TV Recap: FX's "The Shards" Episode 4 — A Stranger with a Knife Crashes Robert's Party
Bret Ellis isn’t the only narrator of The Shards, as we learn in Episode 4 when the POV briefly changes. The past few episodes have been teasing “Robert’s Party,” and it’s finally arrived. But first, we learn a little more about Bret’s summer crush, Ryan.
Episode 4: “Robert’s Party” - Written by Juli Weiner
When his dad lost the family’s fortune, Ryan Vaughn (Daniel Dale) began secretly acting in porn films that would allegedly only be released internationally as a way to afford his upcoming tuition at Yale. He arrives to meet with his manager, Jan “Butch” Banxxx (Dot-Marie Jones), who tells him that the days of the porno theater are over with the rising popularity of VCR’s. She has a new client for him to break in, and he is introduced to “Cami Soul,” aka Liz Schaffer (Evan Rachel Wood). They both recognize each other. As they get on set, Liz begs Ryan not to tell her husband or daughter. She compliments his fragrance, asking if he’s wearing Kouros.
We then get a peek into Thom Wright’s (Graham Campbell) life as his mom (Ginifer King) asks him to be home after school to meet her new boyfriend. Thom protests, but she says he’s a pediatrician who wants to take care of them. She mentions that Thom’s dad left them, but Thom says she kicked him out.
At Hamburger Hamlet, Thom tells the gang how hard it is to see his mom happy now that they aren’t a family anymore. Debbie Schaffer (Hayes Warner) can’t imagine seeing her mom happy, so she suggests they get some drinks. They go to the bar to find one of their teachers, Mr. Flanigan (Allen Rueckert), serving drinks. He refuses to serve them alcohol, but they all have fake IDs, and he relents.
When Bret Ellis (Igby Rigney) connects with the group, he tells them about nightmares he keeps having about The Trawler. Debbie loves the drinks Mr. Flanigan made them and wants to have them at Robert’s party. Bret is still in disbelief that the party is happening, considering that Matt and Rhonda are missing. Susan Reynolds (Kaia Gerber) shares that it would be too late to cancel the DJ and catering. They take a vote, and everyone but Bret agrees they should still have the party.
Bret arrives at the party, having convinced himself that he would only be there to document it. A beige van is parked on the street. With Susan’s parents in Palm Springs, they have the place to themselves. Thom gets upset when he sees Susan flirting with Robert Mallory (Homer Gere). Debbie is also upset when she sees Cha Cha (Bella Valdes) on the dance floor, who has become a star on Dance Off. Susan begs Debbie not to cause a scene when she refuses to kick Cha Cha out, but Debbie approaches the uninvited guest and threatens to dethrone her on TV.
“I’m so happy you came,” Debbie tells Bret as she kisses his cheek. “I’m not,” he tells her, sulking. She brought him a gift, Stephen King’s Cujo, which he’s already read. She’s upset that he doesn’t seem to appreciate her gesture, feeling burned when he gets up to find Susan.
Debbie marches into Susan’s room, kicking a couple out so she can be alone. She tries to console herself with cocaine as Ryan finds her, asking if she’s ok. “It’s just Bret; he ignores me,” she pouts, telling Ryan about the book and how Bret rarely touches her. Ryan says she wouldn’t have to ask if she was his girlfriend. It perks Debbie’s interest. “You’d be the one begging me,” she flirts.
Bret enters the kitchen and meets two boys from Brentwood: Rohmer (Colin Cassidy) and Balthazar (Gilbert Aguirre). He asks how they know Robert and learns that they were friends of his in middle school in Chicago, but ran into him again last week at the Galeria. “I thought he’d be in jail by now,” Rohmer laughs. Bret asks for more information and learns that Robert’s mom’s death appeared to be homicide, with police believing she was pushed down the stairs. Robert was one of the suspects, but was cleared of wrongdoing.
Thom finds Susan by the dance floor, asking who she’s looking for. “No one,” she lies as he takes her hand to dance. They reminisce about their first dance Freshman year and how Susan recited an E. E. Cummings poem in his ear, but he got wasted later. “Beer before liquor never been sicker, that’s the poem you should’ve recited,” he jokes, which seems to annoy her. She spots Robert and sees Bret whisper something in his ear. Then Robert heads to the bar, grabs a bottle, and storms off.
