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When a major crisis hits Paradise, Michelle is forced to find herself — again.

For the second week in a row, Bunheads proved it owns all of our emotions; but while last week’s pilot made us think through laughter, the June 18 episode worked our tear ducts. While this definitely wasn’t the same Bunheads we were presented with last Monday, it was an important episode — for the viewers and for Michelle (Sutton Foster).

Within the first few minutes, we learned that Hubbell’s (Alan Ruck) car accident was indeed fatal, which changed the course — pun intended so hard — of Michelle’s life, yet again. It also sent Fanny (Kelly Bishop) into a frenzy as she attempted to throw together a Buddhist memorial service. (Loved that scene with Fanny and her friends, by the way!)

The four girls, meanwhile, “mourned” in their own special way — by skipping school and seeing a Mark Wahlberg movie. As creator Amy Sherman-Palladino promised, this second episode kept the focus on Michelle, but also gave us a taste of what each of the girls is all about. Specifically, we learned that Boo (Kaitlyn Jenkins) suffers from good-hearted paranoia, while Sasha (Julia Goldani Telles) is really good at whining until she gets her way.

They eventually came to their emotional senses and broke down over Hubbell’s death, which was Michelle’s cue to take charge. (“There’s no crying in baseball … or ballet!”) She helped Fanny’s students put together a really beautiful dance, which turned out to be exactly the kind of simple goodbye she needed.

So what’s going to keep Michelle in Paradise now that Hubbell is dead? Well, that’s the twist, my friends: It turns out he changed his will and left everything to her!

Are you still in love with Bunheads after this week’s episode? Did you enjoy watching the characters work through their grief, or did you think it was too depressing? Drop me a comment with your thoughts!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift