Photo Credit: USA
Force Majeure – A French term which can have several meanings, the most common one being some kind of unpreventable, superior force.
Last night’s episode is definitely about conflicting forces, with each trying to get the upper hand. Fear vs. Love. You know the old sayings “love conquers all” and “love will always find a way”. But, will love win out in this case? I think most viewers hope so, but at this point, I think it’s too early to tell.
I think I could hear the “Squee!” from the “Team Justin” camp last night with the opening of the episode, when Justin (Michael Trucco) made the super-romantic move of getting Kate (Sarah Shahi) exclusive tickets to her favorite singer’s, Claudia Alves (Josefina Scaglione), private performance at a local restaurant. Kate is over the moon and it gets even better when they are invited to the private after-party at a friend’s loft. On their way to the party with high-end Brazilian rum and even some pot, life is good – but it was about to take a huge turn for the worse. Their limo is involved in a hit-and-run, and during a police search, cocaine is found in Claudia’s purse and Claudia is promptly arrested. So, what was supposed to be a nice, romantic evening for Justin and Kate just turned into potential disaster for Justin’s bid for District Attorney.
On the flip side, love may be in the air for our Lauren (Virginia Williams) too. Looking back on this season, this is the one character I think the writers have done the best job with. We all should remember Lauren last season – quite irritating, uptight, and possibly a gold digger who may have married Kate’s father for his money. This season, we see a totally different side of Lauren, which comes full-circle in this episode. Lauren is literally swept off her feet by billionaire (and extremely handsome) Robin Archer (Lloyd Owen). What we see in Lauren is not this tough, stiff-necked bitch from last season, but almost a little girl who believes in romance, true love and who wants the entire fairly tale. But, Mr. Archer doesn’t seem to be the Prince she imagined, when she discovers he lied about a very basic thing – the fact that he has kids. Judging from the old Lauren we knew from last season, we would have expected her to say “To hell with it!” and hooked up with the guy anyways – after all, he’s a billionaire, right! But, she doesn’t, which tells us that she’s not the gold digger we had thought – and, it tells us that she probably did, in fact, love Teddy.
And, so, here we are with the first occurrence of Fear vs. Love. We don’t know much about Robin Archer yet, and for all we know, he could just be a playboy, who beds a different woman every other day. I probably would have ended it with him too because of the lie he told, but I’m not sure if that’s the real reason why Lauren did. I think she is just scared of another relationship since Teddy’s death, and the feelings she is feeling scare the crap out of her. But, what if Robin Archer is the real deal, someone who is really smitten with Lauren? Will Fear win out? Or, will Robin continue his pursuit for Lauren, and Love prevails in the end? We might find out in next week’s finale, since I think Lloyd Owen is supposed to guest-star again. So, stay tuned.
However, the biggest example of Fear vs. Love in this episode is between Kate and Ben (Ryan Johnson). We’ve all known from the get-go that Kate is scared as hell of stepping out of the “circle” with Justin and trying something new. Staying with Justin is safe, it’s where she’s comfortable, and it’s what is familiar. But, now that she’s gotten what she wants, I’m not sure she is very happy with it. I don’t doubt that Justin has some feelings for Kate. But, it’s starting to look like other things may be more important. Perhaps the best example is when Justin asked Kate to be his “date” to some fundraising events. And, Kate’s response was priceless – “Sure, why not?” Wow, Kate sounds thrilled.
“You two make a really cute political couple” – Ben
That is the bottom line. Now, I don’t think Justin is consciously using Kate, but subconsciously? Perhaps. I think Kate knows it, and at that moment, she begins to realize what she may be giving up: true love with a really great guy, our Ben Grogan. The signs are all there, and Kate is starting to see them, one by one: the heart-shaped rock, the way that Ben looks at her, the kiss in the elevator, the trip to Lake Tahoe that Ben orchestrated. But, the big one was in the ending of the episode. Kate is listening to Claudia’s song “Follow Your Heart” on her iPod, and the next thing we see is Ben jogging listening to the same song, which I thought was very telling.
So, which will win out – Fear or Love. Which is the bigger “Force Majeure”? Next week is the Season Finale, and from the looks of things, Kate may be forced to make that decision. Will she play on the safe side and stay with Justin? Or, will she pull a Castle finale and show up on Ben’s doorstep, drenched from the rain, declaring that he’s the one she wants? For everyone who has read my past reviews, you probably know whose team I’m on, but what about everyone else? Are you “Team Ben” and hope that Love will prevail?
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