Marilyn is covered in blood for much of Grosse Pointe Garden Society season 1, episode 6, but the question is why. Is she somehow involved in the situation with Quiche? It turns out there’s another mystery of sorts.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Grosse Pointe Garden Society season 1, episode 6.
The episode offers us a one-off mystery, which is solved by the end of the episode. It certainly helps to keep us guessing, and it also connects to the bigger mystery at hand. After all, Marilyn saw something that our Murdering Gardeners are going to want to cover up.
Who’s blood did Marilyn have on her in Grosse Pointe Garden Society?
The start of the episode opened us up in the murder timeline. We get to see Marilyn at the gala, as she welcomes everyone and encourages them to bid big. Well, throughout the night, she gets alert about movement in the bedroom, and Marilyn is able to ignore it at first.
When she gets back to the house, she’s shocked by what she sees, and then all we see is her with a knife covered in blood. She’s then racing around town, which is where she sees the sedan that Catherine is driving with part of the quilt sticking out of it. Yep, that’s the quilt that was stolen from the gala, and Marilyn isn’t going to forget about that.
But who does the blood belong to? In the past storyline, which is now five months before the events of the gala, we learn that she and her husband are having issues. He is clearly having an affair, and she’s just trying to live her perfect married life. I love seeing relationships from behind closed doors, because a lot of them are like this. People then project their own misery onto others.
Marilyn is a woman who craves power and attention, though. She needs her marriage to look perfect, so she’s willing to pretend to be the doting wife while her husband does important mayoral business. However, she can’t help but get angry with him when he leaves a window open again after she’s asked him not to.
That blood didn’t belong to a person. It belonged to her cat, Mr. Fingers, and it was due to a coyote getting in. Fortunately, she’s able to get Mr. Fingers to the vet in time to be saved.
Surprisingly, it’s Alice who is there with her, who is still likely grieving the loss of Molly. It’s good news for Marilyn, although Alice is shocked to learn that Catherine and Birdie made the mistake of the quilt being on show while they were driving the body to the garden for burial.
Why is Alice now friends with Marilyn?
Why would Marilyn call Alice, though? That takes us to the story five months earlier, where we see Alice go to lunch with her mother-in-law. Remember all the paintings of Doug’s that are selling off the walls at the coffee shop? People aren’t buying them. Only one person is: Doug’s mom.
She wants grandchildren, and the best way to ensure that is to make sure Doug and Alice are able to follow their creative dreams. So, she decides to buy Doug’s paintings to allow the two of them not to work. Yes, this is a bribe, and Alice can’t find a way to tell Doug what’s really going on.
She does decide to turn to Marilyn, though. Alice wants a favor from Marilyn, and she points out that this favor may be huge, but it will also stick it to Doug’s mom —and those two have a grudge between them. Whatever this favor is, it’s turned into some sort of friendship. At least, for Marilyn it sort of has, as Alice is the only person she could think to call when it came to the near-death of her pet.
Connor isn’t getting the information he needs in Grosse Pointe Garden Society
Now we know in the murder timeline that Brett is being stalked by a PI, the earlier timeline is able to show all of that play out. This PI isn’t that great, which is probably why he hasn’t spotted that there is something going on with the body. Connor isn’t happy that he isn’t getting any information to use.
When it comes to Brett and Nora’s son’s birthday, Connor pulls out all the stops. He wants his stepson to love him so much that his stepson chooses him over his own dad. All of this is because he knows Nora won’t leave Grosse Pointe for Chicago without her children, and she can’t do that without Brett’s consent. Well, he’s not going to give up his time with his son.
The harder Connor tries, the worse it is for him. So, it’s not surprising that he wants dirt. He’s not getting it, though, and when Brett is able to save the party and Nora makes it clear that she likes this new Brett, Connor decides that he needs to lure Brett in. He’ll offer to invest in Brett’s car business that he wants to start up. Honestly, why Brett even considers trusting Connor, I don’t know, but also, I don’t like either of these men. So far, Brett comes off as one of those “nice guys” who isn’t really a nice guy.
Birdie steps up for her son to get him into college
When Birdie finds out from Misty that Ford cheated on a test at school, she realizes that she needs to step up if she wants to save Ford’s future. It’s clear that Ford is messing up his chances of a future on purpose. He saw Birdie and Joel share pie and got the right idea, and he thinks that messing up is going to just get Birdie out of his (and his parents’) life.
Well, it doesn’t work. Birdie storms into the principal’s office in the middle of the meeting and gives a big speech about how it’s unfair that Ford is being kicked out. While Ford has admitted to cheating, she points out that if these poorer kids don’t feel like they have a chance, they’re not even going to consider putting in the effort. She’s not having that.
She can use her money to save Ford. By offering to keep her scholarship going for future students, she is able to make sure the principal overlooks Ford’s behavior this time. The principal does push for the scholarship to be for two students, and that’s fine by her. I do wonder if she’s going to stick to the deal, though. Nothing was written down, and once Ford is in school, there’s no need to keep that scholarship going. It’s not like Birdie really cares about her reputation in the town considering it’s already in the ground.
We officially see Joel and Birdie starting their fling. Up to this point, there’s just been teases with a couple of physical interactions. Now the two know they shouldn’t be doing it, but they decide to start up their affair. I can’t get on board with this due to the circumstances, but I am happy to see that Ford decides to actually take his studying seriously afterward. It does explain why Joel is so willing to cover for Birdie now.
Catherine puts her children first in Grosse Pointe
Finally, we get a little more time with Catherine, who is struggling with being around her children so much. Her OCD is getting on top of her as she sees all the mess that her children make around them, but when it comes to it, she’s a mom.
There’s an honest moment in the car with Alice. Catherine points out that sometimes you need a breather from life. Children are messy and they’re annoying, but there are these small moments that make it all worth it. It’s something I think all moms will be able to relate to. I’m coming off the back of a dance competition weekend and I wondered at times why I was doing it all, but to see my girl dance on the stage, win awards with her team, and just hang out with her friends made it all worth it.
When she’s given the chance to get back into the world of real estate — because she is damn good at her job — and she gets a text from her kids’ nanny that her daughter is sick, she does initially think about it. Can she hold off and do the interview? No, her kids need her, and she’s going to be a mom first. Has this screwed things up with that firm? Yes, but there may be other opportunities in the future, and plus, this gives her and Tucker more time to work on their marriage.
We are still no closer to finding out who Quiche is, but Marilyn did note that it was Gary’s car. After the pills also being Gary’s, is it possible that he’s been killed? Let’s face it; nobody would care about him being missing, except for his wife.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society now moves to Fridays at 8/7c on NBC. Catch up the following day on Peacock.
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