Stan – As the sixth episode of Apples Never Fall begins, Stan Delaney (Sam Neill) wakes up in the hospital with Brooke (Essie Randles) next to him. Elena Camacho (Jeanine Serralles) and Ethan Remy (Jeanine Serralles) are standing nearby. Stan asks Brooke if they found Joy. Dr. Adams (Georgina Naidu) enters to tell Stan that his heart is fine. They believe he had an extreme anxiety attack even though he doesn’t want to accept that. The detectives want to question Stan, but Tyler Cruz (Quentin Plair) attempts to stop them. Brooke explains she hired Cruz as a defense lawyer. Tyler urges Stan not to speak to the detectives and for them to leave him alone while he recovers.

Elena informs Stan that they got a search warrant to search his property. She warns Stan it won’t be friendly like last time. Brooke calls Logan (Conor Merrigan Turner) to tell him what happened. She hired Cruz because Logan sent that video to the detectives. After the call, Logan tells Troy (Jake Lacy) that Stan used one of his boats. Troy questions how they got there. In a flashback, Joy (Annette Bening) complains about Stan hitting her son. After Stan storms out, Brooke tells Joy she did this to all of them. Logan says it was Stan’s dream before he and Amy leave. Troy says it’s his whole life. Once they’re alone, Stan asks Joy what she’s done. Later, Troy tells Amy (Alison Brie) it’s been 19 years of Stan hating him because Joy wouldn’t tell the truth.

Brooke says part of her feels like she doesn’t even know Joy anymore. Troy says Joy picked the worst way to deal with what Stan did. Brooke follows up by saying she doesn’t even feel sorry about it. Amy meets Joy who believes everyone hates her now. Amy tells her that they just need some time even though it’s been two weeks. Joy admits things are quiet at home without Savannah. Amy asks if she has thought about apologizing to Stan. Joy says she hasn’t. She says she was in an impossible situation and did what she did to save the family. In the present, Stan and Brooke return to a ransacked home. Stan asks where the others are at. He questions whether Troy finally convinced them he’s the killer. Brooke promises they’re going to find Joy before she leaves to get some things.

Stan steps on a picture of the family. Logan and Troy talk about the possibility of killing Stan. They wonder what they should do now. Troy suggests none of this would happen if they could travel back in time and answer Joy’s call that day. Logan believes Troy was right all along. He has always been such a lapdog and he isn’t sure he liked tennis as much as Troy. He might’ve turned into Stan if Troy helped him buy the academy. They agree that Joy was the force behind the academy. Brooke speaks to Gina (Paula Andrea Placido) who learns she dipped into the wedding fund to pay for the lawyer. Gina is glad she found a good way to use that money. In the past, Troy and Logan play pool before Stan joins them. Troy isn’t happy to learn that Logan set it up.

Stan was hoping they could talk about what happened and put it behind them. Troy says he is angry about the 20 years leading up to the fight. Stan offers to buy him a beer. Troy says an apology would really mean something. Then, he changes his mind and says he wants an admission from Stan that he was a failure of a parent. He asks Stan to tell Joy to stop calling him before leaving. In the present, Stan sits alone and reads the pamphlet about anxiety. Brooke calls to say Tyler wants her to look into something. Stan insists he’ll be okay on his own tonight. Stan calls Logan to ask him to call. Amy talks to Simon (Nate Mann) about Stan moving stuff in a duffel bag. Simon reminds her that he’s there for her. Brooke interrupts to tell Amy that Tyler said the police’s case is pretty shaky. It’ll be better for Stan if there is another good suspect or something.

Brooke hopes there is something in the tips Amy collected. Amy isn’t sure there’s anything in there though. Brooke begins looking through them anyway. Logan sends the video to Stan with a message saying he sent it to the police. Stan grabs his keys and gets ready to leave. He goes to the detectives to tell them the bag is full of trophies. Stan claims Joy hated them so he threw them in the ocean. He asks them to stop focusing on him and figure out what actually happened to his wife. Ethan says they found trophies in his home. Stan explains they were the trophies from the time he was coaching Harry Haddad. The detectives ask about their fight before Joy left. Stan says they argued and Joy accidentally scratched him. Stan took a long walk to cool down and she was gone when he returned.

Elena made a few international calls and found out about Stan’s dad. It didn’t sound like he was a particularly kind man. Stan denies being violent and claims he got caught up in the moment that one time. Stan knows he isn’t perfect, but he insists he tried hard to be a good husband, father, and coach. Elena says his children think he’s a murderer. Stan says he lied about where she was because he was ashamed. He detailed his car because it was a mess. Stan doesn’t know why Joy’s jacket was buried in the neighbor’s yard. Elena warns him about the story the jury will hear before asking him to plead guilty. Stan writes “I did not kill my wife” before handing the clipboard back. He tells the detectives they can talk to his lawyer from now on. In the past, Monty (Timm Sharp) asks for Troy’s help.

