NOS4A2 Episode 7
It is a family affair this week on NOS4A2.
Vic
A Call from ChristmasLand
Vic starts off a long day of hell with a ringing phone her mother can’t hear. She thinks she just overtired and needs to take her medication. It turns out to be a phone call from Haley in Christmasland. Her and the other kids want to know where “Father Christmas” is since he’s been gone for a while.
She tries to tell Haley that he is not Father Christmas but she doesn’t listen and says she likes it in Christmasland because she has lots of friends. While Vic tries to get her to listen another little girl comes on the phone asking where her father is. Vic once again tells her that he’s not Father Christmas but the girl continues.
She asks Vic where he is since he was looking for her and her bridge. Vic said he was hurt and the girl says she’s a liar and that no one can hurt him. In the end, she tells Vic that he’s coming for her to bring her to them and their going to play Scissors for the Drifter and hangs up.
Mom and Daughter Explosion
The next morning Vic says she’s going to take her bike out and that’s when her mom drops the bomb she sold it. Upset, she calls Maggie who insists that she can’t help her. A rightfully so pissed off Vic storms out of the house and heads to where her bridge should be. She tries to use it but it doesn’t work without the bike and she breaks down.
Calling her dad, she learns he knew and didn’t stop her mother. She also tells him that she wants to go to bike week and look for a new bike.
A Date with Drew
Vic and Drew are out enjoying each other’s company, even holding each other’s hands. They are until Vic says her dad is picking her up. Well, Drew shoots off his mouth and things go south. After telling Vic she owes her dad nothing and says she deserves better. When she mentions that he was sent off to boarding school he comes back and says that his parents just wanted the best for him and have always been there for him.
And in another amazing scene, the creators again highlight real-world issues, and Vic goes off on him and says that it’s easy to be there when there’s food on the table, there is money, and the heat stays on in January. That it’s easy when you get married and have kids after college and med-school instead of getting married due to teenage pregnancy and then serving two tours in the Gulf.
This show isn’t afraid to touch the tough subjects.
Bike week
Vic and Chris look over the bikes and Chris tells Vic he bought her “Big Red” because she lit up like a Christmas tree when she rode it.
After looking at a really nice bike, Vic doesn’t feel an attachment to it. They go to their favorite eating place, a bar. Chris orders two beers for himself and when Vic asks him about it he just says that the service takes a long time there. He’s proving to not a very good recovering alcoholic.
Chris apologizes about being a bad father, but he’s already sort of tipsy.
A Second Call
After storming off, Vic walks past a payphone and once again it rings with no one but her to hear it. This time it’s not Haley but her friend. The girl tells her to visit them in Christmasland because they are hungry. She also tells Vic, in rhyme, that she is going to end up with a child at an early age and no husband unless she gives thanks to her new friend and savior, Millie Manx.
Seriously this child is as sadistic as her father. I can’t wait to hear her story.
A Father/Daughter Explosion
Shaken and distraught, Vic heads back to the table where low and behold Craig is there.
Vic has had enough and allows all hell to break loose as she downs a beer. She tells her dad he lies about the story. He only got her the bike as an apology gift for abusing her mother the night before in a drunken rage. She tells him he has always chosen booze over her.
This is an incredible scene.
At that moment I think Chris is starting to see what he has done. He makes it worse by asking her if she feels like an adult by drinking and shouting. She retorts she isn’t an adult and it isn’t her job to be one. And in a surprising moment of good advice, Chris tells Vic “I hope that you never have to feel what it’s like to disappoint people that you love. You keep drinking like your old man here, I guarantee you will find out.”
This is one of Ebon’s best performances on the show, I think. He is a master at these kinds of scenes. I think the fact Vic laughs, showing how young she really is was a good parallel to what she said. Her dad finally gives her an opening to be the child and she takes it.
Connecting with Craig
After storming off with Craig and complaining about her knife and her dad and Haley, Craig grabs her and tells her that he doesn’t care about any of that, he just wants to know if she’s ok. Reality hits Vic for the first time. Her childhood friend is the only person who really cares about her. You can see a change in the way she looks at him.
I am so happy they are pushing her to get with Craig. She goes back to his place and spends the night with him and finally getting some real sleep.
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