#frabby is bones

[kingdoncrumbs]

so don’t get me wrong: the fact that the first case mel and frank ever work on together is a marriage collapsing due to drug use is… already just insane work. but i rewatched this episode recently and i can’t get it out of my head that this couple mirrors frank and abby more than we even think.

obviously, franks addiction is heavily foreshadowed through his patients in season one. once it’s revealed that the little boy accidentally got into his father’s marijuana gummies, we see this subtle undertone in pball’s performance as frank where, in my opinion, he’s facing the reality of how his behavior could have (or could in the future if he doesn’t get it together) effected his kids and the foundation of trust in his marriage.

however, even before amanda (the mother) finds out that drew’s (the father) irresponsibility is technically the reason why tyler is ill, she assumes it anyway. she’s very snarky with mel and frank as they ask her about tylers routines, and when they ask about recent injuries she immediately throws drew under the bus and complains about his actions/parenting/responsibility by saying “but he roughhouses with drew all the time” (paraphrased). drew shoots back with something like “but he never gets hurt.” very defensive, an argument that seems like it’s been had many times.

combine this with the fact that she didn’t even know her husband was using weed recreationally (which i assume is because he knew she would take issue with it) makes it clear that there is already tension, mistrust, blame, and resentment between them. the accident with their son only brings to the surface what has been concealed or hidden in passive aggressive quips.

i believe this is a direct insight into frank and abby’s marriage. we are supposed to gather from everything explicitly stated about abby (wanting a birkin?, frank getting her a dog, frank overcompensating all the time) that they fundamentally do not understand each other. but i think amanda and drew tell us that langdon, even before his addiction, felt like he couldn’t do anything right in abby’s eyes.

and NOW couple this WITH the fact that langdon has been in residency working eighty hours a week for not that much money, missing out on his children’s lives while abby is basically solo parenting all day every day, and all of this began during the pandemic… baby that marriage was destined to fail from day one.

[1code-blues]

so if langdon is not divorced- i don't believe he is - by the end of this season, does that mean ringgate was actually a continuity error?? That just seems like such a glaring mistake to make after Shawn accidentally having his ring on when shooting season 1. Also the hints about Langdon's marriage issues - e.g. ring cut off, the number of kid cases he got, the priapism pt in ep2 - would be misdirection? Idk it seems odd how they would give so many hints that he's divorced/separated if we never see it happen

[kingdoncrumbs]

pball you can claim that langdon wanting to “learn mel’s language” is platonic but can we get an explanation on why he doesn’t speak his wife’s language?? thx xoxo

[kingdoncrumbs]

idk abby pov of emotional infidelity justifying, deeply flawed, defensive, unwilling to admit he’s wrong frank langdon

abby comes into the hospital one day, with her hair curled and her lipstick on and a lunch from their old favorite spot in her hand, the sandwich place they used to go to all the time between frank’s med school classes. she takes a deep breaths in the car before heading in, preparing to face the people who know her family’s big scary secret, who know that despite what he did to her, she stayed. there’s a shame in it that she feels guilty for feeling. what kind of woman will they think she is? loyal or weak?

but none of it matters anyway when she sees him, his face making expressions she’d never even seen him make in seven years, his eyes lit up with love the way they did when he looked at the kids. only it was for her. for mel. his friend, the unassuming girl with the bunny teeth and the thick glasses who abby never could have anticipated. she makes eye contact, just for a moment, with mel. her braid goes stiff with the rest of her body and her little grin falls. frank notices immediately and his trance breaks. he turns over his shoulder, and their eyes meet just for a second, just enough for abby to watch them change, dull. so she just turns and walks out and texts frank to come straight home, on time or so help her, god. and he does, with his tail between his legs.

and just like he had time and time again, he came out with the defenses. “i was never high around the kids” becomes “i’ve never slept with her, abby, i swear. i’ve never even touched her.” he never wants to focus on what he did do, it seems. he got her pregnant during his lst semester of med school. he suggested the marriage, and the mortgage, and the second baby, and hell, the fucking dog. he used the drugs around her. he lied to her. he shit her out. and not because he was sleeping with mel. no, it wouldn’t be that overt would it? because in franks mind, it wasn’t wrong that he was taking her to dinner after their shifts, opening her door on the car abby found on craigslist, buying her flowers, her favorites, even though abby had always just gotten red roses. he wasn’t sleeping with her, so he had it under control.