“Girls, Interrupted” – Aired Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 10 p.m. EST on USA
Six months ago, in a lounge in Echo Park, California, 16-year-old Lita Lorne finishes belting out a rock melody on stage while her mother, Sage, and managers watch close by. Later, after a quarrel with her mother hinting about an incident in London, Lita escapes to the alley out back for solace. Instead, she sees a man get shot by two others and has to flee for her life.
Cutting to Mary Shannon’s (Mary McCormack) life, she meets with an adoption counselor who is a little curious that a grown, healthy woman is giving up her baby for adoption rather than the usual lost teen girls she sees. The counselor gives her a ginormous stack of potential parent profiles to sift through. She warns Mary to choose wisely, because the future of her child depends on it.
At the WitSec office, Chief Inspector Stan McQueen (Paul Ben-Victor) is concerned about Mary’s not taking a day off from work in months. Stubborn, Mary refuses, claiming she is fine. Compromising, Stan sends her on a road trip to check on former witness, Carlos Ramirez. As Stan leaves, Mary complains to her partner, Marshall Mann (Frederick Weller), calling Stan’s attitude “pregism.” In his office, Stan gets a distressed call from Sage Lorne insisting they come to their house at once.
On the road, forced to take Oscar the dog with her, Mary narrates the opening philosophical thought. She opens up about her tendency to run away and how it started when she was young as a means to escape her childhood. She also lets us in on the lessons she learned from her getaways. “The best way to find yourself is to get lost,” she relays to us.
Seeing Lita and Sage Lorne again, now Kenna and Britt, not much has changed. Sage is controlling and Lita rebels by reviving her trademark blue streak in her hair. Sage has also entered Lita in a choir, which Lita actually enjoys. Stan is furious because both of their antics have breached security and will cause them to be moved. Despite this, Lita continues to go to the choir recital. Feeling right at home, she moves to the front and wows with her vocals. Unseen, a father in the audience catches her on video camera.
Back at the WitSec office, a teen emancipation is being made for Lita. It is not usual, but Lita’s case is special. Here, we find out that the London drug escapade attributed to Lita, was actually Sage, and Lita had covered for her. Sage, seeing the role reversal of Lita making the money rather than her left her distraught. To cope, Sage began partying and doing drugs. The London incident was a breaking point for both Lita and Sage.
Alone with Mary and Marshall, Lita discloses that Albuquerque was a blessing in disguise because Sage sobered up. Lita was also making true friends with the choir for the first time. The sentimental moment doesn’t last – Stan barges in ranting because the unseen father taping Lita at the choir recital put the video on YouTube and heaps of people were recognizing her. Later, they catch a radio station DJ talking about the video in a broadcast heard all over the Internet.
Mary arrives at Carlos Ramirez’ ranch. He’s been unresponsive to phone calls and neighbors knocking on doors. The sheriff and police have been unsuccessfully searching the place for Carlos. As Mary hobbles out of the car, Oscar bounds out ahead of her and runs off. Throughout the trip, Oscar has had a habit of doing this and Mary is in no mood to chase him. Except, this time Oscar begins barking urgently. Oscar has found Carlos’ hideout.
Carlos, a former hubcap thief, is now an alpaca farmer and shaman. He tells Mary he has a message for her regarding her future, but she is not into spiritual signs. She goes to drive off, but the car breaks down. Forced to stay a while, she is left talking with Carlos.
She fights at first, but eventually gives in to hearing Carlos’ message. Carlos wins her over by interpreting that loved ones have hurt her in the past and it causes her to run away to keep from being hurt. He goes further – like the adoption counselor, he stresses the importance of making a choice for her unborn child. She must open her heart to follow her spirit guide, who Mary incredulously interprets to mean Oscar. He ends by gently telling her it’s time to go home.
Stan, Marshall and Sage are scurrying to find Lita, who has run off. Lita has gone to be with her choir friends. Not put off by the immensity of the media attention from the YouTube video, she willingly gets up on stage to sing with them. Meanwhile, one of the men she is testifying against has caught wind of the video and tracks her down.
Coolly, he watches her sing in the audience. When Lita spots him, she bolts and he pursues. At the same time, Mary and Marshall have arrived to save her. Only, Oscar is the first to come to her rescue by jumping in front of the man. Not foolish enough to take on an angry pitbull, the man hesitates – giving Mary and Marshall time to catch up and take him down.
Lita concedes to get rid of her blue streak. Although, she wasn’t expecting Mary to impulsively take a pair of scissors and snip it off at that second. With Mary, Lita feels the most comfortable and has an honest discussion about Sage. “She’s the one who went all Dina Lohan on me! She had her chance,” gripes Lita. Mary admits, “Family’s never perfect, but they’re all you got.”
Wrapping up, Marshall and his girlfriend Abigail volunteer to take Oscar off Mary’s hands as they had been talking about getting a dog. In St. Louis, Missouri, Lita is finding her place and sings for a group of delighted children.
Mary ends with a closing philosophical thought. She relays to us the incredible effort it takes to go down our life path. “Robert Frost had it right,” she opines. “The road less traveled … leads you right where you need to go.”
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