Can all of life’s problems be solved by sharing a scorpion bowl?
As we pick up in Murdaugh: Death In The Family Episode 3, Paul has been indicted by a grand jury in Mallory’s death, and no one is doing a good job preparing him for what he’s going to face. Paul doesn’t meet his lawyer Dick (Jim O’Heir) until his bail hearing on May 6, 2019; he has to be told to “stand the fuck up” when the judge walks in; and Paul’s mind is so distant that the lawyers’ voices as they argue about his immediate fate seem to be coming from very far away. When the judge sets bail at $50,000 and the jocular Dick says, “See? What did I tell you. Easy,” Paul can only faintly ask, “Is it over?”
It’s not, and everyone else is finding ways to act like it’s not happening at all. Maggie doesn’t see any issue about joining the meal train for Mallory’s family; Alex cautions her that bringing over sympathy casseroles is going to make it look like she’s apologizing for something, which she can’t appear to be doing. Alex himself is so determined in his denial that he decides the family should go for a restorative long weekend to a resort in the Bahamas — apparently forgetting, until Paul reminds him, that Buster might not want to go since he nearly lost an arm to a shark on a previous family trip there. Dick is going to get Paul’s case delayed, Alex declares, so it’s just fine for them to leave town! Maggie seems worried, but Alex’s pitch — including tropical drinks and a festive rendition of “Kokomo” — quickly wins her over.
This timing is, of course, worst for Paul, since the only person in the house who seems to want to look after him is Gloria — or Go-Go, as everyone calls her. Gloria gently tells Paul that one of the best things about the Lord is that you can always ask Him for forgiveness and He will grant it. She knows Paul isn’t one for church, but she goes every Sunday with her boys, and Paul would always be welcome to join them. As she watches his silent shame, she adds that she knows Mallory is in heaven, so he shouldn’t worry.
When the family jets off for their trip, we get a look at Gloria’s life outside her care of the Murdaughs. She brings two bags of their hand-me-downs home to her trailer for her sons, Brian and Tony (Winter Andrews and J.D. Starnes). She takes off a back brace before heavily sitting on her couch. Her blessing over dinner includes a special mention of the Murdaughs: she hopes the Lord helps them get away from their troubles and that the angels watch over Paul. Tony, an ER tech whose patients Gloria also prays for, takes Gloria’s blood pressure after dinner and urges her to see a cardiologist. When Gloria waves him off, saying it’s too expensive, he reminds her that Maggie had said she’d pay for it. Gloria generously says the Murdaughs have a lot going on, adding, “You know how they can be.”
We certainly know, and they’re no less ostentatious outside the U.S. than when they’re at home. Alex tips a poolside server $100 for a huge, obnoxious scorpion bowl. Alex makes Buster’s girlfriend Brooklynn (Mina Sundial) join them in trying to suck down without a pause for breath.
Alex gets annoyed when Paul sees a speeding boat in a video promo for the fishing charter they’re about to take and refuses to join. Buster insists on following Paul to the bar to try to stop him getting into trouble, but has already peeled off by the time Paul, after drinking all day, orders one of the Aussies he’s been hanging out with to punch him in the face; when his new friend refuses, Paul spits at him to force the retaliation and punishment he craves.
