Post by TVFan on Aug 8, 2006 18:01:38 GMT -5
Recap Provided by Cellogal
June 6, 1980
It’s an all-Springsteen episode, and “No Surrender” kicks things off. We’re driving down a highway, and we suddenly see a blue convertible with four young people inside. They’re laughing, drinking beer, and generally having fun as they drive down the road. The guy in the back seat with the beer finishes his bottle and lets it fall, much to the squealing delight of the curly-haired blonde in the passenger seat. The driver suggests going to a party tonight, and the blonde agrees, but a brunette in the back urges him to forget about the party and just keep driving, right out of Philly. The blonde asks what’s wrong with Philly, and the driver says that May’s got her big plans. “Singin’, huh?” the blonde says, and May shrugs while the driver explains that she’s going to get a place of her own in New York City. The blonde turns around and asks May why she wants to go to New York, pointing out that she doesn’t know anyone there. She replies that she knows everyone here. The guy in the backseat is betting she’ll make it, and they’ll never hear from her again except on the radio, provoking appreciative laughter from May. The blonde tells May that her daddy says if you plan big, you’ll just disappoint yourself. Well, that’s a positive attitude to have! The driver tells the blonde that he’s got plans that involve her. “Me too,” she giggles, then snuggles closer to him and starts kissing him. “Aw, crap, get a room,” the guy in the backseat orders in disgust, but the couple in front ignores his instructions. So does he, for that matter, as he starts kissing May, who smiles and playfully punches his leg. He stops kissing her, then polishes off his beer. The driver looks in the rear view mirror at May, who’s looking back at him with a slight smile. She and the guy in the back then raise their arms like they’re on a roller coaster and start singing along as the car vanishes into the bright sunshine.
8 Years Later
A siren wails as an ambulance approaches the scene, where someone lies in the street, a stricken May kneeling next to the fallen form. As the camera zooms in, we see that it’s the driver of the car, dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. Back at headquarters, a box marked “Garris, C.” is placed on the shelf in the evidence warehouse.
Present Day
A casino in Atlantic City. Scotty and Vera stand on what looks like a balcony overlooking the gaming floor, and Vera asks between bites of…oh, good Lord, is that a rice cake? Anyway…he asks, between bites, about a chick who went AWOL after a highway shooting in 1988. Scotty says the guy she was with was killed, and she got wings, skipping out of the hospital before the cops could interview her. Vera’s shocked that just now someone dropped the dime, and Scotty says an old classmate saw her on the boardwalk last week. Well, that explains what they’re doing in Atlantic City, but it still doesn’t explain the rice cake. Scotty apparently agrees with me, because he turns to Vera and says, “Now, what IS that?” “Rice cake,” Vera replies glumly. Aww, poor Vera, reduced to eating Styrofoam for sustenance. “All right,” Scotty congratulates him sarcastically.
May approaches then, glances at the detectives suspiciously (probably wondering why anyone in their right mind would voluntarily eat a rice cake), and then starts to walk on. They stop her and say they’re with Philadelphia Homicide, and May insists that she doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Vera points out that that’s a pretty broad claim, and she protests that she’s been up all night, and can’t be doing this. “Doin’ what, May?” Scotty asks, telling her she doesn’t even know what it’s about. “Or do you?” Vera asks, around a mouthful of rice cake. Scotty reminds her of Clem Garris’s shooting on the expressway in 1988, and that she was there. Vera points out that she fled, but May denies it, saying that was another girl, then walks out to the parking lot toward a very sweet red Chevy. They follow her, and Vera calls after her. “So you’re not May Pearson, that works at this fine establishment, and drives this vehicle?” he asks. Heh. She turns around, glares at them, and says it was a lifetime ago, but Vera says they’ve got to talk about it. May tells them to forget it, that she’s going home, but Scotty says it’s not a debate; they can do it here, or in Philly. She says they can’t take her there, then asks on what basis. Scotty gives her two pretty good reasons: obstructing a police investigation in 1988, and a New York bench warrant in 1994. “And irritating two homicide guys, 2006,” Vera adds, then orders her into their car. Hee. She complies, and they get in and drive off.
