May 6, 2020: Dr. Carolyn (Becky Ann Baker) comes home from a long day of work. Before she steps in the door, she takes off her scrubs and sprays sanitizer all over. She finds a note at the door from her husband then walks back to the RV. She video calls her husband, Neil (Dylan Baker), upset that she is in the RV and none of her things are there.
Neil searches for animal traps for an unknown creature that is attacking his kale plants. Carolyn calls Neil to find out where he is. She finds where he is, and they talk it out. Neil keeps his distance as Carolyn points out that she has gone through a week of ten-hour shifts and she wants to be back in her bed. Neil, however, has read the stats on COVID and would just like for her to quarantine in the RV for 14 days. Unfortunately, Carolyn has made the decision to help out at the hospital the next week. This brings up the argument of Carolyn always making the decisions between the two. Neil would rather that they stay safe and healthy for each other and their grandkids, whilst Carolyn thinks she has a duty to helping people during the pandemic.
The two join their friends Linda (Marcia Debonis) and her husband, on Zoom for drinks. The discussion turns from mud balls to political stuff. Linda has a gift of turning the conversation from the two lovers arguing about Carolyn working again to what the virus is doing to Boomers. I’m not sure why millennials are getting flack for the comments when it was truly Gen Z calling the virus “Boomer Remover.” Will they ever stop confusing us? The idea of going to a retirement village sounds horrible to Carolyn, and the subject of a dude ranch brings back the arguing. Luckily, a video alert comes up of a raccoon eating the kale. Neil runs off to scare it away, and Carolyn decides to leave early. Beyond awkward.
Later, Neil calls Carolyn, to be surprised that she is eating cheese from the block. Carolyn would like Neil to stop being controlling while Neil would like for them to enjoy their retirement. Unfortunately, it seems Carolyn has been happy working in the ER again. Neil thinks the whole matter is that he is never enough for her, but Carolyn states that she doesn’t feel useful sitting at home and doing nothing. She feels good working and thinks Neil should join her. What they planned for their retirement is not working out for Carolyn. Neil talks about how they are getting old, and he wishes to spend more time with her. Just as he concedes to her, she decides not to go back to work and instead to let the kids handle the pandemic.
As the two enjoy playing Scrabble while they video call, Carolyn gets a call from Jordan (Sunita Mani) who is struggling at work with a mansplainer and a patient whose stats are going down. Carolyn calms Jordan down and figures out what the situation is and insists that Jordan calls her any time. She clearly misses it. Neil informs Carolyn that the trapped raccoon is going to be picked up by animal control but instead of being released to the wild, the racoon will be killed off. He does his best to hype up the end of her quarantining with Scrabble, games, music, and bacon. She doesn’t look excited about any of it. The next morning, Carolyn is dressed in scrubs, packs a suitcase in her car, leaves Neil a letter, then takes the raccoon and drives off.
I’m not mad at this at all. She left to be happy. If anything, this episode made me think of what I would like to do once I retire. I know that I want to be happy as long as my body allows me to do what I can. Having a partner may complicate things. I just hope we both are on the same page when that time arrives. I hope Neil can cope with this.
