Crossroads

At Sophie’s office, Marion has finished the story of her past, but she and Sophie cannot agree on its meaning. Sophie insists that Marion was traumatized, victimized, and in at least one case assaulted, but Marion insists that bad things happened to her because she was bad. Despite Sophie’s increasing frustration at this viewpoint, Marion will not change her mind, deciding Sophie is a “women’s libber” and therefore someone who thinks of all women as victims, not someone she should take seriously. By the time she leaves Sophie’s office, she feels that telling the story has somehow unlocked her old feelings of obsession with Bradley, even though he would be 65 by now.

Marion buys cigarettes from a drug store, though she hasn’t smoked in years, then wanders around smoking in the snow. She finds herself at First Reformed parishioner Kitty Reynolds’s house and sees that Kitty is there, confirming a suspicion that Russ lied to her earlier that day and is not with Kitty at Theo’s church but rather with Frances. Next, she goes to the library and finds Bradley’s phone number and address in the Yellow Pages.

Back at home, Marion sees Perry’s note about going to the Haefles’ Christmas party and goes to meet him. When she arrives, she finds him in the middle of his diatribe against Mrs. Haefle. The scene subsides, and Dwight tells Marion about Perry’s drinking that evening. She takes Perry and Judson home, and when Judson goes to bed Perry is shocked to see his mother smoking. Deciding she has concealed the truth from him long enough, she confesses about her family’s mental health history and her past—not anything specific about Bradley or “Santa,” but about her father’s suicide and her subsequent spells of blackouts and brain fog. Appreciating his mother’s candor and sympathy, Perry replies with his own confession, taking her to the attic to show her the drugs he has hidden there. She does not punish him but feels more worried about him than ever. 

Clem arrives in New Prospect when no one in the family is home. He sees Perry’s note to Marion on the table and heads to the church to find Becky at the Crossroads concert. Searching for her, he passes his father’s office and hears a female voice. He finds Russ and Frances inside, seemingly in the middle of an intimate conversation. He immediately grows suspicious, but Russ tries to cover, explaining their car trouble in the city and asking Clem to help dig Frances’ car out of the snow in the parking lot.

Outside, the two get into a heated argument. Clem accuses Russ of cheating on Marion with Frances and angrily hurls the news that he has written his letter to the draft board. Russ protests his innocence and then starts in on Vietnam. Too enraged to hold anything back, Clem tells Russ that it is embarrassing to be his son, and that he has to honor his personal code of morals even if Russ does not. Hurt, Russ replies that during World War II his stand to be a pacifist and conscientious objector actually was quite courageous, as public sentiment was strongly against anyone who tried to avoid fighting. He then tells Clem he’s sure that Clem couldn’t actually stand to kill people, as he knows Clem to have a good, kind heart. Stunned to find how much his father still loves him, even when he has lost all respect for his father, he walks away to resume his search for Becky.