The Pfeffermans are back! To quickly get up to speed, check out our Binge Club for season 2. Already set? Let's get this started.
Episode 1
Things kick off with Raquel, who definitely still seems to be in the midst of some major emotional stuff. She's working on what she'll say during Passover services. Her voiceover is the framework for the episode: the idea that when times get tough, sometimes, it is up to you to save yourself. Maura and Vicki wake up together at Davina's house, where Maura is still living. Maura tells Davina that things are going well — not just with Vicki, but with everything. But she's still really unhappy, and she can't put her finger on why. She tries to fill the hole by volunteering with the LGBTQ crisis hotline. But she's struggling to make that work: When a young trans woman named Eliza calls in during her shift, Maura says all the wrong things. Ultimately, Eliza just hangs up the phone. Maura is worried that Eliza — who, remember, she has never actually met, having only spoken to her on the hotline for a few minutes — might hurt herself. So Maura goes to south L.A., where Eliza said she was during the call, to track her down. Ultimately, Maura winds up at a big swap meet searching for Eliza, who she knows has green hair and is trans. Along the way, Maura breaks a heel off of her shoe, manages to majorly offend some Latinas, and accidentally steals a bottle of Gatorade when she spots Eliza and goes running out of the store. Police show up, but before Maura can get into that kind of trouble, she faints and gets taken to the hospital. The episode culminates with Raquel's voice, asking whoever is listening to consider: "If you're waiting for a miracle, have you ever considered that you might have to be your own messiah?"
Things kick off with Raquel, who definitely still seems to be in the midst of some major emotional stuff. She's working on what she'll say during Passover services. Her voiceover is the framework for the episode: the idea that when times get tough, sometimes, it is up to you to save yourself. Maura and Vicki wake up together at Davina's house, where Maura is still living. Maura tells Davina that things are going well — not just with Vicki, but with everything. But she's still really unhappy, and she can't put her finger on why. She tries to fill the hole by volunteering with the LGBTQ crisis hotline. But she's struggling to make that work: When a young trans woman named Eliza calls in during her shift, Maura says all the wrong things. Ultimately, Eliza just hangs up the phone. Maura is worried that Eliza — who, remember, she has never actually met, having only spoken to her on the hotline for a few minutes — might hurt herself. So Maura goes to south L.A., where Eliza said she was during the call, to track her down. Ultimately, Maura winds up at a big swap meet searching for Eliza, who she knows has green hair and is trans. Along the way, Maura breaks a heel off of her shoe, manages to majorly offend some Latinas, and accidentally steals a bottle of Gatorade when she spots Eliza and goes running out of the store. Police show up, but before Maura can get into that kind of trouble, she faints and gets taken to the hospital. The episode culminates with Raquel's voice, asking whoever is listening to consider: "If you're waiting for a miracle, have you ever considered that you might have to be your own messiah?"
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Episode 2
Maura is at the hospital. Her sister is the person who shows up in the hospital room, because apparently, the only number Maura could remember was their childhood phone number. They have a sweet moment until Maura asks her sister to change the hospital chart so that it says "female" — after that, they're back to being at odds. Maura is also struggling with being in a state hospital instead of a private one: She wants to be moved to Cedars-Sinai, stat. Josh, Ali, and Sarah go to visit Maura and promise they'll do their best to get her switched to a new hospital. But it's not until Vicki gets there that it seems like anyone has really showed up for Maura. At that moment, Vicki becomes Maura's emergency contact — and out of fear and relief, Maura cries.
Maura is at the hospital. Her sister is the person who shows up in the hospital room, because apparently, the only number Maura could remember was their childhood phone number. They have a sweet moment until Maura asks her sister to change the hospital chart so that it says "female" — after that, they're back to being at odds. Maura is also struggling with being in a state hospital instead of a private one: She wants to be moved to Cedars-Sinai, stat. Josh, Ali, and Sarah go to visit Maura and promise they'll do their best to get her switched to a new hospital. But it's not until Vicki gets there that it seems like anyone has really showed up for Maura. At that moment, Vicki becomes Maura's emergency contact — and out of fear and relief, Maura cries.
The Pfefferman kids disband and head back into their respective lives. Josh doesn't seem to be doing so hot these days. For reasons that are a little unclear, Sarah is desperately trying to get on the temple board. Ali has started her grad program at UCLA and is really enjoying the academic element of it. However, she's not enjoying the fact that Leslie wants to keep their affair a secret, a fact made worse after Ali's fellow grad students tell her that Leslie picks a new teacher's assistant to fuck every semester.
Raquel, the almost-Pfefferman-in-law, doesn't seem to be doing very well, either. But a cute guy she went to seminary school with has come to be the temple's new cantor. He has a little girl, but his wife passed away. Maybe something will wind up brewing there? (The temple seems to be playing a bigger part in this season. Shelly gives a speech there and gets such good feedback that she decides that she should be branding herself as some sort of Jewish lifestyle guru.)
Josh, by the way, is still living at the Palisades house. Ali moved in, too. Sarah is living with Len in a mostly platonic arrangement that seems to be working for them, except that Sarah is still doing BDSM therapy and Len is getting blowjobs from someone across town.
By the end of the episode, Maura is back home at Davina's place. Davina reminds her that she needs to spend more time connecting with her own body, as a woman. This seems to turn on a lightbulb in Maura's head about what needs to change so that she can finally find happiness.