Hallway, PPD. Stillman and Lilly are walking in, and he asks her if she had court this morning. “Cat emergency,” she replies, then explains that Olivia got chomped by a neighbor dog. Stillman asks if he got the other eye, and Lilly just stares at him. “It’s not funny,” she protests indignantly. Well, actually, it kind of is. Stillman, appropriately chastened, looks away, only to see a gorgeous blonde heading in their direction. Saved by the bell, I’m thinking, but by the look on Stillman’s face, it’s clear that he’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire. They greet each other awkwardly, and the woman, Rita, says she almost came by, but didn’t want to bother him. Stillman introduces her to Lilly as “Rita…Hart,” and she adds that it was formerly Stillman. Now, I understand everything!
Comprehension dawns on Lilly, too, and she shakes Rita’s hand, then tells Stillman she’ll see him in there. After she leaves, Stillman asks Rita what brings her here, and she says the house got robbed last night, and she just reported it. Stillman asks if Joe was with her, and she tells him that Joe moved out a few months ago. “The drinking?” Stillman asks, and Rita agrees. He apologizes, and she tells him it’s better. He offers to talk to Major Crimes, have them fast-track it, and give her a call, and she thanks him and leaves. He stares after her for a moment, then heads in.
Evidence warehouse. Jeffries recaps the case for Lilly: Clem Garris, shot and killed January 1988, found on the shoulder of I-76. Lilly points out that Clem wasn’t found alone, and Jeffries says that’s the scandalous part: he was found with a woman not his wife. Lilly adds that the woman, May Pearson, was shot in the arm, but slipped out of the ER before the cops could get a play-by-play. Jeffries says that Vera and Scotty picked her up this morning and have her upstairs, and Lilly surmises that someone who leaves the scene and doesn’t turn up for eighteen years is definitely a person of interest. “At least,” Jeffries agrees. Lilly says Clem told his wife, Sally, that he’d be out with the guys at a local bar that night, and Jeffries wonders why he’s out on the highway with this gal, then says it’s a rough way to find out what your husband’s been up to. Lilly thinks perhaps Sally already knew, and had had enough, which Jeffries concludes makes her Person of Interest #2.
Interview room. Scotty points out to May that between New York and Jersey, there’s a lot of ink on her. She says that’s from way back, but Scotty hits the highlights: DUI, loitering, and solicitation. May knows what she did, and now they know why she ditched the cops that night. “You didn’t wanna get jammed up,” Vera concludes, and Scotty adds that she didn’t seem to care about helping them find out who killed her boyfriend, Clem. May protests that Clem wasn’t her boyfriend. Vera asks if she’s saying she wasn’t screwing around, and May says she hadn’t seen Clem in years. Scotty wonders, then, how the heck she wound up on that highway with him, and she shakes her head and says she ran into Clem in Atlantic City that night. Vera says he told his wife he was in a Philly bar, and May says she can’t account for that. Scotty asks what happened after she ran into him, and she says they started talking about old times and were both heading back to Philly, so he offered her a ride. After some prompting from Vera, she adds that they were almost there when they got bumped from behind; Clem pulled over, got out, and got shot, just like that. Vera asks if Clem talked about being in any kind of trouble, and May says she didn’t know what his life was like, since they’d said their goodbyes years earlier when they were just kids.
Outside a church in 1981. “Bobby Jean” plays as Clem stands next to his car, smoking a cigarette and watching a newly-married couple hurry down the church steps. May approaches, and Clem seems surprised that she showed up. “Worked one last shift,” she tells him. He can’t believe she’s really going, and she says she leaves for New York at 8 the next morning. Clem asks if she’s going to wait for Petey to come get her, and she replies that Petey’s a big college football star who’s never coming back. They watch the newlyweds in silence, then May asks Clem if he’s going to marry Sally. He tells her that’s the plan, and they watch as the bride tosses her bouquet, then May tearfully asks him what if he came with her instead. Clem’s taken aback, and she reminds him of that day they ditched and drove around playing “Born To Run” until the tape broke. He remembers running out of gas, and she says they could spend every day like that. He says he’s not a big dream kind of person like she is. She disagrees, but he’s gotta stay. They look at each other for a moment, and May says Sally sure is pretty. More awkward gazing, and they look like they might kiss, but then she steps back, and he says, “Bye, Mayflower,” as she leaves. He watches the newlyweds drive away as their guests cheer and wave.
