While traveling to New York with Davey to pay their mom Lisa a visit, Cassie faces hard truths about her path to sobriety. Meanwhile, Megan attempts to reconnect with her reluctant family, who are wary of the web of legal troubles she's entangled them in.
Cassie's loved ones have endured a lot. No one blames her for the childhood she had. That's the behavior she's willing to address and be accountable for though. She deflects when it comes to addressing her actions as an adult. In that regard, she still struggles in coming to terms with the harm she has inflicted on others. So many times they feared she would end up killing herself because of her addiction just like her father did. It's cathartic for Cassie to forgive her father. She reads her letter to his grave. She inherited this disease from him. He's not responsible for every action she has taken. This is still a family that would rather focus on each other's issues than address their own. Davey is separated from his husband. He told Cassie he was in Los Angeles to support her during this turbulent time. He wanted to be her cheerleader. He would be on the sidelines making sure she felt loved and empowered during her sober journey. That only made the guilt grow inside her head. She was lying about her progress. It was all just a fantasy. It wasn't real. She had to confess that as well. She can handle these brief moments. Life doesn't offer any guarantees of working how people plan for it. Cassie projects a sense of renewal onto this trip to New York. She believes it can be the new start she needs. It's better to commit to the plans instead of lingering in her failures in Los Angeles. It's still her running away from her problems like she always does. She can always be thrown into a more dangerous situation. The most harrowing journey is the one happening inside her own head. She no longer hears the many conflicting voices rattle on about what she should do. The temptation is still overwhelming. It's just being directed towards one message. She deserves to die. That's the easiest relief she can give to the people she has hurt over the years. This isn't the first time Annie has had to clean up Cassie after a wild night. Davey and Lisa know all the behavior common in alcoholics. Cassie can no longer prop up success in the program. She is nothing but a failure. Her mother essentially confirms that because she is out of love to give. She will always cherish her daughter. Lisa just doesn't like the woman Cassie is. Nothing she can say now can change that opinion. The work Cassie has done isn't good enough. She isn't dealing with the true issues. Without doing that, she will only repeat the same mistakes over and over again. It's exhausting to the people who've been on this ride for awhile. They know how all of this plays out. And so, they simply have no tolerance for it anymore. They've heard it one too many times to believe it now. She hasn't changed in the slightest.
Cassie's life is also being invaded by outside forces. Part of that was her determination to succeed as a CIA asset. That was a new job that offered plenty of excitement after she impressed the bosses at the agency. Elsewhere, she is being hunted simply because of her friendship to Megan. When Cassie explains the severity of the threat to Davey, he immediately questions the friends she keeps. They have put this entire family in danger. Meanwhile, Megan blissfully believes she can reach out to her family and reunite peacefully. Her husband and son's lives have been destroyed by what she did. She was unhappy because she felt aimless. She needed excitement. Foreign interests took advantage of that. She wants to make her way back to her family. She can't do that for more than a few fleeting moments. She damaged these bonds too. They can't easily be repaired simply because she is back and willing to embrace the simple, normal lives they have. That may no longer be an option for her because of the severity of what she did. She has to atone for those past mistakes. She can't keep running. The threats are dire though. Of course, it only takes setting off a firework and blowing up a car for Cassie and Davey to escape the North Korean assassins. That's relatively easy. It puts things into perspective for Davey. His issues don't come anywhere close to what his sister deals with on an ongoing basis. As such, he should be able to get his life together. The escalation of his OCD can be treated. He can return to his family. For Cassie, her life is much less clear. Annie and Max try contacting her to warn her about the threat that has invaded her world. Instead, Dot and Shane are the ones who get through. They immediately make her doubt Benjamin's actions. Someone is exploiting her identity in order to commit many heinous crimes. The murders keep coming. It all points directly at Cassie. Meanwhile, Dot and Shane suggest Benjamin could be responsible for some reason. It's all insane. The evidence is being planted though. Annie and Max are too busy dealing with their own issues to notice. It's necessary for them to have that conversation. Annie is indecisive yet she knows what's important to Max. She can recognize that. She can always know when the people she loves need it the most. Her personal agency causes the most confusion for her. The threats to Cassie are so extreme it's easy to get distracted. That's overwhelming and keeps the narrative moving at a brisk pace. Cassie is voluntarily involved in this world. She must be held accountable. Yet she is hardly the only person ruining lives through their selfish motives. She is simply better positioned to address them despite her lack of progress so far in sobriety.
