Love and Death Episode 7 Review: The HBO Max miniseries is a true-crime story starring Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery, Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe as Betty Gore, Krysten Ritter as Sherry Cleckler, Elizabeth Marvel as Jackie Ponder, Tom Pelphrey as Don Crowder, Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery and others. The series has been created and written for TV by David E Kelley, and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. In addition to the two crew members, Nicole Kidman and Per Saari are also few of the executive producers of the show.
Love and Death Episode 7 Review Contains Spoilers
(Trigger Warning: Gory Scenes With Blood Splattered All Over, Violent Altercation – Visuals of the Axe Murder Scene)
Premiering on May 25, 2023, Love and Death Episode 7 is titled ‘Sssshh’. Based on Texas Monthly articles and the book Evidence of Love by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom, this series maps out the real life story of a Texan housewife, who was ultimately accused of brutally murdering her friend in the ’80s. With Nicole Kidman as one of the executive producers of the show, it’s quite likely that the thematic thrust of the series will take you back to her own former show Big Little Lies.
Love and Death Episode 7 Review: Discussion
With Serax still in her system, Candy takes the stand next and prepares to tell her side of the story. And for that to pan out, we’re also taken back to the day of the murder, with actual scenes of the bloody altercation taking place between her and Betty. The last episode is chilling to the bone, and the series had tactically held back from showing us the violent nature of their argument earlier. Nothing could’ve prepared us as the viewers for this scene.
Even if you’ve already watched Hulu’s series based on the same source material, you still can’t hold back the absolute fear that particular scene fills you with. It’s become a custom at this point, and as cliche this statement may sound now, Olsen is a force to be reckoned with. She’s as direct with her portrayal of the character as she’s ambiguous and frightening.
Candy’s backstory introduces her relationship with her mother, who’s otherwise been physically absent in the show. Yet the instructions passed by her to Candy regarding a constricting code of conduct during her childhood are still holding her down, leading to a lot of repressed nervous energy that she doesn’t know what to do with.
Her pent up aggression explodes upon hearing the same “Sssshh” from Betty on that day, as her mother often quietened her down and drilled the idea of “what will the people think” about her if she behaved a certain in her mind. It leads to the major outburst and also reminds us of how she vocally retaliated and got charged up when Allan tried to “Sssshh” her at a diner in one of the previous episodes.
Dissociating from her present “civilised” and calm self, “Sssshh” brings out her unprecedented response of hitting Betty with the axe 41 times. It’s not just her situation with Allan that brings about this thunderous and forbidding change in her personality, rather it’s something that has always been there under the surface, and she finally breaks out in the most alarming way possible.
Due to this dissociative response, as also explained by Dr Fred Fason’s character, Candy constantly strives to push away the thoughts and memory of the accident. She “wanted to pretend it didn’t happen”, and it also explains her initial reaction on that day when she swiftly washed up and came back to the Church to receive her children as if nothing had happened.
Her lawyers also draw upon the whole faith vs sin discourse by reminding her time and again that where they live “folks can forget murder. Adultery? Not so much”. The concluding scenes of the episode also showcase the public holding boards and other paraphernalia outside the court, all of which mention derogatory terms (like “Scarlet Harlott”) related or associated with her “sin” in this case – Adultery. After the case is over and Candy is proven not guilty of deliberately murdering Betty, she’s caught up in the thoughts of the worst being over and that they can go back to their “normal” lives, but we know better that things can never be the same for her family again.
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Also, it’s thought provoking to see how this depiction is completely different from what was presented in Hulu’s Jessica Biel starrer Candy. Therein, it was suggested that Candy had a second affair as well with another man after Allan. No such thing is even hinted at in the Love and Death season finale. Rather the former’s revelation at the last minute even ruins the relationship between Candy and Pat, but the Max show takes another direction in terms of allowing Candy and her husband a chance to start anew upon acknowledging that they’ll never be able to attain “normalcy” in their current home town.
Candy’s ties with Sherry are also severed in the Hulu miniseries, however, in the Elizabeth Olsen starrer, her friendship with the same character stays intact, but she’s no longer on good terms with Jackie who gave in to her rising suspicions in the previous episode and stormed out without wanting to hear any explanations from Candy. On the other hand, the Hulu series doesn’t invest much time into the Candy-Jackie friendship.
Final Thoughts
With most of the focus on clearing Candice Montgomery’s name through the trial, one gets emotionally invested in her story completely. And even though, in real life, her name was cleared in the end, the series clearly weighs heavier on Candy’s side of the story. Moreover, by inviting Pat for his testimony at the very end, the defendant’s legal team again counts on turning around the case in their favour by making for an emotional performance.
It makes one think of how tactical and manipulative the whole scenario is, and how sharp-witted Don Crowder is in making it all happen. Despite everyone having taken the oath to be absolutely truthful on the stand, it’s obvious that their testimonies aren’t always objective, but are actually clouded by emotions that are played on as shrewd means to win over the jury.
As the prosecution cross-questions Candy, the twists make you contemplate of her true intentions as well. With each side putting up an equally compelling performance in the court, the show becomes engrossing to the extent that each moment just pulls you in. And due to this, regardless of whose turn it may be to speak up, you tend to believe their narrative in the moment.
When Candy speaks up in her defence, you rely on her story, but as soon as the prosecutor starts questioning her, you can’t help but take a double look and wonder if she’s just a good liar. The overall combination of these cross-judgements invoke strong irresistible emotions, and even with the final judgement, you don’t really know for sure if you’re right in siding along one half of the whole story.
Ps. Tom Pelphrey and Elizabeth Olsen have outdone themselves!
Love and Death finale is now streaming on Max. (Also available on Amazon Prime Video for international audiences)
Also read: All Our Reviews of Love and Death