May says that’s how she likes to remember Clem, because when she saw him that night in Atlantic City, he’d turned into just another disappointed working guy. “It happens,” Vera says, with just a touch of bitterness. May says that’s what she knows, then asks if she can get back to Jersey.
Flower shop, where Sally’s putting the finishing touches on a bouquet. Lilly tells her that May Pearson gave them new details about Clem’s murder, namely that he was in Atlantic City, not in Philly like he told her. Sally says she knows everyone thought Clem must have been seeing her behind Sally’s back, but he wasn’t. Lilly asks Sally how she knows, and Sally answers that Clem wasn’t perfect, but he was more good than bad, and when he was in something, he was in. Lilly smiles, and then starts to reminisce about when she was nineteen and took off with a guy two weeks into knowing him. “The heart wants what it wants,” Sally says with a smile. Lilly continues with her trip down Memory Lane, saying he was a biker and drinker, but she thought this was it. “Roll out the carpet, we’re goin’ down the aisle.” Sally surmises that Lilly didn’t go through with it, and she says she came close; they were road-tripping and went to the courthouse in Knoxville, but they just sat out there on his bike, neither one willing to get off. Sally says she and Clem never had any doubts. Lil’s a bit skeptical, but Sally insists that getting married was the happiest day of their lives. Lilly thinks for a moment, then asks if anyone was unhappy that day. Sally sighs and says one person was.
Outside the same church, 1982. “Brilliant Disguise” plays as Sally smiles toothily, then kisses Clem. They head down the stairs, and Sally tosses her bouquet. Clem pulls Sally aside, and she immediately asks him if he’s sorry. Um, I gotta say that question never once crossed my mind on my wedding day. But I digress. Clem says he’s not, and Sally says she didn’t want this to be the way. Clem says they were gonna have babies anyway, and then we see images of Clem and Sally with an adorable bug-eyed baby. I’m trying hard to decide if these are flash-forwards from the flashback, or just separate flashbacks that aren’t as far in the past as the current flashback. Annnnd suddenly, my brain hurts, so we’re moving on. Sally flashes Clem that toothy smile again, and he says they’re doing the right thing, and promises to make her happy every day. She giggles and kisses him again. Suddenly, a rather inebriated Petey comes up, breaks them apart, and proclaims the whole even a frickin’ joke. Sally’s surprised, telling Petey they didn’t think he was coming. Petey says they’re not fooling anyone, and Clem asks if Petey’s been drinking this early. Petey continues, saying Clem only married Sally because she’s knocked up, and everyone knows it. Sally tells Petey to calm down, and Clem says he’s embarrassing. “Oh, I’m embarrassing,” Petey echoes sarcastically, then tells Clem he knows who Clem really wants to be with: Petey’s girl, May. Sally blinks in confusion as Clem asks Petey what happened to him. Sally then flashes back from our flashback to that scene in the car from the beginning, when they’re all happy and carefree before Big Bad Adult World came along and ruined their dreams, and she seems to remember Clem and May exchanging that glance in the rear-view mirror. At least with this flashback I know it’s a flashback. That other one is still confusing me. Back in the present, or at least the flashback’s present, Petey says what happened is that he got kicked out, that his girl’s long gone, and Clem gets everything while he gets nothing. Clem orders someone to start up his car, saying he and his bride are pulling out of there. He leads Sally toward the car to happy cheers from their oblivious wedding guests, and then goes around to get in his car. He glares at Petey for a minute, and Petey responds by spitting on the ground, then throwing his beer can toward the car as it pulls away from the curb.
