In the car with Jill and Aimee, the twins are confused as to why they’re missing school. Turns out, Aimee is determined to follow Nora around and watch her. “She’s fucking dangerous,” Aimee says by way of an explanation. Nora goes to work, conducting a lengthy benefits release questionnaire for an elderly couple. The questions focus on the couple’s departed son. Something about the questions makes me think that Nora is doing some digging of her own and isn’t there in any official capacity, instead using the opportunity to dig for some common thread between the disappeared.
“To your knowledge, did Charlie ever go to Brazil? To your knowledge, did Charlie speak more than one language?” The mother snaps, “My son had Down Syndrome.” Nora apologizes but proceeds with the questionnaire, even as the mother holds back tears. “To your knowledge, did Charlie have more than twenty sexual partners?” She asks, grimacing. Outside, Aimee rummages through Nora’s car, looking for hand-cream after being dared to do so by Jill. She sees Chipmunks CDs and Jelly Beans, among other reminders of Nora’s children. As she takes the Jelly Beans from Nora’s car, Jill mischievously toots the twins’ car horn. Aimee legs it back to the car with her prize just as Nora comes out, watching the teens drive away with a look of sullen anger.
Kevin gets a call from his deputy, who reports that the truck Kevin was searching for is actually sitting in his driveway. The keys are on the dash, and it’s unregistered. In the bed is a bloody bag containing a dead dog. The deputy offers to say that it was found a few blocks away, but Kevin takes this to mean that his own deputy doesn’t believe someone else put it there, and that he’s just covering for Kevin.
Back at the gas station, Wayne talks with Tom, commending him for killing the man back at the compound but saying that now he has blood on his hands. “You’re a good boy, Tom,” he says. “That’s why it feels like there’s poison inside you now. It’s gonna burn, until you’re… hollow. Let me take it from you, man.” He goes to hug Tom, but Tom refuses. “You’re the one motherfucker I can’t figure out,” notes Wayne. “You’re all suffering and no salvation.” Still, that’s exactly why Wayne picked him to protect Christine, he says.
Jill and Aimee somehow spent the whole day driving around with the twins, who drop them off. Discussing Nora, Jill opines that she could have run away and no one would have known what happened to her, but “she’s still here.” Aimee mulls that over, munching stale Jelly Beans until Jill points out that they were probably for her kids.
At the GR compound, Meg is getting ready for bed, but when Laurie shows up to take some of her clothing (because they share everything), Meg asks her not to. Laurie scribbles “Surrender,” but Meg changes the subject by asking her if she remembers what it was like to care about things. Laurie writes, “Heard you met my husband today,” gesturing to Kevin’s business card. “No shit, the hot cop?” Meg asks incredulously. “And you’re here?” Laurie simply writes, “Remember,” but her eyes are anguished. For some reason, the non-conversation leads Meg to hand over a piece of clothing that belonged to her mother, one which she was saving for last. “I don’t want to feel this way anymore,” she pleads.
I’m still unclear on why the GR has such a pull for her. She seems tired of being miserable, but all the GR appear to do is wallow in sadness and melancholy. Also, the overbearing piano music is especially distracting in this scene.
