‘Candy’ on Hulu Episode 2 Recap, ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’ — Creator Talks Betty’s Anger [Exclusive]
In Candy on Hulu Episode 2, “Happy Wife, Happy Life,” viewers get a glimpse into the mundane lives of Candy Montgomery (Jessica Biel) and Betty Gore (Melanie Lynskey). There are only a few scenes of the incident with the ax in the second true crime episode. Instead, viewers find that neither Candy nor Betty was a happy housewife in Wylie, Texas, in the late 1970s. Candy writer and creator Robin Veith discusses why they chose to portray Betty as an “angry, nasty woman” before she died.
‘Candy’ on Hulu Episode 2 recap: ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’
Episode 2 of Candy on Hulu opens with kids egging Betty’s house two years before she dies. Then, she gave her entire class detention because she felt one of the children was behind it. The principal, Earl Albert, fired Betty because it wasn’t the first time she had done “something like this.” In another scene, she approaches her husband, Allan Gore (Pablo Schreiber), to foster another child since she’s no longer working. They welcome a boy named David into their home; however, Betty doesn’t know how to deal with his defiant behavior.
While Allan is away on a business trip, David bangs on pots and pans and chases Christina (Antonella Rose). Betty calls her husband about David, but he insists he can’t leave the trip early. He takes the phone off the hook, so he doesn’t have to answer if she calls again. She finally gets in David’s face and threatens to hit him.
Later, Betty offers to host a birthday party for David, but she gives him strange doll invitations. When the day of the party comes, and no one comes, Betty asks David whether he handed them out. Allan defends David, insisting that it’s her fault for not following up with the parents. David screams that he hates Betty and wants to leave. Betty tells her husband that she doesn’t have any friends and hates that he’s never around. Soon after the fight, a social worker arrives to take David. Betty protests when Allan still goes to volleyball practice that night.
Candy Montgomery propositions Allan Gore to have an affair in ‘Candy’ Episode 2
Meanwhile, in episode 2, Candy finds out that the pastor at Lucas Methodist Church, Jackie Ponder (Selena Anduze), and her husband, Bill, filed for a divorce. At home, Candy tries to kiss her husband, Pat Montgomery (Timothy Simons), but he’s more interested in his TV show. Candy reminisces about the old love notes he wrote her and then reveals to Jackie that she wants to have an affair.
The episode briefly flashes forward two years to Candy showering in Betty’s house, fully clothed, which explains the blood on the carpet in the bathroom.
Then, one Sunday after church, Betty suggests the women start a children’s choir. When the other women don’t say anything, Candy says it’s a great idea. While Candy begins to befriend Betty, she also considers her new friend’s husband as a sexual partner.
One night during basketball, Jackie walks in with her new boyfriend, and Candy can’t help watching how affectionate they are toward each other. Jackie tells Candy about her new relationship in another scene at a rollerskating rink. Candy can’t get enough of it. Although the pastor cautioned Candy against her infidelity, the housewife wants to spick up her life.
After volleyball practice one evening, Candy gets in Allan’s car and bluntly informs him that she would like to have an affair with him. The episode ends with someone asking Candy in court what she did next. She responded that she grabbed the ax. Although Hulu’s Candy episode 2 doesn’t further the plot surrounding Betty’s death, it builds a solid backstory around the two women and their unhappy lives.
‘Candy’ creator Robin Veith talks about Betty Gore’s anger
In an exclusive interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Hulu’s Candy creator Robin Veith revealed why Betty seems so angry in episode 2. The character witnesses for Candy Montgomery depicted Betty Gore as a hostile woman.
“When you have a story like this, where two women walk into a room, one woman walks out, and one woman gets to tell the story,” Veith began. “You’re in a town in an era where this is something that’s ugly, that people want to go away.”
She gave a few examples of what Candy’s character witnesses said, “‘I saw Betty snap at a child,” or “I gave Betty a present, and she casually said, thank you and put it down.”
“It’s been interpreted over the years that Betty was an angry, nasty woman,” the Candy creator continued. “So, we’re going to disparage this woman because she didn’t say thank you in a way that you deem appropriate? Isn’t this part of the problem? — This woman is not allowed to be angry? None of us women are allowed to be angry? Isn’t that part of the problem?”
Both Candy and Betty were unhappy, as shown in Candy Episode 2. Candy channeled her frustrations into an affair, while Betty couldn’t put on the fake happy face that Candy could every day.
“I feel like I grew up with Betty,” Veith added. “Or maybe I was a Betty. And there are just some people that other people don’t like, and there’s no reason for it. It’s some off-putting vibe, and they usually end up trying hard, like Betty does, to be part of it. Women, when they click up like that, can be terrible. They’re never going to let her in. There’s nothing she can do. There’s no winning this. And so, part of their joy was putting her down even more. The actual Betty was better than these women. She was college-educated, she was smarter than them. She did have some ambition and something to do, and they punished her for it.”
Candy premiered on Hulu Sunday, May 9, with the release of only the first episode at 9 p.m. PT/midnight ET. The remaining four Candy episodes drop every day following the premiere, with the finale dropping on Friday, May 13.