Lilly asks Sally if Petey hit some kind of wall, and Sally says that something went real wrong at Penn State, and he dropped out and came home damaged goods. “And brought some strong feelings home with him,” Lilly concludes. Sally then says that if it’s true that Clem was in Atlantic City that night, Petey spent a lot of time there. Lilly thinks that Petey might have run into Clem and May and reacted badly, and Sally wouldn’t put it past him, considering that he’s in jail now.
Jail. Jeffries reminds Petey of the spectacle he made of himself at that wedding, and Petey agrees that he was a jerk. Jeffries asks if Petey was bitter about things going so good for Clem, and Petey says he was in a real bad way then; he’d just lost his free ride to Penn State. Jeffries tells Petey that he played ball, too. Wow…first Lil almost gets married, now Jeffries plays football! Cool! Back story central! Jeffries asks Petey what went wrong, and Petey says the first game, he choked; he froze up on the field, did it all year, and got cut. Jeffries sympathizes, saying it can’t have been easy to come home after that, and Petey agrees that it wasn’t. “People look at you like you’re crap,” he says bitterly. Jeffries asks if this includes Clem, and Petey says no, Clem was cool, and after Petey apologized for the wedding thing, they moved on and started hanging out again. Jeffries asks if Petey was surprised to hear that Clem was with May the night he died, and Petey says everyone was. Jeffries asks Petey if this bothered him, since May was his girl, and Petey laughs and says he went with her in high school. Jeffries theorizes that maybe he wanted to get back to that time, when he was a football star and May was his girl. Petey doesn’t deny that those were better times, but tells Jeffries that eight years later, he wasn’t thinking about May; he was thinking about someone else.
A bar in 1985, where someone’s hit the button for “Glory Days” on the jukebox. Petey’s reminiscing about a particular football game, and Clem remembers, saying he and Sal were on the field getting ready to do the Homecoming thing. Sally smiles as she remembers. Petey continues bragging about the touchdown he scored, Clem admits that that was something, and Petey proclaims the times crazy. We then do the flashback-within-a-flashback thing again, going back to that day in the car. Petey pours another beer and says he never met a prettier Homecoming Queen, remembering Sally’s white dress. Sally’s impressed that he remembers that, but Petey tells her that everyone noticed, and Clem got the best catch in school. We flash back briefly to Clem and Sally kissing in the front seat of the convertible, and then Clem agrees that he sure did. A tall, thin man walks by their table and looks significantly at Petey, who nods in his direction. Clem asks who that is, and Petey says it’s a guy he does favors for to make some cash. Sally gets up to leave, saying she’d better get back to the baby, and Clem kisses her and tells her he’ll be home soon. After she takes off, Petey asks why she’s so down, and Clem admits that things have been kinda iffy at home. We flash back, or forward, or maybe sideways this time, I’m not sure, to Clem and Sally facing opposite directions in their bed with a noticeable gap between them. Back in the present, Clem admits that he doesn’t know if he and Sal were ready for all this, being so young. Petey says it’s probably just tough times, but Clem disagrees. Petey asks if he thinks Sally’s sorry, and Clem thinks she wishes she didn’t cry every night.
Jeffries concludes that Clem and Sally were on the outs, and Petey says, win or lose, he’ll lay it out for Jeffries: things between Petey and Sally kinda grew.
Squad room. Stillman’s absorbing the information that Sally and Petey started up. Lilly says this kinda kills Sally’s claim that her marriage was so great, and Scotty adds that it also kinda gives her motive, if she wanted out for good. Stillman asks what these favors were Petey was doing, and Jeffries answers that it was breaking legs and stealing cars, “thug stuff.” Scotty asks if Clem ever went in on it, and Jeffries tells him that Petey says he offered, but Clem wouldn’t go for it; the guy walked the line. Rita comes in then, and Stillman immediately notices and wishes the detectives an uncomfortable good night. Jeffries picks up on his discomfort, and asks what Stillman’s nervous about. “Her,” Lilly says softly.
