Firefly Lane – Season 2 Episode 9 “Hart Shaped Box” Recap & Review

Hart Shaped Box

1980

Episode 9 of Firefly Lane season 2 starts with Kate excited about her upcoming trip to Europe with Theo. She has a tanning accident and burns her ass. Before she leaves, Johnny shows up and gives a thoughtful gift. He wishes her a lovely trip and all the happiness with Theo.

Kate thinks that the gift is a message to her and starts reconsidering her trip. Tully tells her that she should go with Theo and stop waiting for Johnny to decide if he wants to give her what she wants. She misses her pick-up with the taxi so Tully offers to drive her to the airport.

1970

Tully remembers the time her mom got high when her parole officer was en-route. She employs the help of Kate. They kick out her hippie friends and clean up the house. The only problem is Leon, Cloud’s latest lover, has overdosed on their couch. Tully freaks out but Kate suggests that they stash his body in the closet.

The body is too heavy for them to carry upstairs so they hide him in a tiny cupboard under the stairs. The parole officer arrives and  Cloud is sober enough to welcome him. After the officer leaves, Tully realizes that Cloud will never be a mom to her and protect her. Kate assures her that she will always be there.

As they contemplate what to do with the body, Leon wakes up. Thankfully, he was not dead and they are elated that they don’t have to get rid of his body.

2005-2006

It is Thanksgiving and it is the first time the girls will celebrate it separately. Kate and her family head over to their parents while Tully makes a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner for Cloud. Dan joins them and they end up ordering pizza.

At Mularkey’s house, the food is way better and Johnny asks Kate to marry him again. She turns him down as she is scared that they might get divorced again. The dinner was going relatively well until Kate discovers her dad unresponsive in the sitting room. Unfortunately, her dad passes away after dinner while watching TV.

At his funeral, Tully shows up and Kate asks her to leave. Tully decides to visit her old home at Firefly Lane. Although Kate misses Tully she refuses to contact her and hopes to leave their friendship in the past.

Kate enrolls for writing classes and makes a new friend while Tully renovates her childhood home and learns to cook. A year passes and they get to another Thanksgiving, this time Tully cooks a great dinner and invites Cloud, Dan and his girlfriend to the house in Firefly Lane. She decides to gift the house to Cloud.

Dan asks Tully to consider getting back to work and asks her to meet his friend who is shooting a global warming documentary. Tully tells him that she will think about it.

Over at Murlarkey’s house, the family honour Bud (Kate’s dad) and Margie tells Kate about Tully being back in Firefly Lane but Kate just ignores her.

Tully decides to meet Dan’s friend at the campus Kate is taking her writing classes. They run into each other but act like strangers. Tully decides on the spot after meeting Dan’s friend, Henry to take the job which will require the team to be isolated in Antarctica for several months.

Dan worries that Tully said yes quickly so fast and thinks she made the decision because of her run-in with Kate.

During the Christmas season, Johnny proposes to Kate again and she says yes. She calls her new friend to tell her the good news but she doesn’t react the way she had hoped. She realizes that a new friend can’t replace Tully.

She also discovers a rash on her breast and after visiting the doctors she is informed that she has a rare aggressive cancer known as inflammatory breast cancer, stage 3. She will need to start treatment right away. After leaving her doctor’s appointment she heads over to Tully’s apartment but misses her.

The Episode Review

Throughout this episode, you could feel the anguish both ladies felt while being apart. It is clear that the end of their friendship has affected them deeply. They are both trying to deal with the pain differently. Initially, I was torn on whether Kate should forgive Tully but I think Tully sincerely deserves a second chance.

They have a deep history and it is understandable why Kate went to Tully’s apartment as soon as she felt like her world is crumbling around her. Even when she got engaged, the first person she wanted to tell was Tully.

Although the separation has been hard on her, I feel like Tully has also grown as a person. She has tried to do and be better. The only questions that remain are whether Tully goes to Antarctica or stays back to help Kate during her cancer treatment. Lastly, we can’t help but wonder, does Kate survive?