‘Three Women’ Recap: ‘lina’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Betty Gilpin as Lina in Episode 102 of ‘Three Women’ – ‘lina’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Three Women’. To revisit the Series Premiere, click here.
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There are certain acts in a relationship, that so many of us consider to be dealbreakers. For instance, telling incredible lies is a good reason to get out of a relationship because trust is broken, and we haven’t a clue what’s real when it comes to our partner past that point. Obviously, abuse of any kind also qualifies under that banner, since we should not ever take that from a romantic partner, and of course… there’s cheating. Because many consider that to be the worst violation of all in a relationship, one that informs us our partner no longer desires us or cares about our love and knowing they’ve violated the greatest level of intimacy makes it easy to end things with them and place blame upon them. 

After all, they chose to cheat, they decided that love was no longer worth it, so to hell with them, right? In fact, to hammer home the gross nature of their violation, we will even flat-out resort to name calling when we end it over such matters. Because we absolutely get some measure of payback for this violation of our sacred relationship. But what’s fascinating about cheating, is that… it isn’t always so black and white. After all, sometimes it happens because the person that cheats, is invisible in the relationship, and they’re screaming to be heard and seen. Or they do so because they simply no longer feel loved or desired, all of which… is explored in the next episode of Three Women on STARZ.

For ‘lina’ focused squarely on Lina, and her story and her journey and why… she chose to seek out her high school sweetheart and accept his physical love despite being married. And truly, it related to the void in her heart. For we came to learn in this episode that Lina was not the confused and broken soul that her family saw her to be. She was in fact, someone with a massive heart, and truly believed in the power of passion and love and how we as a species should celebrate it and embrace it. For to be without it would be akin to being without oxygen, and well… in this episode we saw her try harder than ever to get her husband to see her, feel her, acknowledge that she existed and had needs that he needed to provide her with. But instead, Ed didn’t care. He went off old edicts, and never listened, and he even mocked her when a lack of passion prompted a panic attack, and that… prompted her to cheat. 

Because she knew… she would never have what she needed or wanted from her own husband, and that prompted a text to Aidan, and a chance to see him after a bachelorette party, a chance she took, and it paid off in spades. Since she rediscovered the electricity that comes with a kiss, with a touch, with a look. Not to mention she finally felt the raw power of desire again and the majesty of being intimate with someone in the name of passion instead of abiding by a schedule or a seasonal surprise and well… she was transformed, and she was happy, and that truly informed all of us, that cheating isn’t always born out of cruelty or because a partner is just gross. It happens because some partners are icy and isolated and emotionally unavailable, and some people cannot handle that. Nor should they, and had Ed listened and paid attention, perhaps this would be a different ending to this story. 

But it was instead, proof positive that if someone cheats, the person cheated on must take a minute and objectively ask themselves… did they do everything within their power to truly love their partner? Help them? Care for them and give them what they needed emotionally? Physically? And if one cannot answer yes to all of that, then they have no right to be mad. For they denied their lover that which brought them together in the first place and that… made for a powerful story that addressed a taboo topic. Since we always blame the woman when cheating takes place, and vilify, when in fact… the situation and the why matters more. Because that… is what gives us real perspective and real understanding and this episode deserves a round of applause for exploring the power of desire, and how decisions such as these, are very real and can easily be avoided… with true understanding. Until next time.

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