How to die alone
Kill Your Way / Get Lost
Season 1
Episode 7 – 8
Editor’s Rating
Photo: John Medland/Hulu
In the last two episodes of How to die alone in the first season, Melissa jumps into the deep end, and Natasha Rothwell proves to be a multi-hyphenate, showing her range as an actress in ways we haven’t seen before. If so The White Lotus gave us a taste of how talented Rothwell is across multiple genres, his performance in these episodes is a three-course meal. We’re already aware of her great comedic bits — Melissa’s practice monologue in the van before her confrontation with Alex. too good — and sharp writing, but she pulls our hearts in How to die alone (did anyone else get off on her first flight?), delivering a great first season with abundant potential for a second.
After deciding to tell Alex her true feelings before the wedding, episode seven resolves with Melissa traveling to the airport to catch him before her flight to Maui. She arrives too late, rolling up to her gate after hijacking one of the electric carts to see that the flight has finished boarding and preparing for takeoff. When she is met, she goes to the Thai restaurant where she once worked. At first, returning to her comfort zone seemed like the ultimate form of regression. However, as the night progresses, the show reminds us that seeing yourself and the discomfort it brings is sometimes a necessary part of evolution. The Melissa who shows up at the Thai restaurant on New Year’s Eve is light years ahead of the old Melissa, but she has to see how far she’s come to fully believe it, which means there are a few more lessons to be learned. on the journey to self-realization.
The first dragon slain on the way to Melissa’s true rebirth is probably the biggest of all: Alex (and a crab rangoon). While her near-death experience was the real impetus for her transformation, Melissa’s repressed feelings for the man she could never quite be despite loving her are what prompt her to face her fear of flying. When Melissa sees him picking out, she reluctantly invites him to join her meal after he tries to hide under the table. Everything is laid out as if it were a divine intervention: Alex explains how he missed his flight because he forgot his bag, that it’s still the order Melissa taught him, and his words overflowing with affection. He notices a missing crab rangoon and encourages her to get back on the proverbial horse by trying some of his. Every word they exchange is heavy with possible double meanings, and the appetizer seems to be standing in for Alex. (“Anything good deserves a second chance” is practically an invitation if you ask me!)
Melissa finally takes a bite of the crispy dumpling, opening the door to reconnect with Alex. Soon, she apologizes for how harsh she was when things broke out, admitting that it was cruel to react in such a way after he professed his love. Alex admits that he missed his flight on purpose and reveals some of his problems with his wife, Julie, including the fact that she wants him to wear a navy green tie and that Julie’s cousins wanting to treat her on a pre-married girl’s trip despite that. at a bachelorette party. Melissa tells him she understands the need for a break and suggests a night out together. But before we fully dive into their escapades, let’s address how inappropriate Alex’s behavior is. I would be mad if my wife was walking around the city with her ex, giving each other googly eyes, THE DAY BEFORE OUR WEDDING. And, if it’s between a seafoam tie and wearing a turtle neck for a tropical destination wedding, as Alex said was a dream, it is clear that Alex is the problem in the equation. I can see why Julie needs two bachelorette parties to deal with her ass.
As they walk out, Melissa tricks a shop owner into letting them browse his tie selection to find a more suitable option than a seafoam lock (she informed him that the turtleneck was not acceptable). She fastens a royal purple tie around his neck, and the owner assumes that she is the bride he is about to marry. Their next stop is a karaoke bar where Melissa is determined to show Alex how much she’s out for public display. She lets her adrenaline take over, skipping to the front of the line by taking over someone else’s slot and asking Alex to sing Leave the Door Open with her as the show hilariously opens the door to a magical rom-com world when time stops as they walk around New York. City. With everyone else in freeze frames, Melissa and Alex head to the park, surrounded by twinkling lights still strung on the trees for the holiday season.
