Firefly Lane Season 1 Episode 9, the penultimate episode of the season, picks up with the aftermath of Tully’s miscarriage.
Tully puts on her bravest face and decides to go do her show since it’s the “gifting” episode, which brings in the biggest ratings ever despite not being physically or emotionally recovered.
But that’s Tully — she just keeps trudging on.
It doesn’t seem as though she truly understood how impacted she was by the loss until she stood in front of a studio audience and was triggered by a digital photo frame with photos of a child.
Thankfully, that led to one of the talk show’s most vulnerable moments as she opened up about her experience, an experience so many women can relate to.
The series has done a great job of normalizing so many situations that are considered taboo and shameful for women: periods, having children older in life, and now miscarriage.
It’s estimated that about 1 in 8 women have miscarriages, but though the possibility is very real, women are taught to deal with it in silence and experience feelings of guilt and shame.
By encouraging this conversation on public television, Tully ensured that every woman who has ever gone through it felt heard and seen.
Yes, giving out the latest flip phone that takes photos is great for ratings, but it’s these moments that show Tully just how much power she has to influence the conversation. She can change the narrative; she can make a difference.
Sadly, Tully wasn’t coping so well personally. She may have seemed like she had it all together on television, but behind-the-scenes, she was a mess and regressing to her anti-commitment, anti-attachment mindset.
In my review of Firefly Lane Season 1 Episode 8, I noted that my fear was that Tully romanticized the idea of marrying Max simply because of the baby.
And sadly, their fight at the end proves that to be true.
Tully is coming from a place of hurt, and she’s damn good at knowing just the right thing to push people away.
But she really needs to be careful who she pushes away at this point because it’s not like her circle is getting larger. Max was a good guy who was always there for Tully through the good times and the bad. And the whole time, she treated him like a rag doll. She never considered his feelings when she toyed with his emotions. She was hot, she was cold, and he went along for the ride, but only she thought she had the power to dictate where their relationship went.
At this point, Tully is toxic and adding more pain and trauma to her life on top of what was already there.
Seeing as how she blames Cloud for most of her issues, it seemed inauthentic and unrealistic for her to turn to her mother in that final scene. Sober Cloud seems to be doing much better and may want to make up for lost times, but considering the amount of hatred Tully had for her, it’s unlikely that she would just let her mom in with open arms.
Firefly Lane has also done Kate a huge disservice. Each episode is the “Tully Show.” Maybe that’s done purposefully to see how Tully just sucks up all the air in everyone’s life, but it’s quite frustrating to see Kate jump circles around her for her birthday in every single timeline.
That’s why it was truly nice to see Kate just have a moment to herself and let loose with Travis. Blowing off some steam is exactly what the doctor ordered, and while I’m still holding out hope for a Johnny and Kate reconciliation, Travis and Kate make a cute couple. He’s good for her.
The scene between the three of them was funny. For the first time, Johnny and Travis seemed to get along, but it felt like Johnny was handing over ownership of Kate. I guess that was his way of accepting that there is a new man in her life and he’s no longer “it.”
It was also nice to see them all band together to defend their daughters. You never want to encourage bad behavior like destroying a biology lab, but there is some part of you that’s proud that they are standing up for what they believe in. Sometimes, children have a point, they just don’t go about making their statement the right way.
In this case, having them clean up and sit through class splattered with paint definitely seemed like more of a teachable punishment than suspension or expulsion. Good on the parents for fighting back!
In flashbacks, we saw Tully’s high-school birthday turn into a complete dumpster fire thanks to Cloud. I was surprised she actually remembered about the fancy dinner she suggested, but of course, it wasn’t without a catch. From the moment they sat down, Cloud embarrassed her daughter by singing and then refusing to pay and causing a scene. I actually found myself cringing throughout the whole scene.
Tully found herself back at the same fancy restaurant for a meeting with Wilson King, a big wig at a local news station in Seattle. While it seemed promising and like he was interested in poaching her for his network and making her a star, it also didn’t come without a catch. And this time, it was much worse than being embarrassed by your mom.
I hate how predictable the predator storyline is. The show was doing so well without inserting the “I’ll make you rich and famous if you sleep with me” plotline. When it was revealed that a new distributor bought the show, it was obvious that this would circle back to King, whose advances Tully denied.
I kept thinking that there’s no way King would still have any power over Tully because of the #MeToo movement, but then I remembered the show is set in 2003/2004 before we were exposing all the monsters in Hollywood and the media.
And based on the way King greeted Tully, it seems like he’s still butthurt over his sexual advances being rejected. How typical of men to feel scorned by a woman who doesn’t want to sleep her way to the top but would rather build her career on say, I don’t know, pure talent?!
Will King try to destroy Tully’s career? She’s already in a vulnerable situation with her ratings down and the expose that painted her like a terrible daughter who neglected her mother, which was surprisingly overlooked and not mentioned since. You’d think there would be more fallout from something like that. She didn’t even address it on air or anything.
With King in the ring, do you think Johnny will reconsider taking the job in Iraq?
The series is really trying to hold off on showing us the moment Kate and Johnny got together during the 80s flashback. They had the perfect opportunity as the duo stayed overnight in the editing bay working on a piece, and yet, nothing happened once again. Johnny simply told Kate he wasn’t good enough for her and they decided to remain friends.
Seriously, Johnny, make your move already!
What did you think of the episode? There’s still so much to be wrapped up in the upcoming season finale episode. Does Johnny leave? Whose funeral are they attending? Why did Kate and Tully have a falling out?
