#to me. i left them. i fucking. i fid the thing i was afraid of being done to me.

[roslinadama-sinequanon]

Major Crimes-Sanctuary City-Pt. 5

Family seemed to be the overriding theme in this episode. Family at home, at work, and within the church as well as the contrast between dysfunctional and functional families. 

“It’s not a suicide, it’s a murder.”

Sharon shakes her head negatively at Julio.

“I’m sitting down ma’am.”

Andy supportively touches his shoulder.  

I loved how the “family” was looking out for Julio, trying to calm him down. But it is Sharon who is ultimately successful. Julio has such respect for Sharon. She has done a lot for him and worked hard to help him keep his job when others were wary of his anger issues.   

The next family moment is with Buzz. 

“Buzz, that’s so sneaky.”

“No, I uh, in my reserve officer training---”

“That is exactly what we will do.” 

Buzz thinks he’s in trouble but Sharon is actually enthused by his idea.  The team/family is also impressed with their little bro. Julio with a comment, Tao with the point of his finger and Andy with a nod and a grin. 

“Ryan, his step father was beating him because he was different”

And

“Lucas’s father was an addict in and out of rehabs.” 

You can see that this hits home with Rusty who was verbally beaten by his mother for being gay and whose mother was also in and out of rehab. I think this also contrasts with what we will later see with the functional Raydor/Flynn/Beck family who love and care so deeply for one another. 

“Your brother and sister are here.”

“Ricky.” 

“Andy.” 

I love the happy greeting between the guys and I especially loved the way Emily throws her arms open to Andy with a little giggle. They are so happy their mom is marrying Andy and it’s just so nice that they like him so much.  

“This marriage is the biggest honor of my life.” 

Aww…Andy really is the sweetest. It’s very hard to imagine the Andy we met on “The Closer” saying anything this sweet and sentimental. He really has changed so much. He’s such a happier and more content person, no longer carrying around all that bitterness and regret. He has a good relationship with Nicole and her step kids and with Sharon’s kids, and his love for Sharon and Sharon’s love for him have really transformed him. Sharon brought out the sweet and tender Andy who was always there right under the surface, hidden by that tough exterior and Andy brought out a lot of who Sharon was before Jack and FID caused her to have to bottle up all her emotions. They are both so good for each other. 

I also loved the way Emily rested her head so affectionately on Rusty’s shoulder. She reminds me so much of Sharon. The way she worries about everyone, how sensitive she is to everyone’s emotions and her gentleness and affection. 

“We might have to work the vows around the investigation.” 

Oh shit. Should have known right here the wedding would be more of an afterthought that what I was expecting. What really bugged me was that Andy said this with a smile. Seriously? This is the guy who tweaks out any time a case ruins his plans-- two examples, the Dodger game and the plans he made to whisk Sharon away to Napa and propose to her. This is his WEDDING and he doesn’t appear worried or frustrated by this at all. All we got was a little smile and shrug, WTF. 

“Well, you know she’s led a very good life.” 

Oh my ever loving GOD. My heart just SANK when he said this. Like many, I took it that Andy was saying “Well, kids, come on don’t be too sad, your mom’s had a good life so it won’t be so bad if she dies.” Oh Andy how can you say this so calmly and with a smile? Well, that’s because he continued with the fact that she doesn’t have a lot of bad habits to kick, meaning she has taken good care of her body and her meds are working so Emily shouldn’t be too worried about her working too much. It was meant to reassure but for a minute, it did anything but.

 “Evidence? I want to see it.”

Sharon’s little snort of “Are you fucking kidding me?” LOVED IT. 

She’s taking her meds, she feels better, just take a seat. The adults have this, we really do.”

