State of the Union Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
Episode 1 - The Laws of GrammarSelf-professed, 'traditional, family man', Scott, meets his wife, Ellen, in a hipster Connecticut coffee shop. He's instantly enraged by the endless artisanal coffee blends and vegan milk options presented to him by the barista, Jay. Eventually, Ellen arrives and rescues Scott from his confusion. Scott and Ellen are booked in for marital counselling in the room above the café, and they're meeting for a coffee first so they can take ten minutes to discuss their relationship history and prepare for what's to come. Ellen raises Scott's history of cheating and how much that damaged their relationship, but Scott derails the discussion. He's obsessed by trying to figure out whether Jay is a man or a woman. Ellen tries her best to explain that Jay is non-binary and they use the pronoun 'they', but Scott becomes infuriated and baffled. Ellen finally manages to cut through Scott's confusion by announcing that she wants a divorce.
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Episode 2 - Why Quake?As Ellen arrives, Jay tells her that Scott has asked to see Jay's driving license in an attempt to figure out their sex. Ellen apologises on his behalf, and joins Scott to give him a piece of her mind. There she finds him researching Quakerism in a blundering attempt to understand his wife better. It transpires that in their first session, Ellen has confessed to Scott that she's joined the Quaker community. Ellen gently tries to explain to Scott that, since becoming a Quaker, she's realised that they share fundamentally different world views. She wants to live a meaningful life in which she's encouraged to question herself and to progress, whereas he wants to watch the same movies, listen to the same music and sit on the same sofa. She admits that she can't see where he fits in her world anymore, which is why she wants a divorce. He plaintively suggests he can try and catch up with her, but Ellen thinks it's too late for that.
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Episode 3 - Big MustardJay breaks the news to Scott that the café has listened to customer feedback and has decided to ban cow's milk. Scott is livid and explains that it should be his right to inject his body full of poisonous chemicals if he wants to. He heads over to Ellen's table in a terrible mood and asks Ellen if they can stop meeting their counsellors - Steve and Cindy. He explains to Ellen that he's uncomfortable with how effeminate Steve is. Ellen is appalled by his views on manliness, and pushes back. She tells him that they're learning about themselves and each other. They're interrupted by one of Ellen's friends, Cathy, who comes to congratulate them on Cabdi's progress. Scott is baffled - who is Cabdi? Ellen explains that he's a young man who has recently arrived from Somalia who she is sponsoring. Scott is completely blindsided, but Cathy ploughs on obliviously and invites them for dinner; she's hoping Scott can help persuade her husband to get involved with the cause as well. Scott shuts Cathy down, explaining that him and Ellen are splitting up so won't be attending anything as a couple anymore. Cathy beats a hasty retreat and Ellen is left shocked and hurt by the bluntness of Scott's announcement.
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Episode 4 - Prison ThoughtsEllen walks into the café and the regulars break out into a spontaneous round of applause. Jay gives her a free coffee and calls her a hero. Scott, as usual, is in the dark as to what's going on with his wife. Ellen explains that she was protesting the construction of a new chemical plant and was arrested and sent to prison. Scott asks her exactly how long she spent in the slammer, and is deeply amused to find that it was only a few hours. Ellen says that it may have only been an afternoon, but nevertheless she had time to reflect on their marriage and has decided that she wants them to continue to share a loving relationship even after they divorce. This declaration stops Scott's teasing in his tracks - he suddenly sees how serious she is about divorce. Ellen asks him to seriously think about how painful it would be for him if their marriage ended. He pauses to seriously consider the question and finally scores the pain a 7 out of 10. He asks Ellen how painful it would be to remain married to him, and she also gives it a 7 out of 10. They're at an impasse.
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Episode 5 - Led Zeppelin's AccountantEllen and Scott discuss what went down in last week's session. It transpires that Scott asked their counsellors - Steve and Cindy - to rate their marriage out of 10, which caused a huge rift between Steve and Cindy, resulting in Steve storming out of the session. Ellen is furious with Scott and accuses him of joking about everything and having respect for nothing. She says that he feels the need to express his social conservativism constantly, and he finds it funny, but she doesn't. While they're talking, Steve interrupts and says that he's going to let Cindy take over the sessions on her own, and that they're taking a break from their marriage. Scott is appalled to find that their marriage has broken down, and says that they should have advertised that they couldn't even keep their own marriage alive before trying to fix others. Steve departs and Cindy appears - she regrets how their previous session went and wants to offer them a free intimacy workshop as an apology. Scott laughingly accepts, leaving Ellen flabbergasted.
