Dirty John
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But this is also the episode where Betty had a choice.
Accepting the state of her life wouldnt have made what Dan did right or fair or just.
But it would have given her the foundation to start healing.
But as Betty tells her court-appointed therapist, she has no intention of moving on.
If Im not angry, Im not going to make it, she says.
While I think her anger is absolutely justified, what isnt is constantly putting her children in the middle.
How come you wont shut your mouth so we can come over there?
Betty refuses to back down.
Dan sends Betty flowers for Christmas, a patronizing gift if there ever was one.
She responds by going over to his house and destroying all the Christmas presents.
She punches holes in the walls.
She snaps the antenna off his car.
If youve never smashed anything before, when you finally do, its great, she tells her friends.
The vulgar messages are her therapy, her primal scream.
Betty chooses her anger, her rage, the fact that she has been wronged, over her children.
She will not be ignored.
What Dan has done to her isnt fair, but what she is doing to her children isnt either.
Its not fair for her children to hear the answering-machine messages, which are beyond distressing.
We are seeing this play out now: Dan is more important to her than the children.
She doesnt want custody of them without a financial settlement that she deems fair and just.
Im not going to be a single parent to four kids.
Hell die first, she tells the therapist.
She doesnt want her children if she cant take care of them the way she had planned.
Moving Linda into his house is one thing.
Taking her on the family Christmas trip and to all the big society events is another.
Just hearing Lindas voice on the machine makes Betty unhinged.
Its a cruel move.
Even the judge is appalled by the pettiness of their divorce.
Despite that, we dont get the sense that Dan is a devoted father.
The childcare is predominantly outsourced to babysitters and maids and her children are often sick.
Betty learns she didnt even know about it when one of them had lice.
Dan seems to want custody of the children only to hurt Betty.Everythinghe does seems to be to hurt her.
And then the episode ends with Dan proposing to Linda at a bar.
The true tragedy is that no one seems to care about the children.
Thoughts for Your 80s Mixtape:
We really do need a mixtape of this show.
We are getting a better sense of these characters extreme wealth.
Betty estimates a quarter of Dans monthly income is $28,000.
Amanda Peets performance is so nuanced.
