1970s: In which Michael is busted, Susan has hear heart broken and Carl has his snatched away
Having packed up his dorm, it's time for Michael to return home. At the last moment, Robin suggests (decides) that she's coming along. "So I can meet your family, then you can come and meet mine before we find a place of our own. My parents are dying to meet you."
Not finding a good enough reason not to let her come, Michael agrees.
What he hasn't counted on is his family throwing him a welcome home party. There, as they walk through the door they are greeted not only by his parents, but by grandparents, aunts, cousins... and someone who was once a girlfriend.
Linda throws herself into Michael's arms as he arrives, and while Robin first assume the pretty blond is some sort of relative, she's all too soon put straight.
It's an awkward moment.
Before Robin catches herself and chews Michael out, right there, at the party, in front of everyone.
Linda, on the other hand, just start crying. This was not what she had in mind.
Pulling Robin aside to his old room, Michael tries to explain to a heartbroken and very angry Robin.
And as Robin fumes and heads home to her own parents, saying she need to think about this, Michael tries the same with Linda. By now, his parents has sent the guests home so Michael can talk to her in peace. He tries explaining that he just didn't want to break up by letter, but his explanation does not sit well with Linda. She doesn't take the break up well.
Once the house is empty, he asks his mother for advice. How will he go about convincing Robin that she really can trust him. Betty, disappointed in her son, doesn't sugarcoat anything. "By being honest. The only way to gain someone's trust is to earn it. If you truly love her, then you will let her know that, and you'll spend the rest of your days making up for this."
But as Betty is trying to guide her son, Susan comes bursting through the door. She's just learned that Tony, her Tony, has gotten married to someone else!
"How can he do this to me?!?" she cries. "Why didn't he just talk to me? Break up with me before hooking up with someone else? Why are men such selfish pigs?"
Betty tries to comfort her daughter, trying to reassure her that not all men are like that. "Seriously mom! Even Michael is!!! Isn't he? Wasn't this what he did? And now Tony? I hate them! I'll never even look at a guy again!"
"You will! You'll meet someone better," her mother tries to reassure her, biting her tongue about having children outside marriage and trying to focus on her daughter's heartache instead. But Susan, as much as she wants to be comforted, is too heartbroken to listen.
It doesn't help matters when Michael enters the room, finds his sister crying and tries to offer his support. Instead of taking the support, Susan lashes out. "You?!? You're just as bad, you're just as much of a user as he is!" she yells at him before storming off.
That night, as he listens to his sisters heartbreaking sobs through the wall of his room, Michael feels exceptionally guilty. He still thinks Tony is a creep, and tries to convince himself that his actions in no way and form can be compared, but in his heart he knows he should have done better.
In Tomarang, Carl has none of his brother's issues. As Nixon wins reelection with a land slide, Carl is fighting feelings of disillusion and betrayal. Nothing has been what he expected it to be, and now it's his birthday and he's all alone.
Not that the men in his unit is going to let that stand. Finding out its his birthday, they decide to take him out. "It's time you see Tomarang at night!" they tell him.
Carl isn't so sure, but feeling lost and alone, he goes with them anyway, finding himself at Club Tomarang, the place to be according to the others. They start by buying him drinks, and introduce him to some of the girls in the club. There are many, and they are all very friendly, speaking in broken English, asking about their homes, their families, their dreams.
For Carl this new level of attention is overwhelming. Back home it was always his brother who got all the attention from girls. He never really had the time, but here, they look at him with big brown eyes, asking him about his life. He feels seen, appreciated, acknowledged. It's a nice feeling.
As the night goes on, the men drag him upstairs, to a quieter area. There they blow bubbles, and talk to the girls. Couples start forming, alcohol flows freely. Carl is starting to feel slightly dizzy from the alcohol. At some point he thinks he might have thrown up - or maybe he was just close to doing so, after, he will never be able to tell which.
What he will never forget as long as he lives is the way Chi looks when she takes his hand and takes him to a bedroom. After tonight, Carl will not remember anything but Chi's hand in his, her big eyes as she looks at him. "You happy, soldier?" she asks. "I make you happy. I give you good birthday." He's not nearly sober enough to wonder why she wants this when they've just met, but when she tells him she'll take care of him, he trusts her and afterwards he wonders why he never did this before. When his unit pulls him out of there in the early morning hours to return to base, he's still smiling, and his head is still spinning wildly out of control.