June 6, 1980
It’s an all-Springsteen episode, and “No Surrender” kicks things off. We’re driving down a highway, and we suddenly see a blue convertible with four young people inside. They’re laughing, drinking beer, and generally having fun as they drive down the road. The guy in the back seat with the beer finishes his bottle and lets it fall, much to the squealing delight of the curly-haired blonde in the passenger seat. The driver suggests going to a party tonight, and the blonde agrees, but a brunette in the back urges him to forget about the party and just keep driving, right out of Philly. The blonde asks what’s wrong with Philly, and the driver says that May’s got her big plans. “Singin’, huh?” the blonde says, and May shrugs while the driver explains that she’s going to get a place of her own in New York City. The blonde turns around and asks May why she wants to go to New York, pointing out that she doesn’t know anyone there. She replies that she knows everyone here. The guy in the backseat is betting she’ll make it, and they’ll never hear from her again except on the radio, provoking appreciative laughter from May. The blonde tells May that her daddy says if you plan big, you’ll just disappoint yourself. Well, that’s a positive attitude to have! The driver tells the blonde that he’s got plans that involve her. “Me too,” she giggles, then snuggles closer to him and starts kissing him. “Aw, crap, get a room,” the guy in the backseat orders in disgust, but the couple in front ignores his instructions. So does he, for that matter, as he starts kissing May, who smiles and playfully punches his leg. He stops kissing her, then polishes off his beer. The driver looks in the rear view mirror at May, who’s looking back at him with a slight smile. She and the guy in the back then raise their arms like they’re on a roller coaster and start singing along as the car vanishes into the bright sunshine.
8 Years Later
A siren wails as an ambulance approaches the scene, where someone lies in the street, a stricken May kneeling next to the fallen form. As the camera zooms in, we see that it’s the driver of the car, dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. Back at headquarters, a box marked “Garris, C.” is placed on the shelf in the evidence warehouse.
Present Day
A casino in Atlantic City. Scotty and Vera stand on what looks like a balcony overlooking the gaming floor, and Vera asks between bites of…oh, good Lord, is that a rice cake? Anyway…he asks, between bites, about a chick who went AWOL after a highway shooting in 1988. Scotty says the guy she was with was killed, and she got wings, skipping out of the hospital before the cops could interview her. Vera’s shocked that just now someone dropped the dime, and Scotty says an old classmate saw her on the boardwalk last week. Well, that explains what they’re doing in Atlantic City, but it still doesn’t explain the rice cake. Scotty apparently agrees with me, because he turns to Vera and says, “Now, what IS that?” “Rice cake,” Vera replies glumly. Aww, poor Vera, reduced to eating Styrofoam for sustenance. “All right,” Scotty congratulates him sarcastically.
May approaches then, glances at the detectives suspiciously (probably wondering why anyone in their right mind would voluntarily eat a rice cake), and then starts to walk on. They stop her and say they’re with Philadelphia Homicide, and May insists that she doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Vera points out that that’s a pretty broad claim, and she protests that she’s been up all night, and can’t be doing this. “Doin’ what, May?” Scotty asks, telling her she doesn’t even know what it’s about. “Or do you?” Vera asks, around a mouthful of rice cake. Scotty reminds her of Clem Garris’s shooting on the expressway in 1988, and that she was there. Vera points out that she fled, but May denies it, saying that was another girl, then walks out to the parking lot toward a very sweet red Chevy. They follow her, and Vera calls after her. “So you’re not May Pearson, that works at this fine establishment, and drives this vehicle?” he asks. Heh. She turns around, glares at them, and says it was a lifetime ago, but Vera says they’ve got to talk about it. May tells them to forget it, that she’s going home, but Scotty says it’s not a debate; they can do it here, or in Philly. She says they can’t take her there, then asks on what basis. Scotty gives her two pretty good reasons: obstructing a police investigation in 1988, and a New York bench warrant in 1994. “And irritating two homicide guys, 2006,” Vera adds, then orders her into their car. Hee. She complies, and they get in and drive off.
