Lodge 49 season 2, episode 4 recap: Conjuctio

Alchemists join together in Lodge 49’s “Conjuctio.” Will they stay together? Is Connie coming home? Are the Dudley’s moving apart? We’ve got the recap!

Did you ever notice that a lot of songs don’t say what they mean until the second verse? I was shuffling today and the two songs that made me realize this were “Something About You” by Lucious and “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran. Sure. I understand setups. And, preparing people for what you want to say is always a good idea.

But, with these two songs, there’s real imagery going on in the second verse. It’s more simple and relatable. It’s about love and how it’s experienced. Even in a song as ubiquitous as “With a Little Help from my Friends” by The Beatles, the real crux of the song is the lyric Do you need anybody / I need somebody to love. Anyone can ask themselves this question and get this answer. It would be the number one answer on Family Feud. It’s powerful.

I think the second season of Lodge 49 is following a similar pattern. Sure, season one focused on isolation and the need for connection. This remains true for Dud (Wyatt Russell) and Liz (Sonya Cassidy) more than anyone else. But, in “Conjuctio,” there’s an ultra focus on people being isolated in various ways. Some of it is self-sabotage and some of it is just not being able to see what’s possible. Liz still leads the cast for the number of hugs needed, but everyone ends up isolated by the end of the episode. Except for Dud. He gets married. Conjuctio!

Liz and Dud

Since “DisOrientation,” Liz has continued to build her relationship with Lenore (Bertila Damas). She joins the flight attendant poker-ish game where she cleans up. The two further bond when they have to hide in a dumpster from the FAA. Gambling is apparently a bigger threat to air-safety than drunk pilots. Who knew?! Liz eventually becomes a Fydro distributor after Lenore has her stay to meet a group of potential clients.

It’s sad. Liz shows up just to get more tidbits about her dad. He apparently kept his romantic life separate from his home life, so Liz and Dud never really knew the nature of their relationship. Liz starts to question her mom’s place in their lives. She died so young that neither Liz or Dud really remember her at all. It’s like she’s been lost in time. Liz feels as if she’s being lost in time. It’s like she’s being buried alive. Dud tries to tell Liz she’s wrong, but Liz counters. Their childhood culminated in their dad renaming the pool business Dudley and Son. Liz has no place in the family.

Dud doesn’t make great arguments to make her feel better. That comes out of the denial that he may have taken part in alienating his sister for a long time. Meanwhile, Lenore is a little leechy. There’s a real quid pro quo aspect to the relationship with Liz. When Liz agrees to leave, Lenore will all of a sudden come up with a new factoid. Are these all real? Did Lenore actually hate Mr. Dudley after they broke up? Is this all revenge?

Liz isn’t fond of Dud’s friends, either. He’s planning a trip to Mexico to reclaim the Scrolls with El Confidente (Cheech Marin), Blaise (Dave Pasquesi), Ernie (Brent Jennings), and Daphne (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). Dud needs the money. Daphne wants the money. Blaise wants to complete the Monum Opus. And Ernie, well, he doesn’t want to go at all. It all sounds bonkers to Liz.

A Lodge in Shambles

Scott (Eric Allan Kramer) is pouting. He’s pouting hard. When Jocelyn (Adam Godley) suggests the Lodge fund the Scrolls trip, Scott gets so upset that he orders Jocelyn back to London. No! I’ve grown to love Jocelyn. He had just fully shed his tweed exoskeleton. His hair was product free and he had the five o’clock shadow of a man of leisure. Back at Lodge 1, Jocelyn is in his suit with his hair matted down and his face clean shaven. He’s isolated from real friends and the meaning of belonging to a lodge.

To his credit, Scott knows he’s not doing a good job at being Sovereign Protector. Every decision he makes isolates him more and more from the Lodge. But, he can’t help himself. He’s in a destructive phase. Which is ironic because he boards up the secret trap door in his office after Trish (Karen Malina White) emerges.

Ernie has resigned himself to life at the orders desk at Super Sales. He doesn’t want to go to Mexico and he doesn’t think Dud should go, either. He wants Dud to live the life he has in front of him before it gets away. That isolates him further from the Lodge. Even Beautiful Jeff (Michael Lee Kimel) continues to alienate himself. Sure, Bob (Brian Doyle-Murray) still loves him, but Beautiful Jeff hurts another co-worker by clocking Speedy’s replacement with the backswing of his golf club.

Blaise is concerned that trying to complete the Monum Opus for money is wrong. He feels that completing it at all is tempting the universe to make him pay for such audacity. And he gets frightening confirmation. When Speedy’s replacement shows up at Blaise’s weed shop, there’s a robbery. Blaise runs away. First, he feels like the universe is after him and he backs out of the trip. Second, he totally allowed that poor dude to get beat up by the robbers. Not cool.

Mrs. Dudley

Clara (Pollyanna McIntosh) and Connie (Linda Emond) have a heartfelt talk. Connie is now an initiated member of the True Lodge. She may be called on to perform a service in the future, but she can return home with a new remedy: wearing a blindfold with eyes on it. She doesn’t go home to Scott. She shows up at Ernie’s. He’s both delighted and royally confused.

Liz starts to feel like she’s being forgotten more at her job. She announced that when things go good, it everyone’s hard work. When things go wrong, it’s her fault as the manager. This is kind of the right attitude but is also a form of self-flagellation. I’ve been a manager for 14 years. That’s dangerous. She meets an old friend at Higher Steaks and they do shots. Beth (Britt Rentschler) has had a better go at life than Liz, but somehow feels exactly the same as Liz. It’s her bachelor party. She thinks her fiancé is a drip and all she can talk about is memories Dud.

Dud doesn’t go on the trip, either. It’s a shock to Daphne. But, she doesn’t know that El Confidente knocked him out. El Confidente wants the Scrolls and money in as big of a share as possible. Dejected, Dud returns to the Lodge. It turns out that is where Beth’s wedding is being held. Whoa. Paranoia? Or karmic interventions? Bro. The two decide to do something crazy and get married. End. Of. Episode.

Wow. Dud had been pining for a family in the car with El Confidente before he, you know, knocked him out. This came out of nowhere. We know Dud and Ernie eventually gain the Scrolls with L. Marvin Metz (Paul Giamatti). How will they get there?

Were you shocked by Dud’s marriage? Are you enjoying season two of Lodge 49? Let’s discuss in the comments!