Not finding a good enough reason not to let her come, Michael agrees.
What he hasn't counted on is his family throwing him a welcome home party. There, as they walk through the door they are greeted not only by his parents, but by grandparents, aunts, cousins... and someone who was once a girlfriend.
Linda throws herself into Michael's arms as he arrives, and while Robin first assume the pretty blond is some sort of relative, she's all too soon put straight.
It's an awkward moment.
Before Robin catches herself and chews Michael out, right there, at the party, in front of everyone.
Linda, on the other hand, just start crying. This was not what she had in mind.
Pulling Robin aside to his old room, Michael tries to explain to a heartbroken and very angry Robin.
And as Robin fumes and heads home to her own parents, saying she need to think about this, Michael tries the same with Linda. By now, his parents has sent the guests home so Michael can talk to her in peace. He tries explaining that he just didn't want to break up by letter, but his explanation does not sit well with Linda. She doesn't take the break up well.
Once the house is empty, he asks his mother for advice. How will he go about convincing Robin that she really can trust him. Betty, disappointed in her son, doesn't sugarcoat anything. "By being honest. The only way to gain someone's trust is to earn it. If you truly love her, then you will let her know that, and you'll spend the rest of your days making up for this."
But as Betty is trying to guide her son, Susan comes bursting through the door. She's just learned that Tony, her Tony, has gotten married to someone else!
"How can he do this to me?!?" she cries. "Why didn't he just talk to me? Break up with me before hooking up with someone else? Why are men such selfish pigs?"
Betty tries to comfort her daughter, trying to reassure her that not all men are like that. "Seriously mom! Even Michael is!!! Isn't he? Wasn't this what he did? And now Tony? I hate them! I'll never even look at a guy again!"
"You will! You'll meet someone better," her mother tries to reassure her, biting her tongue about having children outside marriage and trying to focus on her daughter's heartache instead. But Susan, as much as she wants to be comforted, is too heartbroken to listen.
It doesn't help matters when Michael enters the room, finds his sister crying and tries to offer his support. Instead of taking the support, Susan lashes out. "You?!? You're just as bad, you're just as much of a user as he is!" she yells at him before storming off.
That night, as he listens to his sisters heartbreaking sobs through the wall of his room, Michael feels exceptionally guilty. He still thinks Tony is a creep, and tries to convince himself that his actions in no way and form can be compared, but in his heart he knows he should have done better.
In Tomarang, Carl has none of his brother's issues. As Nixon wins reelection with a land slide, Carl is fighting feelings of disillusion and betrayal. Nothing has been what he expected it to be, and now it's his birthday and he's all alone.
Not that the men in his unit is going to let that stand. Finding out its his birthday, they decide to take him out. "It's time you see Tomarang at night!" they tell him.
Carl isn't so sure, but feeling lost and alone, he goes with them anyway, finding himself at Club Tomarang, the place to be according to the others. They start by buying him drinks, and introduce him to some of the girls in the club. There are many, and they are all very friendly, speaking in broken English, asking about their homes, their families, their dreams.
For Carl this new level of attention is overwhelming. Back home it was always his brother who got all the attention from girls. He never really had the time, but here, they look at him with big brown eyes, asking him about his life. He feels seen, appreciated, acknowledged. It's a nice feeling.
As the night goes on, the men drag him upstairs, to a quieter area. There they blow bubbles, and talk to the girls. Couples start forming, alcohol flows freely. Carl is starting to feel slightly dizzy from the alcohol. At some point he thinks he might have thrown up - or maybe he was just close to doing so, after, he will never be able to tell which.
What he will never forget as long as he lives is the way Chi looks when she takes his hand and takes him to a bedroom. After tonight, Carl will not remember anything but Chi's hand in his, her big eyes as she looks at him. "You happy, soldier?" she asks. "I make you happy. I give you good birthday." He's not nearly sober enough to wonder why she wants this when they've just met, but when she tells him she'll take care of him, he trusts her and afterwards he wonders why he never did this before. When his unit pulls him out of there in the early morning hours to return to base, he's still smiling, and his head is still spinning wildly out of control.
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