The Best Offence Is The Fence – As the second episode of Totally Completely Fine begins, Vivian Cunningham (Thomasin McKenzie) sits outside and thinks about the accident with her parents. Louis (Max Crean) interrupts and introduces himself as Walt’s paperboy. He came to check on her because he knows it is difficult losing a loved one. Louis asks about her strategy and whether she just blocks people going to the cliff. He gives her a newspaper that she doesn’t want before leaving. When Viv rushes inside to use the bathroom, she is stopped by Amy (Contessa Treffone) who has made breakfast. After using the bathroom, Vivian recommends Amy get out of her house.

She thinks people are likely looking for Amy, but Amy suggests she needs a sidekick. Their conversation ends when Dane walks in to try to help Vivian. Dane explains that he has lived there for about 12 years. When a drunk gentleman stumbled up there, Dane grabbed him by the neck and held him until the police arrived. He wanted to understand it from that moment forward. Dane thinks suicide is preventable. The people who come there want them to intervene. The more they talk the more their intention will decrease. Dane says they have to give immediate assistance before passing the individual off to a trained professional. The training continues into the evening.

Dane tells Vivian she needs to take this seriously although she says she is. Dane reminds her that they have about five minutes and he doesn’t know what is going to work here. They need a plan. He wonders if they need to accept the fact that Vivian isn’t the same as Walt. He talked people down and took them inside, but some people aren’t made for that. Dane says Vivian can call him when she sees people show up. She just needs to keep them away from the edge until he gets there. Vivian says that is the best thing he has said all day. Later, Vivian begins installing a barrier to prevent suicide before Hendrix (Brandon McClelland) comes over to visit. He begins crying and says they delivered granddad’s ashes this morning.

Vivian agrees to take the ashes before Amy comes out with a tissue for Hendrix. Amy tells him about her juice fast. Then, she introduces herself and says she lives with Vivian. Hendrix thought Viv was moving out. She says she is although she was going to finish Walt’s pergola first. Hendrix says John needs to see this. He believes they should do the ashes ceremony there. Vivian thinks she and John will never be in the same rooms again after the funeral incident. Hendrix claims it was John’s idea. Vivian asks Amy about wearing her cardigan. She calls Amy a stranger who is wearing their dead grandfather’s clothing. Amy’s parents arrive seconds later. Vivian tells Hendrix that she’ll do the ashes ceremony before he prepares to leave.

Hendrix calls John to try to get him to come to the ashes ceremony at Walt’s house. He also tells him that Viv is sorry about what happened at the funeral. John questions why she hasn’t asked him herself. Hendrix says she is too proud. John agrees to think about coming to the ceremony. After the call, John talks to Alejandro about Walt’s chair and his siblings. Alejandro would like to do something nice for them. He suggests making blankets using Walt’s old clothes since some came with the chair. John eventually admits it might be a good idea. Lorraine complains to Amy since she said she would go through with it. Amy explains that she experienced a profound spiritual awakening. Amy thinks she is supposed to be there.

When she exits the room, Vivian tells her parents that it would be best to take her home. Lorraine reveals that Amy came out of her amniotic sac and that is rare so they knew she was different from the other two. Her dad says Amy is a jumper so she jumps off or out of things when she can’t cope. When Amy comes back, they tell her that George still loves her and wants to be with her. Vivian manages to convince Amy to leave with her parents. Then, she hears an older woman cursing because she got stuck in the barrier she installed. She struggles to free the woman from the barbed wire before learning her name is Beatrice. Vivian takes her inside so she can get the blood off of her face and out of her mouth.

Once they go inside, Vivian says she is going to call Dane. Beatrice doesn’t want her to do that because Dane is about as stale as a nursing home rendition of Angels in America. Vivian gets her the first aid kit and the tin from under the couch. Beatrice reveals she comes there to have a couple of tea with Walt every Wednesday. She only tried to jump once and only came to check Vivian out. Vivian wants her to leave for wasting her time. They agree to smoke some of the weed in the tin first. While working on the blanket, Alejandro asks John about Vivian. John wants to forget it and have sex, but Hendrix knocks on the door and stops that from happening.

Hendrix comes inside and reveals he passed out because he hasn’t eaten enough. Alejandro joins them and says this is dangerous. He asks Hendrix why he is doing the fast. Hendrix wants to talk about it until John begins throwing food at him. Before Hendrix leaves, he tells John that Alejandro is a real keeper. Beatrice tells Vivian how Walt bought marijuana when he thought it might help. They talk about Vivian’s training before she is asked what she is scared of. Vivian thinks this is scary because one wrong move or word could lead to issues. Walt mentioned she had been through some stuff herself and had attempted last year. Viv denies it and says it isn’t any of Beatrice’s business anyway.

Beatrice says the greatest secret to all of this is that the person out there is a human being. They need what you needed when you were at your lowest. Beatrice tells her how Walt was good at this and shared his own stuff. He would talk about the kids and the accident. Viv admits she tried it last year and Walt was the only one who knew. A psychologist eventually gave her medication that made her fat and stopped her from feeling. They turn their attention to the urn and agree that it looks sad. They take the urn to the ledge where Beatrice tells Walt how she made him feel young again. Viv was happy to see him at Embrace, but it broke her to see him look at her like that. She tells him that he was the best.

They toss the ashes over the ledge. John falls to the ground due to a panic attack so Alejandro springs into action and helps him. Alejandro asks if John is ashamed of him and if that is why he won’t let him near his family. When John denies that, Alejandro asks him to prove it. Tom arrives to pick up Beatrice and take her back. Then, Vivian learns that Amy jumped from the vehicle and came back. She dug up a box that she hasn’t been able to open yet. Vivian suspects she is scared of something so she tries to find out what. Amy was afraid of committing to someone. She says she’ll call him tonight. Dane arrives with his mother because they called. Viv says she didn’t need him because she handled it.

Once Viv goes inside, she gets a call from John. He’d like to come over for the ashes ceremony because he thinks it’d be nice. He is going to bring Alejandro who hasn’t seen how he can be around them. John asks Viv not to do anything bad. She agrees while looking at the empty urn.

 

Totally Completely Fine Review

Totally Completely Fine has everything going for it including an interesting premise, beautiful scenery, and a good cast. Unfortunately, the second episode was pretty disappointing because it showed what the series is going to do from here on out. Like so many other modern shows, Totally Completely Fine has taken serious subject matter and turned it into a juvenile, silly mess.

Why did the dialogue and actions of the characters have to be so stupid? Due to the quirky delivery and unfunny jokes, the subject matter doesn’t have any significance. If the jokes were blended in a little better and didn’t consume three-quarters of the episode, they might’ve been a welcomed addition. However, this episode was predominately jokes and other eye-rolling dialogue.

After the first episode, I was at least hopeful that this could transform into an emotional ride that explored the problems of the suicidal people Vivian helped. After the second episode, I am less optimistic and I am starting to not care in the least. To say this was a lost opportunity would be an understatement. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Totally Completely Fine can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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