Right before our eyes, the tables have turned, and the story is coming full circle.
Where they once envied the other for very different reasons, they’ve discovered what it means to be standing in the other’s shoes.
Why Women Kill Season 2 Episode 9 found Alma and Rita changing places, but by the end of the hour, it seems that sadness is on both of their doorsteps.
It saddens me to see how far Alma has fallen.
When we first met her, she was at a crossroads. After years of coveting what others had, she decided to grab for the brass ring as a member of the Elysian Park Garden Club with encouragement from Dee.
If Dee had any idea what she was encouraging, she never would have given Alma the push to go after what she wanted.
Then again, did Alma really fall? If we want to be Godly about it, thou shalt not covet what your neighbor has. Sometimes, that green feeling drives you to excel. In Alma’s case, it drove her to take shortcuts and what wasn’t rightfully hers.
Alma could have earned the respect of the Garden Club women. She seemed to be, at heart, a kind and caring woman. She initially made inroads when she returned the broach to Grace.
It’s too bad she didn’t continue down that path. Now, she’s a two-time murder and a blackmailer.
Once Alma got a taste of the top, she didn’t want to stop until she was the queen of the ball. Being in the Garden Club wasn’t enough. She wanted to be its president.
Alma’s biggest problem is that she lets others drive how she feels about herself. When the women ignored her, she felt worthless. When they encourage her, she feels on top of the world.
I don’t know that Joan deserved the Garden Club presidency. She doesn’t seem like a nice person. But she was qualified for the job. Alma is not.
She’s stooped so very low by this point that there’s no other way for her than further down.
By contrast, after being charged with Carlo’s murder, Rita has pivoted. She’s realized the error of her ways, from how she wronged her beloved Isabel to her treatment of Scooter.
Out of jail, Rita discovered that she treated everyone so poorly that she was on her own. She couldn’t even keep shelter over her head without the assistance of some soul who would treat her far better than she ever treated them.
Scooter is happy with Catherine. Who would have thought? He enjoys her company, and the sex isn’t bad. He doesn’t enjoy how obsessed she is with taking down Rita, but he understands it. Rita actually liked him, and she still didn’t do right by him.
But when Rita needed a hand up, Scooter was there to offer it to her. It didn’t mean that he would leave Catherine, but he didn’t like seeing a woman he cared for suffering, either.
But their title-worthy unguarded moment had devastating consequences. Catherine hellbent desire for vengeance against Rita cost them both Scooter and Alma and Dee a husband and father.
Bertram was a guilty bystander to Catherine’s rage. Most bystanders are innocent, but we could argue that Bertram was right where he was supposed to be.
After decades of peacefully ending lives without being asked, Alma’s discovery of his little secret turned his world upside down. His best company? A bottle of booze and a dead woman.
Only his love for animals and Dee remained, and it will be Dee who suffers the loss of her parents. Thankfully, she has Vern, who cares about her deeply enough to consider keeping her parents’ secret on the down-low.
We have no idea how this will end, but Rita, Dee, and Vern might be the only three left standing.
Alma’s idiocy about Mrs. Yost’s death is astounding. She had the chance to come clean about the woman and how she died. She could have lied and still come clean by admitting an argument with Bertram that nosy Mrs. Yost was listening in on, leading to her death from a fall.
Instead, she threw Bertram under the bus as an adulterer and murderer, albeit of the heroic variety since, supposedly, he was protecting Alma from Mrs. Yost’s large knife.
It’s got to be exhausting being Alma. I’m excited for her to get her comeuppance. What will really please me is if Rita witnesses it and pities Alma. Nothing would get Alma’s goat more than being pitied by a fallen Rita.
I’m worried about Vern. It might have been a kill or be killed situation with Alma. He probably thought that Bertram killed everyone, but the look on Alma’s face when he produced the drugs says otherwise.
Dee and Vern were going to be on similar pages concerning her parents. Dee wanted to talk about what she learned, even as Vern tried to do right by Dee.
With only one episode to go, it should be one heck of a finale as all of the pieces come together, and punishment is meted out to those that deserve it.
Who will be left standing? Hit us up with your theories so that we can see who comes closest!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.