Rain Dogs – Season 1 Episode 2 “Scenes from a Crucifixion” Recap & Review

“Scenes from a Crucifixion”

Costello and Iris are back at the apartment as episode 2 of Rain Dogs begins. Since Selby sorted out the rent, they have got a place to stay for the time being. Costello informs Gloria of her situation while Lolly, one of Costello’s fellow peep booth performers, encourages her to take up an OnlyFans.

Costello refuses, believing it will diminish her stature as a writer. Sophie Fenster, a writer from The London Reformer and a liberal local newspaper, contacts Costello at her work. She asks if Costello would be willing to do an interview but the aspiring writer says “she writes.”

Sophie agrees to print her story for a considerable sum and Costello agrees to write it. Before she does, we learn that Gloria’s father runs a funeral home and she apologizes to him for her shady behaviour these past few weeks. Gloria  promises to keep a steady line going forward, tat is until Paul, the son of the deceased man whose body lies in an open casket, walks in. Gloria  and Paul have a couple of drinks and proceed to have sex right beside the open casket.

Meanwhile, Selby looks after Iris while Costello is at work. He takes her to Chinatown and introduces her to the Mah-jong club. It is a cold scene as Fen, one of Selby’s closest friends, admonishes Selby in Mandarin for lying to Iris about where he was for the last year.

While Selby is putting Iris to sleep and we see a genuine connection between them, Gloria walks into the apartment. She drops off some items from the funeral home. But we learn that she and Selby have a torrid relationship. Even though they’re best friends with Costello, they couldn’t get on with each other.

Elsewhere, Costello works hard on her piece. She believes this is the big break that will finally make her a writer but Costello works another job as a cleaning lady first. She visits Lenny Wilson’s house, the infamous erotic artist whom we saw helping Gloria in episode 1. The two share a very frank, open, and uniquely loving relationship.

In a bizarre sequence, we see Lenny masturbating while Costello cleans his apartment, something she is fully aware of herself. She even borrows a painting from Lenny.

Ava, one of Iris’ friends, has a birthday party and Costello does not want to go empty-handed. She takes one of Lenny’s erotic paintings and presents it as an exotic sunset.

The mothers are surprisingly dumbfounded about it and accept Costello’s explanation. They even praise Costello for her intuitive writing skills and her personality.

Meanwhile, Selby attends his mandatory rehabilitation meeting at the Gospel City Hall. Matt is the group leader but Selby dreads every second of it. He doesn’t have a choice though because if he doesn’t attend, he will be going back to jail.

Richard, the photographer from the paper, shows up at the club to take Costello’s photos for the article. She finishes it up at home during the night and eagerly awaits its publishing in the paper.

Selby buys out all the papers at the local store from Nikki as Sophie writes a sappy sob story instead of printing Costello’s own version that she sent. She vows to take revenge on Sophie in the novel she is going to write. Costello mentions this to Gloria and says she intends to make Iris proud by finding a publisher after she finishes. When Costello rejects his instruction, he announces she is fired.

Richard, the photographer, meets them outside and expresses his solidarity with Costello. He then surprisingly asks her on a date and Costello is bemused. Still, she accepts it and the three leave together.

The Episode Review

Rain Dogs is yet to settle into a rhythm. Episode 2 was evidence of the lack of narrative clarity at this point. While it is understandable given the truncated running time, the fact that the series only has eight episodes does not help. Perhaps the makers will catch up for lost time, but we’ll have to wait and see on that front.

Episode 2 laid down some purpose for the central characters Costello and Selby, while also giving enough screen time to Gloria.

Costello now has a probable partner to look forward to in Richard. But one doubts it will last as her priority remains making a career as a writer and to look out for Iris.

Selby sees the little girl as one of her own and Jack Farthing’s reassuring voice is aptly suitable for the quirky Selby. Gloria’s wild introduction should be a precursor of what to expect from her.

The slice-of-life style of narration can easily go wrong, as was evident momentarily in episode 2. Hopefully, Rain Dogs will not need an excitable central event to be a meaningful watch.