Flow of Madness

One of the main changes to Rich after losing Grace is his involvement in his friends’ problems and issues. He is more involved and in many ways he has become a meddler. Grace was the meddler and the fix it person of the group. She knew what to say and what to do to bring the group together despite tragedies and hardships. It was a major part of her character. Rich on the other hand is more the type to insult his friends intelligence while helping his friends with a false sense of complaining. Though that has changed—Rich has become the fix it guy.

What is the source of this change? It could be that he wants to make Grace happy so he is doing everything in his power to take her place in the group in order to make her proud. I think that is part of it. Though I think the biggest part of it has to do with the loss of Grace. He was not present during the accident and never got the opportunity to see Grace…to support her…to hold her hand. I feel like there is a part of Rich that needs to protect people, because he never got the chance to support Grace.

These are the things that Rich has done for his friends:

• Bailed Alo out of jail.
• Told Alo he can’t run from his problems and showed him a solution to save himself from jail.
• Talked with Alo about Grace in order to get him to call Mini.
• Picked up Mini and took her to Alo.
• He didn’t help Nick with Matty, but he did give Nick the option to without judgment.
• He wanted to make Liv happy at the end of her episode. Enjoyed seeing Liv happy and content with Grace.

Now Rich is a great guy and I believe he would have done most of this stuff pre-Grace, but he would have done it differently. Bitching, moaning, and even belittling the characters as he goes. Because that is Rich and is snark cannot be contained. Recently he has had this aura of control and happiness as he helps out his friends. On top of this he is now in possession of Grace’s phone so he is privy to many of the issues and feelings of all his friends regarding Grace. He left a voicemail to Grace asking Grace to tell him what to do when it comes to his friends. He is compelled to help. Something is driving him to get involved. It could be that a complex is developing through his lack of control that he had during Grace’s accident and the lack of access he had when she was in hospital. It could be that Grace is speaking to him in his mind and it is suggesting that he does all these things. It could be a combination of the two. One thing is certain…Rich feels a drive to act and help his friends. In a beautiful way not a snarky way.

Future:

I feel like the scene between Matty and Rich is going to be a civil conversation. We might see a teary Rich and a moment of beauty towards Grace. However I think ultimately he is going to explain to Matty that it was not his fault and that he forgives him. He left a heartbreaking message to Grace. A message that Rich heard.

I feel like and I hope that Franky calls Grace in the last episode as well and this allows Rich to have a conversation with her. Frankybluerichards and I had a brief conversation about this topic and we both believe that Rich would be one of the best people to help her out. Especially from the guilt. Rich was the biggest victim of the accident and he could give her perspective. I think he would want to give her perspective.

The Problem:
I don’t think that Rich is going to harm himself. The problem though is that Rich is in pain. Massive amounts of pain. He lost the woman he loved and the woman he was making plans with. He has for the most part been focused on his studies and now he is focused on his friends. Though his friends have not returned the same curiosity and concern toward him…no one has checked in on him. They are preoccupied with all the dramas they have that he’s been ignored. Not on purpose, but he has. When someone is ignored and focusing on everyone else…even when in pain…sometimes bad things happen. Like a breakdown. I do think we are going to have a beautiful moment with Rich where he does breakdown. He has not gotten closure and he is hiding behind many things to mask his pain. In episode 9 we got a little glimpse into his psyche.

One thing is for sure…Rich wants to help and he feels he needs to. This is a new side of Rich that has developed this series. There’s no snark in his advice. Just genuine concern…that is driven by loss.