To that point, back in the 1990s, Misty is up to her old nonsense once she overhears Mari and Akilah talking about Crystal’s disappearance. Although their conversation starts with compliments, praising Misty for handling Shauna’s labor with aplomb, it devolves into the usual criticism, with Mari speculating that Misty “did something” to Crystal.
Trying to save face, Misty suggests looking for Crystal now that the snow has stopped, knowing full well what the outcome will be. But even that plan goes awry when she hears Gen (Mya Lowe) and Melissa (Jenna Burgess) suggest that discovering Crystal dead wouldn’t be the worst outcome because at least it would mean more food. Misty doesn’t want to eat her bestie, so she breaks from her search group amid fake sobs to find the body herself. She can’t locate Crystal, but she does come across Coach Ben, whose despair has finally reached a breaking point.
He is about to jump to his death off the same cliff that caused Crystal’s demise when Misty emerges to stop him. Her first tactic is threats: They’ll eat him when he dies. She’ll tell his parents once they’re all rescued that he tried to impregnate all of them. She’ll tell everyone he’s gay. “Do it,” he says to that last threat. The only thing that stops him is Misty’s tearful plea, “I can’t have another death on my hands.”
It’s the one thing she says that might be somewhat genuine. He thinks she is talking about the baby. We know her guilt goes deeper than that.
Even with the flashbacks-slash-hallucinations featuring his lover Paul, Ben’s story line has remained thin this season, and the fact that his big moment turns out to be more a showcase for Misty emphasizes that. It’s Misty’s honesty that finally gets him to back away from the ledge, not any revelation of his own.
The tone of the 1990s scenes in this episode is drastically different from that of the scenes set in the 2020s, and not only because the present-day scenes feature the “Pink Elephants on Parade” of prestige TV sequences. In the wilderness, the girls are mired in loss. Shauna exists in a haze, unable to distinguish fact from reality. She is looking for Jackie in the barn and lashing out at her teammates, who she still thinks might have eaten her child. Finally, Lottie offers herself up as a literal punching bag for Shauna’s rage, and Shauna wails on her, pounding her face until it’s swollen and bloody.
Esther Zuckerman
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