‘Lodge 49’ Recap: ‘Exile’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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Often times when we are presented with stories where the character or characters have experienced great loss or trauma, we are privy to a specific set of moments in their recovery. We are there to see the moment when their hurt begins, we watch as they mourn and ache and we see them stumble on the road to recovery and more than often than not, our story ends as their second chapter begins because there’s more drama to be found in the struggle than there is in starting over. But that’s what makes Lodge 49 such a refreshing show in its own right, because it has immersed itself in the age-old question of ‘what comes next?’ after people have suffered earth shattered trauma and loss, and for proof, look no further than last night’s episode.
 
For ‘Exile’ focused heavily on where people go once they’ve faced their pain and the moment that broke them and it posed some interesting ideas on how people handle their exit from the darkness. Some for instance, come to realize that they’ve let negativity put them into a carefully crafted shell, one that keeps them inoculated from their fears and their pain, and once they release themselves from that proverbial cocoon they are ready to work at moving forward and enjoy everything that life has to offer. And that was explored by way of Connie’s journey in this tale since she felt it was high time to get back out into the world and live her life and that meant letting go of Scott and the security he provides and Connie’s journey allowed for some supremely inspiring and beautiful moments to come forth since she exhibited a newfound strength in this tale, and it was wonderful to see her reach this epiphany and grow right before our very eyes.
 
Yet as this series wont to do, it also took the time to examine the flip side of coming to terms with one’s fears and that was handled by way of Blaise’s journey. For this in this tale we found him at his lowest point since he hadn’t sleep in forever and more or less refused to do so, all in the hopes of finding the secret to immortality and gold by way of the diary. And really, what this heartbreaking segment of the story accomplished, was to remind us that sometimes when we acknowledge the toughness of the world and embrace the fact that bad things can happen to us, we panic in a way and let the fear wash over us and that’s really where Blaise was in this tale, filled with fear, and kudos to him for eventually figuring this out and seeking help since that really is the right thing to do.
 
However, while I think we all could have watched an entire episode of the show involving those two segments alone, the story still had more to explore about what comes next for us when we finally confront the trauma in our lives and sometimes, our struggle to keep our heads above water, makes us a hero to others, as is the case with Liz. Because Jeremy and Champ and Gerson all made it clear that she inspires them to be more, something compounded by the fact that she fought for all of them to get paid since Janet and Omni screwed that up and really, it was wonderful to see Liz embrace her role as a champion in this tale and go the extra mile to ensure that everyone gets their money, and it was equally as satisfying to see her slug Janet right in the kisser. If anything, this all goes to show just how far Liz has come in her journey and it will be interesting to see what comes next for her now that Janet has offered her quite the position. 

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​But truly, the emotional centerpiece of this particular tale involved Ernie. Because his journey reminded us of the fact that sometimes we bury our trauma down deep in order to survive and that isn’t always the healthy thing to do, since it eventually comes back to haunt us and past trauma is precisely what has put Ernie in such an odd place this season. For we came to learn in this tale that Ernie and Trish once had a daughter, one that passed away and that has haunted him for decades and her passing is back on his mind because he had a dream about his baby girl in Mexico. And well, the lesson present here, is that at some point, when we are ready, we have to release this pain so that it doesn’t control us and eat at us any longer. And in beautiful fashion, Ernie did just that in this tale, shortly after Dud explained what he did for Ernie and how much the man has meant to him over the past year and it was just beautiful to see Ernie open up in this manner and even go so far as to finally speak his daughter’s name and release the pain that had in essence been consuming him. 
 
If anything, this was just a supremely beautiful episode, one that truly celebrated the wonder of our humanity and the lovely moments present here brought tears to my eyes once again. In part because of the incredible performances from Linda Emond, Eric Allan Kramer, David Pasquesi, Sonya Cassidy, Brett Jennings and Wyatt Russell since they were each on point in their respective segments and handled their characters’ powerful journeys in earnest fashion, but also because of what this episode had to say about loss and trauma and how we heal. Because this particular tale made it clear that it is okay to hurt and heal at your own pace, something we all need to hear in popular media, a medium that has embraced the notion of people ‘sucking it up’ and moving forward as quickly as possible.
 
But I also love how this episode reminded us that while trauma and loss and the fear of what else could slip through our fingers can indeed rip us to pieces, it’s the people in our lives, be them family or friends or the friends we make family, that matter the most when we are going through tough times. Because they hold the pieces together and they give us hope and a reason to go on until everything upstairs is working again and that’s just a magnificent message to find in a television series and it is more proof that Lodge 49 is one of the finest television shows out there, and I am quite curious to see what comes next for our magnificent characters now that so many are working to heal and move forward in life. Until next time.  

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