The Wives

Thursday decides to leave the house she is hiding in and drives to the public library, where she looks for news articles surrounding the death of Seth’s parents. She only finds their obituaries, but Thursday wonders whether it’s because they lived outside of the norms of society, i.e., in a polygamous marriage. She doubts anyone but Seth truly knows what happened.

Thursday decides to search for a drug that she remembers Regina mentioning during dinner: misoprostol. She finds that the medication is known to cause abortions within the second trimester of pregnancy. She remembers feeling grateful to have such a caring husband who gave her special tea but realizes that Seth had caused her miscarriage.

Thursday wonders why she had been so attracted to Seth and realizes it was because he had been so interested in everything about her. She also realizes that his interest in her was a facade created to lure in women who desperately wanted a connection to another person. She becomes angry with herself for being so eager as to believe Seth’s lies.

Thursday returns to Seattle for a week to a home that she barely recognizes. She rummages through her closet to find the 9mm gun that her father had given to her. Thursday then grabs her pill bottles from the kitchen counter and flushes the contents of each down the toilet. Then she leaves her condo to buy a new phone. As she walks down the street, she wonders about the people around her; whether they are lonely, and what is causing them pain.

On Monday, Regina calls Thursday to tell her that she has found Hannah. Thursday heads to Portland, taking her cell phone and gun. She thinks about what Regina told her about Seth. When Regina and Seth were still together, Regina checked Seth’s emails and was alarmed to find that his father had been telling Seth that he planned on killing his wife and then himself. Seth hadn’t attempted to convince his father not to carry out his plan. Angry, Regina confronted Seth, and he began to choke her. After she’d told him she was pregnant, he promised to get help. Once Regina miscarried, she got a birth control device inserted into her arm. Seth suggested having a plural marriage because he wanted children, and when Regina refused, the couple divorced. Regina admitted to Thursday that Seth still paid some of her bills, and that when he was in Portland, he would have sex with her and spend the night. She said that she’d never known about Hannah, and Thursday believed her.

When Thursday arrives at Hannah’s, she thinks about how Seth had been withdrawing cash twice a week for the past six months, siphoning money from her. She tells herself that he is going to have to answer for that along with everything else. As Thursday heads the elevator, she tries to call Regina, but Regina doesn’t answer. Thursday approaches Hannah’s door, and she realizes she has no idea what she is walking into. She decides to proceed anyway and knocks on Hannah’s door.

When Hannah answers the door, she looks surprised. Thursday tells Hannah she needs to talk to her about Seth, and Hannah wordlessly lets her into her condo. Thursday asks Hannah how she is feeling; Thursday claims that Hannah had told her that Seth hit her. Hannah denies this, saying that is what Thursday said, not her. Hannah says that she tried to tell Thursday what happened, but she wouldn’t believe her. Thursday tries to explain that she confronted Seth about it and that he had gotten physical with her; she tells Hannah that is how she ended up in the hospital. Hannah shakes her head, not believing what Thursday is saying. Seth walks into the room with a grocery bag and freezes upon seeing Thursday. Thursday says that she is here to warn Hannah about him.

Seth grabs Thursday’s arm and pulls her to the couch, demanding to know how Thursday found them. Seth tells her that he is calling the police for Thursday stalking Hannah and endangering herself. Thursday tries to ask Hannah what Seth has told her, but Hannah doesn’t respond. Thursday then accuses Hannah of pretending not to know her when she visited her house. Hannah becomes angry, saying that she didn’t really know who Thursday was and that she is stalking them. Thursday tells Hannah that she was curious about who she was, and she wanted to know the two other women she shared her husband with. Thursday tells Hannah that she is married to Seth too and that they live together. Hannah begins to cry and yells at Seth, telling him to look at what he brought into their lives.

Seth tells Thursday that she is “crazy” and that she has always been obsessed with him and his exes. Seth apologizes to Hannah, and she demands that Seth explain why he hadn’t told her that the house she was living in was Thursday’s. Seth tells Hannah that everything that happened with Thursday was a mistake. Enraged, Thursday yells that she is Seth’s wife. From behind her, she hears a voice, Regina, call out that Thursday is not Seth’s wife, but his mistress.

Regina says that Thursday offered to let Seth live in her house with his new wife. Thursday denies this, but she remembers that she had offered the house to Seth and Hannah as a tactic to gain favor from Seth. Thursday begins to cry, and Regina says that Thursday is the reason she and Seth divorced. Seth agrees, telling Thursday that Regina told him everything about Thursday visiting her in her office and following her home. He calls her “crazy” for accusing him of causing her miscarriage and believing that his parents were alive. Thursday continues to argue with Seth, unable to process what is happening. Thursday turns to Regina and asks why she would do this to her. Regina says that she has called the police and told them that Thursday had come to harm Hannah and Seth. Thursday realizes she was set up by Regina and tries to attack her. Seth tries to subdue her, and she fights against him. As Seth falls forward onto her, Thursday pulls out her gun from her waistband. Thursday pulls the trigger and Seth falls on top of her, bleeding.

As she feels Seth’s blood pool on and around her, Thursday remembers everything. She remembers Seth approaching her at the coffee shop, him telling her that he was married, and them having an affair. She remembers Regina leaving Seth after Thursday got pregnant. Thursday had thought Seth would marry her so that they could be a family, but then she lost the baby. She then remembers Seth leaving her for Hannah. She’d told him that she didn’t care if he was married to Hannah, and they began their second affair.

Thursday returns to the psych ward and thinks that this time is different. She remembers how the police had come and found Seth bleeding on top of her and that she was arrested. The fact that Regina set her up had helped her case, leading to the lawyer getting her to plead insanity. They returned her to Queens County hospital for a much longer stay, but Thursday feels comforted by the familiar environment.

During her first meeting with Dr. Steinbridge, he recounts what happened at Hannah’s condo. Thursday didn’t deny what she had done, but she still partially blamed Regina for her actions. The doctor tells her that she doesn’t bear the full responsibility of what happened; Seth emotionally manipulated her and played into her skewed perception of reality. Thursday claimed that Seth never tried to end things with her, but the doctor shows her several emails that prove otherwise. Dr. Steinbridge helps Thursday understand the extent of her illness, explaining that the cards from Seth’s parents weren’t real and that it was really her father who picked her up from the hospital, not Seth. She realizes that Seth has really left her and begins to claw at her skin, drawing blood.

Later, Thursday remembers a patient she saw in her first year of nursing named Robbie Clemmins; he had sustained a head injury that caused him to believe he lived a completely different life than he really did. Thursday compares her own brain to Robbie’s, saying that they both are sick.

One afternoon, Dr. Steinbridge enters Thursday’s room and informs her that Regina has requested to visit her. Thursday agrees. Regina asks how Thursday has been, and Thursday asks why Regina is really there. Regina tells Thursday that she ruined her life, so she wanted revenge. Thursday accuses Regina of being similar to her, saying that her actions make her just as “crazy.” Thursday asks if Regina lied about everything; Regina tells her that it is true that Seth has a temper and has hurt her. Thursday thinks about Seth, who must now use a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and says that she is glad that they got away from him. Regina laughs, saying that they aren’t the same because Thursday is “crazy.” Thursday becomes enraged at the sound of Regina’s laughter and remembers Robbie Clemmins with the broken skull. Thursday attacks Regina, hitting her in the face and then slamming her head repeatedly on the ground, believing that she is helping herself.