Rue is back home after running away from her family, but things have not gotten any easier for her. As much as she tries with all her might, she can’t even open a Jolly Rancher at the moment. Her mom comes in and tries to give her a glass of water. After Rue returned home, Leslie took her to the hospital. There’s a rehab that may have a bed opening in the next week. Rue just has to make it through the brutal withdrawal and hope the bed opens up.
Rue admits that she doesn’t remember everything that she said to her mom. Rue’s not exactly sure if she regrets everything she said because she felt it all the moment she said it, but she knows what she put her loved ones through was wrong.
Rue does regret what she said to Ali. She calls to apologize to him. Initially, she doesn’t know what to say when he actually picks up, but she eventually apologizes. “I really regret it… I never should have said that,” Rue says. Ali forgives her without question. She knows she doesn’t deserve his forgiveness, but she’s thankful she has it. Ali stops by later to make dinner for Rue and her family. In the aftermath of such turmoil, he’s able to make the Bennett girls laugh.
Ali and Gia talk about Rue while making dinner together. “It’s okay to be angry at her,” Ali tells Gia. Gia doesn’t think that’s helpful for anyone, but Ali is clearly trying to make sure Gia doesn’t repress these feelings just so Rue doesn’t have to feel bad about how she’s treated her family. Gia says she’s fine, but Ali knows she’s not.
Kat & Ethan Break Up
When Nate finally checks his phone, he has 38 missed calls from Cassie and none from Maddy. He knows what Maddy could do with that disc. He could destroy Nate and his family. He refuses to let that happen.
Maddy calls Kat to vent about Cassie. She wants to “murder” Cassie and has other plans for Nate. Kat is talking to Maddy while at a diner with Ethan. After she gets off the phone, he tries to kiss her but it’s beyond awkward. She’s brought him here to break up with him, but she starts out by lying and saying she has a terminal brain disorder.
She doesn’t want to come out and say she wants to break up, but Ethan knows exactly what’s going on. When he tries to call her out about lying, she gaslights him. All he wants is for Kat to be honest with him. In the end, Ethan is the one to break up with Kat since she was too much of a coward to do so.
Cassie has hit rock bottom after her relationship with Nate was exposed. Cassie’s mom is so worried Cassie is going to do something, she has Lexi hide the kitchen knives in the backyard. Lexi is beginning to have second thoughts about her play that’s kind of about Cassie, so she goes to Fezco for advice and to just get away. The play is about a group of girlfriends who grow up and grow apart. Fez thinks of it as a female Stand By Me, and that’s exactly what Lexi is going for with her play. They end up watching Stand By Me together, and they both shed some tears over it.
Fezco & Lexi Reunite
While Fez and Lexi are spending time together, Faye takes the trash out. Her boyfriend calls her over to chat. He’s working with the cops, who are circling in on Fez and Ashtray. At this precise moment, Ashtray goes to the bathroom so he doesn’t see Faye and her boyfriend talking to each other on the security cameras. When Faye returns, she doesn’t mention a thing.
Nate and his mother, Marsha, have a chance to chat now that Cal is out of the house. She tells him not to marry anyone he meets in high school and admits that she was terrified that Maddy would get pregnant and keep the baby (just like her). They laugh over Nate’s predicament with Maddy and Cassie. Marsha brings up Nate choking Maddy at the carnival. “I didn’t choke her,” Nate quickly says. Another lie.
Marsha goes deep and wonders how Nate ended up the way he is. She notes that Cal is deeply flawed, but they managed to raise a child who is even more deeply flawed. When Nate was around 8 or 9, Marsha says he just “darkened.” Marsha tells Nate that it was such a “drastic change.” She doesn’t know what happened.
Cassie tries to justify sleeping with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend. No matter which way she tries to explain the situation, both Suze and Lexi don’t see Cassie as the victim. “I just want to die,” Cassie cries at one point with a corkscrew in her hand. Lexi realizes that Nate is the reason why Cassie ratted out Fez. Lexi tells Cassie it’s “sad” that she fell in love with someone who spent years making fun of her.
Nate Holds Maddy At Gunpoint
Nate goes looking for the disc in Cal’s office. Cal left a note for Nate in the drawer: “Enjoy being the man of the house.” Nate grabs his dad’s gun after seeing all the discs are gone. Nate is waiting for Maddy with the gun in his hand when she gets home from babysitting. When Maddy finally notices him, she even tells him that she loves him.
Nate is a man on a mission. He’s looking for the disc of Cal and Jules. Maddy claims she doesn’t have it. He points the gun at Maddy’s head. He lies on top of her and then points it at his head. He kisses her and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. He pulls it again. Nothing happens. Knowing this is some twisted Russian roulette, Maddy tells him the disc is in her purse. Nate, not having the emotional capacity to realize what he’s done, apologizes to Maddy and says there were no bullets in the gun. A shell-shocked Maddy doesn’t move from where Nate left her on the bed.
On his way home, Nate calls Jules and asks to speak to her outside. She initially refuses, but he texts her, “It’s about my dad… and you… I just want you to be able to protect yourself.” Jules takes a box cutter with her to protect herself from Nate.
Nate is well aware he’s done a lot of “sh*tty things,” but this isn’t one of them. He takes this moment to apologize to Jules. “I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done to you. You didn’t deserve it. I was trying to protect somebody that didn’t deserve to be protected. If I could take it all back I would,” he says to her. Nate hands Jules the disc. He tells her she can do with it as she pleases.
Nate Reaches Out To Cassie
Jules asks if Cal knows about this. “He would f**king kill me,” Nate says. She wants to know why he’s doing this for her. Nate thinks it’s better to keep it a mystery. He knows this doesn’t absolve him of anything that’s happened in the past. He knows that he’s not a good person. Jules thanks him nonetheless. Before she leaves, he grabs her hand.
“For what it’s worth, everything I ever said was true,” Nate says, referring to the texts. Jules replies, “Same here.” After talking with Jules, he calls Cassie and tells her to pack a suitcase so she can stay at his house. Cassie quickly packs a bag. Suze watches her go, knowing she’s making a mistake. When Nate and Cassie get to his room, she hits him over and over again.
Jules watches the video that’s on the disc. Meanwhile, Rue tells Ali and her family that she wants to get clean. Gia hopes she’s serious about it. Ali stresses that Rue has to be the one to find the hope in getting clean. Gia and Rue sleep in the same bed as they both look forward to Rue going to rehab. While they’re asleep, Leslie gets a call. The rehab isn’t letting Rue in. “She is gonna kill herself,” Leslie cries. She begs for an in-patient rehab spot for Rue. “I know my daughter. She is going to kill herself,” she repeats on the phone.