Felicia Nickens
The following recap contains spoilers for Episodes 1-3 of Love & Death on Max
Candy Montgomery is a name you may or may not be familiar with before watching Love & Death. I will admit that although I consider myself a true crime connoisseur, I had not heard of Montgomery; that is, not until Hulu released the miniseries Candy (2022) starring Jessica Biel.
When Max announced they would soon release Love & Death, I questioned why they felt the need to produce their series less than a year after Hulu’s release. Perhaps they felt they could produce a better, more detailed version of the story. Whatever the intention, I went into the premiere with an open mind, excited to see a new spin on an old crime.
Max dropped the first three episodes at once and for those who haven’t had a chance to see all three, I will take this one episode at a time.
Episode 1: “The Huntress”
The date is Friday, June 13, 1980 (Friday the 13th) in Wylie, Texas. The opening scene shows an empty house. As the camera pans toward the bathroom, we see it is not so empty after all. Not only is there blood on the floor and in the shower, but flashes of a body appear as well.
That’s all we get for now. It’s time to go back in time to 1978. We meet Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), her husband Pat (Patrick Fugit), Allan Gore (Jessie Plemons) and his wife Betty (Lily Rabe) at a church gathering of sorts. Allan speaks about the upcoming volleyball competition but before he can finish his thoughts, his wife, Betty (Lily Rabe), whispers in his ear that they need to hurry home so they don’t miss the optimum fertility time.
Back at the house, they are in bed, missionary position. As Allan thrusts his wife, she gives him verbal instructions on how to conceive better, such as, “It’s better to squirt rather than drip.” This scene had me giggling, but more importantly, it sets the tone for the type of marriage Allan and Betty had. I imagine if you have to give step-by-step instructions on how to perform intercourse with your spouse, that it’s probably not the healthiest marriage.
There is some talk later between Allan and Betty. She isn’t happy that he will be gone on business for four days, especially since she is in her peak fertility window. Her agitation towards his leaving is the first hint that perhaps her mental health isn’t as stable as it should be (More on that in Episode 2.)
At the volleyball game, Betty watches from the bleaches while Candy and Allan play their hardest. At some point, Candy falls to the ground. Allan hovers over her, asking if she’s alright. An almost literal sparkle in her eye forms as she stares up at him. At that moment, a seed had most definitely been planted.
Candy doesn’t appear to have the best marriage either. Although her husband seems to care for his family, he is your typical prop husband. He’s always there in the background but not important. Wanting more excitement, Candy decides she wants to have an affair with Allan. She tells her friend Sherry (Krysten Ritter) that Allan smelled like sex and that she sensed that he liked her smell too. A weird thing to say, but as we are learning, Candy is a little “out there.” Candy tells Sherry not to worry because Allan is “love-proof.”
After choir practice one evening, Candy waves Allan down in the parking lot and jumps in his truck. She expresses her attraction to him. He responds with a mere “Oh, ok.” She gets out of the truck, and he drives off. Despite his mundane response, he sits at work the next day staring at the phone and sees flashes of Candy.
After the next volleyball game, Allan catches up with Candy outside and asks her what she had in mind the last time they spoke. Bluntly, she says she wants to have an affair. Throughout the episode they are both reluctant, or at least she pretends to be. Allan however, seems conflicted. He admits he loves his wife and doesn’t want to hurt her. He also admits that Betty had an affair of her own in the past. Oh yes, and she’s pregnant.
I admire the organizational skills that went into the forthcoming affair. Candy created flashcards, color-coded for pros and cons, while Allan made a list of the same. After many lunches and much planning, they meet up one last time to go over the rules of the affair. The most important is that if either of them begins to catch feelings, the affair is over.
So begins their affair. The first time was awkward to watch. After a boring lunch, they clean up the dishes and fold cloths, and after some standing around, Allan kisses Candy. She asks him if he’s ever been French kissed before and states that he will enjoy having a woman’s tongue in his mouth. They begin to have sex, fully clothed. She is clearly enjoying it. She hops in the shower afterward and it goes from the present-day shower to her in the future, showering off blood from her body.
This episode was painful to watch. That may have been the point though. These couples have the most boring, mundane lives. I watched it and craved more excitement, which is what Candy must have been feeling, thus wanting to have an affair. I appreciate Lily Rabe and the delivery of some of her lines. They were hilarious. She is a treasure and a great Betty compared to Melanie Lynskey’s Betty in Candy.
