HBO Enlightened “No Doubt” Ep 17 Everything Changes

by Catherine Giordano

Amy begins episode 17 of HBO’s (aired on 2/24) “Enlightened” feeling certain that her life has been transformed and she poised for wonderful things. And then everything changes… for the worse. (Has that ever happened to you?  Don’t you hate it when it does?)

Amy has broken if off for good with her ex-husband, Levi. He doesn’t take the news very well, but Amy feels she must move on. She has a wonderful new boyfriend, Jeff, a handsome, successful journalist who can give her a life of adventure. She and Jeff are involved in an exposé of Abaddonn that will bring down the company she sees as evil and win them both fame and glory. Life is wonderful.

And then everything changes. 

Dougie has a very public meltdown as he informs everyone that the whole basement crew is being let go at the end of the week.  The crew doesn’t take the news too well either.

Tyler has saved himself by getting a job elsewhere in the company, and he wants to help Amy move into a new position also. He asks his new girlfriend, Elaine, the secretary to George Szidon, the CEO of Abaddonn, to ask her boss to give Amy an interview. Amy is conflicted since she knows the company is about to go down once Jeff’s story is printed, but she can’t refuse the interview without tipping Elaine off abot the coming exposé. 

She meets Szidon at his country club.  There, surrounded by luxury and sunshine, she presents her plan.  This is the plan to have Abaddonn be a force for good in the world, the plan that was rejected months earlier, and consequently started her on her mission to bring Abaddonn down.   

To Amy’s surprise, Szidon likes her plan and offers her $100,000 a year—to start—to start up a department to implement her plan.

After this meeting, Amy is not sure which way to go. She goes to see Jeff and tries to nudge him away from the story. The offer of an exciting job and a big fat salary has weakened her resolve to bring Abbaddonn down. Jeff tells her there is no way to stop this story now.

And then Jeff tells her something else. He says that since she is named in the story, it would not be politic for them to be involved in any kind of personal relationship.  He adds that they both had just let their emotions carry them away and now we need “to put the brakes on.” He tells her it wasn’t real and that, “We both knew that all along.”

Amy is stunned and says nothing.  Then she quietly collects her purse and heads for the door. Now for the “best-exit-line-ever” moment of the week, she turns back and in a soft, quiet voice says, “I didn’t know that all along.”  You’ve got to watch this episode if just for that moment along.  No tears, no accusations, just dignity and a quiet put-down.  She says so much with those few words.

(It's a nice contrast between how Levi reacts when she breaks it off with him and how she reacts when Jeff breaks it off with her.)

The next episode is the final episode of season 2. Things are going to change even more, and probably not is a good way.

P.S. Once again real life intrudes. I’m going to be very busy with work so the reviews will have to be much shorter for the next 6 weeks. I may even have to skip a few.

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