Summary
We approach the midpoint in “Walk of Faith” and you can feel several subplots being patiently developed for later.
This recap of Sweet Magnolias season 2, episode 4, “Walk of Faith”, contains spoilers.
Call me crazy, but I think Sweet Magnolias might be slightly overestimating how much interest its audience has in Serenity’s zoning regulations, but nevertheless, we’re persisting with the subplot about whether the problems facing The Corner Spa are some kind of deliberate, sneaky vendetta. As it turns out, the building doesn’t have the required number of parking spots, so customers would be required to pay unless they can purchase a dedicated parking lot. Of course, as far as Maddie knows, there’s no such thing in the area, since the whole place was guaranteed to remain residential and she had a nightmare simply getting the go-ahead to open commercial premises in the area anyway. And yet, there’s a commercial lot right behind The Corner Spa, owned by some mysterious company that Maddie has to investigate with the help of CeCe, who’s working for Helen.
Sweet Magnolias season 2, episode 4 recap
CeCe has more to do in “Walk of Faith” than she has had in the previous episodes, including trying to maintain a relationship with Ty despite his incessant sulking. Elsewhere, following his State failure, Cal is forced to endure the indignity of a vote pertaining to whether or not he’s to be replaced as the baseball coach, and the whole thing gets deadlocked until Jackson’s mother casts the deciding vote and then immediately starts holding it over Cal’s head to ensure that Jackson makes the mound over Ty in the next big game. For a man with anger issues, this cannot be a good situation.
Speaking of situations that aren’t good, Dana Sue’s double-dipping. It takes Annie to point out that the situation isn’t fair to anyone involved, perhaps especially Ronnie and Jeremy, but also her. It’s something that Dana Sue probably didn’t consider to that extent since, as parents, we’re programmed to believe our adult lives are none of our children’s business. But they are, especially when the kids get to a certain age. For all the things I don’t love about this show, I do like its depiction of parenthood as a complex and difficult endeavor that’s constantly challenging in surprising and painful ways.
Take, for instance, Maddie and Noreen. These two have a conversation about boundaries, and it’s surprisingly warm and noncombative, even if Maddie has to keep herself together just to simply say thank you for being there for Kyle. And Kyle obviously needs someone, whether that’s Maddie, Noreen, Ashley, his brother, or even Trotter, who leads him and Ty in a basic yoga session where they’re both able to let out some genuine laughs for probably the first time in as long as either of them can remember. (For what it’s worth, Trotter seems like such a nice guy.)
Some minor things happen in “Walk of Faith” that aren’t given much fanfare, presumably because they’re going to be fleshed out in later episodes. One is Helen’s desire for a baby despite her recent miscarriage and her rather obvious chemistry with Howie. Another is Dana Sue giving Jeremy the bad news about Ronnie — he takes it really well, but I don’t think we’ve seen the end of that particular love triangle. And the last is Isaac’s search for his birth mother turning into something of a mystery. Helen believes that the bible she left him contains clues to how to track her down, and it seems like she might be right. So, there’s plenty to be going on with here as we approach the midway point.
You can stream Sweet Magnolias season 2, episode 4, “Walk of Faith”, exclusively on Netflix.
