The Garveys’ troubled existence became the focal point of the show this week as Kevin tried to deal with a tricky situation involving his Father.

“IT’S A GIRL.”

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

Following on from the excellent “Guest,” “Solace for Tired Feet” returned to the more conventional multi-story format with the Garvey family taking center stage again. I spoke last week about how the single perspective episodes have been the best so far and while “Solace” didn’t quite reach those heights, it was still a damn fine episode that caught up with all members of the Garveys’ troubled family.

“Solace” picks up a relatively short time after “Guest” with Kevin and Nora going on their fifth date. What’s immediately striking is the rapport they’ve built between each other and how comfortable they seem together. In a show so depressingly dark, simple moments such as two characters sharing a laugh stick out like a sore thumb. Even with moments like this, it’s hard to forget that these characters have a lot of baggage, something made abundantly clear as they both admit that they don’t know how to talk to each other. Relationships can be a tricky thing to pull off on a show but so far Kevin and Nora have been good to watch together.

Kevin’s life remains as complicated as ever however, with his father Kevin Sr. deciding to bust out of the mental hospital and go on a little bit of a rampage. We haven’t spent much time with Kevin Sr. so far on the show, but we’ve seen enough to suggest that he might not be as crazy as people believe. Just like with Wayne’s “mystical powers” last week, “Solace” only made it even more uncertain whether Kevin Sr. is talking to a higher power or just plain nuts. He did prove he can be dangerous as hell though, savagely beating one of Kevin’s fellow police officers and causing a lot of damage to the local library.

The most intriguing part of this for me is the question of Kevin Jr.’s mental state. We’ve seen him wake up dazed and confused several times on the show already with other items going missing and his kitchen getting absolutely trashed. Some of this could be partially explained away by the copious amounts of alcohol he consumes, but after a particularly vivid “dream” sequence, Kevin wakes up on the floor of his bedroom with a savage dog tied up in his backyard and a large, bloody bite on his hand. We finally got firm proof that he was blacking out in the form of Aimee, who had helped bandage up his hand after getting bitten. My spider sense is tingling a little bit here though, and I just don’t trust that girl at all. Something about the way she was acting makes me believe there’s more to the story than Kevin bringing a dog home and her helping him bandage up his hand.

Tom followed in his stepfather’s footsteps this week as he got himself in a lot more trouble, including having a hole blown in his hand by a crazed Holy Wayne baby-mama. Tom’s still fairly isolated from all of the other characters, but now that he has seemingly severed his ties with Wayne he may end up making his way back home for help. His run-in with another of Wayne’s disciples who was also looking after a heavily pregnant woman provided us with the word “bridge.” Apparently these women are carrying some very important children who are supposed to serve some higher purpose, but it remains to be seen whether there is actually something to that or whether it’s all a load of nonsense spewing from Wayne’s mouth. The end of the episode sees Tom with a gunshot wound to the hand and Christine giving birth to a baby girl in a bathtub. With money running low and both of them in need of some medical attention, things aren’t going to get better anytime soon.

THE BREAKDOWN

“Solace for Tired Feet” ended up being an expertly crafted episode that allowed us to touch base with all members of the Garvey family. Kevin found himself questioning his mental state again in the wake of his father’s escape from the mental hospital while simultaneously trying to build a relationship with Nora. Tom found himself in hot water as he looks after Christine while Jill continued her self-destructive ways. Something I didn’t really get to touch on was the brief appearances of the Guilty Remnant and Matt Jamison’s prayer group. There’s an antagonistic relationship growing between both of these groups, and if the most popular theory about who killed Gladys proves to be true, the conflict between these two groups may escalate to be the focal point of the remaining episodes of the season. Everything is bubbling along nicely now with plenty of the characters well established and a handful of storylines ready to explode. Here’s hoping the fuse gets lit in the next episode or two.

Is Kevin Jr. following in his father’s footsteps and losing his mind, or is there something “otherworldly” happening to both men? Let us know in the comments below.

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