By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind) is taking pills and taking notes to try and understand what happened to her. She writes down questions like, why did Johnny (Joseph Zada) lie, why was she alone, and why didn’t Gat (Shubham Maheshwari) call down on postcards.
Flashing back to Summer 16, things are still tense after the funeral. Cadence says that typically when a matriarch falls, there’s a mourning period, but on the mythical island where it’s always summer, the king and princesses don’t openly grieve. Also, Cadence says, the queen’s death made the heirs realize that they were mortal too, but that must be kept a secret.
In the present, it’s the fourth of July, but Harris (David Morse) and Will seem to be the only ones who are actually excited. On Will’s end, he’s just looking forward to the illegal fireworks. Liberty and Bonnie, the twins, are more subdued and braiding each other’s hair while Mirren advises them. Bonnie asks Cadence if she’s a drug addict on account of her dyed black hair, and Liberty says not to be rude. When they step away, Mirren apologizes for her sisters and tells Cadence not to pay Bonnie any attention because she’s going through something.
Back in Summer 17, it’s also the Fourth of July and Gat and Cadence are in the hammock talking about the pending Fourth of July party. Gat wonders if it’s weird that Harris hasn’t cancelled the party after Tipper’s death and points out that the holiday was a big deal to her. Cadence tells him that Harris finds it rude not to keep living in the aftermath of a loss. The conversation shifts from the holiday to what Cadence is reading. At first Cadence doesn’t want to share, but then reveals that it’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Cadence worries that she’s being performative, but Gat is impressed that she’s at least trying. Gat says he’s trying, too, but it’s hard to change your heart.
In the kitchen, the moms are trying to bake their mother’s famous pies. It was Penny’s (Caitlin FitzGerald) idea and she promised Harris, but after looking at the recipes, the women are already having doubts. But, Penny points out that their father loved showing their mother’s pies off at the annual Fourth of July party. Plus, Penny says, their father needs this to show high society how strong they all are. However, Bess (Candice King) has her doubts and wonders if Penny really believes pie can make Harris forget about Penny’s messy, expensive, embarrassing divorce. Bess brings up, not for the first time, that she’s never even touched her trust fund. Yet, Penny points out that Bess and Carrie wouldn’t be baking if they didn’t have a stake in this. Carrie (Mamie Gummer) feels guilty about the scene they caused at the funeral, and it seems that Bess does too. Unfortunately, none of them, except for Bess, actually knows how to cook, but Carrie feels confident(ish) that if their mom could make the pies alone the three of them can figure it out.
The conversation is interrupted by Ebon (Dempsey Bryk) delivering a keg, which is intended for the liars, although the moms aren’t supposed to know. Bess asks if the teens are throwing a party, and Penny says she told them they could have some friends over in Windemere to keep them out of Harris’s hair. They don’t stop the keg, but wonder why their kids think they’re the first kids on earth to bamboozle their parents. Bess replies that Penny is trying to bamboozle their father into thinking they’ve become their mother.
Speaking of the liars, they’re planning their party, and Johnny seems to be the only one excited. When Cadence comments on how cheerful he seems, Gat says he’s compensating because of how sad things have been. Johnny goes to prep the house for partygoers and finds Ed there. He tells Ed (Rahul Kohli) that their party is a parent-free zone and Ed pretends to be hurt that he’s not invited to enjoy beer and Ice Spice, but he really just came by to ensure his engagement ring for Carrie isn’t around a bunch of drunk teenagers unsupervised. Johnny’s onboard with Ed marrying his mother and hugs him. Johnny gets a little emotional, and Ed asks if he’s alright. Ed acknowledges that grief is extra rough in the Sinclair family. But Ed wonders if something else is bothering him, and Johnny just says that he’s just on the edge of falling from grace like always. Regarding how Ed will pop the question…Ed tells Johnny that when he and Carrie sneak away to watch the fireworks, he’s planning to ask. Johnny heads back to the party, but not before welcoming Ed to the family.
Ebon and Mirren (Esther McGregor) bump into each other when he’s making the keg delivery, and Mirren’s still miffed about the last time they spoke. She accuses him of spying on her again, but Ebon points out that he’s working. When Mirren made the request, she specifically asked for anyone but Salty Dan, but that left Ebon, who also knows about her mother’s night with him. Mirren wonders if Ebon got an eyeful as well, but Ebon just says that Salty Dan told a friend, and it got back to him. People, he said, talk on the water taxi like he’s not there. Mirren doesn’t like him knowing so much about her family and talking about the things he hears. She offers to tip him to get him out of her hair, but he says he doesn’t take money from those he feels sorry for.
