Mom – A Cricket and a Hedge of Gold

By: Julie Mante

A shaken Marjorie (Mimi Kennedy) arrives late to AA and stuns the group by saying that her sponsor relapsed after fifty-two years of sobriety. Marjorie is heartbroken and at a loss of words that a woman that she admired and looked up to for so many years gave up. It is frightening for Christy (Anna Faris), Bonnie (Allison Janney), Jill (Jaime Pressly) and Wendy (Beth Hall) to see Marjorie, their fearless leader, in tears. At the bistro, Marjorie tells the group that her sponsor relapsed because her neighbor cut down her hedge. Apparently, the sponsor and the neighbor shared a hedge between their houses and the neighbor cut it down. Everyone at the table is confused. Fifty-two years out the window because of a hedge? Frustrated, Marjorie abruptly leaves the table. She wants to be alone and she does not want to be the one everyone turns to for advice. Wendy and Jill are shocked because they tell Marjorie all their problems and now she will not be available. Bonnie is quick to volunteer as Marjorie’s replacement.

Back at home, Christy searches the house for an annoying cricket and Bonnie starts trying to calm Wendy down with her work issues. Bonnie has to juggle listening to both Wendy and Jill. The next day, Christy caught the cricket and opens the door to release it. When she opens her hands, nothing is there. Christy and Bonnie decide to pay Marjorie a visit to see how she is doing. When her husband Victor (Jonathan Coyne) opens the door, he tells them that Marjorie is still sad and shuts the door in their face. Bonnie has quick reflexes so the door does not shut completely. She complains that they wasted twelve dollars on a plant so they are not leaving without seeing Marjorie. Victor takes the plant and successfully closes the door. When Marjorie asks him who was at the door, he pretends that the florist delivered the plant he ordered. When Jill notices a handsome man (Nathan Anderson) arrive to the AA meeting, Christy looks and is immediately uncomfortable. Jill and Wendy try to ask Christy why she looks upset, Christy gives them few answers and leaves the room.

At home, Christy hears someone knocking on her door. Jill yells from outside that she and Wendy are not leaving until Christy tells them what is going on. Christy tells them that when she was drinking, she went to a party sixteen years ago. The guy they saw brought some coke. She decided to go to the bedroom to do some lines with him and before she knew what was happening, he was on top of her. She was too high to fight him off. She told them that she never reported it because she did not think anyone would believe a drunk stripper. When Bonnie comes home, she is not happy that they all left her alone at the AA meeting, especially after she listened to all their problems all week. She tells Bonnie that the guy, who she called Viceroy Lights (after the cigarette brand he smokes), showed up at the AA meeting. Bonnie wants to confront him but Christy wants to just forget about it.

Later, Bonnie asks Christy if she wants to talk about what happened. Christy assures her that it happened a long time and she does not need to talk. Bonnie asks her if she would be willing to talk to Marjorie. Christy knows that Marjorie wants to be alone so she is respecting her privacy. At Marjorie’s, she and Victor are playing cards when her phone rings. Christy says that she called because she wanted to check if Marjorie is doing okay. Christy pretends that everything is fine and that says that she misses Marjorie. Marjorie says that she misses her too. When Christy mentions the plant that she and Bonnie brought over, Marjorie looks at her lying husband. When Christy hears the cricket again, she searches the house to find it.

When Bonnie comes home, the house looks like a natural disaster. Christy is in tears and tells Bonnie that she cannot find the cricket. Bonnie moves to comfort her but Christy tells her not to touch her. When Marjorie is praying, she interrupted by Bonnie knocking at her bedroom window. Bonnie tells her that she needs help with Christy. Back at the house, Marjorie tells Christy that what happened was not her fault. Christy feels that the rape might not have happened if she was sober. Maybe she would have reported it. Marjorie reminds her that what matters now is that Christy is sober. Christy apologizes for Bonnie dragging Marjorie over but Marjorie tells her that it is nice to get a break from her husband.

At the AA meeting, Bonnie tells Marjorie that she has been taking everyone phone calls. Marjorie tells her that after two phone calls, she tells them to deal with their stuff and hangs up. Bonnie is surprised because she thought she had to listen every single time. Christy is surprised to see her rapist return to the AA meeting. This time Christy decides not to run away but to deal with it. Christy tells them about her rape in front of her rapist. She says, “Mugging victims aren’t ashamed they were robbed. Why should I be ashamed I was raped? What I am ashamed of is that I kept it a secret.” Christy tells the group that in the past she was afraid to deal with the rape but she is not afraid anymore. She apologizes to the other woman who may have been hurt by this guy because she kept quiet for all those years. She vows never to be silent again. As Christy speaks, the rapist is uncomfortable and eventually walks out.

In the closer, Christy found the cricket and releases him. When Christy sees that he is not moving, Bonnie notices that Christy did not leave any holes in the jar so the cricket is probably dead. It does not matter anyway because Bonnie sees a cat eat him.