Too funny, Andy still considers them all kids and only he and Sharon are the adults. I loved the way Andy stepped in as the firm father here. In the past, he has always deferred to Sharon when it comes to her kids but I think he feels a little more confident in his role in the family now and is willing to take a little more control. Also, he is being protective of Sharon. He knows she doesn’t want to be molly coddled by anyone. She just wants everyone to treat her the way they always have and certainly not like she’s an invalid. Andy can understand this. He went through the same thing with his clot and then his heart. He too fought being treated like an invalid so he knows how frustrating that can be. That would be another good compare and contrast gif. Andy recuperating at Sharon’s sitting at the breakfast table asking about the case and her telling him a bit about it and ending with “And that’s enough of that, how are you feeling?” And Sharon in the hospital begging Provenza for info on the case and Andy telling her to rest cause them’s the rules. Then the two condo scenes, Andy in his bathrobe bugging Sharon to give him something to do and her saying “You’re not supposed to work” and kissing his forehead and then him trying to get Sharon to rest and she says she just needs to do one more email and she’ll be done and they can talk. Hint….hint… 

I also liked that Sharon smiled at Andy’s taking control. I think she appreciated him having her back, where in the past she made sure he knew she could take care of herself. 

“If I can’t do the things that make life worth living, why bother?” 

Okay so that line scared me. I’m afraid this may be some foreshadowing. If there was more time left to the season and if Sharon and Andy were actually the focus of the show, I think Duff would be cruel enough to make this a storyline about assisted suicide and Sharon struggling with her faith over this. I’m wondering if this will lead into a DNR or something. Because you know, how like Duff would that be? Let’s get this couple finally married and then just make Sharon get even sicker and have the newlyweds discussing DNR’s. I have a terrible feeling that the back half of this season is going to be depressing and that rather than the kick ass, bad ass Sharon that we would have liked to see at the end of MC, we will instead have her weakening and going out with a whimper rather than a bang. There is just too much talk about her illness and decisions she has to make over the next few episodes for me to believe that we will get anything but a Sharon getting sick enough that she feels she has to retire. I hate that. I hate it more than I can say, but it just feels like that’s the way things are moving. 

“We do not want you taking care of us. We should be taking care of you.” 

It’s a sweet sentiment Ricky but it’s the last thing Sharon or any mother wants to hear. A mother ALWAYS wants to be able to take care of her children and the last thing she ever wants is for them to feel like they have to take care of her. Also, she doesn’t want to be treated as if she is dying. 

“Saturday at 2pm assuming that you guys haven’t all been excommunicated, you are walking down the aisle at St. Joseph of Nazareth.”

“And you guys are all coming with me.” 

Love the laughter when Rusty talks about them be excommunicated and I love how warm Sharon said they were all coming with her. She is just so pleased to be surrounded by her family and is so looking forward to sharing this day with them. 

“I can’t make an arrest based on a physical exam without a second opinion. Don’t you think, Andy?”

“Well, uh, yeah, because we’re so close to the finish line, just a couple of questions to answer.”

“What kind of questions?” 

This was such a weird conversation. Sharon was a little flirty and then Andy a little flustered and when Ricky asks, “What questions?” Sharon gives Andy a look and he doesn’t have a clue what to say. I thought the whole scene screamed of double entendre. I read a comment by someone who stated they thought Sharon was referring to the wedding night and consummating the marriage--I apologize, I can’t remember who it was that made the comment--but that was exactly how I felt. I get the feeling that Andy has tried to reassure Sharon that he is okay without having sex on their wedding night if it wouldn’t be good for her health and that she has tried to tell him her doctor said it was okay. But, just to reassure him she has set up a second opinion, which is where this conversation comes from. Because, you know, we couldn’t have a conversation about sex between two adults about to get married. In Duff’s warped little universe, if you’re middle aged you don’t talk about sex and sure as hell don’t HAVE sex. At least not on his screen. 

“I’ve been praying with you and your family for the past 22 years and it’s as that person I ask, how are you feeling?”

“Almost overwhelmed. Not by work or the wedding but…my children are concerned about me and they express their concern to you.” 

Oh Sharon, Oh MARY (this woman deserves her EMMY) what a powerful moment. Sharon has been so strong, but hearing that her children are frightened by her illness and have had to turn to their priest to help them is what finally breaks her. First, no mother wants their children to be afraid and second she realizes that in trying to be so strong, she has not allowed her children to express their fears to her and so they had to turn to someone else to help bear that burden. It was amazingly well acted by an amazing actress; however, I felt it added to the overall depressing quality of an episode that had been built up to be the happy, beautiful penultimate WEDDING. 

