Love & Death – Episode 3 “Stepping Stone” Recap & Review

Stepping Stone

Episode 3 of Love & Death starts in October 1979 after Allan and Betty’s return from the marriage encounter. Candy’s daughter tells Candy that Betty and Allan’s daughter said she worried a lot about what other people think. Candy discusses this with Allan and tells him that his daughter, Allisa, must have picked the comment from Betty. Allan states that Candy is making too much of it and dismisses her.

Candy asks him about the marriage encounter. Allan shares how Betty and him have been very honest with each other after attending the event which has helped save their relationship. Candy can only imagine how unflinchingly honest Allan has been with Betty considering the fact that he was still continuing the affair with Candy.

Allan insinuates that the marriage encounter did not say that he needed to put a hold on his affair with Candy but she makes a decision for the two of them. Candy tells Allan that she will not make any plans to hook up with Allan and will leave the ball in his court for him to decide if he wanted any sort of a relationship with her. Candy is appalled by the fact that Allan is nonchalant about ending things with her.

She claims that he did not take account of Candy’s feelings and emotions but was prioritising Betty’s. Weeks go by and Candy is trying to forget Allan. She starts painting her kitchen when Sherry suggests that the two of them should start a painting and wallpapering business.

Candy is lost in her train of thought about Allan and mostly ignores what Sherry is telling her. Candy tells Sherry that it is not Allan that she is mad at but the feeling of being rejected. Betty’s paranoia goes out of control after she experiences shooting pain in her breast and assumes she has cancer. Her doctor believes that she’s fine though, and asks her to stop taking her birth control pills.

On the other hand, Candy tries to get her mind off Allan but decides to give him a call nevertheless. She talks to him about Betty and learns about the lumps on her breast that she thinks are Cancerous. Candy goes to check up on Betty about it and the latter finds it odd that Allan would share something so personal with Candy.

The two women have an awkward conversation before Allan comes back home. Allan drops Candy at her car, where she tells Allan how Betty seems like a totally different person after the marriage encounter. Allan suggests that Candy should go to the event with Pat too. Betty watches Allan and Candy chat from the window.

That night, Candy has a chat with Pat about the marriage encounter. Pat calls it a cult but decides to go along with it because it is what Candy wants. The next day, Candy tells Sherry all about her decision of rediscovering herself with her marriage and her new business – The Cover Girls – with Sherry as her partner. Candy pays the new church sanctuary a visit and tells Ron about her business.

Later that weekend, Candy and Pat are at the marriage encounter where the couple finds it hard to share their feelings with each other. Candy is pissed that Pat wrote the lyrics to a song instead of writing his feelings about her. The couple ends up opening up to each other and they discuss what they truly want from life, and from their relationship with each other.

Candy tells Sherry how her relationship with Pat, including her sex life, has improved after the encounter. She hardly ever thinks about Allan anymore and adds that she’s moving on. However, just then Betty gives Candy a call inviting her and Pat over for dinner. Candy tells Allan about the invitation and claims that seeing him in person would reignite her feelings for him.

The two decide to try and put their affair in the past in order to move on and live as friends. Candy and Pat attend the dinner with Betty and Allan. Betty asks if Candy and Pat were keeping up on their tasks as instructed at the encounter. The dinner goes pretty well after which Candy goes for a Bible study weekend trip. On her way there, Candy tells Sherry that she did not feel a lot of attraction towards Allan.

Candy tells Sherry that she could be moving on from Allan. Back at home, Pat ends up finding a love letter from Allan to Candy and is devastated. The next day, Pat meets Sherry at her salon and asks if she knew about the affair. He asks if the affair is over and Sherry tells him that it is. Sherry tries to reason with Pat about her best friend.

Pat asks Sherry to keep this from Candy as he wants to discuss this with her personally. Candy comes back home from the trip and gets a call from Sherry. She warns him that Pat knows about the affair and Candy tries to keep her calm through the evening, trying to gauge Pat’s reaction. That night, Pat shares a letter he had written for Candy which makes her sob.

Candy apologises to Pat and the couple thinks about how they could make things work now for their marriage as the affair had ended. Candy feels guilty about betraying Pat but feels liberated now that she had nothing to hide from her husband.

A few months pass and Candy is as busy as ever. Candy’s daughter asks to have Betty and Allan’s daughter go to the movies with the family.

Candy agrees to the request, but only if Betty is okay with the arrangement. Allan goes out for a two-day work trip but Betty is worried about being pregnant a third time. Allan tries to comfort her through her breakdown before leaving for work. Candy meanwhile, is having a summer session with the kids of the congregation and leaves to visit Betty.

At Betty’s house, Candy asks if Allisa can join the Montgomery family for the movie. Betty agrees and asks Candy to take Allisa to her swimming lesson. Betty tells Candy about their family trip to Switzerland and shares that they have adopted another puppy. Candy plays with the dogs and the two women chat about Candy’s new business.

Betty blatantly asks if Candy is having an affair with Allan. Candy initially denies it but eventually confesses and apologises to her. Betty is hysteric and tries to calm down. She goes to the laundry room and brings out an axe as the episode comes to an end.

The Episode Review

This episode ended on a shocker and it is obvious that the next episode will show the murder of Betty Gore at the hands of Candy Montgomery. I would not have imagined the incident to have been executed as soon as the fourth episode of the show.

The way Candy is trying to move on from Allan but can’t seem to end the friendship between her daughter and Betty’s daughter made things this much more complicated in the first place.

There are a lot of things that could go differently to change the trajectory of the brutal murder but I would love to see how Elizabeth Olsen executes the murder in the episode to come. It seems like Betty is to blame for what went down and for the incident too, as she’s the one that brought the axe out, causing the eventual brutal death.