Season 1, Episode 10: The Last Straw

Gene lets Vlad know she's "ready" to be intimate... He wants to oblige, but no matter how he tries, he can't stop thinking of his sister. 

Grenadine has reached an all time low. She slumps from room to room, lingers in doorways, glassy-eyed and mumbling, alternating between swigs of whisky and Pepto. 

A shell of her former self, Grenadine can't seem to emerge from the dark sticky fog that has consumed her. 

In a final moment of deterioration and utter exhaustion, Grenadine falls in the bathroom. For an hour or more, she just lies there, eyes fixed upon the ceiling, unblinking. 

Eventually, Meryl finds her cousin. She is momentarily frozen in shock. Meryl has never witnessed catatonia before.

She has no choice but to snap out of it and act fast...  Meryl gets online at once. 

After some quick, but careful, internet searching, she finds the answer. 

Meryl heads to the telephone. She knows what she has to do. 

Season 1, Episode 9: Doll Love

Life has been tender for Vlad and Gene, for they have discovered the art of cuddling. They wake up together and gaze adoringly at one another, as new couples are often wont to do. 

Gene teaches Vlad to use the computer. He's in awe of her teaching style, which is both eager and gentle at once.

They dance together everyday to Gene's favorite albums. Gene's favorite albums soon become Vlad's favorite albums...

They lose themselves in the music...

And as the records spin, it becomes clear that Gene is an intensely focused dancer. Some might call this a talent.  

Someone like Vlad can only hope to keep up... He finds himself tentative, nervous. 

Marie walks by as they dance. She stops, unnoticed, to watch them and to cast a wish that one day she too will experience a love like this. 

When Vlad and Gene tire of the music and grow hungry, they run down to the kitchen like giddy children. 

The world is theirs, and any snack they crave is a possibility.

But before long, Vlad's thoughts begin to wander...

He sneaks off for a moment to have a look at his sister. Although he's been occupied lately, Vlad can feel her dis-ease. 

And sure enough, what he finds is startling. 

Where is the sister he once knew, the strong ox who looked after him when they were children and their mother was off working long hours in the brothel? 

Vlad stands back in horror as Grenadine comes undone, sustained only by sugar, liquor, and round-the-clock swills of Pepto-Bismol.