6 major times The Act strayed from the real story

The Act — “Stay Inside” – Episode 104 — Gypsy’s getting older and Dee Dee is forced to new legal maneuvers to keep control of her “little girl.” But Dee Dee’s limited by her own health problems, and Gypsy goes to greater lengths than ever to connect with men and experience a sexual awakening. Dee Dee Blanchard (Patricia Arquette) and Gypsy Rose Blanchard (Joey King), shown. (Photo by: Brownie Harris/Hulu)

4. No adults came to help Gypsy

Let’s just say it—the medical community failed Gypsy.

Per Dean’s BuzzFeed article, medical records dating back to 2001 showed that doctors at Tulane University Hospital tested Gypsy for muscular dystrophy and found nothing. Those records, despite what Dee Dee said, survived Katrina. But, Dean says, “Most doctors appear from these records to have taken her assertion at face value and didn’t probe.” They just treated (and operated on) Gypsy for what her mother said was wrong with her.

Pajiba has been going episode by episode this season and breaking down major questions people may have regarding Gypsy’s real life. Using previous interviews and documentaries about the tragic story, Pajiba has been able to debunk (or confirm) a lot of choices The Act’s creative team made.

One of the most interesting builds on this idea. Pajiba points out that, in reality, the adults seen helping Gypsy in the premiere episodes of The Act never existed.

Child Protective Services were called in the second episode by a doctor who was concerned for Gypsy’s wellbeing. According to Pajiba, though, there’s no indication that CPS was ever called. So, no, there was not a doctor who secretly tried to give Gypsy coke to prove she didn’t have a sugar allergy.

It’s worth noting that that doctor never shows up again (it’s hard to continue writing in a doctor who isn’t actually in the story you’re telling). The show jumps forward years and I guess we’re supposed to assume the doctor just stopped caring? Felt defeated and moved on with her life?

Now, it follows to increase the presence of helpful adults for Gypsy to decline help from if you want to shy away from the dark truth of how subservient Gypsy was to her mother. Throughout this series, Dean and The Act team seem to have given Gypsy choice after choice of her choosing her mother. In real life, however, evidence and testimonies point to the fact that Gypsy was trapped. She wasn’t choosing her mother, she just couldn’t escape her.