Hallway, PPD. Stillman and Lilly are walking in, and he asks her if she had court this morning. “Cat emergency,” she replies, then explains that Olivia got chomped by a neighbor dog. Stillman asks if he got the other eye, and Lilly just stares at him. “It’s not funny,” she protests indignantly. Well, actually, it kind of is. Stillman, appropriately chastened, looks away, only to see a gorgeous blonde heading in their direction. Saved by the bell, I’m thinking, but by the look on Stillman’s face, it’s clear that he’s jumped from the frying pan into the fire. They greet each other awkwardly, and the woman, Rita, says she almost came by, but didn’t want to bother him. Stillman introduces her to Lilly as “Rita…Hart,” and she adds that it was formerly Stillman. Now, I understand everything!
Comprehension dawns on Lilly, too, and she shakes Rita’s hand, then tells Stillman she’ll see him in there. After she leaves, Stillman asks Rita what brings her here, and she says the house got robbed last night, and she just reported it. Stillman asks if Joe was with her, and she tells him that Joe moved out a few months ago. “The drinking?” Stillman asks, and Rita agrees. He apologizes, and she tells him it’s better. He offers to talk to Major Crimes, have them fast-track it, and give her a call, and she thanks him and leaves. He stares after her for a moment, then heads in.
Evidence warehouse. Jeffries recaps the case for Lilly: Clem Garris, shot and killed January 1988, found on the shoulder of I-76. Lilly points out that Clem wasn’t found alone, and Jeffries says that’s the scandalous part: he was found with a woman not his wife. Lilly adds that the woman, May Pearson, was shot in the arm, but slipped out of the ER before the cops could get a play-by-play. Jeffries says that Vera and Scotty picked her up this morning and have her upstairs, and Lilly surmises that someone who leaves the scene and doesn’t turn up for eighteen years is definitely a person of interest. “At least,” Jeffries agrees. Lilly says Clem told his wife, Sally, that he’d be out with the guys at a local bar that night, and Jeffries wonders why he’s out on the highway with this gal, then says it’s a rough way to find out what your husband’s been up to. Lilly thinks perhaps Sally already knew, and had had enough, which Jeffries concludes makes her Person of Interest #2.
Interview room. Scotty points out to May that between New York and Jersey, there’s a lot of ink on her. She says that’s from way back, but Scotty hits the highlights: DUI, loitering, and solicitation. May knows what she did, and now they know why she ditched the cops that night. “You didn’t wanna get jammed up,” Vera concludes, and Scotty adds that she didn’t seem to care about helping them find out who killed her boyfriend, Clem. May protests that Clem wasn’t her boyfriend. Vera asks if she’s saying she wasn’t screwing around, and May says she hadn’t seen Clem in years. Scotty wonders, then, how the heck she wound up on that highway with him, and she shakes her head and says she ran into Clem in Atlantic City that night. Vera says he told his wife he was in a Philly bar, and May says she can’t account for that. Scotty asks what happened after she ran into him, and she says they started talking about old times and were both heading back to Philly, so he offered her a ride. After some prompting from Vera, she adds that they were almost there when they got bumped from behind; Clem pulled over, got out, and got shot, just like that. Vera asks if Clem talked about being in any kind of trouble, and May says she didn’t know what his life was like, since they’d said their goodbyes years earlier when they were just kids.
Outside a church in 1981. “Bobby Jean” plays as Clem stands next to his car, smoking a cigarette and watching a newly-married couple hurry down the church steps. May approaches, and Clem seems surprised that she showed up. “Worked one last shift,” she tells him. He can’t believe she’s really going, and she says she leaves for New York at 8 the next morning. Clem asks if she’s going to wait for Petey to come get her, and she replies that Petey’s a big college football star who’s never coming back. They watch the newlyweds in silence, then May asks Clem if he’s going to marry Sally. He tells her that’s the plan, and they watch as the bride tosses her bouquet, then May tearfully asks him what if he came with her instead. Clem’s taken aback, and she reminds him of that day they ditched and drove around playing “Born To Run” until the tape broke. He remembers running out of gas, and she says they could spend every day like that. He says he’s not a big dream kind of person like she is. She disagrees, but he’s gotta stay. They look at each other for a moment, and May says Sally sure is pretty. More awkward gazing, and they look like they might kiss, but then she steps back, and he says, “Bye, Mayflower,” as she leaves. He watches the newlyweds drive away as their guests cheer and wave.
