‘Trespasses’ Yearns for Cushla to Want Better for Herself
"Are you happy?" "Too happy."
In the second episode of Trespasses, Cushla Lavery is not having a very good time. Between professional struggles, ongoing family drama, and the emotional toll of her secret relationship with Michael Agnew, she’s being pulled in several (occasionally conflicting) directions at any given moment.
One of these problems could easily be solved by simply not having an affair with a married man who doesn’t share her religion or her background. But, if nothing else, Trespasses is extremely convincing at selling Michael and Cushla’s love story. He’s not what anyone would call an ideal boyfriend, but it’s clear why she might be drawn to a man like this at this point in her life.
Some of the episode’s best moments are its quietest ones: Cushla blushingly shopping for lingerie she thinks Michael will like, reveling in the ridiculous intimacies of sex, snatching desperate moments with him in alleys and hallways. She cares about him — perhaps even despite herself, at times — and it shows that this thing between them has no real chance of a happy ending, even more so.
But maybe that’s why it’s so easy to root for them... or at least for her. Cushla deserves something good in her life, even if we all might wish she’d aim a bit higher than a life as Michael’s bit on the side.
