‘Survivor’s Remorse’ recap: midseason mania

Season 3, Episode 7 | “The Guests” | Aug. 28

We’re past the midseason mark, which means there’s a ticking clock when it comes to tying up story arcs for season three of Survivor’s Remorse. There’s certainly some breathing room, however. Starz announced last week that the show had been picked up for a fourth season.

So where are we exactly? This week’s episode, in which Reggie insists on accompanying Cam to the Boston wedding of a drug dealer they used to know, points to a bit of narrative wheel-spinning. We’ve seen countless examples of how Reggie essentially plays the role of a bouncer who allows Cam to move through a world as a preternaturally naïve millionaire.

Cam, by the way, is the guy you want at your wedding. Not because vendors will offer up deals if he promises to tweet about their services — which was some seriously tacky friend-pimping on Dealer Joe’s part — but because Cam is a Wedding Guy. He’s friendly, he’s good-natured, he likes to dance the wobble in a double-breasted, cobalt blue Jodeci suit. If he had an ounce of cynicism in him, Cam would make an amazing third wedding crasher for John and Jeremy.

He gives amazing, heartfelt speeches!

Ones that not only effortlessly upstage the best man, but threaten to do the same to the bride as well, because Cam is everyone’s favorite person. He can’t help himself. And he’s rich. And famous.

Never invite this man to your wedding.

OK, so Dealer Joe’s wedding offered a nice little detour to Boston and the opportunity for show writers to include a sign at the fictional Monroe-Collins Hotel that designated “Platinum Privilege Check-in” for VIP customers (ha), but it’s a little perplexing that Reggie, and not Allison, accompanied Cam to the wedding.

What’s going on with Allison, anyway? I mean, these two are in a serious relationship (like, Escalade Serious — that’s a thing, right?) but she’s not even a consideration as a wedding date? Weird. We can probably surmise that Allison’s visual absence is because there are limits on how much the show can use Meagan Tandy, the actress who plays her, because Tandy’s not a series regular. But really? We’re just not going to address her at all?

The boys aren’t doing a whole lot. What’s going on with the ladies? Erica Ash continues to delight as M-Chuck, and it turns out this court-appointed therapy with Dr. Roycroft is pretty valuable, even as old habits (such as randomly hooking up with neighborhood ladies and unwittingly falling victim to undercover hookers) die hard.

Can we please have a whole episode dedicated to M-Chuck and her Uncle-Julius-y ways?

Even as she’s leaning on Missy and thanking her for bailing her out of a $300 cunnilingus bill, M-Chuck’s still in the throes of ennui about her relationship with her mother, and Cassie’s refusal to reveal the identity of M-Chuck’s father.

“I think that she really believes that’s what love is,” M-Chuck tells Missy. “Crushing your spirit before someone else has the chance to do it.”

Odds and ends:

I really enjoy the scenes with M-Chuck and Dr. Roycroft, which range from hilarious to deeply introspective. This week, M-Chuck revealed that she’s not even sure her mother loves her.

The more we focus on Cassie’s reticence when it comes to the subject of M-Chuck’s father, the more I think her conception must have been the result of sexual assault. Where there’s silence, there’s usually shame not far behind.