Hulu’s The Act season 1 finale recap: Free
The Act — “Look at the Stars” – Episode 108 — Gypsy fights for her life by defending her actions, while Mel & Lacey realize that behind closed doors things were not always as they seemed. Gypsy Rose Blanchard (Joey King), shown. (Photo by: Brownie Harris/Hulu)
The Act finishes its first season with Gypsy finally coming face to face with her father. The episode also features the actual events of the night of Dee Dee’s murder.
The final episode of The Act opens with a brief scene in 1997 Louisiana. The scene shows young Gypsy and young Dee Dee promising to protect each other while lying outside looking at the stars.
Cut to 2015 and Gypsy and Nick at the arraignment for Dee Dee’s murder. They are both charged with first-degree murder, which means they could get life in prison or the death penalty. Gypsy pleads not guilty and maintains that she never could kill her mother.
When Gypsy and her lawyer talk alone, Gypsy asks if she could really get the death penalty. The lawyer explains that, right now, people see Gypsy as a cold-blooded killer. Gypsy will need to appear more sympathetic to get people on her side. In order to do this, the lawyer suggests getting ahold of Gypsy’s medical records to prove that Dee Dee had been lying and manipulating Gypsy.
light. Read. The Act season 1, episode 7 recap: Bonnie & Clyde
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The lawyer can’t just go get them because of the whole power of attorney episode. She suggests Gypsy call her dad, but Gypsy says she doesn’t have one and her mom loved her while her dad didn’t. No matter what, those medical records are key.
Later, Gypsy is seeing the prison doctor and asks her if she can help get the medical records. She says no and is very blunt with Gypsy. She’s not too keen on having Gypsy in there with fake problems when others in the prison have actual medical issues. The doctor takes Gypsy’s feeding tube out. Gypsy doesn’t need it anymore. Gypsy, finally regularly eating, is actually gaining weight in prison (which is a rarity).
The doctor, spitefully, says that Gypsy is one of the healthiest people in the prison.
Prison life goes on. We see Gypsy eating lunch alone and crying softly in her bed. While walking through the yard outside, Nick spots her and (since she hadn’t known before) tells her how Bonnie and Clyde ended—they died together. It’s not at all what Gypsy wanted to hear.
Later, Gypsy makes a phone call to Lacey to try to explain what is going on. She asks Lacey to visit so they can talk in person. Lacey is reluctant and says she has to go before hanging up.
Gypsy then calls Rod, her father. She says that she knows he doesn’t know her (which is a stark, strange change from their real relationship) but asks him for a favor. Rod winds up coming to see Gypsy in prison and, after strained hellos, he gives her the medical records.
Rod takes the opportunity to point out multiple instances where Dee Dee told doctors that something happened with Gypsy (like almost a full week of daily seizures) that never really happened. Rod says that, by speaking for Gypsy, Dee Dee made Gypsy her prisoner.
Gypsy fires back that at least Dee Dee loved her and was there for her. Rod tries to explain that he was young (17) and couldn’t handle the responsibility, but he still loves her and he had tried to visit. Gypsy doesn’t accept his excuses and says he should have tried harder. But Rod points out that Dee Dee made that difficult, especially because she moved Gypsy around so much. Rod also tells her that he had been sending them checks in the mail every month.
Gypsy starts to gather the medical records to leave, not wanting to hear more about how her mother potentially lied to her. But before Gypsy can leave, Rod shows her baby pictures of her with him. He has a picture of them at the special olympics, which is surprising to Gypsy because Dee Dee always claimed that she had invited Rod, but he said no.
Things finally sink in for Gypsy and she starts to cry. Rod apologizes for not being around more.