‘Fire Country’: Why Vince Was Paying Off Sharon’s Mom & Walter’s Confession About Night He Died
“There must be a reason,” Sharon (Diane Farr) says of her late husband Vince (Billy Burke) paying off her mom Ruby (Christine Lahti), and she’s right. The Friday, November 21, episode reveals just why, as well as details that Sharon hadn’t known about the night he died.
“She may be crazy, but he…wasn’t,” Sharon says to Manny (Kevin Alejandro) — and she’s clearly still struggling with using the past tense when it comes to Vince. (We get it. We still can’t believe
Fire Country killed him off.) Manny points out that there’s still one person around who can answer her questions, but Sharon refuses to talk to her mother (a.k.a. “open up that unmedicated can of worms”). She then discovers that the bill for the care facility where Vince’s father, Walter (Jeff Fahey)
Sharon has Walter come over, and she quickly sits him down, “so then you can tell me why my mother was extorting your son.” She can see on his face that he knows what it’s about and pushes, even as he protests, “There are some things that just have to stay between a father and a son.” As Sharon points out, however, Vince is no longer there.
Walter does eventually, after making them a meal, reveal that Vince and Ruby had an arrangement, and his son asked him to keep it quiet. “The Leone way, right to the bigger end,” Sharon remarks. Vince thought it was best to keep Ruby away from Sharon after her motorcycle accident. He thought Sharon had a death wish after Riley’s funeral and knew Ruby could push all her buttons. Since he thought Sharon was hanging on by a thread, he wasn’t going to let her mother unravel her and paid her to stay away. Sharon reveals that Ruby insinuated that if she had been a better mother, like her, she’d have both her kids, and she didn’t know if she was right. Walter assures her she wasn’t. When Sharon took the motorcycle out to think, she’d just been driving too fast and it flipped, but she wasn’t trying to hurt herself.
But that’s not all Walter has to tell Sharon. The night Vince died (with flashbacks to the Season 3 finale), after the ceiling came down, when Walter came to, he couldn’t see anything, then, through the debris, “that’s when I saw him. … I couldn’t get to him.” Vince was already dead. “I couldn’t tell you because I knew if I told you, there was no way I was going to be able to pull you out of there. You have to believe me, I would never leave my son,” Walter insists, devastating Sharon.
After Walter leaves, Sharon leaves her mother a voicemail: “Ruby, Mother, I know Vince was sending you money. He’s not going to be doing that anymore because he died. I don’t want any condolences, I don’t want anything, I want you to keep staying away from my family, so, please, keep doing that.”
But a week later, Ruby shows up at Sharon’s door, and the latter is clearly annoyed. “Oh, honey, I got your voicemail,” Ruby says. Yes, the one in which she asked her not to come. “Vince died? It’s going to be OK now, momma’s here,” Ruby says and holds out her arms to her daughter. Sharon just looks at her, and Ruby walks in past her.
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Kyle runs into Claire at Crimson Lights, where they chat about Thanksgiving, Harrison, and Cole. Claire asks him to wish the Abbotts a Happy Thanksgiving, and he suggests she stop by and see Harrison. After cajoling her for a bit, she agrees.
At Society, Sally tells Billy that she made her famous pumpkin pie for the Abbott Thanksgiving. Billy shares that Jack asked him to pick up dessert at Abby’s restaurant. Abby appears and asks her uncle to tell the family that she, Devon and Dom will be over later. Talk turns to the launch party. Billy assures her nothing will stop it this time.
Billy and Sally get the pie from Abby, and Sally is sure hers will beat it. Billy assures her his entire family will be accepting of their relationship as they take off.
Holiday Worries
At the Newman ranch, Adam asks Victor if everything is set to keep Abbott Communications’ launch from taking off. Before discussing that, Victor wants to talk about Matt Clark. Adam is confident they’ll figure out what he’s been up to. They worry about Noah going missing, and Victor warns Adam to keep it quiet.
Victor then reveals that he offered Jill way above market value to sell him her share in Abbott Communications. She claimed she had no investment in it. Adam insists she’s lying. He guesses Victor will have to hold off on attacking Jabot, but his dad still plans to go ahead. As Adam starts to protest, Nikki appears with Victoria and Chelsea.
