Episode 8 begins with Ruth driving, tears flowing down her cheeks as she remembers a moment she had with Wyatt, who is now dead due to the brutal violence of Javi. She's enraged and in a state where she feels stuck with her emotions, not knowing what to do. While Ruth gathers herself, Javi rings Marty and tells him to "clean-up," i.e., get rid of the bodies of Wyatt and Darlene. Wendy is confused about why Marty did not tell Javi that Ruth wants to kill him. She's worried about family safety, their leverage with the FBI, and the foundation. Marty feels Wendy is being emotional and does not feel Javi will die. Wendy raises a vital point - Marty does not understand "people's will." Wendy's point is at a significant narrative juncture; it feels like she's outgrown her husband in many ways - morally corrupt, but understanding how feelings will not help their predicaments. Ruth asks Charlotte and Jonah where Javi is. Jonah and Charlotte are unsure what to do, knowing there's a lot at stake for the family, but Charlotte reveals that Javi is meeting Clare at Shaw Medical in Chicago the next day. Afterward, Wendy tells Ruth that they will not stand in her way because "they owe her" - she lies to Ruth, claiming that Javi is in Mexico, but he is all hers once he returns. Ruth asks Wendy to promise her that she has a clear route to Javi, but she doesn't buy the premise. Ruth is playing with Wendy and Marty - in the past, she would have fallen for their words, and she's still acting like her naive former self. Meanwhile, Marty tells Javi that the Snell farm is crawling with cops. Javi tells Marty to get to Chicago and bring his uncle's children's financials. The ending of episode 8 is chilling. We recognized early on in this series the transformation of Marty and then the leveling up of Wendy in the later seasons. Ruth has reached a specific point in her character development. A monster made by the people who have always claimed to care about her. This is why character development in TV is essential. When it pays off, you get episodes like this.
As the episode moves closer to the end, Wendy is tired of the back and forth with Ruth, so she rings Javi, claiming that Clare has agreed to give the stock options to him.