The sisters are baking and singing Linger by The Cranberries and having a tough time. Carrie didn’t know the food processor had a lid and got a face full of flour. Penny didn’t use enough water, and as a result, her crust keeps cracking. Bess is doing okay and wonders if any of them besides her got their mother’s DNA. Carrie gets emotional because their mother did offer to teach them, but they were always too busy. But Penny points out that their guests will arrive soon, so Carrie can’t have a meltdown. Carrie says she was just having a moment, but now she was flashing back to the 90s. And Penny gets upset because she thinks it’s a jab about not crying enough to satisfy Carrie and everyone else when their sister Rosemary died. Penny says their mother was pragmatic and knew how to maintain composure and get what she needed from Harris while making him think it was his idea, and Penny resolves that she’s the same way.
Gat and Penny catch the end of the blowup while they’re getting snacks from the kitchen, and Carrie tells Gat she bumped into his “friend” Raquel in town. Raquel, Carrie says, is staying for the week with her aunt, and Carrie wonders if she’ll be visiting. To show Gat how much she doesn’t care, she tells Gat to invite Raquel to the party and instantly regrets it.
When she’s telling Johnny and Mirren about the invitation, she explains that she didn’t like that Gat looked like he felt sorry for her. Now, she’s dreading having to watch Gat sweep Raquel off her feet. Johnny suggests that Cadence get over Gat by getting under someone else. Mirren says sex doesn’t solve everything; in fact, sex can turn sane people into lunatics. Fine, but Johnny says flirting won’t hurt anyone and asks Cadence her type. Cadence is in the mood for Frat boys, guys who play guitar, and her lame tattoos. Basically, Cadence wants the anti-Gatwick Patil. Mirren still thinks this is a terrible idea, but agrees to make a “douchebag groupchat.” In her own case, Mirren says she’s taking a vow of celibacy.
Elsewhere, we see that Brody (Dylan Bruce) is taking the harm reduction route with teen drinking and tells Mirren what forms of alcohol not to mix and to not leave any drinks unattended near country club bros. He tells Mirren to be careful, and she promises that she’s always pathologically careful. Brody heads back to Clairmont, and Mirren tries to tell him about Salty Dan, but when the first sentence is about Bess, Brody says he can’t get in the middle of mother/daughter issues.
Party prep continues, Ed gets Will’s (Brady Droulis) enthusiastic blessing to marry Carrie, and Harris feels Tipper’s absence. Penny’s pie turns out well, but Carrie and Bess’s pies burn. Bess accuses Penny of turning up the oven and goes for the jugular. Penny says she didn’t, but Bess doesn’t believe her because her pie is perfect. Penny says Bess has nothing to worry about because she married for money, like Harris told her to. Bess doubts Penny ever loved Sam or is capable of loving anyone at all. Penny says Bess is pushing 40 in a crop top because Brody ignores her. Bess says that “Perfect Penny” uses Cadence as a trophy and is so cold that she can plan a whole funeral without feeling anything. Then, Bess throws Champagne on Penny’s pie, causing her to have a panic attack, although Bess doesn’t believe it. Carrie tries to help, but Penny runs away, and Carrie reprimands Bess for being so harsh. She says Bess has no idea what being a failure in their father’s eyes feels like or what it’s like to see her younger sister cry since Rosemary’s been gone so long.
The liars’ party guests arrive, and Cadence tries to pretend not to care that Gat brought Raquel. In service of this plan, she drinks a lot. Johnny’s pretty chill at first, but then gets upset when he realizes that Mirren invited the guys from the tennis team. Mirren says she wanted to give Cadence options, but Johnny’s angry that she invited people from his school without asking. Cadence and Mirren don’t understand the rage, but Cadence tells Mirren not to let it get her down.
In Summer 17, Cadence asks Gat about Johnny’s behavior at the party. She wants to know why Johnny didn’t want his ex-tennis teammates there. Gat says the key to his friendship with Johnny is choosing to remain oblivious to the ins and outs of rich kid drama. But Cadence doesn’t share a similar view and still wants answers about why Johnny was so off. Instead of providing answers, Gat wonders if there’s a reason Cadence is blocking out so much from last summer and says not remembering might be better. Cadence says her mind wants answers, but Gat says he’s just trying to protect her. However, Cadence says after not talking to her all year, he doesn’t get to play Prince Charming. She resolves to figure it out herself and goes looking around Clairmont. Specifically, she goes looking through Johnny’s room and finds his phone ,and after taking another pill, she starts looking through it.
