Triptych

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, physical abuse, and anti-gay bias.

Angie visits the hospital where Gina works and tells Gina’s coworker that she is there about Michael. Gina’s coworker flatly states that he hopes Michael is dead. Suddenly, John Shelley appears in the ER, escorting his coworker, Ray Ray. John asks Angie (whom he knows as Robin) on a date, and she asks him why he was in prison.

When Angie sees Gina, she notices that the woman has a split lip and a black eye. Gina recognizes Angie and tells her that she first met Michael when she was 15. Angie puts makeup on Gina’s face to cover the bruises. During the conversation, Gina also mentions that Michael once told her that he had gone on a fishing trip in the mountains with Ken. Gina has left Michael and is now staying at her mother’s home. Angie urges Gina to get help, but Gina is afraid of Michael’s pervasive influence within law enforcement. Hearing Gina’s story, Angie privately reflects on her own broken strings of relationships and her need to lie as a survival mechanism.