Episode 2: “Encounters”
The episode opens where the former left off. Candy stands in the shower. Her eyes are huge with crazy and that psychotic smile forms. Allan joins her in another awkward scene.
This episode brings more attention to Betty and why she is so sad, anxious, you pick a verb, all the time. Allan expresses to Candy that after their first daughter, Alyssa, was born that Betty suffered terrible post-partum depression and that it is “flaring up again.”
I would assume a woman in 1978 would have a hard time getting any sort of proper medical care/advice for PPD. Even in current times, there is still a stigma around depression and postpartum. I’m sure Betty had been suffering for quite some time, but no one knew how to label or handle it.
The affair is also heating up now. We are taken through multiple motel meet-ups. Each time the pair seems to be more intimate and more comfortable with one another. Candy even expresses to Sherry that Allan has a “perfectly shaped penis” but he doesn’t know how to put it to the best possible use. She is training him to be a better lover, so don’t worry folks.
Allan accompanies Betty to her sonogram. The doctor declares a perfect-looking baby, however, Betty should watch her hypertension and cut out stress from her life. Betty feels inadequate, that she is unable to do anything right.
We go through a lovely time-lapse next…Motel sex, amusement park date between Candy and Allan, baby shower, sex, church, sex. Allan tells Candy they will have to postpone their meet-ups for a few weeks because he needs to be close to home in case Betty goes into labor. He’s a very considerate husband.
Candy confesses that she is starting to fall in love with him and thinks about him way too much. He doesn’t admit the same but does express that he isn’t interested in ending things. He tells Candy that his affair with her is helping his marriage with Betty. So sweet.
Allan and Betty welcome a baby girl into the world and hold a gathering at their house. Allan tells Candy that he and Betty are going to Kansas to see the grandparents and that they can’t meet in the coming week. Candy looks disappointed but agrees. Allen hugs his wife in the distance. Candy basically buries Betty six feet under with her eyes.
One evening in bed, Betty tries to initiate sex with Allan. He says he is really tired and she turns over and cries. She doesn’t believe he is attracted to her. He consoles her. This incident is the push he needed to try and begin to end things with Candy. He meets with her at a diner and replays the prior evening’s events. Candy is in shock and begins causing a scene. Allan says the affair is hurting his marriage now and that they used each other to fill a gap but that it isn’t right. He changes his mind though and says they just need a break. Candy sits stoically.
A few weeks pass and Allan calls Candy. He tells her he is taking a new job and wanted to have lunch. At lunch, he tells Candy that he and Betty would be attending Marriage Encounter. Which is essentially a church-organized marriage counseling retreat. Candy is afraid that he will want to stop the affair for good if he attends. Instead of consoling her, he asks if she would watch their kids while they are away. She agrees.
Allan and Betty participate fully and during one exercise in their room where they have to exchange notebooks, they come to understand one another better and Allan begins to understand Betty’s insecurities. It is then that Betty decides she would “like to fornicate.” While they fornicate, Candy and her friend, Sherry (Krysten Ritter), are checking out a new club in town, dancing the night away. The following day Allan and Betty renew their vows and it’s all love again.
They return and stop at Candy’s house to pick up their kids. Betty thanks her and tells her Marriage Encounter was the best thing. Allan speaks with Candy as well, gloating that the weekend was better than he could’ve imagined and that he’ll call her. Shocked, she goes into the house and stares at the couple through the window as they laugh and embrace. She walks to the kitchen and begins aggressively grinding meat. I wonder if she is imagining Allan’s perfectly shaped penis in the grinder.
This episode was probably the best out of the three. The plot progressed significantly in a short period of time. It does make me wonder though how they will stretch this story across seven episodes.
Episode 3: “Stepping Stone”
About another month goes by and Candy sits in her kitchen, listening to a sad love song. Candy’s daughter mentions that Alyssa said Candy cares too much about what others think of her. This gets Candy upset as she knows Alyssa heard it from Betty. Candy meets with Allan at a park to complain. He speaks continually of Betty and how Marriage Encounter was a miracle for them. Candy asks if he truly wants to end their affair. It is obvious he does as he doesn’t answer, but Candy must not see it. She says she will decide since he can’t and exclaims that she won’t call him or meet with him again. His response is, “Ok.” I suppose it wasn’t the answer she expected. Did she want him to fight for her? Angry, she storms off.
