Episode 5: Struggle
Following Grandma’s stroke and eventual death, Damien withdraws himself and stops talking to anyone. Hayden begins to worry and rant about how much he misses him in Koopa. Despite being aware that Damien needs time apart, Hayden can’t help but wish he could see him again. He rushes to Damien and Grandma’s apartment when he notices from the outside that their light is on one night. After spotting the door ajar, he enters and finds Damien stoically seated on the sofa. He offers Damien the takeout he bought, but he simply pushes him away. Hayden tries to console Damien, but he rejects him angrily, telling him to leave. Wordlessly, he places the food he got for Damien beside him and leaves.
Hayden watches a store employee attempt to fix a broken rice cooker while purchasing beer. The attendant asks him about his well-being after noticing that he has been buying alcohol frequently. Despite Hayden’s efforts to remain silent, the attendant tells him that people are like appliances; they might be fine one day and not the next. In the end, it all comes down to needs; people eat when they are hungry. Hayden begins leaving little notes of encouragement along with food for Damien on his doorstep. He is delighted to discover that the food has disappeared, indicating that Damien has taken them in. Damien discovers the letter Hayden was asked to write for Grandma in the meantime. In the letter, Grandma expresses her regret for robbing Damien of his independence just to look after her rather than live his own life. Despite her inability to provide Damien with a complete family, she wishes to leave their apartment to him in the hopes that he will be able to stay there and find true love. Grandma tells Damien at the end that she will miss him forever.
Joanne, on the other hand, goes to the bar to confront Kelvin regarding Archie, whom she saw leaving the establishment following a kiss between the two. She provokes Kelvin, who gets defensive and asks her about the events of the night they became pregnant with Marcus. Joanne is accused by Kelvin of using Marcus against him and trapping him in their marriage. She disputes that she has done anything wrong, other than pursue her crush and that without her and her parents’ support, Kelvin is nothing. Joanne slaps Kelvin and accuses him of being self-centered as he presses her about what she did in the past to intervene between him and Archie. Kelvin claims that Joanne is the one acting selfishly, which leads to her leaving the bar and telling him to consider their son instead. Joanne meets Archie outside the bar and informs him that they are married and have a child. Archie is unfazed and tells her that he is aware of what she did to take Kelvin from him. Joanne bitterly says that Kelvin might not choose her, but she also asks Archie if he believes that Kelvin will choose him this time. When Archie returns to the bar, Kelvin won’t open the door for him, despite his continuous cries. He begs Kelvin to open the door, saying that leaving him behind in high school was his greatest regret and that all he wants is to be with him. Kelvin weeps quietly in the bar, drinking away his sorrows.
Episode 6 Finale
Shawn calls Kelvin a coward as he lights up a cigarette, while Paki responds that people can occasionally second-guess their choices when they are experiencing a moment of weakness, particularly when faced with a significant circumstance that calls into question their choices.
After breaking the lock on the back door, Archie pushes his way inside the bar and discovers Kelvin, who is unable to look at him, drinking behind the counter. Weak and afraid to face their fears, he says with bitterness that Kelvin reminds him of himself in high school. Kelvin apologizes to him, saying he can’t imagine going through what happened back then again, which makes Archie frustrated at him. When Archie reaches out to kiss Kelvin, the latter pushes him away, causing him to lose control of his emotions and declare that he loves Kelvin unconditionally, even if it means being the third person in his marriage and compromising his morals. Archie is torn between letting go of Kelvin and pursuing him further, but given the way he is responding, he realizes that he can no longer defend their relationship. Once back at his house, Kevin informs Joanne that he wants a divorce—not for Archie, but so that he can finally go on living as himself. He tries calling Archie and spends the entire evening waiting for him at the bar, but no one answers.
Returning to Shawn and Paki, the former tells of a book he once read that says that when someone wants butterflies, it suggests planting flowers instead of chasing them, since the latter will return once it blooms. Paki nods when he asks her not to go on with her wedding.
Upon arriving home, Hayden discovers his notes to Damien taped to the door with an arrow pointing towards the rooftop. Finding Damien by following the arrows, he receives his final note from him, inviting him to drink with him again as soon as he recovers. Damien expresses gratitude to Hayden for bringing him food and being patient with him. While he feels he doesn’t deserve it as he has been treating him poorly, Damien asks Hayden to be his boyfriend, to which the latter answers by kissing him. Under the stars, with beer cans all around them and their sticky note messages for each other, the two kiss each other passionately. While all of this is going on, Kelvin visits their former school and runs into Andy, an old friend. Andy casually remarks that Archie also came that day and had just left. He rushes to find Archie and finally finds him sipping from a cup of silver chrysanthemum tea at the snack shop they used to frequent every day. Archie ignores Kelvin the entire time, even after he discloses that he is divorced, and walks away. Kelvin chases Archie once more and asks if they can start over again.
Following a romantic evening spent together, Hayden awakens in Damien’s bed to find the latter soundly dozing off next to him.
Back to Shawn and Paki, the former invites the latter to slow dance with him.
A little while later, Kelvin is still pursuing Archie, and Paki and Shawn are out on a date. As all of this is going on, Hayden is to introduce Damien to his mother and promises to face all their fears together.
Writer’s Thoughts:
Uniquely, ‘Stay Still’ has demonstrated to us that courage is a necessary component in pursuing love. Even though the plot was intended to revolve around two couples only, we are surprised to learn that Paki, the storyteller, and friend of the main character, also gets a happy ending after choosing to forgo her parents’ arranged marriage for her. On the other hand, for Kelvin and Archie, although the viewers’ or readers’ opinions of their relationship may be divided, it is admirable that Archie finally learns to take his time in forgiving Kelvin before they resume their relationship again on a clean slate. All we can do is hope that from now on, they’ll be making better choices on their own and taking responsibility for it instead of blaming it on other people. Finally, Damien and Hayden, the main couple who have undoubtedly won our hearts, show us that love is courageous patience and that healing can take many different forms, sometimes being easier done with someone by your side. Jupiter Entertainment announced that it will be remaking the series with a longer runtime, so even though there is no promise of a sequel (yet), we hope to see you on the next one!
Enjoy watching ‘Stay Still‘ on a bigger screen because GagaOOLala is now available to watch on your Smart TVs by downloading the app on Google Play, Amazon Appstore, and Roku.
RELATED ARTICLE:
A Chance Encounter in an Old Tenement Sparks New Beginnings in ‘Stay Still’ Episodes 1-3
