Previously: Gareth completely missed the point. But he did get some blueprints.
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The Path to War Part Two: The Impact of Propaganda on Congressional War Votes
Dani: As usual, the “previously on” song does not disappoint.
Upstairs, Red is commending Jules (the car-ramming, ambulance-diverting founder of the One Wayers) on the excellent work she’s done. Red brings in Ella, who is accompanied by Noah (the knife-wielding sufferer of Liberal Tourette’s). Gareth asks if he’s needed, but Red doesn’t need his Chief of Staff injecting logic and reason where it’s not wanted.
Red and Ella convince Jules and Noah that they’re just like them — their beliefs couldn’t differ more, yet they share the same absolute unwillingness to compromise even a little. Red says the true enemy is “out there.” Then he breaks the fourth wall, stares into the camera, and growls. It’s all very uncomfortable, trust me.
Marines: And me! I don’t like it.
Dani: Senate Intelligence Committee. Luke tells everyone that invading Syria would be a mistake, given the shoddy evidence supporting Syria’s culpability in the exploding head phenomenon. Red is so angry he can barely speak, but he manages to interrupt and talk over the Committee Chair (because woman) to remind everyone that two of his staffers were killed by Syrian terrorists. While this is going on, Gareth and Laurel exchange awkward, post-breakup glances until Gareth eventually comes over to ask how she is.
Mari: “Better every second you aren’t slut-shaming me.”
Dani: They’re interrupted by shouts from Noah and Jules, who hold up a massive “VOTE FOR THE WAR” sign. While the Capitol police are escorting them out, Noah nods at Gareth. Laurel asks WTF, and Gareth tells her that Ella and Noah met with Red earlier.
When Luke hears about this, he says they may need that anti-war video more than ever. Laurel goes to meet with the filmmaker, Ben Valderrama (Michael Zegen, Rescue Me, Boardwalk Empire), who turns out to be an old flame. This might seem like contrivance, but we established last episode that Laurel’s slept with pretty much everyone ever (except Michael Moore). This was bound to happen.
Mari: Morally loose women really do have connections.
Dani: Laurel awkwardly greets Ben (who calls her “Laurie.” Aww!) and congratulates him on becoming a famous documentary filmmaker and stuff. He reminisces about how they wanted to change the world, and change how people saw the world, but Laurel just says they were young. She’s not the same starry-eyed, idealistic college kid she once was; she’s been dealing with D.C. politics AND an alien invasion. Girlfriend has SEEN THINGS.
Laurel tells Ben they’d prefer the video focused on the possibility of war, rather than income inequality and the One Percent. They’re interrupted by Noah, who comes to Luke’s office to be disruptive and have a screaming match about the war. He’s escorted out, and Laurel tells Ben that that’s where the real story lies: with extremists.
Luke calls Senator Diane Vaynerchuk (the Intelligence Committee Chair) to warn her about Noah. He knows Red is astroturfing this movement, getting extremists from both sides to pressure senators into voting for the war. Luke says they need to check whether they still have the votes, and Vaynerchuk hesitates. Seems the good senator is up for re-election soon, and she’s reluctant to make waves. Vaynerchuk says she’ll listen to all viewpoints before making her decision. She hangs up and then turns to Jules, who’s been in her office the whole time. The senator asks why she should vote for the war, and Jules can barely contain her zeal. Well, shit.
Senator Healy’s office. Germaine (Luke’s nine-months pregnant wife) pulls Laurel aside to ask if Luke’s cheating on her. Laurel says no and assures Germaine that the only reason Scarlett is still there is because they’re worried about a lawsuit. Then Germaine asks Laurel where she was the previous evening, and her answer contradicts the lie that Luke apparently told his wife. DUDE.
Mari: Lie with something less easily verifiable if you are going to lie, bro.
Dani: Laurel’s super uncomfortable, but then Germaine has baby pains and says the past month has been really rough, because the baby kicks so hard. She tells Laurel it’s like having a monster inside of her, and uh-oh… can space bugs cross the placental barrier? There’s a TV tuned to Not-MSNBC in the background, and every time they play a clip of Trump speaking, the baby kicks the shit out of Germaine. Laurel insists they go to the hospital, pronto.
Later, Laurel cross-examines the doctor about Germaine’s test results. The sonogram doesn’t show the baby’s head very clearly, so we can’t really see the brain area. The doctor tries to assure her that everything’s fine, but Laurel’s not buying it. She convinces Luke to ask for more tests and even volunteers to bring Germaine back for them.
Once the doc leaves, Laurel pulls Luke aside and tells him the reason Germaine came to the office. She yells at him for making her lie to his wife, but Luke denies having an affair, saying he was with the moderates.