Troy wants to help until he finds Joy outside his house. She wants to explain her side of the story. Joy says she knew Troy would be fine and he was. Troy tells her he needs to go before walking away. Stan teaches Gina how to serve. Joy asks if they need a fourth. Brooke says they were just leaving. Once they leave, Joy questions why they never punish Stan like this. In the present, Brooke calls someone who isn’t helpful. Amy asks if it was QAnon or UFO. She tells Amy that she has the energy of the oldest child. Brooke asks if she thinks Stan is capable of that. She shows Amy a tip offering to tell them what happened to Mrs. D for $50k. She thinks it might be legit since only people from the academy call Joy Mrs. D. Amy isn’t convinced. Brooke already called the number but no one answered.

She is thinking about driving to the Keys to ask in person. Claire meets Troy who gives her the paperwork which has been signed and notarized. He tells her that the embryos are all hers. Troy warns her that half of his DNA is from a monster. When asked why he’s doing this now, Troy says he just wants her to be proud of him. Claire says she really thought the world of him. She loved him and felt so horrible that she had lied to him. Troy admits he was mad at Joy and hard on her. Stan tells Tyler Cruz that he told the truth so he isn’t sure how that can hurt him. Stan admits he is surprised Logan sent that video to the police. He asks if the cops are even looking at Savannah. In the past, Joy finds Stan restringing a tennis racket. Although Amy asked her to apologize, she won’t. She wants Stan to understand her instead.

Joy explains that Stan hitting Troy was just the last straw in the haystack. She says he left so many times when she needed him. Joy talks about how it felt wondering whether he’d come back. She thinks they might be able to get better if he tells her where he went and why. Stan reminds her she stepped out on the marriage and lied to them for years. He’ll never understand that and he guesses Troy never will either. Stan accuses her of costing them everything. Joy asks if he’s happy to let the kids turn against her. She goes inside and finds an envelope with her name on it. Indira (Pooja Shah) approaches Logan and they have sex on a boat. He thanks her for being there. She told the committee her research can be on pause for a few days. Logan believes he should’ve chosen differently when she left.

He’s been thinking about how he was a lapdog and how he became the easy one when stuff went down. Amy and Brooke visit the location to speak to the possible tipster. The woman wants the money before she’ll say anything. They try to convince her to tell them what she knows before getting the money. The woman doesn’t think they get it. Brooke asks why she hates Joy, but the woman will say nothing until she gets money. Stan calls Brooke to invite her over to eat pizza with him. The detectives arrive and place him under arrest. The detectives bring the kids in to tell them about the charge. They explain that Stan kept his recorder going on April 9. It captured a fight between Stan and Joy before she disappeared. The recording was enough for the DA to sign off on charges.

Troy wants to hear the recording. Amy says they’ll listen to it together. In the recording, Joy tells Stan he was never good enough for Harry. There is a scuffle and a thud when he tries to leave. Joy yells for him to stop. Brooke storms out of the police station. Amy and the others go to a restaurant later even though most of them don’t want to eat. Stan calls Brooke from the detention center. She declines to accept his call. Savannah (Georgia Flood) sees a news article about Stan’s arrest. She walks inside a house where Joy greets her.

 

Apples Never Fall Review

The sixth episode of Apples Never Fall did very little to set up anything other than a nothing burger that will fail to make the series worthwhile. Each episode has been incredibly tedious with lots of unnecessary side stories that add very little. None of the characters are sympathetic making it increasingly difficult to care about these side stories so only Joy’s disappearance will matter to most.

If viewers are adamant about watching this series, they should watch the first and last episodes only. The rest hasn’t been worth watching and adds little to nothing of value. The performances remain very bad to the point that this would fit right in on the Lifetime channel. That might be an insult to the Lifetime channel. Some of this can be blamed on the illogical decision to move the story to Florida and force many non-American performers to use American accents.

It simply doesn’t work because most of the lines being delivered are void of any emotion. The detectives are probably the biggest culprits, but no one is doing themselves any favors. The cameraman must’ve been having a seizure throughout the entire filming process because the camera has not stopped shaking once. At this point, it’s just hard to care because six hours with these characters and this cockamamie, unoriginal story has been borderline torture.

The sixth episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of Apples Never Fall can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show with friends at the Reel Mockery Forum.