Betty finds a lump in her breast and panics. The doctors (two of them) tell her it is just a mass and not cancer. Nothing to worry about. She doesn’t believe it. The doctor tells her to lay off the caffeine and stop taking birth control and she will be fine. I would assume that Betty is on birth control because when she is pregnant, her depression is at its worst. A little irresponsible of the doctor to suggest that to her, in my opinion, but hey it’s the ’70s so what do I know?
Candy calls Allan with the “intent” of asking him about Marriage Encounter because she is thinking about it for her and Pat. Before she gets to the topic, he mentions the mass that Betty found and that she is a wreck. Candy offers to go over and comfort Betty.
Betty comes out of her house when Candy drives up and they speak briefly. Candy does a good job of calming Betty down. Betty mentions that the doctors try to make her believe things are all in her head and so they put her on a ton of medication for depression and anxiety.
I mean it’s clear at this point that Betty has some issues. More than likely, they weren’t being treated properly either. It’s also clear that Candy has issues of her own. Rejection is a big one. Not a good mix.
Allan shows up and Betty asks him to walk Candy to her car. Betty looks through the window and has a look of recognition as Candy giggles at Allan’s words.
Pat and Candy go to Marriage Encounter and unlike their predecessors, don’t give it their all. They don’t need to, though. Pat expresses in his way how he feels about Candy and it looks like she is happy with her husband again.
While Candy is away on a bible study retreat, Pat decides to go through their things at home to try and find a letter she wrote him before they married. He does find a letter, but it’s from Allan to Candy. Pat meets with Sherry and asks her if the affair is over. She is Candy’s best friend and she would know. She tells him Candy ended it a long time ago and it meant nothing. Pat asks her not to tell Candy that he knows and that he will speak about it in his own way. But, like any good friend, she alerts Candy anyway.
Later that evening in bed, Pat pulls out a bouquet and a letter. He hands them to Candy and says he failed her. He suggests they go away just the two of them, sort of a second honeymoon.
Fast forward to where we started in Episode 1. It is Friday the 13th in 1980. Candy is preparing for a busy day. She has a bible camp celebration and a puppet show, and she’s taking the kids to see Star Wars in the evening. Alyssa will be joining them and staying the night. That means Candy has to take her to swim practice the next day but darn, she needs to stop by Betty’s to grab Alyssa’s bathing suit.
At Betty’s house, Allan is packing for a two day business trip. Betty is distraught about it and tells Allan she is two weeks late. He tells her they can handle anything that comes their way. Then he is whisked away in a taxi.
Candy arrives and Betty invites her inside. They make small talk. Betty tells her that she and Allen will be going to Switzerland when he comes home. Betty insists that Candy sit down and stay a few minutes. At the table, Betty asks Candy if she is having an affair with Allan. She says no. Betty asks if she was having an affair with him. This time she says yes. Betty stares at her blankly for a few moments before getting up and walking out of the back door. She returns holding an ax. Candy jumps from her chair on high alert.
And that ends the episode.
Some thoughts…
Since this show is based on real events, it becomes hard to speculate what happens next, since frankly, we know what happens next. What I don’t know is what drives Candy to do what she does. I’m sure she has some undiagnosed disorder. Yes, her husband is a boring paper bag. Yes, her life is repetitive. But you know what? So are most people’s. I think most of us fall into a routine and become comfortable. We all get to a point where we crave more, but not at someone else’s expense. People have affairs. It happens. Candy, however, chose Allan. For no reason other than she wanted to have an affair and he was there. She could’ve found any other man, but she chose to pursue the husband of a friend and fellow parishioner. Then she was the one who was adamant about the rule against falling in love. Yet, she was angry and bitter when Allan wanted to make his marriage work. She was shocked he didn’t love her back. And some of us know the outcome of her story and no normal person acts the way she does. All while keeping a smile on her face.
Allan is one hundred percent a douche canoe. Not only is his wife mentally ill, but pregnant. Yet, he feels his affair with Candy is improving his marriage. How so? Then when Betty decides she wants to fornicate, he is happy and wants to work on his marriage. So not only did he betray his sick wife, he strung Candy along even after she admitted she was falling in love.
Pat really is a prop husband. So you find out your wife had an affair with one of your acquaintances yet you buy her flowers and think that you failed? No, Pat. You’re just kind of a loser. This is ironic because it’s partly why she had an affair in the first place.
I think the acting here was great. Elizabeth Olsen and Lily Rabe are the main reasons I was excited about this show and I enjoy Jesse Plemons as well, especially after seeing him in Fargo.
We still have four episodes left. I believe the murder will be covered in Episode 4, but how they will stretch the narrative across three more episodes is beyond me.
