This weeks’ episode of Sweet/Vicious, “Heartbreaker”, took us back to a year ago to the night Jules was raped. It was a rough but necessary side of the story to see and it was beautifully written and portrayed by everyone involved. In the present, we had a touch of a lighter tone with the anniversary of Ophelia and Harris’ friendship but even that took a turn in the end. Here is what happened in the seventh episode, written by Jennifer Kayton Robinson and directed by Elodie Keane.
ONE YEAR AGO | The episode takes us back to the night it all began when Jules (Elixa Bennett) was raped. It’s the night of a Kappa party and Kennedy (Aisha Dee) is too sick to go but insists that Jules and the other girls go anyway. Once there, Nate (Dylan McTee) and Jules team up to play beer pong along with mixing many other types of alcohol throughout the night as is the custom at so many college parties. Eventually, Jules is feeling very dizzy and very drunk and asks Nate (her friend) if she can go lie down in his bed until she is feeling better. He decides that is some kind of green light and after a minute follows her upstairs to where she has passed out. He climbs on top of her and when she wakes up and panics, holds her down and rapes her. When he is finished he rolls off of her and falls asleep. She slowly gets up and leaves the house, crying and alone. She goes home and tries to understand what he just did to her and what she should do now.
She bags up her clothes and goes to the student health center to get a rape kit done. The nurse there tells her how brave she is and gives her information on what her options are moving forward. After staying in bed for a couple of weeks Jules decides to talk to a therapist at the school. Instead of helping or being supportive, the therapist twists her words and casts doubt on Jules’s story, asking her if she was sure it wasn’t just regret after sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend. Jules tries going to the rape survivors group and that is where she hears the other girls’ stories for the first time and makes the decision to take care of it herself if the school wasn’t going to do anything about it.
OPHARRIS DAY | Jules has been laid up in Ophelia’s (Taylor Dearden) apartment for a week now, eating junk food and watching videos from back before she was raped. Ophelia comes in and announces that it is Opharris Day and that Jules will be joining them whether she wants to or not. Opharris Day, the anniversary of Harris (Brandon Mychal Smith) and Ophelia’s friendship, involves pizza, drinking, and more drinking. Realizing that she planned a whole day of drinking with someone (Jules) who doesn’t drink, Ophelia gets her some sour gummy snacks to eat while they take shots. Ophelia gets several texts and a call from Evan (Stephen Friedrich) but blows them all off. Jules calls her out on it, telling her that Evan makes her happy and she shouldn’t be afraid of that. While they are out and about, Harris picks up the law journal, expecting to see his article on the vigilante but finds it missing. He calls his editor but she tells him it is out of her hands. He decides to post it online himself but that gets him kicked off the law journal all together.
The trio goes back to Ophelia’s apartment to begin their power hour but this time Jules wants to join in. Ophelia recognizes that as maybe not the best idea but Jules insists that she’s fine. One dance number and several kinds of alcohol later, they make their way to a bar where they run into Evan. Drunk Jules takes it upon herself to get Evan’s attention (who is on a date of his own) and shoves Ophelia over there. She confesses that she really likes him and doesn’t know what to do about it. He tells her to sober up and then come talk to him about what she wants. It is at that moment that Nate waltzes into the bar and upon seeing Jules, smiles at her and raises his glass. Ophelia looks ready to march across the bar and remove Nate’s smile with a knife (and I would cheer her on) but she resists.
Jules says she needs some air and leaves, returning in her vigilante outfit. She goes to wait for Nate in the bathroom but Ophelia is already there waiting for her. She points out that Jules is drunk and about to try to take on one of the most public figures on campus. Ophelia begs her to talk to someone or at least start sharing in group. That night, while Jules is at group, Evan shows up at Ophelia’s door. They both admit they want to be with each other and it looks like the great ship Ovan sails again.
PHOTOSHOP BUSTER | At his loft, Tyler (Nick Fink) gets a call from his mother who has also been searching for his missing step-brother, Carter. Tyler is done looking for him though, and tells her that either he comes back and deals with what he’s done, or he can rot in Canada. He gets a message saying that one of his paintings has sold but it is one that is still at Vinylton so he goes down there to pick it up. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Jules and Ophelia are there when he arrives and after Ophelia excuses herself from the awkwardness, he and Jules talk. They are both clearly not over each other and are both just working on being okay. Later, when Tyler is messing around on Facebook, he comes across the picture of Carter that Ophelia used to create the fake skiing photo that ‘Carter’ texted him. He realizes it was a fake and goes to the police station to report Carter as missing.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• I need there to be Opharris Day t-shirts. I need them to be super ugly and handmade and I need them now.
• I have found that watching Ophelia in the background of scenes is one of the most entertaining choices I have ever made.
• While he wasn’t the one to rape Jules, Miles (Ethan Dawes) stood by knowing exactly what Nate was about to do and that makes him culpable in this as well and I appreciate the show for adding that.
So what did you think? Is this just the beginning of Jules’ downward spiral into darker waters? Will Ophelia be able to help her? Is Tyler about to be a problem for Team Vagilante again? Let us know in the comments below!
Be sure to catch Sweet/Vicious Tuesdays at 10/9c on MTV!