It's been a while since I finished season 2. There was some kind of rift between Ted and his wife I think, what was it? Didn't she leave by herself for a little while without telling anyone or something? Was Ted cheating on her?
shareHello! I'll summarize what happened and try to keep as faithful as I can to the spirit of the story.
Tawney, Ted Jr.'s wife, had developed feelings for Daniel. This really accelerated after she was inspired by the idea that she could save him from suffering if he would go through baptism. Tawney, it's gradually made clear from the pilot onward, is personally unfulfilled, so this idea of saving Daniel becomes her mission.
However, it backfires because the intensity of the experience on a highly impressionable and imaginative Daniel, desperate for relief, overwhelms him and he re-directs all that feeling to Tawney, who he takes to be his personal saviour. So this intense, wonderful feeling gets mixed up with affection and physical attraction. He asks to kiss her, which unsettles her - both because it's inappropriate, and because she's attracted. She turns him down, but the unsettled feeling doesn't go away, and their connection only deepens.
Unfortunately, what Daniel needs is a lot more than the baptism ceremony could deliver, however well-intended, so his elation and feeling of relief is not long-lasting.
With that context in mind, we also see that Tawney and Ted Jr.'s marriage has problems -- in particular for her. Beginning in the pilot episode, we see that Ted Jr. is not empathetic, and can be very insensitive, whereas she is very much the opposite: her flaw is that she reflexively puts others' needs before her own, which makes her afraid to assert herself and get what she needs out of life. In fact, it makes her confused about what her needs in life even are.
Throughout S1 and 2 we witness a growing tension between Tawney's passivity/sensitivity and Ted Jr.'s assertiveness/insensitivity. Sometimes Ted Jr. acts selfishly, to the point of cruelty (for example, there is a scene where he watches her in the bathroom wrapped in a towel. When she discovers him looking, she's uncomfortable, but he urges her to let go of her towel to give "Teddy a little peek." She drops the towel, and lets him look, but it leaves her hurt and angry). Ted Jr. begins to sense something going on with her and Daniel. They are not having an affair, no sex is involved, but she is investing emotionally in him.
Since Ted Jr. is insecure he doesn't think to work on their relationship, but lashes out with emotional bullying, and at a couple of points he physically intimidates Tawney. Throughout the first two seasons, Tawney's faith in God is tested, and she reaches a crisis. Now even that anchor has come loose.
Ted Jr. also turns on Daniel by exploiting the extremely sensitive information he'd asked Daniel to share about the experience of being raped in prison. Daniel reacts with a violent and highly unusual assault; you may remember the coffee grounds scene. Ted Jr. is aware that it was to teach him "some kind of sick lesson."
Eventually Tawney admits to Ted that she had feelings for Daniel, but it's over. She becomes pregnant, but loses the baby. She tells Ted Jr. about the baby, which devastates him, and complicating that he notices that she isn't so upset. She seems relieved. He accuses her of wanting to be with Daniel, now that there is "no baby holding you back." He also says, while crying, "Maybe you'll get lucky, Tawney. Maybe he'll kill you too."
At that point, Tawney packs an overnight bag and leaves. She checks into a motel, and starts to drink -- which she never does. At the same time, Ted Jr. is drinking -- which he does a lot, and definitely shouldn't -- and goes to reclaim tire rims from a bad debt customer. The guy attacks him while he's prying off the rims, but Ted beats him badly. Meanwhile, Daniel arrives at the motel; Tawney has called him. He comes into the room. She says "We can't be together," and he answers "No." She asks if there is a God. Daniel says, "Sure." She tells him she wants to dance. S2 ends on them slow-dancing in the middle of the room.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
whatlarks nearly got it all,but he missed the last half of the final episode,
tawney drinks in the motel room alone(kinda out of character but considering the circumstances totally understandable) when daniel gets there she is kinda drunk, low tolerance i assume,
Tawney and daniel wake up next to each other clothed,
they start having a little picnic in the hotel room, involving whipped cream and potatoe chips, Daniel leaves eventually because he has to go to his deposition
tawney arrives back at the house, teddy comes in, asks where she has been, she says a motel, teddy say "you were with him weren't you"
daniels has touching moments with jared and amantha, and goes his deposition, with for his showdown with foulkes,
after that happens and they are sending it to the judge to be signed, teddy pops his head into the sheriff office and asks if it is too late to press charges over the "coffee cracking"
boys playing by the stream find george meltons body, cut to credits
just felt some of these things were important to know, like what pushed teddy to finally try and press charges, and to make remind viewer that Daniel is a good guy, he could have totally taken advantage of her at this point, but he is a real man
Actually I didn't describe the last episode at all, so thanks for filling it in.
"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson
i was doubting my memory not knowing if that was season 2 or 3 so i rewatched the episode, at least in peices skipping through to see what happens at the end
although i did forget to mention the tawney tells teddy she is sorry for what daniel did to teddy, and that is the thing that is weighing most heavily on teddy, it hits him in the pride spot, and what forces him to turn rat
even though Daniel has already decided to take the plea deal as a way of falling on his sword as a reprocussion for the coffee cracking
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Teddy walked in on Tawney in a Gelato addicts anonymous meeting.
shareHello, my name is Tawney, and i am an addict, the first time i felt the soft silk smooth taste of monkey bread gelato i fell into a deep waking slumber,
this tore apart my sweet marriage from my non-abusive teddy bear, and plunged me into the deep dark dreamy Daniel descent of denial, depression and doubt surrounded my life, why doesn't my holy indoctrination mention this substance? or do they, is it the manna that moses used to get the jews through the desert for 40 years?
life hit rock bottom when my darling teddy told me i got to fat from the gelato, and asked me for a divorce,
then i caught an episode of rectify and saw this blonde bitch feeding my deep dark dreamy daniel pistachio flavoured gelato, i couldn't live with his transgressions, only coffee or monkey bread gelato is allowed
now i am stuck on smack, giving trey willis BJS with his hands around my throat for smack money, damn you gelato, you smug delicious gateway drug