Survivor’s Remorse Season 3 Premiere Recap: “The Night of The Crash” / “The Ritual” - Page 2

Uncle Julius suffered a terrible injury at the hands of a car crash to leave season 2 of Survivor’s Remorse on an excruciating cliffhanger. Fans wondered about his fate as they eagerly anticipated the season 3 premiere.

SPOILERS AHEAD

We get our answers and unfortunately the worst has occurred. For Cam Calloway and his family, they prepare for an emotional goodbye in episodes 301 “The Night Of The Crash” and 302 “The Ritual”

The five stages of grief illustrate the steps we encounter following a death of a loved one, and for the Calloways, these stages are on full display.

Denial

Denial presented itself in new ways this episode. No one wants to believe that Uncle J died. Cam implored him to get up when he sees Julius laying on the table motionless. They were also in denial about the cause of the accident. Knowing that Julius was a wild boy, they couldn’t consider that he had any fault in the accident. M-Chuck and Missy beg Reggie to scrutinize the truck driver for possible sleep deprivation or drunk driving. When Reggie finds out that Julius ran the red light, was smoking weed and didn’t wear a seatbelt, the harsh reality that Julius died in part due to his own negligence becomes a tough, but realistic pill to swallow.

Bargaining

The family debates whether the outwardly secular Uncle Julius had latent beliefs in a high power. They recover a St. Francis prayer card and argue over how to properly memorialize him. Reggie says Julius believed in practical things like Women, Weed and Weather, while Cam and Cassie think that he did believe but didn’t speak on it much. They even debate whether his last words “I wish I believed in God”, meant that he repented for denying religion on wished he could find comfort in a higher power, that he didn’t have faith existed. They decide to have a Church funeral and bury Julius in Atlanta.

Anger

You can’t tell anyone how they should feel, but anger commences the grieving process. The anger expressed can be warranted, as in the case of the nurse who asked Cam for a picture after he just got finished identifying his uncle, or misplaced like Jim Flaherty excoriating Dr. Harcourt and Dr. Lang for delivering the tragic news in a blunt, inhumane manner. We can reflect on those moments later on, as Flaherty did when realizing that Dr. Lang was a student who didn’t want to give that news and tried the best she could. Shout out to the True Blood reunion onscreen between Flaherty (Chris Bauer “Andy Bellefleur”) and Dr. Harcourt (Sam “Sam Merlotte” Trammell)! Cam tried to calm Reggie down, as even in his shocked state he could tell that the nurses just made a mistake, but that didn’t help. Cassie needed to be her extra blunt self in order to cope, but even her durable exterior crumbled when it continuously hit her that her brother perished.

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Photo: Starz

Grieving & Depression

When the realization that Julius was gone hit the family, the grieving truly began. Cassie was effected immediately, gripping with her separation from the church and looking to Chen for support and guidance. Chen provides that comfort that Cassie needs, even if he laces her with a million proverbs. Cam and Allison took Julius’s death especially hard, since he died in Allison’s old car and chose to drive it because she didn’t want to accept a car from Cam. Cam wonders if buying that car lead to his uncle’s death. Allison wonders if rejecting the car caused it too. Reggie and Missy respectively stand by Cam and Allison to reassure them that they each did the right thing. Reggie reminds Cam about his good hearted nature and not to blame himself for helping others. Missy let’s Allison know that not feeling comfortable accepting that car was no crime and probably a good move when thinking long term about her and Cam’s relationship. The flashback scenes showed Cam discussing love and the decision to buy Allison the car with Julius. Julius, in his hilarious way, let’s Cam know that he didn’t make a mistake buying the car. To make sure that Allison is the one, and that as long as he was good, Cam was good. Cam decides to play his game the night after Julius’s death, remembering that his uncle took him to the meanest courts in Boston to better his game because he believed in his talent. Grieving can also make you do crazy things, like Dr. Land showing up at Cam’s house to offer condolences (totally bugging btw.). Good intentions arise from situations like this and the show handles this in a great way.

During the hospital scene, Missy reveals that she’s been working with Flaherty to get admitted to colleges. M-Chuck confesses to Missy that her drive to go to college stems from a desire to be more than a family member living off of Cam’s money. Uncle Julius passing away hits her especially hard, as she begins to fully appreciate the life they have, and wants more for it.

While others got the opportunity to grieve immediately, Reggie had to play the role of mentor for Cam, and organizer for the guests. Reggie doesn’t get a real chance to grieve until a private moment with Missy, where he laments inviting a large group of people on Cam’s dime for the funeral.

Acceptance

The time the entire family dreaded arrived, as they prepared to send their Uncle Julius off in style. Cam’s eulogy epitomized Julius’s importance to their family. Julius for all his joking and shady at times ways, meant the world to them. He instilled a sense of realism that they needed and levity whether appropriate or not. Cassie lost a brother. Cam, Reggie and M-Chuck lost a father figure. Throughout the funeral and repast, the love the Calloway’s showed one another honored this character well, including all the typical funeral shenanigans, like family friends trying to bag M-Chuck, and new family (Squeeze) showing up uninvited, but wanting to pay their respects.

Julius enhanced the comedy and realism of Survivor’s Remorse over the past two seasons. These two episodes were a fitting sendoff. We couldn’t end the episode without discovering the origin of the St. Francis prayer card, which is peak Uncle Julius. Survivor’s Remorse season 3 has come out the gate with all of the feels and laughs we crave.

R.I.P. Unk!