‘The Oval’ Episode 2 Recap: Tangled Webs

Episode 2 of Tyler Perry’s The Oval picks up with the Hallsen family going through a lot. We pick up the episode with Nancy Hallsen’s grandbaby, Callie, being kidnapped by her mom and her cult goons. Barry told her not to let his ex-wife see Callie for obvious reasons, but she just couldn’t help herself. She felt bad for Ruth and got manipulated, and now her grandbaby is gone. The worst part is Barry doesn’t even know it yet, because he’s dealing with his own mess!

RELATED: ‘The Oval’ Episode 1 Recap

Right now, he’s dealing with the fact that first daughter Gayle falsely accused him of rape. Now, the chief of staff is involved, and if Barry can’t exonerate himself by getting Gayle to admit she lied, he could be in for worse than jail. Everyone knows that Barry wouldn’t do something like that, but it is the first daughter, so White House officials have no choice but to launch an investigation. 

Remember how Lilly was stuck at the airport with that fine but stalkerish (and clearly nutty) man? She was good at blocking his advances at first, but she ended up giving it up in an airport bathroom. Smh. However, Lilly’s fun gets interrupted when her husband calls and apologizes for how cold he had been acting toward her. Of course he’d do that while she’s at the height of her guilt!

Now Lilly feels bad, and when she hangs up she starts crying and saying she doesn’t know what’s wrong with her. But psycho chocolate man reveals his true colors. He’s actually married, too, and had a ring on his finger this entire time. He doesn’t care that Lilly feels regret and taunts her with the fact that he “came in her.” Turns out, it was all a game for him. He does this a lot and likes that he’s making this moment so uncomfortable for her that she won’t forget it. 

Back to Barry’s rape drama. Gayle’s parents hear the news, and Victoria, the first lady, decides to handle things. Victoria had a chat with Gayle, because she knows she can’t be trusted. Gayle never answers her mother directly about whether it happened or not and refuses to undergo a rape kit. That latter fact makes Victoria more suspicious. In the end, Gayle never admits she lied, but Victoria tells her that this is going to have to go away, and tells Donald, the chief of staff, and everyone else that Gayle was mistaken. She explicitly tells Don that her daughter is a liar and that anything she says is to be taken lightly. Ouch. 

So Barry neither gets exonerated nor prosecuted, but he is free, for now, and tormented, because it’s a terrible place to be knowing you didn’t do anything wrong but you can’t prove it. The good news for Barry is the people who matter believe him. 

And then, when Barry gets home, he gets the news that his daughter was kidnapped and that the police weren’t much help. Obviously, he is pissed. But being mad and yelling at his mama ain’t gon’ get his daughter back! 

Lilly gets home only to find out that Mr. Psycho Dark and Handsome (we find out his name is Bobby) followed her. She tells him to get out, but it only gets him more aroused. They end up in her bedroom, and he’s all up on her bed begging for another round. He refuses to go, and she is forced to shoot him just as her husband walks in and witnesses the take down. 

Next week, we’ll watch Richard handle his wife’s scandal, Barry and Richard go on a quest to find Callie, and more.