Written by Elise Brown and directed by Tara Nicole Weyr, this episode (“Cover Girl”) straddles the line between black comedy and outright tragedy more than any other episode so far. There are funny bits to be found throughout the hour, from Allan admitting he doesn’t know how to change a diaper but, “Well, I am an engineer…” to him pouring the wrong kind of dish soap into the dishwasher and generating a comical overflow of bubbles. Candy’s behavior, too, is played for dark laughs, as she has to feign surprise at every new revelation. And in a flash-forward/flashback on the witness stand at the trial, Pat admits to buying his wife flowers and a card when he found out she had the affair. “I blamed myself,” he says, but they worked through it. Maybe they should have worked through it a bit harder.
But it’s when the dark humor has you off-guard that the episode really twists the knife. Child actor Antonella Rose is heartbreaking as young Christina Gore, who hums a little tune to herself in blissful ignorance as the Montgomerys drive her back to her house, where they know she’ll hear the worst news of her life. Her tears are devastating, particularly when she takes it upon herself to reassure others through those tears; when she says to her weeping grandmother “It’s okay, Grandma,” I just about lost it myself. (Aven Lotz and Dash McCloud are adorable as the Montgomery kids, too—two children who are also about to have their lives turned upside down due to their mother’s actions.) And for the first time in the series, Betty herself is nowhere to be found—no flashbacks, nothing.
I reviewed the penultimate episode of Candy for Decider.
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