Summary
“Love is a Battlefield” brings a young-life crisis, and marriage issues, as both characters try to navigate a challenging world that brings new surprises.
This recap of Netflix’s Firefly Lane season 1, episode 4, “Love is a Battlefield” contains significant spoilers.
The first three episodes feel heavily weighted to Tully, so it was about time for a more Kate-centric chapter. Firefly Lane season 1, episode 4 begins with Tully and Kate enjoying college life. Tully catches Kate reading a romantic novel in her dorm and raises how Professor Wiley keeps ignoring her even though she’s the best student; she’s furious that in her latest essay, Wiley gave her a “C”. Kate tells Tully to confront the professor directly.
Tully believes the collapse was because she was drunk, and gives Kate advice over Gideon
Thankfully, after Tully’s collapse, it wasn’t serious enough for her to go to the hospital. That was quite a cliffhanger in episode three. In the present day, Tully wakes up, and Kate tells her that she scared her after she collapsed the night before. Tully believes it was drink and stress. She tells Kate to assist Gideon on a shoot to make the next move. Tully gives her sexy lingerie to seduce him. Kate isn’t sure she’s ready to sleep with someone new. Something is holding her back — her marriage.
Tully confronts Wiley about her assignments
Back to the student days and Tully confronts Professor Wiley and tells him she deserves a higher grade. He tells her that her work was subpar. She asks for another shot, and he gives her a redo on Monday. Tully is worried about her commitments on the weekend with this deadline, but Wiley explains that being a journalist is a lifestyle.
Kate’s new lingerie outfit works, but on a different man
“Love is a Battlefield” then resorts to the plumber and the housewife situation, and this is genuinely an accident, providing a moment of comedy. In the present, Kate tries out the sexy lingerie outfit, believing the house is empty. She bumps into Johnny who is working on a sink in a white tank top. It’s an awkward moment, and she ends up helping him out, but this leads to them hooking up. The outfit must have worked, but then Marah ends up coming home, and they have to redress and act normal quickly. Marah is obviously suspicious.
The friends skip school and smoke pot
“Love is a Battlefield” continues to delve into Tully and Kate’s bond as young teens, and how they shared many experiences. As teens, Kate and Tully skip school to go on an adventure and smoke pot. Tully tells Kate that she thinks she’s pregnant because of what happened with Pat. Kate promises to be there for her. Tully gets emotional, calling her a unique friend. She’s about to tell her the truth about her mother not having cancer, but then Kate starts freaking out with her high, so Tully calms her down.
Kate is in an awkward position between Travis and Johnny
Things get a little too close to home as we reach the halfway stage of Firefly Lane season 1, episode 4. At a music showcase event at Kate’s home, Travis is a guest and Kate is a little anxious because there’s some romantic tension. Johnny senses something. Even Travis’s daughter senses something. Tully turns up, and Margie tells her she could be going through menopause which is why she keeps getting sweats and collapsed.
Wiley tells Tully to connect with the audience, but it leads to more than expected
As a student, Tully practices her reporter assignment. Professor Wiley walks in and gives her advice; he tells her to be objective while connecting with the audience. He then talks about unconscious signals, which makes it slightly weird between them. She practices again while Wiley watches and he’s impressed. Tully then asks why she never picks her in class. Wiley explains how he has to keep it professional. Tully grabs him, and they kiss. Wiley eventually backs off and walks away, but Tully seems reinvigorated by the moment. We are witnessing Tully’s younger day romances.
Kate is frustrated and tells Tully she’s off to London
Back to the college days, and Kate freaks out and leaves the meal. She tells Tully that Sean doesn’t want to join the military, and her parents are still not in love. She’s annoyed with her parents. Kate then says that Tully organizes all their plans and that she may be going to London for a Literature Programme. Tully calls her a hypocrite and walks off. Not everything was plain sailing in their college days. Kate has a small crisis, wondering what she wants to do in life. This notion that friends have to do everything together can be viewed as a lack of maturity; you can have different lives yet still be best friends.
Johnny is not happy with Kate and Travis at the music showcase
“Love is a Battlefield” finally lives up to its title as it finally kicks off, bringing a complex dynamic. In the present day, the music showcase begins at Kate’s house with an audience and other students. Marah gets up and performs on the piano. Kate is proud, and then she looks at Johnny. She suddenly gets emotional and starts crying, remembering all her times with Johnny, from adoring him to getting pregnant. She walks outside, and Travis joins her to check up on her. Kate tells her that what Marah was playing is her and Johnny’s song. Travis hugs her, and then an angry Johnny intervenes and ends up punching him after Travis questions their marriage. Marah sees it all and makes an assumption on the situation, so walks off.
Kate finds out that Cloud doesn’t have cancer
The fake story that her mother had cancer was always going to come back to bite Tully in the ass, and “Love is a Battlefield” proves that is so. In the teen flashbacks, Kate sees her mother being very friendly with another man but Tully brushes it off. When they get to Tully’s house, Kate mentions cancer treatments to Cloud. Cloud has no idea what she’s talking about, and the bombshell drops — Kate now knows Tully’s mother doesn’t have cancer. She walks out. Meanwhile, Tully learns she’s having her period and is relieved. When she heads downstairs, she learns Kate knows the truth about her mother. To be fair, she has tried telling her on multiple occasions.
Kate and Johnny talk about trying
“Love is a Battlefield” sees Johnny and Kate discussing “where they are at” in their marriage, which means a moment of honesty and clarity. In the present day, Johnny confronts Kate about Travis and asks how he knows where the cheeseboard is. Kate tells Johnny nothing has happened. He apologizes and says he didn’t like seeing them together. Kate is worried about Marah jumping to conclusions. They then talk about their hook-up and wonder if they could try to make it work. Johnny explains that he needs to have parts of him that aren’t a husband and that he knows it is selfish about taking the job as a war correspondent. Kate is flabbergasted and walks off — she doesn’t want to wait for him while he goes off to risk his life, which is understandable; they are not young souls anymore.
The ending
Kate talks to Marah in her room. Her daughter tells her she is quitting piano. Kate joins her on a video game. She tells Marah that she isn’t perfect, and wants her to talk to her. Marah isn’t in the mood to talk and instead concentrates on the game with her mother. This is superb acting by Sarah Chalke who manages to really sell her lack of skill at video gaming — if you’ve seen someone struggle using a controller, then the character Kate represented it well. Later on, Kate and Tully catch up — Tully calls Kate strong. They then check out a pregnancy test that Tully has used due to her recent sweats and collapses — she’s pregnant. Damn, what a twist!
Firefly Lane season 1, episode 4 brings a young-life crisis, and marriage issues, as both characters try to navigate a challenging world that brings new surprises.
Additional points
- In a flashback, an older Robbie tells Sean that he’s a married man to Hannah. Sean is devastated, but he congratulates him.
- Back in the college days, Sean tells Tully that Robbie got married and believes he will always be alone. Tully tells him that’s not the case and that he should tell Kate his secret.
