HBO Max’s Love & Death’s third episode is titled “Stepping Stone.” This episode starts the viewers with a change of time, currently dating in October of 1979. This is three months ahead of where the previous episode left off, which was in July. To recap from the second episode, “Encounters”, Allan Gore (Jesse Plemmons) had vocalized to his mistress, Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), that he didn’t want to see her as much because of his wife Betty (Lily Rabe), and their newborn daughter. The couple returned from the couples program, happier than ever, and Candy was concerned that it could affect the affair between her and Allan.
In the opening scene of the third episode, Candy and her family’s house is shown, then the camera montages to Candy sitting alone in the kitchen, waiting for her kids as they were getting ready for school. Candy looked sad and lonely. This scene is significant because it’s a small preview of what this episode may look like, in her point of view. Candy’s daughter, Jenny (Amelie Dallimore), comes to sit down when her brother leaves the kitchen. What stands out in this scene is that Jenny says that her friend Alisa (Harper Heath), Betty and Allan’s daughter, mentioned that she (Candy) worries about what other people think too much. That shocked Candy, leaving her confused and worried about why Alisa would say such a thing and why she’d even say that to Jenny.
Candy meets up with Allan for a walk and they talk about Betty. Allan tells her that the Marriage Encounters program was successful and helped his marriage. When Candy asks him where that puts them, with their relationship, Allan says, “Well, it doesn’t necessarily change how I feel about you.” He also mentions, “I should be giving my full resources to my family and my relationship with you is taking some of my emotional availability and energy and attention that I could be directing towards Betty and the kids.” Candy doesn’t like that, so she questions if he didn’t want to see her anymore, which results in her deciding for both of them, stating that she won’t call or bother him anymore.
Betty goes to see her doctor to get a check-up. She had some concerns that she could have breast cancer. The doctor shuts her down, saying the lump in her breast could be from drinking too much caffeine and that she should stop taking birth control for the time being. Betty doesn’t believe him, but she complies. He leaves her worried, with a scared facial expression on her face and he tells her that she’s fine. Candy calls Allan, to check up on Betty, knowing that she was concerned about her health. Candy decides to go to their house to check up on her. She tries to stay positive and speak confidently to Betty, trying to put an effort into making sure she doesn’t get too worried and stressed out about her concerns.
It’s important to remember that before the affair started, Candy and Betty were good friends and they still are. Candy hasn’t treated Betty any differently since she started sleeping with Allan. In situations where a friend has an affair with her husband and chooses to maintain normal interactions, displaying professionalism becomes crucial because someone like Candy, wouldn’t want their friend to become suspicious in any way. A significant scene is when Allan comes home and walks Candy to the car and they start a conversation. Candy asks Allan what his opinion is on her and her husband Pat (Patrick Fugit) trying out Marriage Encounters.
As they are talking, the two of them don’t know it, but Betty is watching the interaction through the window and it’s hard to read the look on her face. Pat and Candy decide to go through with Marriage Encounters, to try to work out the distance between them. It ends up going well for the both of them and Candy’s feelings towards Allan start to go to the back of her mind. That is until Betty invites the couple over for dinner since they all went through with the marriage program.
There’s a scene where Pat goes into the bedroom, he was looking for something. He goes through the drawers and finds a letter that was given to Candy, her name written on the envelope. The camera shows that Allan wrote her the letter and he had written to her about the start of their affair. This reveals the huge secret between the two and Pat is shocked. The next day, Pat goes to see Sherry (Krysten Ritter), asking if she had known anything about what was going on. He asks if it was still happening and she told him it was over and that it was over, completely. She promises him that she won’t say anything to Candy about him knowing anything, but she ends up telling her anyway.
Overall, this was an episode filled with tension and surprising moments. As the time flies to July 1980, it’s interesting to see how the lives of each individual have changed. The Gores and the Montogomerys have distanced themselves from each other. Leaving the episode to a plot twist, Betty asks Candy if she was having an affair with Allan, which leaves everyone at the edge of their seats. Now both Pat and Betty know about their partner’s affair. Betty comes back inside her house and Candy’s terrified, seeing her friend holding an axe in her hand. What will happen next? Does Betty end up getting killed as Candy tries to save her own life?
Rating: 9/10