In Summer 16, Cadence is drunk and Mirren is playing hostess. She’s displeased when she realizes that Cadence invited Ebon. Then, Cadence ends up dancing with Jackson (Bryce Wynter), Johnny’s doubles partner he had a fling with. Jackson wonders why he hasn’t seen Johnny, and Cadence tells him that if he’s there to declare his undying love for Johnny, he shouldn’t because the island is cursed. At any rate, Jackson says he and Johnny are over, and he’s just there for the party. Before he steps away, Jackson tells Cadence that he just wants to talk to Johnny and he’ll know about what.
At the adult party Harris notices the lack of pies and makes his disappointment clear to Carrie. Carrie says they were just pies, but Harris says they were important. In response, Carrie says it’s impossible to make him proud. Well, Harris says, nothing about their behavior as of late is worthy of his pride. Carrie admits that she and her sisters went a little overboard about their mother’s belongings, but it’s just because they’re grieving. Harris wonders if they’re grieving Tipper or grieving Tipper’s checkbook. Carrie comes to Penny’s defense and says she doesn’t know the details of her divorce, but she’s not made of stone. Harris tells Carrie that Penny is spending twice her budget and Bess is practically broke. This info shocks Carrie, because Bess is always talking about how she’s never touched her trust fund. Then there’s Carrie, Harris thought she and Ed were doing okay but he doesn’t think Carrie would work so hard for his approval if that were the case.
It turns out that Johnny got into trouble at school. He did something wrong, that Harris wouldn’t want associated with the Sinclair name, and Carrie made it go away. Before, Carrie had enough for a wedding, for IVF, and even savings but she used most of their money keeping what Johnny did quiet. Ed is in the dark because Carrie thinks he would want her and Johnny to do the right thing, but she can’t. So, she needs Harris’s help.
Speaking of Sinclairs in need of assistance, Mirren is trying to keep a very drunk Cadence from doing anything she regrets with guys at the party. She pulls her away from a group and gets her to drink water. Ebon interprets Mirren pulling Cadence away as jealousy, but Mirren explains that the boys Cadence was dancing with have terrible reputations. Mirren says that Cadence deserves better then attention from a rapist, a drug dealer or a guy so alt-right he’s a fascist. Ebon wonders how Mirren knows about their transgressions, but Mirren reminds him that people say a lot around those they think are invisible. She adds that water taxi drivers don’t have a monopoly on being ignored.
Ebon tells Mirren he considers himself Vineyard’s secret keeper. From embezzlers to closeted Republican senators, he’s heard it all, and he knows it sucks knowing so many awful things about the people around you. Mirren agrees and says that secrets can poison you, but, Ebon admits sometimes keeping them makes him feel powerful. But he told Mirren about Blake using her and that people knew about her mother and Salty Dan. Mirren thinks Ebon told her out of pity, but Ebon says it’s because she’s hot and weird and the two aren’t mutually exclusive for him. Mirren considers this for a moment and then kisses Ebon.
Ed is setting up the beach for his proposal to Carrie and a distraught Johnny finds him. He tells Ed that he’s a really good person and he’s probably never done anything bad. Ed says that’s not true, but Johnny says he doesn’t mean parking ticket bad, but really bad. Ed thinks there’s something Johnny might want to tell him and says he’s hear to listen and loves him, but before Johnny can share anything Carrie finds them. She takes in the romantic setup and says they need to talk.
Gat talks to a very drunk Cadence and he wonders if she’s okay. She says she’s fine, but he’s rude, because he invited his girlfriend to their island without introducing them. Gat points out that it’s not their island it’s hers’ and Cadence wonders if having an island is what makes her selfish and awful in his eyes.
Further down on the beach, Ed shows Carrie her grandmother’s ring. Carrie recalls that she always loved her nan’s ring, but with her first husband her mother wouldn’t give it up, she wonders if she knew her first husband would bail. Ed thinks Tipper gave him the ring because she knew nothing could make him leave. Ed tries to get Carrie to open up and reassures her that he loves Johnny and says he’s he’d take on any problems he has. He says he’s here for her, the boys, and their future kids. Unfortunately, Carrie says she can’t marry him, she’s sorry, and she can’t explain it. Even if she could, Carrie says, he wouldn’t explain it. Ed points out he got Harris’s approval, but Carrie says his approval is fleeting. Ed says if Harris disapproves they don’t need him, but, Carrie says she does because she’s already lost her mother.