May says that’s how she likes to remember Clem, because when she saw him that night in Atlantic City, he’d turned into just another disappointed working guy. “It happens,” Vera says, with just a touch of bitterness. May says that’s what she knows, then asks if she can get back to Jersey.
Flower shop, where Sally’s putting the finishing touches on a bouquet. Lilly tells her that May Pearson gave them new details about Clem’s murder, namely that he was in Atlantic City, not in Philly like he told her. Sally says she knows everyone thought Clem must have been seeing her behind Sally’s back, but he wasn’t. Lilly asks Sally how she knows, and Sally answers that Clem wasn’t perfect, but he was more good than bad, and when he was in something, he was in. Lilly smiles, and then starts to reminisce about when she was nineteen and took off with a guy two weeks into knowing him. “The heart wants what it wants,” Sally says with a smile. Lilly continues with her trip down Memory Lane, saying he was a biker and drinker, but she thought this was it. “Roll out the carpet, we’re goin’ down the aisle.” Sally surmises that Lilly didn’t go through with it, and she says she came close; they were road-tripping and went to the courthouse in Knoxville, but they just sat out there on his bike, neither one willing to get off. Sally says she and Clem never had any doubts. Lil’s a bit skeptical, but Sally insists that getting married was the happiest day of their lives. Lilly thinks for a moment, then asks if anyone was unhappy that day. Sally sighs and says one person was.
Outside the same church, 1982. “Brilliant Disguise” plays as Sally smiles toothily, then kisses Clem. They head down the stairs, and Sally tosses her bouquet. Clem pulls Sally aside, and she immediately asks him if he’s sorry. Um, I gotta say that question never once crossed my mind on my wedding day. But I digress. Clem says he’s not, and Sally says she didn’t want this to be the way. Clem says they were gonna have babies anyway, and then we see images of Clem and Sally with an adorable bug-eyed baby. I’m trying hard to decide if these are flash-forwards from the flashback, or just separate flashbacks that aren’t as far in the past as the current flashback. Annnnd suddenly, my brain hurts, so we’re moving on. Sally flashes Clem that toothy smile again, and he says they’re doing the right thing, and promises to make her happy every day. She giggles and kisses him again. Suddenly, a rather inebriated Petey comes up, breaks them apart, and proclaims the whole even a frickin’ joke. Sally’s surprised, telling Petey they didn’t think he was coming. Petey says they’re not fooling anyone, and Clem asks if Petey’s been drinking this early. Petey continues, saying Clem only married Sally because she’s knocked up, and everyone knows it. Sally tells Petey to calm down, and Clem says he’s embarrassing. “Oh, I’m embarrassing,” Petey echoes sarcastically, then tells Clem he knows who Clem really wants to be with: Petey’s girl, May. Sally blinks in confusion as Clem asks Petey what happened to him. Sally then flashes back from our flashback to that scene in the car from the beginning, when they’re all happy and carefree before Big Bad Adult World came along and ruined their dreams, and she seems to remember Clem and May exchanging that glance in the rear-view mirror. At least with this flashback I know it’s a flashback. That other one is still confusing me. Back in the present, or at least the flashback’s present, Petey says what happened is that he got kicked out, that his girl’s long gone, and Clem gets everything while he gets nothing. Clem orders someone to start up his car, saying he and his bride are pulling out of there. He leads Sally toward the car to happy cheers from their oblivious wedding guests, and then goes around to get in his car. He glares at Petey for a minute, and Petey responds by spitting on the ground, then throwing his beer can toward the car as it pulls away from the curb.
