Summary
“Dancing Queens” delves into control and burying trauma, which means self-sabotage for Tully. Chapter three also presents an older life and how post-divorce can be a replenishing but challenging experience, as Kate becomes accustomed to a new dynamic.
This recap of Netflix’s Firefly Lane season 1, episode 3, “Dancing Queens” contains significant spoilers.
So the previous chapter delved into the root of Tully’s darkness, and “Dancing Queens” goes into it further. We also get to admire more of Kate’s kookiness as she navigates the world of post-divorce life and her craving for a good kiss.
At the start of Firefly Lane season 1, episode 3, Tully cannot get enough of Max; we are given a montage of sex scenes. She seems to be enjoying having him whenever she can — it’s her version of being in control. In an 80s flashback, Tully, Kate, and Johnny are recording a promotional advert for an exercise video with Carol. They find it funny how she’s unable to do the moves without struggling. Tully uses this as an opportunity to ask Johnny to be the face of a new segment, with Kate producing, because Carol is sick. Tully and Kate are desperate to work together and to put Tully on television.
Kate and Tully tell Johnny that they have a potential story and he’s impressed. Kate is still evidently into Johnny, slipping up with words like “I feel like you were channeling within me inside me”.
Teen Tully and Kate talk boys
In another flashback, teen Tully and Kate are enjoying their friendship. Tully shaves Kate’s legs — she asks her if she has a crush on a high-school boy. Kate says she has a crush on Robbie but Tully remembers seeing him kiss her brother Sean. She doesn’t tell Kate that her brother is gay. Kate talks about how she wants all the romance, but Tully says that boys do not like romantic things. The conversation then turns to Pat, and how that night when she was raped still haunts her. The series is doing extraordinarily well in linking teen Tully and the adult version of her, and how the trauma has formed in different ways.
Organizing a clean divorce
In the present, Kate is organizing her separation from Johnny. She doesn’t want their daughter to go back and forth from an apartment. However, Johnny seems to disagree with this approach. This turns into an argument between them. It calms down eventually, and Kate packs up to leave Johnny with their daughter. They are trying to establish clear boundaries by keeping a stable home. There’s a sense of determination from Kate to move on.
Kate’s mother finds out the truth
In a teen flashback, Robbie brings up Pat to teen Tully. The conversation impacts her and she leaves Kate’s house. Kate still believes that Tully’s mother is dying from cancer and berates Robbie for being insensitive. Kate’s mother Margie offers to take Tully back to her house and provide her mother with ginger tea. When she enters the house, it’s clear that Cloud doesn’t have cancer. Margie sees the mess; she offers to drive Cloud to doctor appointments and help out with chemotherapy. Cloud says she doesn’t have cancer rather casually.
Margie tells Tully that her father used to be a drunk. She then mentions that Tully can still grow up into a strong woman, and she needs to tell Kate the truth. Tully seems to hold many secrets from her friend, which is probably birthed from Kate’s young naivety than anything else.
Dancing with Tully’s mother
Firefly Lane season 1, episode 3 proves how there were good moments with Cloud, but they were few and far between the bad moments.
Staying at the teen flashbacks, Tully tries telling Kate the truth about her mother not having cancer. Cloud breaks up the conversation and starts dancing in the living room. She asks Kate to dance with her and Tully gets irritable. Kate enjoys the dancing. Eventually, Tully joins in with the dancing and the group has a good time. But then, Cloud sobs and breaks down on the floor, and says “I need to go poop”. Tully calls her mother a “freak” but Kate says her mother is “amazing and free” and wants to help her get better; she also wants to help Tully get revenge on Pat. She wants to go to the dance and put Barely There Hair product on his head. Tully thinks it’s a great idea.
Tully becomes Kate’s wingwoman
In the present day, Kate and Tully meet for a meal. Kate tells Tully that she misses kissing someone. Tully reveals she is seeing a 29-year old who works as an EMT. She says he’s the best kisser since Chad, a man she dated from the 80s. Kate teases Tully that she could be falling in love. As they drink, Johnny rings Kate and asks where the antibiotics are. Tully grabs the phone and tells Johnny to “father up” for the night and puts the call down. Kate frets and wants to go home, but Gideon, a colleague, shows up at the restaurant. Tully embarrasses her and waves at the man, knowing that Kate is interested in him.
The high school disco
In a teen flashback, Kate and Tully sneak out at night. They practice the prank they are going to play on Pat. The pair head to the senior school disco and look for Pat. Robbie turns up and asks Kate to dance with him. Afterwards, Kate and Tully leave the disco together and they see Pat outside. Tully freezes and drops the hair product. Kate grabs her and takes her away from the situation. The trauma took over.
Tully drives and tries to run over Pat, but Kate stops her. Tully tells her that even killing him will not fix it, but she’s not going to let him beat her and that she’s going to become the next Jean Enersen, a famous American journalist. This scene shows how Tully realized that doing silly pranks and even killing Pat does not take away the experience she suffered. This feels like the moment where she decided to bury the trauma and focus on the perceived strong woman she is today.
Dancing the night away
In the present, Kate and Tully are dancing the night away. Max rings Tully, and she’s clearly smitten and wants to leave — she tells Kate to enjoy her time with Gideon. She heads outside with Gideon, and they smoke together. After a bit of flirting, the pair kiss. Kate then realizes she has her daughter’s antibiotics and has to leave. This was a cute scene seeing Kate feeling giddy like a girl again — it was like she was experiencing her first kiss.
“One booty call too many”
Still in the present, Tully tells Max that he kisses too much and tells him to get on his knees. Max gets frustrated and says he wants to look in her eyes — he feels that she avoids eye contact during sex. Tully accuses Max of wanting a romance, but Max argues back and tells her he cannot stop thinking about her. Tully tells Max that she owes him nothing and asks him to leave and calls him “one booty call too many”. Tully uses her defense mechanisms; she feels she has opened up to Max too much, and rather than confront her feelings, she buries them — it’s the only method she knows.
Losing the story to Carol
In the 80s flashback, Carol intervenes in Tully and Kate’s interview with the mayor and takes over — the pair lose the story. Afterward, Tully brushes it off and they all go drinking. Kate finds confidence and approaches Johnny. He tells Kate that people underestimated her and she’s the only one in the office that believes what she’s doing. Johnny then compares Tully to a storm, and that the world is floating in her wake. Suddenly, Chad arrives at the bar, and Tully hooks up with him on the bar.
The ending
In the present day, Kate apologizes to Johnny about the antibiotics. Johnny becomes aware of the hickey on Kate’s neck when they were ironically talking about boundaries. Meanwhile, Tully smokes a spliff after her argument with Max. She then drops her glass of wine and tries to walk. Kate heads to her apartment and sees that Tully has collapsed on the floor and runs to her aid, ending the chapter in shocking circumstances.
Firefly Lane season 1, episode 3 delves into control and burying trauma, which means self-sabotage for Tully. “Dancing Queens” also presents an older life and how post-divorce can be a replenishing but challenging experience, as Kate becomes accustomed to a new dynamic. The series is doing well to sell the story so far at this stage, flitting between three different periods effectively.
