Choices. When you make choices in life they affect not only you, but others around you. You can spend a lot of time debating the choices that you make, taking the road that you think will be the best, the one with the least amount of impact, but the choices will still affect someone.
And in Carp, Texas, everyone is making choices. Choices that they think are innocent, but ultimately choices that will change everything, and make everyone Panic.
At the end of the last episode, the players were blindfolded and put into the back of a van. They were blindfolded, headphones on. It’s an elimination round – Blind Mans Bluff. It challenges a lot of fears – darkness, falling, and the unknown. There is the sound of a train to throw them off.
The object of the game is that you go over the bridge and back. The bridge is partially broken. You make it back to the van in under 20 minutes. Points are awarded on time.
And if you need help – it’s there for you. The MC’s will help you across, but you have to answer questions. What type? Well, they are quid pro quo questions – you help the judges and the judges will help you. But like Dodge said, you don’t make a deal with the judges.
Only not everyone listens.
Let’s break down episode seven.
THE REAL LIFE
Heather may have missed the challenge, but she was where she needed to be. Lily needed her. “Panic is a game about fear,” she says, “but it’s also a trick. Real fear is what happens when it’s not a game anymore.”
And by her Mom’s choices, Heather is filled with real fear. She has to take care of her sister and explain to her why they are in the place that they are, why they can’t ask for help, and how much trouble Heather and her Mom can get in.
And it’s too much for a child to handle, in my opinion. But Lily takes it like a champ. After all, she just wants to be loved and feel safe.
Heather making the choice to confront her Mom on the drugs, made her realizes that her sister only has her. And to Heather, that meant that she was making the choice to be there for her sister and not leave. College is out of the question.
Diggins has helped her by giving her a discounted room rate at the lodge. But that may not be enough.
Lily is worried that their Mom doesn’t love them and Heather has to reassure her that she does. It’s gotta be heartbreaking to know that you can’t protect a child from her feelings. I do admire Heather, that she’s so focused on Lily that she doesn’t care about anything else.
Bishop keeps texting and is worried. Heather finally responds and tells him that she’ll see him the next day.
When Heather goes to Bishops, she tells him that she’s out of the game. She tries to make light of the situation – saying a few days ago, she was a contender and he was a secret judge. But the situation is serious.
And he knows it. Natalie told him what happened with her Mom. Bishop only wants to know why she didn’t.
Heather doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her. I get that. Bishop offers up his father as help, but let’s all be real – Bishop’s Dad doesn’t like anyone. He barely likes his own kid.
Heather has made the choice that she has had to drop out of school, because she needs to take care of Lily. I do believe that Bishop loves Heather and wants the best for her, but he’s not sure what that means.
Hell, Heather isn’t sure of what anything means. She’s just surviving.
THE SHERIFF IS SHIFTY
The Sheriff’s department is looking for Hunt, but they can’t find him. The last time that they saw him, he was heading to the derby. They did find a bunch of cards in his room that are from Leela. And don’t you know – Leela’s parent called in and reported her missing.
Sherry (Heather’s Mom) is working at the salon and doing the Sheriff’s wifes hair. Apparently he thought it would be a good idea for her to get her hair done before the memorial ceremony for their son. He, of course, walks in and my skin starts to crawl.
There is just something so shifty about him. I don’t trust that he doesn’t know what is going on with the game. I don’t believe that he’s sad about his son. I don’t believe he cares about anyone but himself.
And on the way out, he runs into his mistress, and openly acts happy. Like no respect at all. He’s just a selfish, disrespectful, piece of shit.
Sheriff’s questioning Bishop about Leela and where she is. People said they saw him with her. Bishop says that they were arguing over money. Hunt was out of money and Bishop had been trying to help. Apparently Leela found Hunt a rehab place, as last years incident had left Hunt fucked up. Bishop says he only saw Hunt one time, when he was leaving. He was talking to the photographer.
Bishop thought they were going fight. The photographer had tried to scam on abby over headshots.
Now I may not always like Bishops Dad, but I do like him that he cut off the conversation and was all my son’s been cooperative, I get you’re doing your job, but do it somewhere else. Laying the smack down.
The Captain and Langley go to the photographers house, making nice and commenting on his photos. They ask him where Hunt is, they ask him about Abby… they know that they can’t trust anyone here. Langley looking through his photos, even when the photographer says not to touch the camera.
I have to admit that Langely is smart and thinks outside the box, which I respect. She finds deleted pictures left on his camera. Why this kid was such an idiot that he left topless pics of Abby on the camera… well I will never understand.
In Carp, I trust no one. But I do love all the information that people offer up. Langley seems to be the only smart one in the Sheriff’s department and she asks the photographer how much Luke offered him for the pictures of Abby and whose idea was it to blackmail Abby.