“When you talk about your responsibilities to Christ, the defense will interrupt and ask if that includes refusing to use birth control while having sex with the single moms of some of your students.”

“Yeah. Sorry Father but by not answering our questions today you’ll be on the stand explaining whether or not you used a condom having sex with Ms. Varza.” 

I like Andy and Wes interviewing together, especially when they feed off each other like this and each get their quips in. 

“I’m not…physically…tempted….by Latina’s.” 

Too funny. All of them leaning in with each word dying to hear what he is going to say and it turns out to be something rather silly. 

“Yeah, no stress.” 

This time it is the kids playing the usual Andy and Sharon role of being frustrated and trying to figure out how to make things work when a case gets in the way of their personal life. As I said earlier, Andy is being unusually laid back about the case interfering with the wedding—especially considering he told Sharon he was barely able to wait until the ceremony to call her his wife. The only reason I can come up with is that he is trying not to stress Sharon out, because usually when he’s getting all frustrated and pissy she is the one calming him down and saying they will be able to make things work.  

“All that is required of me for this rehearsal is to show up, look great and walk down the aisle. I don’t need to practice that. “ 

Nope, no you don’t Sharon. 

“I think this is another one of those moments where prayer is your very best answer.”

“You always say that.”

“Ricky” 

I love this moment between Father Stan, Ricky and Emily. It is another moment of “family” this time with the Catholic Church. It’s very obvious that they are all very close. As Father Stan said earlier, the kids turned to him with their fears and worries about their mother and for comfort. There is a real relationship here and as has been said, the church helped Sharon raise Ricky and Emily so it was nice to see this familial type of moment. 

Dr. Redmond did it. 

At this point, the case had dragged on for so long I pretty much didn’t care who did it. Not to mention by now I was just looking at my clock with disgust thinking “Are you KIDDING me, we’re not going to get much of anything with this wedding. So, I was more thinking, end the damn scene already, and let’s get to the wedding.  

The wedding: 

What we saw of it was beautiful; I’m just so sad and disappointed that it seemed to be pinned on as a bit of an afterthought. During the first few episodes of this season, it was as if Sharon and Andy weren’t even a couple. All the writers had to do was throw in a little more wedding dialogue like Sharon saying she has to go in and have her last wedding gown fitting and maybe she’s worried because she lost some weight when she had the flu or Andy saying he had to pick up the tux’s on the way home. Just offering up some of those the little details that come up with a lead up to a wedding would have at least kept the wedding in the forefront of everyone’s minds. 

I know there has been some comparison with the fact that Brenda and Fritz didn’t have their whole wedding shown either, but they did at least have a huge lead up to it. They were out looking for venues, they were having cake tastings, we saw Brenda looking at different gowns and having a fitting in her gown with her mother. And the B/F wedding wasn’t a big church wedding; they got married on a hotel balcony with three people in attendance, so it makes sense that it was presented more low-key. Also, over the previous seasons we’d seen Brenda and Fritz on dates, kissing, arguing, in bed, jealous, discussing their relationship, we never got ANY of that with Sharon and Andy.  Their entire relationship pretty much took place off screen. What we got on screen were looks and smiles. This was supposed to be our penultimate episode, our chance to get those moving vows and actually hear the words. Instead, we got a beautiful walk down the aisle, and the looks and smiles were breathtakingly loving and tender, but yet again, we were cut off from anything truly meaningful. We deserved more. We really did. 

