Summary
Episode 8 is designed for flashbacks more than anything, serving as a contextual filler.
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The opening
Coach and the team attend a vigil for a teacher and a coach that has passed away — Mr Singleton. Shannon turns up and is angry at him for not signing the divorce papers. A delivery driver also arrives and accidentally sets himself on fire and dies. Death is clearly the theme of the chapter or so it suggests.
Grief counselling
The school now has a grief counsellor due to the recent deaths. Coach talks about Singleton and remembers how when he was younger, Singleton didn’t pick him for the basketball team. In the flashback, Coach ends up meeting Shannon who teaches him how to yell and stand up for himself. He uses Shannon’s advice to confront Singleton — ironically, the reason Coach is so vulgar and always shouting at people is because of Shannon’s training. Ron then visits the counsellor and remembers the time he was in the Iraq War.
Shannon the drunk
Coach tells Shannon that he plans to get her back but she insists nothing is going to work. Shannon visits the grief counsellor about Coach and remembers the time she sneaked out to the bar to get away from Coach. She gets absolutely wasted. She realised back then that she couldn’t be healthy with Coach.
How Coach was made
Coach’s father Barry then arrives and tells his story to the counsellor. He talks about the time he went to a party and ending up sleeping with a woman. This woman had a baby and he had to raise Coach all by himself because the mother ended up in prison.
I still love you
Coach tries to do more grand gestures for Shannon — he tells her he still loves her. Anyway, Opal tells the counsellor the time she worked on planes as a hostess. Birds blew up the right engine. She tells Sully to figure out how to save everyone. Opal suggests landing in the Hudson River. She takes over the plane and everyone is saved. Sully claims he was the hero. Opal is claiming to the grief counsellor that she was responsible for the miracle at Hudson.
The ending
Shannon and Coach approach the grief counsellor — the counsellor explains how their relationship reminds her of her husband. Shanon and Coach call the story boring and are in sync together — as the grief counsellor drives off she ends up in a car crash and dies. Episode 8 is designed for flashbacks more than anything, serving as a contextual filler.
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