John Glenn prepares to orbit the Earth while his wife Annie prepares to face the media with her stutter. When John’s flight is delayed, Vice President Johnson comes to visit her himself. But she refuses to let him in and NASA tries to ground John. When the men rally around him, they relent and John eventually orbits the Earth.
Deke Slayton ends up grounded before his big mission and Marge fears her past played a part in it.
Brace for impact.
We pick up where the last episode left off. Marge asks Deke why he’s grounded. He says it’s because of an irregular heartbeat. But Marge notes he’s always had it and Deke says NASA was fine with it when he was chosen. Now they aren’t and he doesn’t know why.
I still think it has something to do with Marge’s past.
The wives go to church, sitting in a pew together—except for Annie. She’s in the choir and even has a solo. Annie sounds beautiful and doesn’t stutter—which is common. It’s why a lot of stutterers take up singing as well as acting.
After all, everyone has brunch I guess. Jo tries to comfort Marge over Deke’s grounding…except it’s more like gloating. She knows her Wally is Deke’s backup, which means he’ll be the one to go up. Jo tells Marge to trust the system and Deke will go up soon enough.
Scott Carpenter runs in, grabs his wife and gives her a big kiss. The other women pretend not to watch but it’s hard not to. Rene asks him what that was for and he reveals that he’s the next to go up. He’s replacing Deke. As the Carpenters celebrate, Marge can’t help but take a shot at Jo.
Jo goes home and rants to Wally. She essentially blames Wally for not being serious enough so they passed him over. Ouch, Jo. Ouch.
Meanwhile, everyone is getting ready to move to Houston where NASA will be based out of. Why? Well, the Space Program is Vice President Johnson’s baby and Johnson is from Texas so…Yeah. Anyway, Gordon shows Trudy the plans for their house and she notes there are only two bedrooms. Meaning she’ll have to share a bed with him. You two could just do the two beds a la every TV show from that era. Gordon says the plans are final and they’ll make it work.
Rene and Scott have press conference with Pringle standing by to help field questions. I guessed they learned after leaving poor Betty high and dry last week. Speaking of Betty, she and Gus stand with the Glenns and Shepherds behind the Carpenters. With Gus cleared, NASA is willing to honor the Grissoms as one of the families who have survived space travel.
The press questions Scott and Rene. At one point, a reporter notes that Annie had talked about praying through John’s orbit. He asks Rene if she’s going to pray. She does some double speak and hopes they move on, but the reporter wants a straight answer. Will she pray? Rene gives her answer: No. The reporters go nuts, asking if she’s a Christian and if she goes to church. Betty leans over to the other women and says that while she usually will say what’s on her mind, that’s something she would’ve lied about. Louise seems to nod in agreement as Pringle tries to get the press conference back on track.
In the Carpenters’ house, Pringle lays into her for not saying she prayed. Rene rightly declares that her religious beliefs are her own. Pringle seizes on her wording and says that she does have a religion. He wants her to put it on display—to talk about praying, to be seen in church. Scott and Rene are uncomfortable with this. Pringle reminds them that they are in the USA and not the USSR. While communism quashed religion, Pringle seems to have forgotten that the USA has freedom of religion. Which includes not having one, if that’s how someone leans.
The other women try to convince her to play along with NASA but Rene refuses. Max—I finally learned the reporter’s name—says she can use the story he’ll write to explain everything but she’s still not having it. Especially after she was so displeased with how he made Scott appear in his last article.
To the point that she keeps avoiding Max. She asks Trudy to fly her down to Florida and she’s more than willing to help Rene. So all the Carpenters invade the hotel, not that Scott minds. Meanwhile, Trudy catches Gordon with another woman and yells at him. He races up to the room and Trudy lays into him again. She tells him he can play housewife and watch the girls while she goes out.
Scott continues to assure Rene that he will support her and she doesn’t have to share their beliefs with anyone. Least of all Life Magazine. Outside, Deke gets drunk and he tries to pick a fight with Scott. The others do their best to subdue him but he’s on a tear. Scott hurries away and they finally get Deke somewhere where he can sleep it off.
Louise is spending a quiet night at home when someone knocks on her door. She opens it to find Max on her doorstep. He says that Rene won’t talk to him and now she’s disappeared. Louise wants to know what this has to do with her. Max hopes that she can convince Rene that he’s not the devil and that he’ll help her with her article. He praises her and it sounds like he really does admire her. Louise says she’ll think about it.