I have said this before, but I feel there were easy ways of showing the fans, who are applauded as being tremendously loyal and devoted, what they wanted to see, and also finishing up the case. It didn’t have to be either/or, there could have been more balance. They could have had Olivia sing Ave Maria and during the vocal break with the music playing softly in the background let us hear the simple traditional vows of “I Sharon take you Andy to be my husband….and then Andy‘s vows” then the vocals pick up again and we watch them exchanging rings, kissing as they are pronounced man and wife, and, as she always does, Sharon wipes her lipstick off Andy’s lips with her thumb, they laugh and go forehead to forehead—like in the picture-- and the episode fades out. Yes, FADES OUT, doesn’t SLAM to black. And yes, I would have loved a bit from the reception, but at least with this we would have gotten the entire wedding.  

Of course, what we did get with Sharon and Andy that we didn’t get with Brenda and Fritz was a real sense of inclusion and family with the team. Brenda, being the loner that she is, did not really want anyone invited to her wedding except her parents, while Sharon wanted to share the day with all her family and friends. Included in that family was the MC team who were not even invited to Brenda’s wedding. I think that really shows the difference in the two characters and in the way they relate to the team. On MC, they have become a family and that really played out in the wedding. 

So, now on to the wedding details: 

Olivia has a beautiful voice. 

Loved Julio directing Mark to turn around. I know some people wondered why Mark was a ring bearer. Yes, I know it should have been Andy’s step-grandsons but evidently, everyone forgot that Andy actually has a family and that they would of course be at his wedding. But now hearing that Sharon and Julio attend the same church and Mark goes to the same school as Sharon’s kids did, it makes sense that maybe Sharon attends mass with Julio and Mark and they have gotten closer in that respect. Also, I’m sure Sharon has been very helpful in giving advice to Julio in child rearing and adoption. 

“How do I look?”

“Better than usual.” 

Aww…Andy is nervous. Provenza is Provenza and it helps ease Andy’s tension. 

The first strands of Ave Maria- 

I was really hoping this hymn would be played at some point in the wedding—little did I know the walk down the aisle was all we were going to get—so I ‘m glad it had its moment. It’s such a beautiful hymn and it’s very Sharon, very traditional and Catholic. 

The doors open and there is Sharon looking like a beautiful angel lit from the heavens. She gives Andy a little smile and his mouth falls open in awe. It’s a BEAUTIFUL moment. 

At first it looks like Sharon is alone, but then Ricky steps up and takes her arm. Mary mentioned in her podcast that some fans had hoped that Sharon would walk down the aisle alone but that she too liked that Ricky was at her side. I loved it. Like Mary, I don’t see it as the old patriarchal “giving a woman away” I see it as public blessing, an acceptance. I’m glad it was Ricky as the eldest son—which is traditional as Sharon is-- and that the day wasn’t overshadowed by Rusty. It was nice that each of her children had their role. Sharon is first and foremost a mom and when they talked about her walking down the aisle, she reminded them that she was taking them all with her. She wants her whole family to participate in the wedding, uniting them all as a family because there is nothing more important to Sharon than family. And, it made for some touching conversation on the walk. 

Things I loved: 

How Sharon looked in the dress-When I first saw a pic I wasn’t overwhelmed. Once I got past my prejudice of “I like the gown I picked out for Sharon better” I was able to appreciate it for what it was. Mary looked absolutely stunning in it and it did look vintage 1940’s—very Katharine Hepburn as I read in one post quite a while ago. At first I was surprised she went with a veil (My mom was hoping for a half updo with some flowers in her hair) but I think the gown really needed the veil. The dress is so simple and unadorned it needed the lace in the veil and the arms to make it more feminine and romantic. And I can see that the inspiration was probably the picture of Mary at her first holy communion. The one thing I did not like was the belt. A thin pretty pearl and rhinestone belt would have looked nicer and added a little sophistication for a woman who is the epitome of fashion. As it was, the belt she was wearing looked like something she just found in her closet. Thankfully, you could hardly see it. 

The rose petals scattered on the white carpet.  

The little kiss Patrice sends Provenza’s way and the way he touches his heart.

The way Sharon is already in tears even before she talks to Ricky.

Cami saying they really are like a family and Mason saying, “You have no idea.”  It can’t be easy for him stepping into that tight-knit family. 

“How’s your heart holding up?”

“It’s never been this full.” 

