Recap: The Village 1×03 “In Your Bones”
“Come celebrate with me, that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.”
That’s the last line that Ron reads of Lucille Clifton’s poem “won’t you celebrate with me” at Ava’s party in the most recent episode of The Village. While Ron reads it with Ava’s situation in mind, it certainly applies to what everyone else is going through this week.
Sarah and Katie
So much happens between Sarah and Katie, but it all starts with Sarah waking up hungover at John’s after getting drunk with him the night before. She rushes out of there so she can get back home before Katie wakes up but not before she invites him to Ava’s ‘welcome home’ party later that night.
Just as Sarah returns home, we see Katie hurry off to meet a boy. Sarah nags her about who he is, but Katie stays mum. Sarah’s worried she’s going off to meet Jagger, especially after she overheard Katie telling Nick he wanted to see other people. But Katie blows up at her, saying, “He texted me this morning, said he missed me. You know, maybe in my story, the guy doesn’t leave. Don’t you want that for me?” Sarah, however, doesn’t give her an answer, and Katie storms out.
Katie does hang out with Jagger, but he’s is all but consumed with his phone. To get his attention, she cleverly decides to text him the words “I’M PREGNANT” in all caps. Presumably, Jagger freaks out and bolts because the next thing we see is Sarah tracking Katie’s phone to the park where she’s sitting on a bench by herself.
Sarah takes it upon herself to go visit Jagger’s mom at her place of work to talk about their kids’ situation. But of course, it doesn’t go so well. Jagger’s mom asks what she wants from this whole situation and Sarah says she ultimately wants Jagger to treat Katie kindly and to own up to his involvement in the whole thing.
Katie shows up to the party and confronts Sarah; she’s furious that Sarah did not tell her she planned to interfere even more than she already had. Katie flees again — that’s her shtick apparently — and Nick goes to comfort Sarah. She leans her head on his shoulder, but their nice moment gets interrupted by John. Nick awkwardly excuses himself, and Sarah comes clean to John about who Nick is to her and how he fits into her life. John tells her if this relationship had happened a few years ago, he would have “risen to the challenge.” Then, in not so many words, he ends things with her. I don’t really care about John, but I feel like he’s got to make another appearance in some capacity. Otherwise, why did they introduce him?
As it turns out, Katie fled to Jagger’s house, hoping he would be a source of comfort. Instead, she awkwardly sits next to him while his parents try to convince her to see their priest and move into Jagger’s aunt’s house, pending a paternity test, of course. Katie says her and her mom are already discussing potential options, but Jagger’s mom takes that opportunity to throw Sarah under the bus, saying that “barking at me about your honor is a lot easier than handling this mess.”
Katie’s upset that Jagger’s parents see the baby as a “mess,” and she leaves YET AGAIN. Jagger follows her and defends his parents, saying they were just trying to help. Katie, who is understandably emotional, yells at him on the sidewalk, “What nobody mentioned is whether I get you…. Do you want me? Because I still want you.” Jagger blows off her confession, saying that he thinks they should just go back to their house and do what his mom says.
Katie, girl — I’m not saying you shouldn’t find a way to co-parent with him should he want to be in the picture but you need to forget about him as a potential romantic partner. He’s not worth your time!
Katie returns to the party and finally has a
Nick
Nick goes to visit Amy, the woman whom he made a widow. Amy seems to have been keeping tabs on him, saying she heard a rumor he ran into an old girlfriend at the VA and has a kid. Nick spills the beans and admits he’s known about Katie for 7 years. She asks him the question I’ve been wondering myself: why didn’t he tell Sarah he knew about Katie when she told him? He says he feared she wouldn’t tell Katie about him as they had agreed to.
I respectfully call “bullshit” on that. I think that may be part of the reason, but to me, it seems like there’s something else beneath that excuse.
Nick tries to come clean about how Cooper died, the real reason he’s there, but Amy avoids the topic. Before he leaves, he tries once more, but she says she doesn’t want to hear it “unless it’s a story that ends with him alive.”
Amy shows up at Ava’s party, thanks to Nick’s invitation. It’s their “after party” where things get interesting. They have an intimate moment, but Nick is hesitant to move forward with her. When she asks why, he finally tells her that Cooper is dead because of him. She slaps him across the face — twice — but still proceeds to make out with him.
I know
Ron and Patricia
Ron and Patricia meet with her doctor to discuss her cancer and the future. On their walk home, Ron updates his brother about her health on the phone. She gets upset with him, telling him she doesn’t want people to know yet. “I just want them to go on with their lives and leave me alone to fight
In what is arguably The Village’s best scene to date, Ava ends up at a church to talk to God. “This was not the deal,” she curses towards the sky. “I have held up my end. How dare you.” It’s emotional and raw and real. When Patricia returns to The Village for Ava’s party, she apologizes to Ron; at the end of the day, she just didn’t want to be made a spectacle of.
Ron reads the Lucille Clifton poem I referenced earlier and as soon as he’s done, Patricia escapes down to their apartment. She’s frustrated with his poem choice, especially after she told him she didn’t want to be made a spectacle. Ron tells her he’s not going to let her keep running, but Patricia says she spared him before, saving him from the pain, grief, and despair. She says the way he copes with her illness is “more work” for her and she can’t do that this time around.
Ron pleads with her to tell him what he can do different; he’ll do whatever it is but he’s not abandoning her. “You’re just going to have to suck it up and let me love you the best I can because this is my life at stake too. You’re an organ in my body, woman. If you fail, I fail.”
Patricia’s only response is to tell him he should brace himself because she has a bad feeling. We’re only three episodes in but if something happens to Patricia at the end of the season, I will not handle it well.
Episode Notes:
- Gabe gets a visit from his father, who confronts him about taking Enzo out of the nursing home. Enzo interrupts their conversation and sticks up for Gabe.
- And oh yeah, Gabe and Enzo have officially become roommates. Gabe’s father casually mentions that he hopes Enzo moving in won’t get in the way of Gabe’s studies. As it turns out, Enzo, with some help from Ron, cleared out a spare space in The Village and turned it into an office of sorts for Gabe.
- Katie flees situations more than any other teenager I know.
- Thanks to Ben taking some money from the Policeman’s Relief Fund, Ava gets out on bail and is finally reunited with Sami.
- Also, I love that The Village seems to throw a party for every occasion, no matter how big or small. That’s my kind of place of residence.
- Ava ends the night by going to Ben’s apartment and kissing him in his doorway. I think a relationship between them would be sweet, but I NEED MORE BACKSTORY. Without it, it seems a little rushed right now.
- At the end of the episode, Sarah goes upstairs to Nick’s apartment to presumably talk with him about who knows what. But as soon as she goes to knock on the door, she pulls her hand away. It looks like she hears Nick and Amy inside, making out against the door, but it’s not really made clear.
The Village airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.