All’s Fair Recap: Body Count

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It’s shocking that it took seven episodes for this show to explore such a disturbing topic. After Dina Standish’s husband, Doug, passed away last week, instead of contacting the authorities, she simply went to bed next to his body. While it first seemed like an extreme case of putting things off, it quickly became clear she couldn’t bear to let him go, and she kept his body with her for days. Although there’s no suggestion of any sexual activity, her refusal to part with the corpse is deeply unsettling, and he begins to resemble someone who has been deceased for a long time.

While the other lawyers at the firm split up Dina’s workload, Liberty feels excluded because Allura and Emerald have been privately checking in with their boss. This makes Liberty feel like she’ll never truly connect with them and fit into their group. She finally voices her frustration, pointing out what she perceives as the prejudice British people experience in Los Angeles. It seems Allura, Emerald, and Dina share inside jokes and bond over things like their preference for the American version of The Office, their approval of Madonna’s accent, and their enjoyment of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills since Lisa Vanderpump’s departure. Liberty suspects they all get the Fourth of July off while she’s left to work.

Worried about being excluded, Liberty visits Dina to offer her condolences, only to run into Carrington, who is doing the same. They trade barbs – Carrington’s way of showing affection – before both manage to get past the housekeeper and deliver their casseroles. When Dina discovers Doug’s body is upstairs and decaying, Liberty is shocked by this makeshift memorial. Carrington, however, seizes the moment to try and impress Dina with an unbelievably over-the-top speech.

Carr describes Dina’s wish to hold onto her husband’s body by comparing it to the profound grief she felt when her beloved childhood cat died. She recounts keeping the cat in her bed for days after it passed, refusing to let go even as it decomposed, despite her mother’s protests. Carr feels the monologue, delivered with unwavering commitment by Sarah Paulson, is intensely raw and impactful, almost to the point of being unsettling. It’s so emotionally charged that it feels like a deliberate provocation, a test of the audience’s boundaries. The writer anticipates the monologue becoming widely performed and remembered, yet also suspects a playful intent behind its shocking content, imagining the writers’ room anticipating the reaction it would provoke.

Ultimately, that strange comparison—mostly a way to keep having Paulson deliver the most awkward lines—works for Dina, and Carr gets to stay. This is particularly upsetting for Liberty, whom Carr cruelly compares to a “Princess Diana wannabe” – a pointed jab considering Liberty played Diana in the 2013 film of the same name. Hopefully, the show will keep referencing the actors’ past roles, eventually culminating in Dina Standish simply cooking a rabbit.

Okay, so things get really tense when Dina finally snaps at Emerald during the ridiculously over-the-top wake Carrington throws. It all comes out after Emerald confronts Dina about, well, basically treating Doug’s body like a creepy collectible – seriously, it reminded me of something out of Riverdale! But honestly, the wake itself just becomes a battleground for Liberty and Carrington to fight over Dina, kind of like Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig going at it in Bridesmaids. Carrington tries to outdo Liberty with this huge event, Liberty shows up with bagpipers, but Dina isn’t having any of it. She makes it clear Doug would have hated the bagpipes – apparently, he couldn’t stand plaid! It’s a funny little detail, and you almost wish Liberty, being British, had picked up on that.

Meanwhile, Allura is meeting with her ex-husband, Chase, to finalize their divorce. It’s not a romantic dinner – she’s delivering the papers and surprisingly, telling him she forgives him. She even urges him to apologize to all the women he’s hurt in the past. Chase wonders how he’d ever find them all, but Emerald has conveniently made a list. What follows is a strange and comical montage, set to Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Manchild,” showing each apology attempt going horribly wrong.

The biggest challenge will likely be the meeting in Milan, which Allura has agreed to help arrange. Somehow, Allura has transitioned from wanting to ruin Chase’s life to actively helping him work through his issues – even connecting him with his former mistresses. The whole situation is baffling, and frankly, doesn’t really make sense. To top it all off, this discussion about Milan happens while Chase is dressed as Larry from Three’s Company and Allura is wearing a strange outfit – business attire mixed with a candy striper uniform.

The meeting with Milan quickly turns disastrous. She immediately starts throwing objects at him, mirroring the explosive outbursts of Scott Rudin. She shouts insults about his wealth, delivering the lines with the same powerful intensity she displayed in her film, One Battle After Another. He responds by angrily leaving, threatening a custody battle. While they don’t resolve their issues, Carrington Lane gains a new case – a contentious situation involving a mother potentially losing her child, which perfectly aligns with her manipulative and controlling personality.

Honestly, after all the drama, Allura finally showed up to the wake, and that’s when everyone told her the really gruesome details – the body was, well, not doing so great upstairs. We all decided to go up there and try to reach her, and after a pretty intense moment where it became clear his spirit had already moved on, she finally let go. Hopefully, someone remembered to air out the room afterward, it probably needed it!

Dina isn’t the only one making questionable choices regarding her late husband’s remains. Following that unsettling situation, Allura reconnects with Chase and they become intimate. However, these scenes feel awkward, with Allura appearing strangely detached despite a lot of makeup being used. It’s unclear what Allura hopes to gain from this encounter. While Chase wants to try and rekindle their relationship, Allura rejects his advances the next morning, appearing in a provocative outfit reminiscent of Tom Cruise in Risky Business.

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2025-12-02 21:55