The Newmans discuss Nick and Sharon being in LA, and Nikki’s glad Noah gets to be with his parents for the holiday. Victoria announces she invited Nate over after dinner for cocktails. She realizes her father isn’t happy about it. He grunts that Hastings tried to take his company away and have him committed. Victoria denies it and argues that he’s been a friend. Elsewhere, Chelsea grills Adam about Noah… is Nikki right to be worried?
Claire arrives and explains to Victoria that she’s only there for a minute; she told Kyle she’d stop over to see Harrison. Nikki appears and they all cluck about Victor working in his study on the holiday. She hands Claire a homemade pumpkin pie to take to the Abbotts.
The Search Is On
In LA, Sharon and Nick show up outside a garbage-strewn building looking for Noah. Nick flashes to manhandling Matt at the hotel. Matt, smirking, informed them that they’ll have to play his game if they ever want to see Noah again.
As they search, a tearful Sharon gets a holiday text from Faith. Nick reminds her they can’t share the information that Matt gave them. They flash to Matt declaring he calls all the shots and makes all the rules. Nick and Sharon take turns calling out to Noah, and she prays they find him. Suddenly, Nick spots something.
Nick and Sharon find evidence of a drug-fuelled party on the ground and spot a baggie that looks identical to a baggie of fentanyl that Matt showed them at the hotel as a “clue.” They recall Sharon hollering, “Did you give that to our son?!” and Matt replying coyly, “Maybe. Maybe not,” before complaining that Noah used him for his contacts and then slept with his wife. “He does not get away with that!”
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At the abandoned building, Sharon worries that Noah and Sienna are passed out and urges Nick, “We’ve got to keep looking.” They flash back to Matt antagonizing them in the hotel room and handing over the address where they should start looking, warning it’s a rough neighborhood. When Nick says they should hurry, Sharon starts to fall apart. “What if it’s already too late?!”
Abbott Thanksgiving Begins
Billy and Sally arrive at the Abbott manse, where they’re greeted by Traci and Diane. They reveal that Jack is at the airport picking up Ashley after discussing Danny and Christine’s wedding. Sally busts out her award-winning pie and acts nervous. Stepping aside, Sally explains to Billy that their traditions aren’t what she’s used to from the carnival circuit. She’s lucky to be there. He says he’s the lucky one.
Traci and Billy remember how happy John used to be when they brought out all the food. They all traipse off to the kitchen as Kyle arrives. He’s greeted by Harrison, who spoke to his mom and is missing her. Kyle tells him Claire’s stopping by. Everyone gathers in the living room with hot toddies as Harrison asks Kyle to set an extra place for Claire. His dad explains she’s eating with her family.
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Across town, Claire tells Victor she’s stopping by the Abbotts’ place and he surprises her by saying Kyle will be happy to see her. Claire marvels at his change of heart. Victor’s seen the reality of the situation and ruminates that there aren’t many men worthy of a Newman woman.
The Final Scenes
At the rundown building, Detective Burrow and the cop, Amy, show up to meet Sharon and Nick. They update them on their encounter with Matt and the fentanyl. Burrow reminds them they have no proof Mitch was involved in Noah’s accident. Nick warns they’ll tear this place apart… will they help or not?
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Claire arrives at the Abbott manse with yet another pumpkin pie and tells Harrison she can’t stay long. The kid protests: she has to stay for dinner.
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At the Newman ranch, Victoria teases her father about him telling Claire that Kyle loved her, noting he’s come around just as she’s decided she wants to be single. Adam warns that his dad will turn his attention to Nate Hastings now. Victoria shrugs that they’re just friends. Chelsea smirks, “We’ve all heard that before.” In the parlor, Nikki leaves another message for Nick and Sharon… she wants to hear Noah’s voice. Victor listens.
In LA, Burrow calls for back-up. Nick tells Sharon to stay with the detective until help arrives. Nick and Amy head into the building. Sharon asks Burrow, “Are you really going to help us? Can we trust you?” She can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something.