Laurel says if that were true, he would have just told Germaine that. Luke comes clean, saying the truth is just so exhausting, and he’s tired when he comes home, and he doesn’t want to talk about his day, and it’s not really serious lying but just Holden-Caulfield-level lying …
I’m pretty sure Laurel is less pissed about the lie he told than the fact that he’s STILL CHEATING ON HIS PREGNANT WIFE. Laurel tells him she wants to believe in him, but he makes it pretty damned hard. Luke says he’s not a perfect person, but Laurel points out that there’s perfect, and then there’s not sleeping around on your uber-pregnant wife. She gives him a crash course in being a moderately decent human being, and Luke agrees to stop boning other women. We’ll see how long that lasts…
Mari: Also known as, “see you after this short commercial break.”
Dani: Laurel leaves the hospital and meets Documentary Ben, who’s invited her to watch an interview he’s about to do on extremists. He warns her that the interviewee thinks he’s there to talk about Democratic-Republican relations, rather than extremism, so Laurel can’t blow the surprise. She’s cool with that until she sees they’re about to interview Gareth. She tells Ben that Gareth isn’t an extremist, but Ben points out that as Red’s chief of staff, Gareth helped astroturf the extremist group into existence.
The interview gets contentious pretty quickly, and the writers do a good job of making me feel sorry for Gareth, even though he did help astroturf the One Wayers, and they do coordinate their message through his office. It’s still an ambush, though, and I’m sure Gareth would not have agreed to the interview if he knew what it was really going to be about. With Laurel standing there on Ben’s side, she looks complicit in the trickery, and my heart breaks at the look Gareth gives her.
Mari: Just to echo what you said, this show is really great at doing this: we are angry at Luke for lying all over the place, but he’s also one of the only sane people left on the hill. Gareth messed up big time last week, but we can still feel bad about this ambush. And also, look at those puppy dog eyes.
Dani: Laurel stops Ben when he brings up the One Percent, but Ben persists until Gareth refuses to answer any more questions and walks out. Laurel chides Ben for not playing fair, but Ben says Gareth is a Republican tool and the enemy, and Laurel isn’t helping their cause by being moderate and fair and stuff.
Elsewhere, Luke is telling some random blonde that he can’t see her anymore on account of this new thing he’s trying called morality. Blonde woman tries to seduce him, but Luke says no, he can’t. Then she cries, and Luke holds her, and I think we can all see what’s coming next. He steps back and insists he can’t… but then he glances at her cleavage and apparently he can. #SayNoToThis (M: Nooo! No! Say no to this!)
Meanwhile, Laurel seeks out Gareth and apologizes for Ben blindsiding him at the interview. Gareth tells her she doesn’t owe him anything — they work for competing camps. He gets it. She apologizes again and looks all doe-eyed at him, and Gareth says that however much they like each other, they’re in a business where it just can’t work. And besides, they have entirely different beliefs and views.
Gareth: We can’t just throw that stuff overboard and pretend it doesn’t exist.Laurel: For a friend, I can.Gareth: Well, then you’re a better person than I am. Because if I throw that stuff overboard I’m not me anymore.
Gareth says he accepted the interview because it’s what he thought he should do for a friend, but he’s had a revelation.
No one is at fault; it’s just the nature of who they are. Gareth says he needs to focus on his job now, and maybe when things cool down they can try again. Laurel asks when things will ever cool down. He says soon, hopefully, then he leaves and they both look miserable.
Hospital. Laurel meets Germaine and apologizes for being late, referring to Gareth as a “thing that got in the way, nothing important.” Ouch. Germaine says all the extra tests came back fine, and then the doctor comes in and asks to speak to Laurel outside. Laurel thinks there’s something wrong with the baby, but the doc just wants to upbraid Laurel for scaring Germaine. He tells her to back the fuck off and take home her poor sister-in-law. Laurel apologizes, but as the good doctor walks away she hears his “You Might Think” ringtone and reconsiders.
Laurel asks Rochelle about the doctor, but she doesn’t know him. She also doesn’t think they can assume everyone who listens to the song is infected. Laurel says it’s weird, because the song is old, but Rochelle points out that it’s catchy — the more infected people play it, the more it’s out there, getting into the heads of non-infected people. That’s how earworms work. (How much you wanna bet the entire premise for this show came to Michelle & Robert King because one of them got a song stuck in their head??) (M: Maybe even this song…)
Rochelle says she even caught herself humming the song yesterday, and if this show infects Rochelle I am going to be PISSED. On the other hand, if this show gives us a scene where Nikki M. James sings anything I will be THRILLED. Seriously, this show has so many Broadway stars it’d be a crime to not have some sort of musical number at some point.