Cut to drunk Robert dancing, attracting a crowd. Bret finds Susan and tells her he needs to talk to her about Robert. She demands to know what Bret said to Robert, saying he’s on medication that doesn’t mix well with alcohol. When Bret tells Susan that he thinks Robert is responsible for the disappearance of Matt and Rhonda, she calls him a psycho. But Robert begins smashing glass bottles on the dance floor, and Bret refuses to intervene when Susan asks him to. She calls for Thom.
Meanwhile, Debbie and Ryan were getting hot and heavy in Susan’s room, but a framed photo of Debbie with her friends and boyfriend made her ask him to stop. Just then, a man (Gus Halper) walks out of Susan’s closet and gets in front of the door, locking it. He smiles at the cheating teens as they lie in bed together. Ryan pleads with the man to let Debbie go, but it doesn’t work.
When Thom tries to stop Robert, they get into a fight that ends when Robert kisses Thom on the lips, freaking him out. Robert keeps dancing as he strips to his boxers, dancing with bare feet on the broken glass. He then heads to the pool, jumps in, and lies face down, not moving. Susan strips to her underwear, dives in, and pulls Robert out. Thom watches as his girlfriend gives Robert mouth-to-mouth, which seems sensual. When Robert revives, coughing up water, Susan asks if he’s ok. “Only when you’re around,” he flirts. Thom pulls Susan off him, punching Robert. Bret intervenes just as the power goes out. They all hear Debbie scream inside the house. They rush in, leaving Robert lying on the ground, smiling.
“He’s got a knife!” Ryan warns as Bret and Thom pound on Susan’s locked bedroom door. They hear the lock click and enter, finding Debbie and Ryan terrified in bed as the man swings the knife menacingly. “I think it’s time you leave, don’t you?” Thom says to the mysterious man, who asks if that’s really what Thom wants. When Thom confirms, he pouts, saying, “Well then that’s what I want.” As the stranger exits, he says, “Goodbye, Thom.” He leaves, closing the door. Debbie cries, hugging Bret. Thom gives his friend a look that suggests this is somehow Bret’s fault.
The next morning, as Susan’s housekeeper cleans up the mess from the party, Thom smokes by the pool. The night gave Debbie a big headache, and she’s worried she won’t perform her best on Dance Off. Bret asks what she and Ryan were doing in Susan’s room without shirts on. Debbie lies, saying the creep made them strip. Bret asks Thom how he knew the guy. “I didn’t,” Thom lies, saying he must’ve learned his name by hearing one of them say it. Susan gives them an update on Robert, who is at Cedars Sinai recovering from the reaction to his meds and alcohol. She again asks Bret what he whispered to Robert. “Nothing,” Bret lies.
In a flashback, we see what Bret said to Robert. “I know who you are,” Bret said. “You don’t know me, man,” Robert countered. “I know more than you think,” Bret leaned in to whisper, “I know you killed your mom.” That’s when Robert turned away and started drinking.
Bret asks Susan what Robert whispered to her after the kiss. She tries lying first, but Bret pushes. “He said ‘thank you,’” she shares. Thom glares at his girlfriend through his shades.
The episode ends in the basement full of cages. Dogs are barking nonstop as we see both Matt Kelner (Owen Painter) and Rhonda Fox (Ivy Wolk) in captivity. It’s not clear if this is real or something Bret is imagining.
To be continued next Wednesday, August 19th, at 9/8c on FX and Hulu in Episode 5, “Murder on the Dancefloor.”
A televised dance competition culminates with a horrifying showstopper.
Songs Featured in this Episode:
- “Nobody Takes Me Seriously” by Split Enz
- “Make Me Whole” by Al Kerbey
- “Heart of Glass” by Blondie
- “Square Biz” by Teena Marie
- “Lady Love” by Parker’s Band
- “The Weakness in Me” by Joan Armatrading
- “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc.
“We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos - “Icehouse” by Flowers