarried. Sutton asks Otis if he ever tried to find his mom, and Otis says he tried some, but always figured she forgot about him, like she forgot the rule about not setting fires around your kid. He then spies the sketch we saw earlier, taps it with a sigh, and says he doesn’t need to look at that twice. He gets up, and the detectives swarm in. He says it’s his mom’s face, that you never forget. Mom, Scotty determines, is Jane Doe No. 17, killed winter of 1954. Otis says they only committed her that summer. Sutton and Lilly sum up the question of the hour: if that’s Bettie Petrowski, who’s Frannie got in there?
Credits.
PPD Lobby. Scotty and Sutton encounter Gil Sherman, who greets Chippy with an enthusiastic, “What’s up, Jo?” and gives her a hug. Scotty comments that she’s cleaning them out in poker, that’s what, and Sutton adds that the players in Homicide are soft. Sherman quietly asks if that guy’s still parked outside her house, and Sutton says he’s keeping his distance, then tells him she has to run. She leaves, and Scotty asks what that was about. Sutton says it was about Sgt. White, and Scotty remarks that he’s heard rumors that they had a thing. “Yeah, only in his head,” Gil says. Scotty, confused, asks Gil if he’s saying that Sutton filed a report on Sgt. White, and Gil says she didn’t have to, that the guy made a spectacle of himself. Scotty tells him that everyone in Homicide thought she stirred it up, and Gil says it was all White’s doing, and she was lucky to get transferred out and leave that behind. Uh-oh, Vera…looks like Scotty’s about to burst your gossip bubble!
Evidence warehouse. Stillman says that the guy Otis identified as his mom was found dead in Fairmont Park on December 28, 1954, of blunt force trauma to the skull. Sutton gives us the original theory, which was that Bettie was a drifter, killed by another drifter, and Stillman says nobody ever made the connect that this Jane Doe was a mental patient. Vera, going through the files, learns that Bettie was signed out of the asylum by a Nurse Annika Olsen two days before her death. Sutton theorizes that with her family gone and just signed out of a mental hospital, it had to be a lonely time for Bettie, and Vera actually agrees with her, saying that a lot of people would have lined up to take advantage of a woman in that position, and Sutton adds the possible suspect pool from the hospital. Vera agrees again, wondering if any of the loonies were the head-bashing types. Stillman suggests going to talk to the nurse, and seeing if Otis can tell them anything about the hospital. Sutton asks what they’re going to do about their new Jane Doe, and Stillman tells her to survey her neighborhood in Fishtown, reminding them the sooner they ID Jane Doe, the closer they are to finding Bettie’s killer.
Hotel lobby. Otis introduces his daughter, saying that she jumped in the car with him when he found out he was coming there, and Lilly says it’s nice of her to keep her dad company. She chirps that she wants to learn about her grandmother, saying that just because someone’s manic-depressive doesn’t mean the family has to hide her. Otis shushes her, and Lilly and Scotty ask about City Asylum, and if Bettie had problems with anyone there. Otis says Bettie never complained, especially in her up moods, when the world was all sunshine and roses. The daughter pipes up that she read on the Internet that bipolar people can have full-on hallucinations, and Lilly says this means she might not have seen a dangerous situation for what it was. Otis says the day they committed her, that was definitely true. Scotty asks what danger she didn’t see, and Otis says it was the other lunatics in the asylum.
City Asylum, hallway. Nurse Olsen does her best Tour Guide From Hell routine, smirking to Otis that his mommy will have a wonderful relaxing time at their hospital, and that the superior Dr. Paquette will treat Bettie himself, and won’t that be nice for her? “Yes, ma’am,” Otis replies politely. Bettie looks around and says the place is really something else, and enthuses about the different kinds of people there and the stories she’ll come home with. She then says she wants to take a tour of the place with Otis, to explore it and learn every inch of it, but she’s interrupted by a scream and people running down the hallway. A dark-haired woman runs up to them, carrying a painting and yelling at the “fascists,” and another nurse says the painting is horrifying, and instructs Nurse Olsen to grab it. The dark-haired woman grabs Otis and says if they come any closer, she’ll show him the painting, and Nurse Olsen tells the woman, Carmen, to stop right there. The other nurse explains in a whisper that the painting shows a lady with a zipper for a mouth, and Bettie enthuses that Carmen’s a painter. Carmen says she’s been in a fever working on it, that it’s a vision of what’s happening to them, and she’s going to hang it on the wall as a cheerful reminder of another day in this dreadful place, then tells Bettie to hang on for dear life. Wow, no wonder they don’t let Carmen be the tour guide! Nurse Olsen tells Carmen she’s running out of chances, and Carmen swears she’ll show the picture to Otis. Another woman, who’s been leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette and watching the goings-on with disdain, challenges her to do it. Bettie asks if she can take a peek, saying she bets it’s just out of this world, and her husband, Terrence, tells her to simmer down. Carmen shows her the painting, and she says it’s beautiful, and sad, then drops the painting. Carmen shrieks at Bettie for losing the painting, and says she hates her.
