Run Review: Chase (Season 1 Episode 4)
An inundation of change threatens the progress between Ruby and Billy, and as they board the train to Los Angeles, Run Season 1 Episode 4, “Chase,” throws the largest wrenches it can into their plans and dreams.
Fiona proves to be a rather fierce nemesis, using closeness as a form of weakness to be exploited. She’s also an expert at pushing Billy’s buttons, making for some fantastic Domhnall Gleeson reactions.
She also happens to be the key to unlocking most of Billy’s mysteries. She turns out to be the reason he never responds to Ruby’s run text before the wedding that starts up Run Season 1 Episode 3, “F***,” and she is also mouthing the words to his seminar, either because she knows it inside and out, or because she is the one responsible for his success (as she alluded to on the previous episode).
Her headset during this initial scene, and feeding Billy a line to help out, does give off the appearance that Billy is more a puppet than he is a wild personal success story. He does have some talent, as he works the crowd and delivers some entertainment for them, but it’s not perfectly clear if Fiona really is the brains of everything or just feels like her services aren’t properly being met after all of these years.
There’s an undertone of personal betrayal to Fiona’s actions, at least in terms of being implied. Could there be more between Billy and Fiona than we’re being given? She is toying with him and Ruby in a very specific way, wanting to hurt both of them in a scorched earth sort of manner, which feels a little more than simply a business relationship collapsing.
It’s rather interesting how bold Fiona decides to be on this episode compared to working behind the scenes before. It’s as if she’s realized that Billy is all in with Ruby, and that there’s no chance of reclaiming him back to their old life. Her interactions with Ruby are treasure troves for information, but the more surprising moment comes when the facade drops and Fiona threatens to send the audio of Billy and Ruby together to Ruby’s husband, Laurence.
The moment feels too low, even for Fiona, especially if it’s for a bag of money. For the show, though, Fiona’s moves help to really dig deeper into Ruby and Billy’s nature as their bubble of excitement is threatening to pop.
Ruby’s immediate reaction to her son getting hurt is to return home, despite a nanny taking her place and Laurence trying to keep her son from talking with her. She feels replaced, and interestingly reacts to that more than needing to get home immediately.
But by the end of the episode, Ruby is back to helping Billy find his bag of money, her family sinking into the distance once again.
But it also delivers a hurtful line from Laurence, where he mentions that he thinks she’s going through another breakdown. Ruby’s demeanor seizes up at the mere mention of it, and while we don’t know her side of the story, the way Laurence tosses it at her as a possible explanation shows how torn and cold their relationship has become. There may be no coming back from this trip, if indeed it is a trip and not permanent.
Ruby definitely wants parts of her old life back, but unfortunately they come with the pieces she’s running from. It’s lose-lose, in a way, where the absence from her family’s life is causing great stress and pain in her, but returning to that sense of complacency and dissatisfaction would be giving up on the potential of whatever this is with Billy.
Billy comes closer to coming clean about what he says during his final seminar, but it also comes with the knowledge that he’s still not entirely there yet with his story of why he’s running.
There’s now the issue of the book that Fiona mentions, about how Billy plans to enact the “RUN” idea and turn it into a book down the line. It’s not clear if this is just a video he made with Fiona some years prior or if it’s something that is planned out for him; still, armed with this video and the audio of them having sex, Billy and Ruby aren’t in for a good time, despite the money being taken.
It all comes down to if Fiona is satisfied with the bag of money, or if she plans to blow up their lives anyway for the simple act of chasing her.
We do get some moments of peace, though, before everything blows up. Their night together looks to be exactly what they wanted, despite their definitions of perfect (a rather fun exchange in the cab). While they may be few and far between, these sorts of intimate moments between Ruby and Billy go a long way to not only make their journey worth it, but allows them to feel something special among the difficulties.
Each episode ends with this feeling like the trip may be seeing its last legs. The moments of joy and closeness are always punctuated by loss and reminders of reality, to the point that the fantasy is starting to be outweighed by the hardships that come along with it.
Run Season 1 Episode 4, “Chase,” brings more harm than good down upon Ruby and Billy, testing them harder than before as their lives take things away from them, both emotionally and physically, and leaving them with less than they started with.
While Fiona may be gone, the specter of her threats still loom, and now that Billy is without his money and Ruby feels the guilt of her son’s injury, their true test of whether or not to continue is now here. If they do continue, it will be that realization that they are exactly where they want to be, trouble be damned. But if there are doubts, this is the time to have them, as reality crashes into them harder than before.
What did you think of this episode of Run? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Run airs Sundays at 10:30/9:30c on HBO.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.