At the party Penny notices that Harris had pies pre-ordered and flown in. She feels bad because she realizes that Harris didn’t believe they could come through with the pies for a second. Carrie joins them and tells them about the proposal with their nan’s ring she just rejected. Bess doesn’t understand why and Penny just hopes she got the ring back. Bess calls Penny deranged and Penny points out the ring is a sentimental heirloom. But, Bess says, Penny doesn’t do sentiment. She adds that Penny assumed Bess didn’t need to succeed today because she doesn’t need their father’s money, but she still wanted to cheer up their father. But Carrie doesn’t buy it, she says she knows about Bess’s drained trust fund and Harris does too. Bess seems shocked, but Carrie wonders why Bess feels the need to lie all the time. Bess doesn’t answer and leaves the party.
Mirren also decides to leave the party with Ebon. She takes him to an empty house and tells him they’ve got 20 minutes. For what he’s not totally sure, so Mirren tells him they can do whatever he wants. Mirren has decided she wants to stop thinking and worrying about sex and finally do it. She finds Ebon hot and weird in a not mutually exclusive way too and tells him to take his shirt off and they head upstairs.
Bess finds Brody in an office on his computer and she’s pretty angry. Him being M.I.A under normal circumstances isn’t unusual, but Bess says he doesn’t usually miss this much of the party. She points out he was barely at her mother’s funeral as well. For a long time Bess assumed Brody was dodging her, but she’s realized he’s probably been avoiding the men who trust him to manage their money. Bess adds that he really only values the opinions of men, which is why when he screwed up he stole from her to pay back the money he lost. He tries to explain, but Bess says her trust fund money was for their daughters so really he stole from them. When he doesn’t respond she tells him to get off the island.
Cadence apologizes for going off on Gat earlier and offers to watch the fireworks with him. Gat says he’s a little mad at her for dancing with all the randoms at the party, but Cadence says she just wanted to make him as jealous as she’s been for weeks. Gat reports that it worked because now he feels awful. Cadence says it killed her when he brought Raquel to the party, but Gat says he never brought her. But, Cadence recalls that he went the vineyard to pick her up. The truth, however, is that Gat went to the vineyard to break up with her in-person because she deserves that. Just like, Gat says, she deserves better than a guy pining over his best friend. He knows he’s made a mess of things, but he’s trying to fix things. They watch the fireworks and Cadence writes her name on Gat’s hand and his name on her hand. They’re having a moment when they hear Johnny freaking out. Gat and Cadence try to calm him down as he’s on the edge of the cliff breaking glass bottles, but he says to stay away and they can’t help.
In the present, the Sinclairs are also watching the fireworks and Cadence seems to remember something and heads inside. She looks at Johnny’s phone and finds a video. Jackson and Johnny are in a video together saying “they” deserved something only to be discovered by someone whose last name is Delgado. The others seem to want to leave but Johnny starts hitting the other boy even when his teammates tell him to stop, but this doesn’t stop the person behind the camera to stop filming. Cadence looks horrified when she watches and Carrie finds her and then shares in the horror when Cadence gives her the phone. Johnny asks Carrie why she has his phone and asks for it back as she starts crying.
Cadence starts telling Gat what she saw on Johnny’s phone, but he’s just shocked that Cadence hacked his phone. Johnny; however, is livid that by hacking his phone Cadence exposed his private life to his mother. This includes his Grindr account, texts to his dealer, and now his mother is crying so hard she won’t even yell at him. Cadence doesn’t understand why Johnny lied to her. Johnny says he kept a few secrets, but that didn’t give him the right to go through his phone. Gat says not to yell at Cadence, but in his current state Johnny doesn’t care that she’s sick, and calls Cadence crazy. In her own defense, Cadence says she wouldn’t have to do this if someone would just tell her the truth. Johnny says the truth is that he might be a terrible person and maybe his is a psycho, and maybe everything is his fault if that’s what Cadence wants to believe. Cadence asks him what he did and then a migraine comes on and she faints as the liars and the rest of the family try to help.