Pascalle goes to recover a cup from the black hole that is Van’s room, and discovers a hygiene disaster, and a rat. Loretta lays poison, against Grandpa’s advice, but Pascalle is possessed with a mission to cleanse. But washing Van’s sheets only reveals a more unhealthy obsession: Aurora’s thong. Pascalle decides Van needs to let go of the thong, and removes it to a clothing bin – where Van, once again, finds it. Pascalle is then confronted by an angry Van: weed-eating her underwear. Pascalle protests her innocence: she didn’t take the thong! But goaded by Van, she tells some home truths, and he returns them. The siblings are left at a nasty impasse…

It’s just sometimes you have to be kind to be cruel.Pascalle

Meanwhile, Hoochie Mama parties again: at Gary’s house, where he is celebrating his latest development green light. He also renews the offer of a loan to Cheryl, who is about to meet the very expensive lawyer, Des Stewart. When Des sees traps in Judd’s case, Cheryl thinks she’s found another dud, but is cheered when Des wants to go gunning for Monica. Judd is not so cheered at the thought of this huge expense, but fired up, Cheryl seeks evidence against Monica. Des, however, is pursuing the personal angle. To Cheryl’s shock, this reveals that Judd’s marriage to Monica ended over an affair, with the wife of a criminal… Cheryl is thrown, but with evidence of Monica’s former harassment, Des gets the police to drop the assault charge. He also reveals that the former girlfriend is dead. Cheryl strikes out against Monica, but still has her doubts about Judd and his pattern for crime wives.

As this goes on, Jethro has to defend an old family friend, Corky, who’s cleaned up his P act, but in helping a fellow addict, has been arrested. It seems a cellphone message will prove Corky’s innocence, but Jethro gets the feeling that Gary is against him pursuing the case. When he queries this, Gary ups the ante: he’d be happier if Corky was found guilty. As Jethro tries to persuade him of this, Corky complains to his cellmate, Judd. When Judd weighs in, Jethro bucks against this pressure. Despite his conscience, he ditches the incontrovertible message, to get Corky to plead guilty. Corky is not happy, but – when he finds that Jethro has Gary as a client, he suddenly decides that he’s better off in jail. Which leaves Jethro with a mystery.

Cheryl goes to Gary, and takes up the loan offer to cover legal expenses. Disturbed, Jethro also goes to Gary, wanting more details on his beef against Corky. Only to find that apparently, this was on Wolf’s instructions…

Judd is released and he and Cheryl reconcile their differences. Yes, she’s a crime wife, but she’s no victim.

And sibling differences are settled, kind of, as Loretta discovers the thong, stolen not by Pascalle, but by a rat, now dead. At this, Van lets go of the thong – but not his guilt and grief…