At first, I was like “Really, Ricky, you’re going to bring this up NOW.” LOL, but it ended up leading to what I think is not just an amazing emotional response but also a response that is really quite important to understanding the Shandy relationship. Sharon used the word “never” here. She didn’t say, “It hasn’t been this full in years” or “As full as it’s ever been” she stated “It’s NEVER been this full”. Andy truly is the love of her life and before the previous week when she told Andy “I love you so SO much” I was never really quite sure where she stood and where her love for Andy stood in comparison to what she had felt for Jack. Of course, I knew she loved Andy; she wouldn’t have married him if she didn’t, but was it a really deep kind of love? Or was it a comfortable, companionship kind of love? Thanks to all missing scenes and poor writing of the relationship, I’m not sure anyone really knew. But here it is. Sharon lays it out right here, both in her very emotional response and in her words. She’s never been this in love and this happy. Who would have ever thought that the Sharon we met on “The Closer” would get so emotional and cry at her wedding? 

“I’m just so happy to have this day. I’m so happy.” 

Without the heart issue, this really would have made me melt. Instead, it sent me back into some BSG PTSD.  It felt like she was saying she was so happy to get to have this day before she dies, like Laura Roslin’s “So much life” a smile and then she dies. I really hope I read that wrong. I think many Laura Roslin fans are hypersensitive about this because we are terrified of Sharon going down the same path as Laura. 

“We’re so happy for you.” 

I liked the way Ricky squeezed her hand and that he said “we”, including his siblings. All of her children are so happy for Sharon and that has to warm her heart. I think he also feels some pride in being able to have helped in giving her this day. Ricky and Emily are the reason Sharon was able to have the church wedding she wanted so much, by forcing Jack to sign the annulment papers. They did it because all they really want is for her to be happy and to be able to give something back to the mother who has given so much to them. 

As Sharon gets closer, she and Andy begin to share loving looks and Andy gets a little emotional and turns to Provenza for support. This time Provenza pats him on the shoulder. I thought that was a rather touching moment between the two men. Provenza gets it; they’ve both come a long way since their bachelor Closer days. 

Sharon and Andy at the altar-Love the way Andy looks her up and down and the smile of joy when he reaches her face—and the way Sharon responds with a joyful smile of her own, before biting her lip with emotion, like she can’t believe they are really doing this. I loved what Mary said in her podcast about this wedding being a miracle for Sharon. It really is. After all those years dealing with things on her own and after having come to terms with being alone, she found the love of her life, a man who truly brightens her day, makes her laugh and who is there for her in every way. I would also say that it is a miracle for Andy as well. 

And then, just as things get good, SLAM, the scene is just cut to black. No gentle fade out, just a door slammed. It was so jarring it made me jump. As I posted that night it felt like a slap in the face. 

I have to say, I was upset the night the episode aired with the wedding being just thrown in at the end rather than it being an integral part of the episode. We’ve been waiting so long for this day, the hype was all there for the wedding of the year and this was supposed to be our payoff for having dealt with all the wasted opportunities over the past years. But, I felt a lot better after listening to Mary’s podcast and how she too had gotten caught up in the hype and SHE knew she only had one page in the script for the wedding, so she understood why fans were so upset. It sounded like she too would have liked more. However, she brought up the fact that there really had not been a plan for the Shandy relationship and that it was written because of the chemistry between Sharon and Andy that was noticed by the fans and promoted by the fans and that it was amazing we were even really shown the wedding. And I guess that’s true. Given how Sharon and Andy have been written, it would have been very much in character for the wedding to take place off-screen, so I am grateful that we got to see what we did. And though the first time around I felt the episode was very depressing and did not have the kind of joy I would expect in a wedding episode, in watching it again without those expectations I’ve been able to appreciate it more. 

And I’ll just end by saying again, what we did get to see was pure magic. 

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#sharon raydor #andy flynn #shandy #Major Crimes #Mary McDonnell #tony denison #wedding was beautiful #wish we got more #shame we got cut out of the wedding #shandy wedding