Laurel thinks maybe she’s going crazy, and Rochelle promises to look into the doctor.
Cut to a hotel room where Luke’s in bed with the random blonde again. He looks disgusted with himself, but I’m even more disgusted because now I realize it wasn’t the random blonde from earlier but an entirely different woman. She slips him her card “for a rainy day” and it’s pretty clear from Luke’s expression that he’s going to keep that card handy. Also clear is that Luke is a sex addict and no amount of lecturing from Laurel is going to make him stop. When was the last time you saw a junkie quit drugs, or an alcoholic refuse a drink, simply because someone told them it was wrong? Get help, Luke. One day at a time, buddy.
The next day, Laurel is helping Ben with his documentary because he lost his cameraman to a bris (brit milah). Hope he’s a guest, rather than the recipient. Laurel pulls Ben aside when she sees he intends to interview Noah. Ben thinks Noah’s extreme views will be great for the documentary, but Laurel warns Ben that Noah could be violent. That’s exactly what Ben wants, though. And with a little goading he gets it.
Ben reviews the footage of Noah attacking him later, and he thinks it’s great. Laurel disagrees. Ben says he was hired to make a short film to stop the Republicans starting another non-war in the Middle East. He asks what he’s missing, and Laurel says he isn’t missing anything… because she knows who’s really pulling the strings in this move to fight Republican extremism with Democratic extremism.
Cut to Papa Healy, who’s asking Luke about the war vote. Luke says he still has some moves left, but Papa Healy thinks he should think long term and vote for the war.
Papa Healy: There’s a new Wall Street Journal poll out this morning—Luke: Oh, screw that. I’m gonna bomb 100,000 Syrians because of a poll?
Papa Healy dismisses Luke’s argument and says the White House is his for the taking; he just has to take it. Yuck.
Meanwhile, Laurel is watching Ben’s new and (not) improved documentary. It still points the finger at Wall Street, only now it has footage of Noah attacking Ben and Gareth looking like an a-hole walking out of the interview. Great. Laurel tells Ben not everything’s about the One Percent, but Ben says they need fresh eyes and leaves. Laurel re-watches the clip of Gareth, probably searching for subtlety and nuance.
Haha, couldn’t resist. FYI, that move is known as the “Let’s Refuse to Confirm Any Supreme Court Nominations,” and it’s really big at Republican parties. Or so I hear. (M: Got that insider knowledge.)
Rochelle calls Laurel to tell her Germaine’s water broke when she was giving her another sonogram. She sounds all panicked, because she can’t reach Luke or Germaine’s OB/GYN, but I have a problem with this because 1) Rochelle is a doctor who did her residency in an ER, so nothing should make her panic, and b) they’re IN a hospital. What’s the problem? Laurel says she’s on her way and Germaine screams at everyone to get the little monster out of her.
By the time we return from commercial, Germaine has had her baby girl, and everyone (including Luke) is gathered around to admire the little beauty.
Laurel is kind of freaking out over whether the baby is healthy, but Rochelle is there and tells her to slow her roll. Laurel wants to examine the baby’s ears and gets super creepy about it, so Rochelle pulls her outside. She tells Laurel the baby is fine; they’ve given her every medical test to be sure. Laurel asks about an MRI of the brain, but Rochelle refuses to sedate a baby to ease Laurel’s fears. Good call. It’s not like there’s anything they could do about it, anyway, right? Also, I’d really rather not see a baby’s head explode, kthx.
Mari: I know Rochelle is being rational, and so are you with the not wanting to see baby head explosives, but IDK maybe we should confirm if space bugs can infect pregnant people…
Dani: Okay, but only if we can make “baby head explosives” a recurring hashtag.
Laurel returns to Germaine’s room, but Luke has already left (after promising Germaine that things will be different now). Germaine asks if there even is a war resolution, or if Luke’s lying about that, too. Laurel assures her there is, then she goes back to Luke’s office to tell him to STOP cheating already.
Luke: I can’t stop. I tried, but I can’t.Laurel: Then see a therapist. Or go to a support group. Or read a book. It’s not complicated. Keep your pants zipped!Luke: But… how?Laurel: Here’s a hint: don’t meet women in their apartments, don’t meet women in hotel rooms, don’t meet women in bars!
Luke digests this for a moment, then he tells Laurel the video she sent him is useless. He scolds her because she was supposed to handle all the One Percent stuff. Laurel tells him she didn’t send the video, but Luke is happy to have a chance to admonish Laurel for a change, instead of the other way around. He tells her they’re losing the war vote, and they really need this.