Trudy hangs out at a local bar, joking that their drink menu describes her mood. The bartender asks if she’s there to pick up an astronaut and she plays along. A blonde woman comes over and talks to her about finding one. She suggests Alan Shepherd (poor Louise) but Trudy asks about Gordon. The blonde says that he’s sweet but once you get him behind doors, all he does is talk about his wife. As she walks away, Trudy looks like she has a lot to think about.
Gordon sleeps in the bathtub and she dumps water on him, waking him. He stands up and is confused when Trudy lays into him for not cheating. She asks why he flirts if he’s still hung up on her. Gordon confesses that he feels he has to talk a big game in front of the other guys because he’s the youngest and they know there are issues in his marriage with Trudy. She’s about to retort but she throws up instead.
Well, then.
In the morning, the other wives decide that they need to be there to support Rene. So they hop on a plane and fly down to Florida. Rene is touched when she spies them marching into the hotel, saying they are there for her. She thanks them.
Even if they brought Max with them.
That night, Rene and Scott talk by the pool. He explains what he’s going to do and he’s really passionate about it. She finds it amazing and pretty much everyone has a better marriage than the Shepherds.
Including Trudy and Gordon.
The morning of the launch, Rene tells them that she will be watching the flight from a house on the beach…just her and her children. She heads out but is warned that there is press there by the janitor’s son. Everyone sneaks her out and gets her on her way.
Rene and her children settle into a beach house as Wally counts down to Scott’s launch. As the rocket soars to the heavens, the wives get to witness first hand as it appears behind their hotel. Everyone is awed and now it’s time to wait for Scott’s return.
Mission Control checks in with everyone else and seems Scott is on course…until his scheduled check in in California. They are also worried as he is taking longer and doesn’t have much fuel left. Alan is stationed out there, trying to reach Scott when he loses contact with Mission Control. Everyone can only pray themselves now.
The news reports that Scott’s missed his check in and preparing the nation for the worst. The women feel bad and wonder if they should go to Rene’s…when they notice Annie’s already beat them to it. She knocks on Rene’s door and says that Rene was the first to stand up for her, so she’ll stand by Rene’s side.
Rene finally tells Annie why she doesn’t believe in God or prayers. She says she and Scott had another child but it died suddenly at six months old. (SIDS?) Rene couldn’t understand why it would happen and lost her faith. Annie just holds her hand and doesn’t judge.
After several tense moments, they find him a few hundred miles away from his landing site. Scott is safe and well. Rene and Annie hug as the wives celebrate.
Louise goes to talk to Max but when she gets to his hotel room, she learns that he’s not alone. As one of the beach bunnies puts her clothes back on, Louise makes a beeline for the exit.
There’s a party that night for Scott and the guys rib him about getting lost on his way to the landing site. He takes it in stride and laughs along with them. Trudy studies Gordon as he jokes with the other guys and Louise goes up to talk with Max. He tells her that beach bunny didn’t meant anything and that he’s finding himself attracted to her. Ruffled, Louise excuses herself.
Outside, Marge goes to talk with Deke. He says he feels like he’s not as smart as the other guys but she assures him he belongs in the program. Deke admits that he’s trying for the new Gemini program and Marge supports him.
Gordon prepares the bathtub for the night as Trudy enters. She tells him she knew she’d spend the rest of her life with him the moment she met him. And she admits that she still loves him, but he still is not forgiven. She also says that she learned the blueprints could be changed. Trudy tells him not to do something like that again because if he’s going to get back into her bed, he has to earn it. Gordon’s like “So there’s still a chance?”
At some point, Louise and Max share a kiss. I just can’t recall the exact one. So, yeah, that happened. Watch out, Alan!
Back in Virginia, Rene’s article in Life Magazine appears. She wrote it herself and everyone praises her for it. Her voiceover, reading passages from it, play over scenes of the families as they pack up and head for Texas. Deke and Marge reaffirm their goal of getting him on Gemini. Wally tells his wife that she’s right—sometimes he might seem to be too big a goofball. But they’re sending him up into space anyway. Jo celebrates her husband’s achievement before everyone drives off to Houston.
I’m intrigued by the Louise/Max tease. And I’m glad Rene got her day in the sun. Can’t wait to see the rest!
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