Mistresses: Heartbreak

note: Recaps and Remarks are going up later than usual due to Comic-Con and TCA.

Welcome to an episode where a lot happens and every character has at least one serious issue. As a primetime soap, drama is no surprise in this series, but the coincidences of heartbreak among the main characters is terribly coincidental. April learns that, not only did her beloved husband fake his death, but he chose to live with another woman rather than her. Karen finds out that her former patient's spouse knew about their secret relationship. Savi is told that, if the baby is Donovan's, she must choose between keeping her offspring or keeping her husband. And, Joss is left shocked when her seemingly only friend decides that she can't keep the relationship going. I don't know that I could order those rough concerns, but certainly April and Savi are at much more intense turning points than Karen and Joss. Or, are you more sympathetic to those ladies' plights?

Mistresses "Ultimatum" (S01E08):

ABC/DANNY FELD

April: Paul shows up, claiming that he faked his death. April initially shoos him, as Lucy is on her way home, sick. He says that he'll text her and she should get in touch when she can, so she meets him at his motel, demanding to know what's going on. [not only do I despise this man for faking his own death, I loathe him for returning and talking about why he did it!] He lost his job before their last Christmas together, and he couldn't find another position for three months. Then, he had the fling with Miranda, and when he couldn't figure out how to get out of the mess when she became pregnant, he decided to kill himself so that April would have something (his lief insurance money). He's been living with Miranda and Scotty ever since. [first, jaw drop! second, why no explanation of what identity he's been using ever since?] He didn't know that Miranda came and hit up April for money, but when she was supposed to be visiting her mother and that turned out to be a lie, he figured that she came to see April. April isn't sure what to believe, and calls Karen and Savi about it. [was it Savi's place to then notify Joss?] April decides to have Miranda and Peter meet her at the same time so that the truth can come out. As one might expect, the situation is awkward and angry, with April upset that she got "the money" while Miranda got "the man." [I'd really like to hear more about how Paul came to this breakdown. also, has he been completely unable to work since his "death"??]

Karen: She runs into Harry, who tells her that punching Donovan didn't actually start mending things. He also shares that he's not sure that he'll be able to get past the fact that the baby might not be his. [intriguing idea to have him admit these things to Karen, before he talks to Savi.] She then finds out that Sam is seeing her business partner as a therapist, causing her some paranoia. Karen and Sam talk, and he admits that he may be in love with her, hence how he'll do anything to see her. [I'm so sick of this pair!] Karen goes to Thomas's wife, as she's back in the country. She's well aware of the relationship Karen had with her husband, which the therapist doesn't deny. [that sucks.]

Savi: She has a doctor's appointment for a six-week check-up and invites Harry to come, but he says he'll wait for the next one. This causes her to wait for hear the heartbeat, but there is good news: her blood pressure is down a bit. At the office, Savi asks Donovan to relinquish all rights to the baby, even though she does not yet have confirmed paternity. [how awkward! was she able to raw up those papers herself, or does somebody else now know about the situation as well?] Back at home, Harry tells Savi that if the baby is Donovan's, she'll have to choose between her husband and her baby, as he couldn't take being a family with someone else's offspring. [that sucks but I pretty much agree.] She asks him to fight for them as a couple, but he says that he has no fight left. [what do you even say to that?]

Joss: After running into Sally and her "friend," Story, Joss forces Alex to unfriend her ex so she can have some closure. [as someone who has been in the same relationship since before the dawn of Facebook, I can't really understand this problem, but I also don't believe in unfriending at all, so this is clearly a circumstantial situation.] However, Joss and Alex wind up making out on the couch, and then become more intimate, leading Alex to admit that she has feelings for Joss, so their friendship must end. Joss is shocked and turns to Savi for advice, though she winds up getting it from Olivier, who suggests that she's "plucky" enough to make it work. So, she takes the idea and runs with it, telling Alex that not being friends isn't going to work for her. Olivier also learns of Alex's sexuality after he wants Joss to come along on a meeting about a hotel, as the realtor is the demographic clientele. [I thought that seemed pretty contrived, although I guess it could become a longer arc.]