Rain Dogs -Season 1 Episode 7 Recap & Review

You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby

Costello and Iris get a new lease on life as Barnaby from Fiscus Publishing has picked up her book, “Diamond Beavers” for publishing. Episode 7 of Rain Dogs picks up from here, as she sits in an art gallery with Lenny to bid him goodbye. Iris is with them too, and he has made a beautiful self-portrait that she hangs with the other paintings.

It turns out her rant in the previous episode about the entitled and privileged couple has gone viral and helped establish her as an authentic voice of the working class.

The trio scram once the security guard catches them. Lenny says the most beautiful line of the episode before that. “All you can ask for in life is one moment of perfection. Because it doesn’t last. It is not meant to.”

Fen visits Selby and shows him the news piece about Costello. This leads Selby to believe that Costello and Iris won’t need him anymore in their lives. He proceeds to have sex with Fen, who even offers to take Selby out with him.

Gloria is taking Costello and Iris to Sunset Park in Somerset. The council estate has sent the mother-daughter duo there since they would be “intentionally homeless” otherwise. Gloria weaves the car on the road carelessly but is caught by a policeman. He arrests Gloria, who was speeding and had alcohol in her system. Costello and Iris sit with their stuff roadside, and she promises to “write them” out of this situation. Two locals, Grey and Ferryman, pick them up in their cart.

Selby feels like he has lost ground in life. While talking to Kenneth, the therapist at the facility, he reveals that the day he lost his virginity was also the day his father committed suicide. Kenneth wants Selby to accept his faults, saying Selby sabotages his relationships with people before they have a chance to leave him. This rattles Selby so much that he jumps across the table and starts choking Kenneth. The therapist fights back and makes sure to let Selby know he won’t back down so easily.

Sunset Park is a place that feels like you’ve been transported to the early 2000’s. It is antique, by today’s modern standards, with no mobile signal, no delivery services, and no television signal either. Grey lives with her grandson, Tennessee, in one of the flats, and he and Iris get along well.

Costello meets Simon for the job of a debt collector but he is unsure about Costello. Her video from the Battered Bitches group has gone viral but not for the right reasons. People question whether she’s really authentic about her background or not.

Simon gives her the job all the same. But after their first door, Costello says she has trouble adjusting to the job. She finds it too demeaning and harsh on people. Costello, in turn, explains her novel’s plot to Grey. Four webcammers living in a battered women’s refuge undertake a jewellery heist. Grey offers her companionship as she felt lonely when she first came to the place, while Gloria is out of prison and on house arrest. She also knows that her baby is a girl. She tells Costello about the divided campaign on the internet against her.

When she goes to Grey’s house to send the new chapters to her editor, she also takes a look at the mean comments about her in the news article. Tennessee and Iris are nearby and they listen to Costello record a message. She tells the story about how she battered Stacey Backshaw, someone in her class, for making fun of Costello and embarrassing her in front of a boy. Costello acts rashly and says some women like Stacey do deserve a bashing and she is prepared to give them one if needed.

The kids whisper to each other that “she is doing a Britney,” referring to the viral video Britney Spears uploaded all those years ago. Barnaby calls Costello and informs her the deal is off. After the video she uploaded, there are doubts about her authenticity. Costello is heartbroken and pleads with him not to take away this chance… but Barnaby cannot do much to help her.

She drinks her sorrows away, breaking her years of sobriety in a few days. Iris notices this and surreptitiously calls Selby with the information and asks him to visit. She is only able to say Somerset when he asks for the location. But that is enough for him to pack his bags and head for their location.

The Episode Review

The glint in Selby’s eye, when he realizes Costello needs him again in her life, is so ironic. It is almost as if her misery and problems with money make him a better person. Or at least a more responsible person who can begin to think about others. Episode 8 will be the last of Rain Dogs season 1 next week. Given the current state of the story, there is not something explosive it has to offer, but it will be intriguing to see is where it leaves us.

We do want another season of this brilliantly observant show that knocks you out with its authenticity. Costello had a new lease on life but lost it by the end, giving one to Selby instead. There is an instant sympathy for Costello, who couldn’t control herself and acted impulsively. Her cutthroat nature is an intrinsic element of the working class lifestyle, who are made to fight for every last scrap. But that is the way the world works – off appearances and the perception of what ought to be right.