Laurel goes back to her office, where Ben is waiting. He tries to kiss her goodbye, but she says she’s “in something.” He asks what, but she just repeats “something” (which I guess is better than a “thing that got in the way?”)
Mari: I think more than anything to do with Gareth, this was Laurel’s easy way to get away from Ben. He didn’t make a great impression and c’mon. We know that sometimes it’s easier to lie as women than to believe that our consent/approval will always be respected.
Dani: Depressingly accurate.
Ben leaves, and Laurel realizes that if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself. She starts editing the video, removing all the footage of Gareth, and then recording her own voiceover. She talks about the country being overrun with an infection of extremism, and I’m pretty sure this film is about to get 1000% better.
Later that night, Luke is at a quiet restaurant with Scarlett. He tells her she has to find a new job, and she does not take the news well. She tells Luke to give her regards to Germaine, then she decides she’ll do it herself. Ruh-roh.
Cut to Laurel working on the documentary, which now includes beautiful Melanesian choir music and sun-touched shots of the heartland. I guess she finishes and it instantly goes viral, because we cut to Luke watching it and smiling, then Senator Vaynerchuk thoughtfully studying it, and then we see Ella flipping out because Laurel has somehow managed to get secretive footage of her and Red conspiring with each other, as well as hidden camera footage of Red insulting the grassroots for being stupid (he even says he could go out on 5th Avenue with a flamethrower and they’d still kiss his feet, which is a nice nod to Trump saying he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot people and not lose any voters.) I wonder if the Kings watched Trump saying stupid shit on the campaign trail and thought, “man, this show just writes itself.”
Mari: As of me commenting, there is now footage of Trump saying he can grab women by the pussy, so really, this show just writes itself.
Dani: And the internet responds as only the internet can:
Back to the documentary short… I’m not sure how Laurel got all these extra shots, so let’s just assume she’s been surreptitiously recording Red and Ella around the building for weeks.
Red throws a plant at his television after watching the video, and Gareth (who’s watching from his office) smirks at Red’s tirade.
Senate Intelligence Committee. The vote for the war resolution commences with Red and Ella voting for the war, Luke voting against it, and finally Senator Vaynerchuk weighing in with her vote against it. Red tries to argue with her on behalf of the American people, but Vaynerchuk says the American people sent them there to make intelligent, informed decisions on their behalf — and that is the point. Red rolls his eyes, because the last bit is a quote from Laurel’s viral video.
Later that night, Not-Rachel Maddow is interviewing Ben on “the little video that could,” praising him for his excellent work and the way it stopped the war resolution. Laurel watches this with a mixture of incredulity and resignation. Then she gets a call from Gareth, who is also watching the interview and cannot believe Ben’s gall. Gareth says he recognized Laurel’s barely contained contempt for anyone who thinks differently than her, but Laurel thinks she hid her contempt pretty well. Gareth wishes she’d put Reagan in there with FDR, and Laurel says next time. Aww, it’s nice to see their partisan bicker-flirting again.
Gareth tells Laurel she could have used the footage of him, because he certainly didn’t come off well. Laurel considers for a moment. Then she tells him he didn’t fit in the story she was telling, and it’s obvious she’s talking about more than the documentary. Gareth knows it, too, and so he tells her congratulations and then says goodbye.
This show makes my heart hurt. (M: Same.)
We end the episode at the Healy household, where newborn baby Grace is home and fussing in her crib. Germaine shushes her in a less-than-maternal way, and I suspect that she’s infected. Luke comes in and admires the new mobile Germaine bought for the baby. He kisses her, but she rebuffs his advances. Luke promises he’s back and he swears he’ll be true.
Mari: Especially with Germaine being suddenly sex-allergic.
Dani: Luke tells Germaine how much he’s missed her and tries to kiss her again, but she’s not having it. She says she feels a little sweaty, but I don’t think she owes him ANY excuse, given the number of women he’s banged this week. (M: Also, she’s like a day postpartum…)
Luke leaves and baby Grace starts to cry. Germaine tells her to knock it off, and it’s clear she won’t be crowned Mother of the Year anytime soon. Germaine leaves, the lights go off, and the mobile starts playing “You Might Think” while projecting stars on the ceiling.
And suddenly, baby Grace is calm.
Great, so the sweet little baby is already infected. But on the plus side, at least we haven’t needed to use our new Baby Head Explosives hashtag. Yet.
Next time on BrainDead: The Scooby Gang gets a new member in S01 E11, The Path to War Part Two: The Impact of Propaganda on Congressional War Votes
I’m a serial procrastinator and a genuinely terrible singer, and if anyone knows how to monetize either of these skills please hit me up. In my spare time, I like to study Dutch painters, Italian architecture, and Canadian bacon.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