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Episode 6 - Intimacy KitEllen suggests that they use this week's session to discuss the fact that Scott was thrown out of the intimacy workshop for refusing to open up and for openly judging the ones who did. Scott explains that the workshop wasn't exactly what he had expected, he'd thought there would be a lot more sex advice. He admits that he doesn't really know the difference between sex and intimacy. Ellen despairs, but rallies and tries to encourage him to open up more. She says she feels he has hidden depths and secret parts of himself that she wishes he would share with her. He says that he doesn't have any secret parts of himself and that he's fundamentally uncomplicated. Ellen says that she needs more than that, she needs to be able to share deeper, more complex parts of herself and have them be understood by her partner. They're left wondering if they have both spent years fundamentally misunderstanding each other.
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Episode 7 - The Road Most TravelledScott arrives at the café and apologises to Jay for his inappropriate curiosity. Ellen walks in during the apology and is shocked by his display of contrition. Scott explains that he's started personal therapy and has already learnt a huge amount, for example, that his interactions with Jay were deeply offensive and wrong. He tells Ellen that he's also discovered that he needs to re-examine his attitude towards women... Ellen wholeheartedly agrees with him. She asks him if he's just doing therapy in order to win her back, and he admits that maybe that is his motive. Ellen tells him that there are plenty of women out there who would accept him for who he is, why is he fighting so hard to be with a woman who won't? Scott says that he's happy to be with her because he's comfortable with her. Ellen says that comfort simply isn't enough for her, she doesn't want to settle for the easy option. Scott asks if she's met anyone else, and Ellen hints that someone else has sparked her interest.
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Episode 8 - Facetime TVEllen arrives at the café and finds that Jay is furious with her. Jay explains that Scott opened up to them about how hurt he was that Ellen had started seeing someone. Ellen is shocked that they've become close enough to share such intimacies. Jay explains that since Scott apologised, they've started hanging out every day and talking. Ellen takes her tea over to Scott, furious that he's turned her friend against her. Scott pushes back and explains that he's trying to better himself for her, to change and to become more open-minded. He asks her if there's anything she would miss about their relationship if they broke up, and Ellen softens, saying that of course there's a huge amount that she would miss. He asks if she would miss the sex, and when she hesitates, he encourages her to open up. She admits that it wasn't always satisfying for her, and to her astonishment he suggests that they should spend their entire hour together in counselling discussing that. The old Scott would never have suggested such a thing and she realises that he really has changed.
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Episode 9 - Kopi IuwakScott and Ellen meet in the café and are uncharacteristically happy and giggly with each other. Ellen thanks Scott for a wonderful night of lovemaking the night before, and Scott is thrilled. He feels that since they shared such amazing sex that they're on the path to recovery. Ellen stops him - she explains that the sex was just sex. It hasn't solved any of their problems. It was a beautiful night together, but it hasn't changed the fact that she wants them to get a divorce. She says that they've done well to make it this far, but they mustn't push their luck. Scott carries on resisting; he doesn't want a divorce. Finally, Ellen admits to him that in the past few years she's been having dark thoughts. There were times when she fantasised about Scott suffering a quick and painless death just so that she would be released from their marriage. On hearing this, Scott stops resisting and finally understands how unhappy Ellen has been and how there's no way back for them. They share a moment of sadness, tenderness and acceptance before heading upstairs for the session.
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Episode 10 - The Last BoxEllen arrives at the café, and Jay tells her they've heard about the divorce and they think Scott and Ellen are making the right choice. They're simply too different to each other to make it work. Ellen sadly agrees and walks over to join Scott. They start to discuss their future. Scott tells her that he has signed up to a dating app. Ellen is shocked about the lack of a grieving period, but also says that she wants him to be happy. Scott asks Ellen about her plans. She tells him that she wants to donate her money to the Quakers, learn to live simply and to fight the good fight. Scott says he wants to share his simple pleasures with someone who will accept him for who he is. She asks Scott if he'll take care of Cabdi if she moves out of the state, and Scott agrees that he will. They reflect on what they've learnt of each other and agree that they've become much closer during the process of breaking up. They decide to spend their last session working out how to remain friends after their divorce.
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