Watching Divorce has been downright depressing sometimes — I tend to want everyone to get along, so seeing how vitriolic Frances and Robert have gotten towards each other is hard. But with just one episode until the season finale, things were looking up… until they weren’t again. Frances and Robert resolved a few of their differences and were heading toward civility. That is, until Frances served Robert with papers on Divorce . It was done in a very public way, and I’m guessing that any thawed ice between them will now be frozen again.
The lawyers on both sides are trying to make the other party seems as awful as possible, but when it comes down to it, Robert arranges a lot of the childcare (Frances works in New York City, so it’s not possible for her), and he looks better in terms of custody. This is clearly not fair, since Frances has to work outside the home to, you know, be the breadwinner for the family, but the lawyers are making it seem like Frances is a negligent parent. Both Robert and Frances’ lawyers are trying some dirty tricks against the other, and while at another party that Diane and Nick throw, both Frances and Robert reach an agreement to stop the mudslinging and just do what’s best and nicest for themselves and their children. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
It does seem like a beacon of hope… until Frances’ new lawyer, who seems like a real bulldog, recommends filing for divorce as soon as possible. Frances obliges, and Robert is served papers while he’s coaching their daughter’s basketball game. Ouch. That one is going to leave a mark.
Frances told her new lawyer that she did not file for divorce first as a means of helping Robert’s ego — if he filed first, maybe he would feel better? The lawyer says it’s crap, and I agree. Why drag it out if you know that you both want to get divorced? Of course, Frances has no idea that she’s about to throw Robert’s ego down a well — he was served papers in front of his kids and basically the whole community, and it was uncomfortable, to say the very least.
Whatever hopes for civility came out of Robert and Frances’ discussion at Diane and Nick’s are definitely dead now, and the gloves are about to come off. But what is the endgame here? What are they each really winning? With only one episode to go in Season 1, how ugly will Divorce get?
Images: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO (2)
