‘Apples Never Fall’ Recap: ‘Troy’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

APPLES NEVER FALL -- "Troy" Episode 105 -- Pictured: Jake Lacy as Troy -- (Photo by: Jasin Boland/PEACOCK)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Apples Never Fall’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, our journey through the powerful Peacock series, Apples Never Fall, has offered up some fascinating observations about who we would become if we grew up in a high pressure, competitive and toxic environment. Since we’ve come to learn that we will be meek and hopeful that things will change, we will trust no one, struggle if we don’t fit, and at some point… we will have to face up to those facts before we move forward in life. But while those are some comprehensive and powerful explorations, which should have begun to move us toward the truth about what has happened to Joy, there’s one more corner of this examination that the series needed to ponder upon, one that focused squarely on ‘Troy’ and his journey. 

Because this particular tale, took the time to inform us that people raised in this environment, can sometimes opt… to try and transform themselves into a person they don’t resemble to cope. For in reality, Troy has never been about the lavish lifestyle he has surrounded himself with. It all came forth to offer some semblance of power, agency, and a change from what his life could have been. Which in his father’s eyes, should have been an all-star tennis champion for the ages. But Troy needed something different, to feel normal and to avoid dealing with the trauma that his own father embedded into his soul. Since we came to learn that a childhood fight between Troy and the very champion that now infuriated Stan on a regular basis cost Stan his coaching job there and changed fortunes. But not before Stan made sure to slap the hell out of his son to hammer home the need to ‘respect’ his wishes and to express how he held someone else in higher regard than one of his sons.

But of course, while such actions could and would indeed push people to reinvent themselves and find new paths in life, we cannot escape the past, nor can we escape our actions. A truth that hung heavy over Troy in this tale and prompted him to finally own up to his past and own up to the life that was taking him nowhere. So, he finally exposed his affair with the boss’ wife, which detonated his world and he finally reflected upon his relationship with his father, and in order to resolve his past, he chose to be honest with the police at last. Since it was, he that paid off Savannah all those months ago, after he discovered her backstory was a fat and juicy lie, and also because… the violence shown toward him as a kid left him truly convinced that Stan was fully capable of hurting Joy and may have done so. Which is why this exploration was critical because Troy’s actions exposed a shocking set of truths. 

One of which took place during the payoff to Savannah. Because she had no desire to leave and was supremely displeased with the fact that it was happening since it likely altered a grand agenda, she had in mind. So rather than go quietly into the night, Savannah stirred the pot, during a contentious match involving that old pupil. Wherein it was revealed that Stan wasn’t fired as his coach because of the fight, but because Joy did not like what Stan became as his tutor. Since he hit Troy for no good reason, so Joy made the call and asked them to move on. Changing the family’s fortune and shocking everyone since she chose family and stability over the championship family mantra. A move that will undoubtedly lead to other fascinating explorations down the line. But in that moment, Stan was given motive to kill, and well… what Logan discovered shifted the focus of suspects, to Stan.

Simply because… Savannah left after the fight started and obviously, was never heard from again, and it was most certainly not her dragging a body into the boat on the day that Joy disappeared. Instead, that was Stan, as revealed through camera footage that Logan snagged from a neighbor at the marina. And that was indeed passed onto the police, and that… changes everything. For now, there’s little that says Stan didn’t do it, and the question would be why. After all, would he really cherish success over family? Well, time will tell if that’s the case and if he will even face the music. Since Stan is now aware the police have the footage and that brought about a heart attack. But while we wait to see what lies ahead from the fallout of this revelation, we can applaud one brilliant tale. For this one brought the family’s examinations to a powerful end, and properly set the stage for the endgame. One that will finally reveal, what happened to Joy Delaney. Until next time.

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