Fleishman Is in Trouble
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Libbys narration gets right to the point here at the top of God, What an Idiot He Was!
This lesser work is more wide-ranging and featured 12 stages.
Stage 1: Shock.
Even a talented diagnostician can miss symptoms from time to time, but that is no comfort at all.
Toby is far more ferocious in his self-criticism Listen to the patient, youasshole!
than he was with his fellows inepisode one.
Theyre not simply mutually admiring friends.
Stage 2: Attempted Indifference.
Sticking his head in the freezer?
No, no, no.
Retrospectively, its all so clear.
Rachel was probably sleeping with Sam Rothberg months ago maybe even before her separation from Toby.
Stage 3: Masturbation.
Stage 4: Confrontation.
The intense satisfaction of putting ones righteous fury to work!
The opportunity to shout Jaccuse!
to those whove done one so very wrong, sosodirty.
Is there any felicity comparable to this?
The Coopers are lucky to have him.
), assesses the contents of the kitchen, and cant make sense of any of it.
A small tin of weed?
Rachel would never smoke anything!
A health-food-store aisles worth of teas?
Three full takeout containers of beef lo mein?
Rachel is a dyed-in-the-wool shrimp in lobster sauce gal!
None of this makes sense.
The Rachel he knows wouldnt have or consume any of these things!
This must be Sams pernicious influence!
Perhaps these arent the belongings of the Rachel he knows.
Perhaps, despite their 15-year marriage, Toby doesnt really know her at all.
Rachel enthusiastically accepting a nice cup of tea from Sam.
An Emmy for Claire Daness borderline-orgasmic delivery of Beef!
He does what any (presumed) cuckolded husband would do in such circumstances: He steals Rachels toaster.
Honestly, why does any of this even matter?
Is Rachel cutting loose with Sam the real problem?
Is it more important than her continued non-presence in Hannah and Sollys lives?
Stages 5 and 6: Reclamation and Distraction.
The latter results in an unencouraging trip down literary memory lane.
What agonies they endured!
My heart pumps peanut butter for them!
Attorney Barbara arrives fresh from tennis (or maybe squash?
), notes the toaster, and whisks Toby up to her very graceful and soothing office.
Stages 7 and 8: Humiliation and Fornication.
Tobys response to humiliation is to follow Peachess guidance to, ahem,fornicate the pain away.
Tobys attempt at fornication is worse than grim, joyless, and boring.
Stage 9: Misdirected Aggression.
In which Tobys attempts to impose his will on others are not going well.
Nobody and nothing Toby has interacted with in the last 24 hours has given him what he wants.
Whom can he turn to for a dose of the sincere sympathy he craves?
Libby talks Toby into joining her, Adam, and the kids at the pool for the afternoon.
Instead, Adam and Libby are frazzled.
Lets talk about Libbys complicated relationship with swimwear.
The problem isnt the tankini itself.
All he wanted was a normal life with a normal, happy-enough marriage.
Why is she such a low-key miserable mess?
Given just how messed-up Libby is, why is Toby only starting to notice itnow?
Theres no time to interrogate that further!
No number for this stage, but it gets a title card anyway: Being a Dick.
When experiencing despair, Toby can be heart-shrivelingly mean, and its shameful.
Stages 10 and 11: Constant Motion and Exhaustion.
Back at the hospital, Toby can slip back into the soothing mantle of a competent and caring physician.
Along with the transplant surgeon, he reassures Karen Coopers husband and best friend.
If hed projected all of this on Karen Cooper, what had he done to Rachel all these years?
The comedown from the adrenaline rush of the transplant process lands Toby in Stage 12: Acceptance.
Extremely strict compartmentalization of different areas of her life?
Its giving us another reminder to think about perspective.
Who sees what and when?
Which details do we notice?
Which ones do we allow to slide past our eyes?
How does seeing a thing contribute to and distort our memories of it?