The photographer gets very defensive and says that it’s his first year hearing about Panic. He didn’t even know it existed until Hunt said he played. Luke was the one who explained to him how it worked.
He hadn’t even wanted anything to do with it, but then he had some charges brought against him. Luke told him that he could get rid of the charges, and he could either spend the $10,000 on legal fees or he could gamble it on Panic. The photographer said that he told Luke he didn’t want in, the charges against him were bogus.
THE CHOICE OF QUESTIONS
Heather has to tell people what happened. Natalie keeps repeating that she tried to call her, but Heather lets her know that Lily needed her. Heather knows she’s out of the game, but she doesn’t regret it. Because she knows that her sister needed her.
Natalie tells her what happened – that the judges asked questions in order to help. She tells her about the questions being about the others, not about yourself. It makes sense that Heather was scared about what Ray would say, because he’s not trustworthy. She needs to talk to him.
Natalie is worried about what she said about Dodge. Because she admitted that he lied. She admitted that the timing of Dana’s accident doesn’t add up and if Dodge finds out she told, it’s a whole different thing.
Heather knows that she needs to be in the game, but there is no chance according to Diggin’s. He’s not going to ask if she can use her immunity, because he knows what the answer will be. Heather is between a rock and a hard place.
WHY DOES SHE HAVE A TIGER
Ok, look, I like Anne. I do. She is there for Heather. She wants to make sure she’s taken care of. She wants to make sure she succeeds.
And she is willing to give Heather more hours when she decides to stay on. But Heather lied to her and told her she’d be going to school at the same time. However she’s not.
But here’s the thing that really freaks me out. Can someone tell me why Anne owns a tiger? I know that this tiger is gonna show up later, I can feel it. I am telling you – if it has anything to do with possibly hurting Lily, I will throw down.
Anne has had the tiger since he was a cub. He’s dangerous. Sure, she has all her permits to keep him – but here’s why I don’t trust that this tiger is going to be something that doesn’t show up later.
Anne says –
- The gate has to stay closed at all times.
- The tiger is dangerous
- You can’t outrun a tiger
- Running only signals prey to a tiger.
A few days later, Heather is at work and Dodge shows up. Anne said she forgot he was coming over. Literally – is there anyone that Anne doesn’t know?
Dodge has come over to break a colt. Heather’s never seen this happen before and she finds the whole thing interesting.
Heather innocently asks how she met Dodge. Anne saw Dodge compete and he impressed her. He was good on a horse, bu his sister Dana was even better. Dana doesn’t like to talk about the accident, after all it’s been years waiting for justice while the driver is still walking free. The guy who did it took home the prize in a demolition and finally a witness came forward, but it wasn’t enough. The Sheriff has been trying for years to lock him up.
Like a good BFF, Heather reports this information to Natalie. Like the backstabbing bitch she is, Natalie runs to Dodge to confront him. You can’t convince me she cares. You can only convince me that whatever she is up to benefits Natalie and Natalie only.
RAY ISN’T A SAFE BET
I wanted to like Ray and feel like he was misunderstood, but I don’t think that way now. I think that he cares about Heather, but I also think that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win, no matter who is sacrificed.
Heather heads to Ray’s to look for him. He’s not in the house and he’s not on the houseboat. But while on the houseboat, she finds a bunch of spreadsheets. And while we’re seeing this, we’re hearing the photographer tell the Sheriff, that Luke had people betting heavily on panic.
Luke is only back because he needs money. He’s scary AF, because he is the type of man that thinks that he has nothing to lose and that no matter what he does, he won’t get caught. And he makes sure to show his dominance when he catches Heather on the boat and tries to intimidate her.
Heather is in a hurry to get out of there. And as she makes it to her car, Ray comes running out. He’s happy to see her and asks why she’s there. She says it’s a mistake, and where as I get where she’s coming from, she doesn’t know what is happening. But she’s giving away that she knows something.
He tells her that if she keeps fucking up him and her stand to make a lot more sense.
Heather is trying to convince Nat, if Jimmy and Abby’s deaths were connected to the game, and Luke was taking bets maybe he’s connected to them too. Luke is dangerous.
Luke makes it known to Ray that he’s not fucking around and that Heather needs to be careful.
I don’t think that Ray would let anything happen to Heather, but he doesn’t know how to go against his brother.
Heather does know too much. She’s figuring out too much. And yes, I am loving seeing this, but I am also terrified of what will happen to her. The game isn’t done with her, the eyes are on her.
What will happen? No one is sure. But shit is complicated and I am hoping that Heather remains safe.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Dodge is setting Ray up to be hurt like his sister was. Like I am not okay with this. I don’t think that hurting innocent people is ever the answer.
- I don’t think Dodge will be able to live with hurting Ray and I don’t think that is what his sister would want.
- Sarah being Ray’s half sister is not something I expected.
