Saturday night’s alright for fighting, and maybe Sunday night, too. While Matilda steams ahead with her plan to propose to Drea, everyone around her falls a little more apart. So, a typical weekend for the Mosses.
Spoilers ahead for Everything’s Gonna Be Okay Season 2, Episode 8. You have been warned.
Alex enjoys a cloudy California day swimming in the backyard and Nicholas comes over, as usual, to bug him. He’s complaining about the terrible task of calling his lawyer to ask about if Drea would be able to access the family trust. Alex listens for a moment but quickly asks if he can go back to swimming. Nicholas announces he’s bored, but what else is new.
Later inside, the four of them sit around the table stringing paper butterflies together. Matilda explains she’s always wanted a flash mob and she wants a public proposal, but knows that would be overstimulating for Drea. Therefore, she’s gotten a tent so their families can be there just after, but she can ask privately. Matilda says the plan is to go to Drea’s family’s cabin Saturday night to set up, and that Drea will arrive Sunday morning. However, Genevieve says she won’t be able to come Saturday because its Barb’s birthday, and Barb is still being socially ostracized from lying about her grandmother dying of COVID-19. Genevieve says she has to be there for Barb, but Matilda insists she should be there for her. Alex offers to drive Genevieve up Sunday morning, that way she can be there for the proposal and he can have some self care time. Nicholas is bummed they won’t be together that night, but Alex seems relieved. Meanwhile, Matilda is going full fiancé-zilla and demanding everyone should be paying more attention to her before stomping away.
Matilda and Nicholas are off to the cabin, so it’s just Alex, Genevieve, and Barb sitting at the table with a cake and all three of them are just miserable. She says she’s not welcome anywhere, and Alex assures her she’s welcome at their house. Alex awkwardly excuses himself, and that’s when they break into the alcohol.
Genevieve asks if Barb has any idea why she lied about her grandmother dying, and she gives a half thought out answer that she did it to warn about the possible outcomes of COVID. After some more awkward sitting around, Genevieve announces that they’re going to the party currently happening in the forest. At first Barb says absolutely not, so Genevieve says she’s going to sing and dance around the room until she agrees, and with a bit more alcohol, she eventually does.
BFFs and FWBs
They get to the party and are surprised to see the others, though outdoors, aren’t wearing masks. They take theirs off and stay on the outskirts of the clearing for a few minutes. They notice that Leonard and his guitar are at the party, as well as Oscar, who Genevieve still hasn’t responded to since that one date. With a bit more confidence and a few more sips, they head into the heart of the party. They’re discussing politics and theory in the way semi-intellectual Gen Z kids do, and then Leonard invites Genevieve to go for a walk. They walk for a bit out to a view of the mountains, where they stop and look. And then they’re kissing! Which is fun and exciting until Barb comes around the corner, yelling and crying. Barb is upset because Genevieve left her alone and people started asking her about her grandmother, causing her to run off and cry and feel even more weird. Genevieve tries to apologize, but Barb runs off. Genevieve starts to go after her, but ends up kissing Leonard more before really saying she needs to go find her.
Leonard follows her and they find Barb, but Barb says not to get any closer. They’re confused, until Oscar stands up from doing… whatever sexual thing he was doing. Genevieve quickly starts to walk away and Barb tries to explain, but instead Oscar comes rushing out trying to apologize to Genevieve. He says he likes her, really likes her, and this was just him acting out. Leonard assures Barb he probably likes her too, but Barb seems unaffected and even saying Oscar was disposable. Genevieve tries to tell him to stop, but he keeps going, insisting he’s going to break the fallen tree limb that’s next to them to prove he’s serious. Finally, she firmly tells him to stop. He mumbles “shit” and walks away. So, fun party, I guess.
Back at the house, Genevieve and Barb sit, and drink, and talk. Genevieve keeps repeating to herself that she’s sure Drea will say no to the proposal, mostly just to keep herself calm. Barb admits that she made up the lie so people would have a reason to talk to her, and because she never feels people seek her out; she’s jealous of how Genevieve is always sought out. Barb asks why Genevieve didn’t go to the cabin tonight, and she insists it’s because she didn’t want to show support for Matilda’s decision, which she thinks is a bad one. Barb reminds her that she loves her sister and she really needs to go. So, half-drunk, they wake Alex and convince him to drive them to the cabin. When they get there, Matilda is somewhat taken aback by Genevieve’s tipsy excitement, whereas Nicholas is all for it. That is, until he realizes them being here means he can go to bed. He immediately leaves the room, and Nicholas just looks around the room and says he’ll clean up, unhappily.
Yeses and Oh No’s
Matilda waits for Drea in a tent that mimics the real butterfly tent from season 1, episode 9, when they first became a couple. Drea enters and asks what all of this is. Matilda says she didn’t prepare because she wanted to speak from the heart, and then proceeds to say the most planned out line of all time ending with, “Our once upon a time starts now!” (Drea calls her out on how un-improved this is, and they laugh.)
Outside the tent, Toby recalls how nervous he was when he proposed, and six of them (Toby, Suze, Alex, Nicholas, Barb, and Genevieve) make polite conversation until a cry rings out from the tent: “SHE SAID YES!” They stand up and hug and cheer, except for Alex, who looks sick and turns quickly for the cabin.
He’s looking through bags and under couch cushions for something, presumably keys. Nicholas follows him in and asks what’s wrong, to which he responds that he can’t be in the wedding photos. Nicholas says he doesn’t have to be, and Alex says but then they’ll convince him to and he’ll have to force a smile. And on their 10th wedding anniversary, they’ll look at the photos and ask who he is and Nicholas will say it’s the guy he was dating because he was grieving and didn’t have any other options. Nicholas jokes that it’s optimistic that their marriage will last 10 years, but then gets quiet and asks why Alex is talking about their relationship in the past tense. Alex is exasperated. “You know we’re breaking up,” he says. Nicholas staunchly denies this, which only pisses Alex off more. Alex says he knows Nicholas doesn’t love him, or only pretends to love him, and Nicholas tries to convince him that’s not true. Alex says the only reason they haven’t broken up is because breaking up is hard and Nicholas hates hard things. Nicholas doesn’t respond, and just says he’s short-circuiting. Nicholas says when he looks at their relationship, he just sees them having fun and being in love and being a team, to which Alex just responds that they must have been watching different movies. Obviously, this has not been his experience. He finds his keys and leaves, and an unsure and in-shock Nicholas shouts, “Love you!” as the door closes behind him.
With relationships beginning and some maybe coming to an end, the final two episodes are sure to make the most of the COVID-times season they had to work with. Season 2, Episode 9, “Carolina Sphinx Moth,” airs Thursday, May 27 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. ET on Freeform.