At the park, Melissa points out that there are still no fireworks on New Year’s Eve, which coincided with the same thought I had about her chemistry with Alex. Although he gently helps her across the frozen pond to get a closer view of the fireworks and reminisces about the intimacy of being removed from her braids (again, very inappropriate behavior for someone becoming husband in twenty-four hours), Alex doesn’t feel the sparks either when she pulls him in for a kiss. The kiss angers Alex, and he storms off when she discovers she still has feelings for him. As he tries to get a taxi, Melissa begs him not to get married, but when Alex asks her to put her heart on the line and say clearly that she loves him, Melissa can’t do it, saying that too scared of her. But I wonder if her inability to say those words was completely fueled by her fear of rejection. Maybe, somewhere deep in Melissa’s subconscious, she doesn’t love Alex. Instead, it’s a reflection of all the opportunities she missed due to inaction. Now that she is ready to fly – literally and figuratively – she is gone, although it takes another divine intervention for her to achieve it.
The season finale opens with Melissa anxiously waiting to board the plane to Maui despite Alex’s refusal. She makes up with Rory, who also questions whether Melissa loves Alex, but she is determined to fly. However, the flight is overbooked, and the airline offers a thousand-dollar voucher for a passenger to make a delayed trip. As the airline increases the value of the voucher to three thousand dollars, Melissa considers it the universe, saving her directly from the embarrassment of showing up at the wedding. The flight attendant asks if she wants to trade her first class ticket (she ran up with Elise’s credit card!) for awesome discounts and a seat in coach, but when Melissa explains that she wants a ban to make herself go to a man’s wedding. wishes she was getting married herself, the attendant is more than happy to make the move. Now, Melissa has an itinerary that takes her four stops across the country, making sure she doesn’t make it to Maui for at least 48 hours.
With her stack of plane tickets in hand, Melissa is ready to board not one but four flights, a far cry from the Melissas who sat fearfully on the tarmac watching others live their lives. As she makes her way to the plane, she sees her old self smoking outside as she follows a baggage cart, bringing her vision from the first adventure to life. She boards a middle seat between an old married couple, who make her feel comfortable as they settle in and take off. Shortly after, there is turbulence on the plane, and Melissa breaks out, with the flight attendant’s facial expressions adding to her fear. It turns out that the aircraft had hit a couple of birds, and, as a much more capable flight attendant says, the other attendant is “resting on a scared face” from getting discounted Botox. This flight attendant gives Melissa the leaflet wings for the first time to pin on her shirt, congratulating her on making it through a rough patch to the other side.
After Melissa lands safely in Charlotte, her worst fears keep her going. Melissa calls Terrance, explaining that she’s not at the wedding, because she decided that if she’s going to take her first flight, she shouldn’t take it in the past. Or, Melissa changes the next ticket to Chicago, visiting the restaurant that Elise is standing in front of in a photo. There she meets the owner, one of Elise’s past lovers, and they celebrate Elise’s fiery personality. Melissa admits to stealing Elise’s money, but in exchange for the old picture, he promises to forget the fraud and advises her to live life in a way that would make Elise proud. She takes his advice and runs with it, turning her stop in Chicago into the solo trip of a lifetime, ending with a winter plunge in Lake Michigan.
On her way back to JFK, Melissa runs into Angie, a fellow airport trolley driver at O’Hare. Angie is a replica of Melissa a few months ago as she dreams of a way to change her life but is too scared to apply for the management training program. Melissa gives Angie her newfound wisdom, and when she boards her flight back home, she receives an email from the Swedish furniture company confirming a $17,000 settlement for her incident with the wardrobe. She leaves Brian a message about the arrangement, saying he has one less child to take care of, ending with a joke about any hypothetical stray children he might have from his cheating exploits… and Brian plays this message on the speaker phone in front of his wife. . Yes, just as everything seems to be drawing to a close, tying a cheerful bow on top of a good season, How to die alone he throws us a few curve balls. In addition to possibly ruining her brother’s marriage, security confronts her when Melissa lands at JFK and begins to confide in Terrance. This time, it’s not because she triggered the metal detector and her co-workers can’t be identified – they know exactly who she is. Police officers quickly hand Melissa over, saying she is under arrest for forgery, identity theft, and grand larceny. Looks like our girl has a few more hurdles to jump.
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