You Are The Morning When It’s Clear: Mistresses “When One Door Closes” Review

In typical penultimate fashion, Mistresses “When One Door Closes” sets the women up for what could be a happy ending and as we all know endings are also beginnings. This was a nice change of pace considering that more recently Savi’s storyline was the only one that seemed even mildly optimistic.

When we last saw April, she was fluttering around the front lawn of Lucy’s school frantically calling out her daughter’s name. After everything she’d been through with Paul, it appeared that he may have run off with her. The real reason, however, was simultaneously relieving and concerning; Lucy had boarded a bus to attend a concert at the pier, which is the second time she’s snuck off to go watch some music without April’s consent.

Lucy isn’t the only one giving April a headache. Paul never left and has returned to continue to beg for April’s forgiveness and is even willing to go to jail to redeem himself. This is the final blow to April’s wall as April ends up back in his arms. This was a troubling move for April, particularly as someone whose had the most trying storyline, but also the (second) toughest spirit. Paul has also not cleared his name, which leaves room for this to all just be a set up. He may not be what April wants anymore, but Richard’s presence couldn’t have just been for filler. If it was, it may turn out to be the season’s most unfulfilling and misused storyline.

Karen’s storyline, like April’s, has a bit of a double edged sword. Elizabeth successfully gets Karen to court, but in fashion nontraditional to her storyline, Karen wins. The judge tosses her case and she is seemingly in the clear. That is until the state board comes. They are reviewing whether or not to suspend her license based on evidence in the court case. Their final decision is a sixth month suspension instead of completely taking her license, which again seems like a win. Until we see who brought the state board in: Jacob.

Karen may still want to practice, but it won’t be with him. He’s had enough and wants her out. A large part of this was Karen’s fault – as in a really large part – but one has to wonder if Jacob wasn’t feeling “second best.” Either way, Karen is now on her own and her job prospects aren’t looking to great. For Karen it could be so much worse though, so we’ll take the strong sense of realism and even-handed writing.

Savi and Dominic continue to reconnect, spending alone time (in public) on a date where it ends in an almost full out kiss. Savi breaks up her own party, however, after not feeling quite comfortable with the situation. Despite the two having chemistry, both admitting feelings for each other, and possibility that Dominic could be the father of her baby, the kiss and even the dating seems a tad weird. This is largely due to the rules (and maybe feelings) of her relationship with Harry still being pretty murky.

What gives Savi the gold medal this episode though, is how she reacts to the prospect of Harry potentially losing her business. It seems like she might be running back to him when the grand gesture of “I’ll sell my wedding ring to save your business” happens. However, Savi writes Harry a check… and gives him back his wedding ring, signifying that her hesitancy with Dominic and her limbo with Harry aren’t about the men, but about her being ready to be the most important in her life right now – before someone else is.

Pictured: Jes Macallan as Joss, Brett Tucker as Harry — © 2013 ABC

Joss’ storyline gets the hairiest (pun in intended) its ever gotten. Joss finds out that Olivier is leaving in a couple of days, which makes her move to sleep with him extra sucky. Not only did she ruin her relationship with Alex for him, but now he’s not even gonna be around to bask in his spoils. This signals the end of their fling (can we even call it a relationship?), and with things looking pretty bleak romantically, Joss deals with her emotions in the only way she knows how – by not dealing with them.

Drowning herself in tequila and men at Harry’s restaurant doesn’t go over so well this time when the man she makes out with tries to force himself on her. But wait? Whose that coming the rescue? It’s Harry, who pulls the guy off of her and also ends up being the first face she sees when she wakes up the next morning, next to a waste basket and in her bed. If you didn’t believe Harry and Joss before, you might want to see if you can still hop a ride on that train. Like Savi, she also takes more control of her life – but with far less security – she decides to quit her job. It seems like a really weird place to leave this wandering soul, but this show has certainly proven there’s a method to the madness.

Catch Mistresses Mondays at 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.