The daughter angsts that if someone took her poetry away, she would totally be in a mental hospital, and Otis argues that she would totally be in law school. Heh. Scotty asks about Carmen’s disturbing paintings of women. The daughter proclaims it a metaphor, Otis says it was twisted, then says that kids at school used to ask him where his mother was, and wonders what he was supposed to say; that she was “taking a retreat with a maniac painter and assorted psychos?” Lilly looks reflective for a moment, then tells Otis that she used to say her mom was on tour with a rock band. Aw, Lil. Scotty asks Otis if Carmen was upset with Bettie, and Otis says she was foaming at the mouth, and after he met Carmen, he was sure his mom would meet her end at that place.
Squad room. Jeffries tells Nurse Olsen that she was the last person to see Bettie alive, and Vera tells her she signed Bettie out herself. Nurse Olsen says everyone who came or went did so through her, that she was a one woman security check. Vera asks about Bettie the day she left, and Nurse Olsen says Bettie wore the clothes she came in with, that she was in good spirits, and insisted on leaving despite not having any family to meet her. Jeffries compliments her good memory, and she’s not arguing with him. Vera asks if Bettie was worried about anything, and Nurse Olsen says Bettie was happy to leave, that most of them were. Jeffries asks if Bettie made any enemies during her stay, and Nurse Olsen says of course she did: “120 women in the same building with only the task of recovery to busy their idle minds.” “We talkin’ catfights?” Vera asks, and Nurse Olsen says it was more like cannibalism. Jeffries asks about Carmen, and Nurse Olsen says Carmen was moody and explosive, with a distorted view of reality, but it was Zelda that Bettie was truly afraid of.
City Asylum, where they’re having some kind of group meeting. Bettie blathers about not being able to get out of bed some days, but she tries to store casseroles in the freezer for those days so the boys won’t go hungry. She then realizes she’s babbling, and Zelda, the observant smoker from earlier, sarcastically tells her to go on. Nurse Olsen scolds her that it’s not her turn to speak, and Bettie continues, saying her son’s the only thing she’s done right, but now he’s afraid of her. “Boo,” Zelda comments. “I thought you were gonna die at the end. That’s the only kinda story I like.” Another girl proclaims Zelda absolutely vile, and says she won’t listen to it, but Zelda tells her to can it, then holds up Otis’s toy cowboy. Bettie orders Zelda to give her the cowboy, saying Otis gave it to her the day she came there, then starts begging. Zelda demands to know what she’s gonna get, then rants that Bettie has everything she wants, why can’t she get one lousy stinkin’ thing? Nurse Olsen tells her to sit down with her arms crossed, but they’re not paying attention. Zelda says she lost a son at two months and has a cripple husband; Carmen points out that Zelda pushed him down the stairs. Bettie doesn’t believe this, but Zelda says she did push him, because he irked her, like Bettie, and says, as she’s dragged away, that maybe she ought to do an encore.
Jeffries concludes that Zelda was jealous of Bettie’s life, and Nurse Olsen agrees, saying anything would be better than her own. Vera says this is good motive for identity theft, and Jeffries asks if Zelda is still committed. Nurse Olsen says she was too tricky for that, and Vera asks if she got out despite there being “bats in the belfry.” Nurse Olsen says Zelda persuaded Dr. Paquette, though she doesn’t dare imagine how, and that she signed Zelda out herself, the morning Bettie was released. “And there’s her opportunity,” Jeffries remarks.
Outside a grocery store. Scotty and Vera spy Zelda, then ask about her Bettie Petrowski, and if Zelda knew her at the asylum. “Yes, he said asylum. Carry on,” she instructs a curious onlooker. Scotty reminds Zelda of her threats to kill Bettie, and Zelda gets philosophical: if a worthless drunk SOB falls down the stairs and no one’s around, did he really fall? Vera’s not in the mood for philosophy. “According to the police report, yes,” he says, “and at your hand.” Scotty theorizes that Zelda waited for Bettie outside the hospital, that she hated her for having what Zelda didn’t. Zelda protests that she didn’t hate Bettie, and tells the detectives to keep themselves up to date. Scotty suggests she do the honor, and Zelda says Bettie stuck up for her, making those other hens realize she wasn’t as loony as they thought.