Lilly asks Sally if Petey hit some kind of wall, and Sally says that something went real wrong at Penn State, and he dropped out and came home damaged goods. “And brought some strong feelings home with him,” Lilly concludes. Sally then says that if it’s true that Clem was in Atlantic City that night, Petey spent a lot of time there. Lilly thinks that Petey might have run into Clem and May and reacted badly, and Sally wouldn’t put it past him, considering that he’s in jail now.
Jail. Jeffries reminds Petey of the spectacle he made of himself at that wedding, and Petey agrees that he was a jerk. Jeffries asks if Petey was bitter about things going so good for Clem, and Petey says he was in a real bad way then; he’d just lost his free ride to Penn State. Jeffries tells Petey that he played ball, too. Wow…first Lil almost gets married, now Jeffries plays football! Cool! Back story central! Jeffries asks Petey what went wrong, and Petey says the first game, he choked; he froze up on the field, did it all year, and got cut. Jeffries sympathizes, saying it can’t have been easy to come home after that, and Petey agrees that it wasn’t. “People look at you like you’re crap,” he says bitterly. Jeffries asks if this includes Clem, and Petey says no, Clem was cool, and after Petey apologized for the wedding thing, they moved on and started hanging out again. Jeffries asks if Petey was surprised to hear that Clem was with May the night he died, and Petey says everyone was. Jeffries asks Petey if this bothered him, since May was his girl, and Petey laughs and says he went with her in high school. Jeffries theorizes that maybe he wanted to get back to that time, when he was a football star and May was his girl. Petey doesn’t deny that those were better times, but tells Jeffries that eight years later, he wasn’t thinking about May; he was thinking about someone else.
A bar in 1985, where someone’s hit the button for “Glory Days” on the jukebox. Petey’s reminiscing about a particular football game, and Clem remembers, saying he and Sal were on the field getting ready to do the Homecoming thing. Sally smiles as she remembers. Petey continues bragging about the touchdown he scored, Clem admits that that was something, and Petey proclaims the times crazy. We then do the flashback-within-a-flashback thing again, going back to that day in the car. Petey pours another beer and says he never met a prettier Homecoming Queen, remembering Sally’s white dress. Sally’s impressed that he remembers that, but Petey tells her that everyone noticed, and Clem got the best catch in school. We flash back briefly to Clem and Sally kissing in the front seat of the convertible, and then Clem agrees that he sure did. A tall, thin man walks by their table and looks significantly at Petey, who nods in his direction. Clem asks who that is, and Petey says it’s a guy he does favors for to make some cash. Sally gets up to leave, saying she’d better get back to the baby, and Clem kisses her and tells her he’ll be home soon. After she takes off, Petey asks why she’s so down, and Clem admits that things have been kinda iffy at home. We flash back, or forward, or maybe sideways this time, I’m not sure, to Clem and Sally facing opposite directions in their bed with a noticeable gap between them. Back in the present, Clem admits that he doesn’t know if he and Sal were ready for all this, being so young. Petey says it’s probably just tough times, but Clem disagrees. Petey asks if he thinks Sally’s sorry, and Clem thinks she wishes she didn’t cry every night.
Jeffries concludes that Clem and Sally were on the outs, and Petey says, win or lose, he’ll lay it out for Jeffries: things between Petey and Sally kinda grew.
Squad room. Stillman’s absorbing the information that Sally and Petey started up. Lilly says this kinda kills Sally’s claim that her marriage was so great, and Scotty adds that it also kinda gives her motive, if she wanted out for good. Stillman asks what these favors were Petey was doing, and Jeffries answers that it was breaking legs and stealing cars, “thug stuff.” Scotty asks if Clem ever went in on it, and Jeffries tells him that Petey says he offered, but Clem wouldn’t go for it; the guy walked the line. Rita comes in then, and Stillman immediately notices and wishes the detectives an uncomfortable good night. Jeffries picks up on his discomfort, and asks what Stillman’s nervous about. “Her,” Lilly says softly.
