Episode five was pretty intense. I realize I’m behind and hope to have a post written about episode six this weekend or published later today. Episode five begins with Murphy having a pregnancy scare. Obviously there are plenty of blind mothers, but I think the show does a good job at capturing some of the challenges brought on because of blindness. Murphy needs Jess’s eyes to help figure out if she is pregnant. This speaks to the privacy blind women require in certain situations. I think this is a good time for people to put themselves in the shoes of a woman who is blind. Sadly, I can see this scene giving sighted people a reason to pity us. Instead, I think this should start a conversation about how important trust is and what real friendship and support looks like. Yes, I’m blind and I just said the word look. Lots of blind people use that word and others like it actually, so you should too when you are around them. Really, it’s okay. There’s this wonderful YouTube channel called
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2J7masgTZkHUiVowVJi6eg
They have actually really been helping me with visual aspects of the show I’ve been missing. You can tell sometimes they really aren’t educated about blindness which is why this show is so important. The hosts talk about how hard it would be to do certain things blind. Blindness certainly does have its challenges, just don’t start feeling bad about it or for the people who cannot see, okay? Otherwise it’s a great channel. I’d love to talk about the show with them, so please tweet them for me. You can find their Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/afterbuzztv
I heard from Benny once saying he’d check out my blog, so I’m going with the positive approach and saying he has. You can find his Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/bennyjadams
You can also find Bethanie’s Twitter below:
https://twitter.com/bethaniejhair
I’d love to be on the show sometime so please tweet them for me. I would really appreciate it and I think it would also be a good opportunity to have a great discussion about blindness. I mean, I do know a thing or two about that.
While we’re on the subject of blindness and blind parents, can we please stop it with everyone freaking out over blind women becoming moms? It happens so often and really, please calm down. Even sighted women go through times when they’re wondering if they are fit to bring a child into the world. Being blind certainly adds to it though. Is the new mother living in an area with good transportation? They would wonder about work because that’s a really low thing blind people deal with, but trust me, people freaking out over blind women learning how to parent really needs to stop. In the fifth episode we really get to see Jess and Murphy being human. This episode made me really feel for Felix. I’m using the word really a lot, wow. As is typical of each episode, Murphy is still trying to figure out what happened to Tyson. She meets Dean in a bar and he tells her he believes that a drug dealer ran Tyson out of town. I have to say, Dean can be quite funny and awkward sometimes when he’s trying to date. He seemed as if he was going to ask Murphy out, but Max showed up and I was surprised Murphy acknowledged that he was her boyfriend. I thought it was funny that Max told Dean she was getting used to having a boyfriend.
Jess and Murphy are trying to piece together what happened to Tyson and when he started working at the flower shop. Jess expresses to Murphy that she believes Tyson could have been unconscious, came to and ran off. Murphy and Jess go to the flower shop so Murphy can get information about her friend. Murphy later tells Jess she needs to find a way to feel a dead body to make sure Tyson was dead like she thought because he was the only dead person she had touched. Later in the episode we learn a lot about Felix. He comes from a rich family and feels like everyone treats him like a job. How sad. No one should be made to feel like they’re a burden or just someone’s job, but sadly this is something a lot of people with disabilities can relate to. Felix explains that his uncle is passing away and that he felt as though his uncle was the only one in his family who really cared about him.
Jess and Murphy show up at his house and play it off as if they are there to comfort him. Jess went along with Murphy as she always does, but she actually feels sad for Felix. The women meet Felix’s mom and she talks to them about how he isn’t good at much but has better things to say about his siblings. She comments about his work at the pet store and Murphy explains that he works to help give people service animals, herself included. Jess points out that Felix works hard, but it’s sad to see the relationship that he has with his mother. You’re his mother and you don’t have a clue about what your son does for a living? Hello? Yeah that’s definitely not something you should be proud of.
Felix, Jess and Murphy have consumed quite a bit of alcohol and he figures out that they are only spending time with him so Murphy can feel his uncle’s dead body. Of course he gets upset and makes them leave. Can you blame him? Do we even need to talk about how hurtful that is? Somebody hug Felix, please! This episode really brings out the human side of Jess and Murphy and does an incredible job of showcasing the girl’s true friendship. Once they left, Jess yells at Murphy for how she has treated Felix. She tells Murphy that she can’t be like her and go around feeling dead bodies and hurting people like it is nothing. She explains to Murphy how awful it is that she has been ignoring Max’s calls, especially because she might be carrying his baby. We finally see Murphy break down a little and explain to her best friend that she has thought about possibly having a baby all day and she can’t imagine passing on her messed up jeans to anyone else. She tells Jess that when she says, “messed up jeans,” she’s not talking about her blindness. I love this because sighted people think blindness is so horrible when it really doesn’t have to be. The girls apologize to Felix and Jess stays with him to make him something to eat and some tea. She tells him he will be okay and we see her meet Felix exactly where he is. We all need a friend in our lives like that don’t we? This episode made me love Jess so much! I think it is really important that Jess has been so blunt with Murphy because true friends love you enough to be that straight forward.
Next I want to talk about Max and Darnell. Darnell is one of those characters I don’t typically like. I didn’t really care for Murphy too much in the beginning of the show and I certainly didn’t quite know what to make of Max at first. The more I watch though, the more I like them. In this episode we learn that Darnell has loved the cop, Jules, he has been sleeping with since he was a teenager. What? Darnell is out with Jules when he gets a call that the place they were dealing drugs was busted. Jules, being a cop, is always conflicted between protecting Darnell and doing the right thing as an officer. Darnell tries telling her to act as though she heard nothing, but she tells him she can’t not hear what she heard. Speaking of Darnell’s forceful behavior, he tells Max he is no longer allowed to be with Murphy. Max tells Darnell that he is no longer going to make money for him and that he is not walking away from Murphy. Now that is a real man right there. We should be applauding Max for setting boundaries with Tyson’s cousin and telling him he is giving up dealing for the woman he loves.
Now I want to talk about the final flower shop scene. Murphy finally calls Max and he tells her that the flower shop is a drug front. Murphy makes her way to the shop, confronts the owner and again tries getting information about her friend. In this moment she learns she really isn’t pregnant. When she is in the bathroom, she realizes something terrible is going on. Thanks to After TV Buzz, I figured out that the visual information I missed was Murphy taking her dog and standing on top of the toilet. I knew she was doing something because she told him, “Up,” but the channel helped me with clarification. Murphy calls 911 but I’m not sure why she doesn’t do it right away. The hosts on After Buzz TV were talking about how Murphy has to use her phone by voice, but this isn’t always the only way for her to use it. See? This is why I want to talk to them so badly! For anyone who might think like them, let me explain. Other than talking to her phone, there is another way to use voice technology by swiping and tapping the numbers on the keypad followed by tapping the call button, so she could’ve done that. She was put on hold which is weird, so she calls Dean. He was at a bar on a date with Chelsea, the bartender. I like Chelsea’s character a lot actually. I think Dean and Chelsea are interesting. Dean has Murphy feel the person to figure out if they are still alive. It turns out that the owner of the flower shop was shot. Murphy ended up feeling another dead body besides Tyson’s, but what a crazy way to get what she wanted!
Have you watched In the Dark? What are your thoughts on the show? A huge thank you to After Buzz TV for helping me with the visual aspects of the show I’m missing. I would love to talk about the show on one of your episodes! Is there anything else I should be blogging about? Please leave me a comment on my site, find me on Twitter at mirandaloakley or on Facebook at Miranda Oakley. If you find me on Facebook, please reach out and tell me how you found me. Thanks for reading. I know it was a long one.
Best,
Miranda ❤
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