Painting class. Carmen complains that paint-by-numbers make her feel like a trained seal. I dunno, I always thought they were kinda fun. Bettie glances at Carmen’s easel, noting a still life of a fruit basket, and enthusiastically tells everyone to come take a peek, telling Carmen that her painting is delightful. Carmen shyly brushes off the compliment, and Zelda snarks to a girl she calls Bones that she could use some of that food. Bones tells Bettie that Carmen took private lessons from famous artists, since her family had railroad money. Carmen gripes that they’re putting their money to good use keeping her locked away in there. Bettie asks Carmen why she’s there, and Carmen says she paints nude ladies, skeletons, and sometimes derelicts wih a bottle of booze in their hands: she’s a pervert and a ne’er do well. Bettie says that if Carmen’s a pervert, then she’s Mamie Eisenhower. They’re interrupted by Zelda instructing them to can it, saying she hears them, that all she wants to do is dance. She closes her eyes and starts to groove, and the others explain to Bettie that Zelda thinks she hears Elvis Presley. “He sings Negro music,” Bones explains. “He invades my dreams,” Zelda retorts. Bones says it’s more like her head, and Zelda snarks that at least she doesn’t have knee bones wider than her head. Bettie smiles and says she hears it, too, then rushes forward and grabs a young black orderly, Anton, who’s brought a portable radio, which is, in fact, playing Elvis. “That’s All Right Mama,” to be exact. Everyone starts dancing gleefully.
Zelda says that’s when Anton got his new hobby: Bettie Petrowski, whom she says he pursued like a dog on a scent. Scotty asks if Anton knew Bettie was married, and Zelda says Anton would strut around and say he’d be the one to turn her head. Vera asks if she returned the feelings, and Zelda reminds them that it was 1954, and asks incredulously if they think a young black man with the hots for a married older woman stood a snowball’s chance.
Interview room. Lilly suggests to Anton that they talk about Bettie, and Jeffries says they heard Anton had it bad for her. Anton says she was a nice lady, and Lilly informs him of her death, that her head was bashed in over her right eye, an act of rage. Anton doesn’t know anything about that. Jeffries supposes that it must have hurt, that even though all these ladies were locked up and sick in the head, he still wasn’t going to be good enough for them; he’s just the black boy changing the sheets. Anton says it wasn’t like that, that in the hospital, they could be friends in a way they couldn’t on the outside. Lilly theorizes that Anton didn’t want to settle for being just friends with Bettie; Anton argues that Bettie was devoted to her husband and son, that they were what kept her going in there. He smiles and says he’s a romantic, and Lilly guesses that Anton and Bettie got close. He agrees, saying Bettie got real low a few weeks in, and that they gave her a hydrobath treatment. Lilly asks what that is, and he explains that they’re bathtubs full of ice that the girls would soak in to snap them out of depression. Okay, great, so instead of just being depressed, now they’re depressed AND cold? Brilliant. Anton says he’d spend time with the girls and learn things about them.
Hydrobath chamber, where Julie London sings “Cry Me A River.” The girls peek in on Bettie as Anton approaches, and Carmen says Bettie’s not moving and tells Anton to take her out. Bones protests that he should leave her in, that it’ll work soon enough, and Zelda demands to know if Bones has had it. Zelda has, and it doesn’t work. Anton unlocks the door and starts to head in, and Zelda gives him Otis’s toy. A nurse dumps more ice into the bath as Bettie lies there, and Anton crouches down next to her. She asks him to let her out, and he says he’s not supposed to, but gives her Otis’s toy, saying Zelda told him to give it to her, and that all her friends are thinking about her. She smiles slightly, remembering Otis, and Anton suggests that she tell him about Otis, about her favorite time with him. Bettie says it was at the park, where they went to the swings. Anton comments that all his sisters loved that. She says it started to rain: a warm, spring rain, and everyone ran to their cars except them, because Otis wanted to stay, so they did. Anton tells her that’s wonderful, then tells her she’s all better now, and they should get her out. He moves to get a towel, then helps Bettie out of the tub at the moment Terrence walks in. He demands to know what they’re doing, and insists that Anton put her down. Anton protests that he was making her warm; Terrence tells him not to touch her. He starts to yell at Bettie, but Anton steps in, saying she’s not feeling well since she’s been in the tub, but Terrence orders Anton out. He then asks Bettie what she’s doing to him, then tells Anton he’d better run.
Anton says Terrence looked at him, and he thought he was a dead man, but says Terrence never followed up with him. Lilly suggests that Terrence didn’t take it out on Anton, but on Bettie.
