'The Deuce' season 3 episode 4 will see Eileen struggling with the contradiction of her beliefs
'The Deuce' season 3 episode 3 saw Eileen aka Candy struggling to find the investment she needs, and in a moment of weakness, we see her confess to Hank that the one thing she needs from him is for him to not offer her money. Even to help her out, or show support. Just a few minutes before that, we saw Eileen tell Hank that while a lot of people struggle with crossing moral lines and are weighed down by sticking to society's expectation of normal, she has always believed that 'normal is a lie'. It is this phrase of hers which gave the episode its title. As someone who turned tricks on the street (offered services as a sex worker) and followed that up by being a porn actor turned feme-erotic (porn film with a feminist bend) director, she stresses the fact that she is proud of how she has faced certain things in her life, even if they stemmed from bad decisions.
Eileen is deeply affected by her son Adam's attitude towards her and her work. The fact that he cannot accept what his mother does for a living, is something that troubles her because Adam's feelings stem from being ashamed of what his mother does. This is exactly what Eileen refuses to stoop down to - being ashamed of the choices that she has made - and is also the reason why she is not just upfront with Hank when they meet in the second episode, but tries to shock him by confessing who she is and what she does for work.
Time and again, Hank's non-judgmental behavior surprises her, and makes her wary as well. In episode 3, when she asks him if he is interested in walking with her, what the upperclassman would have expected is a stroll in one of the more acceptable streets of New York. Where she takes him instead is to the deuce and she watches him to see how he reacts to people on the street, and Eileen being recognized by individuals who may not exactly be on the right side of the law.
For someone who claims that she doesn't care about what the world thinks, Eileen safeguards herself from being judged by people who are the closest to her or will potentially become close to her. Her interaction with her father has transitioned from not talking to putting up with each other for her sick mother's sake. Her relationship with her son went from being affectionate when he was young to turning sour over the years. Both instances prove how much Eileen has suffered in the past and she clearly wants to keep her relationship with Hank free from all such baggage.
The conflict we see Eileen straddling is quite similar to the one she is fighting with Harvey as well. To make films that would put their names alongside the French New Wave in the US - that was the aim. Yes, they did work on porn films but these were more aesthetic than your run of the mill variety. However, Harvey sees no money in this style of filmmaking and gives Eileen an ultimatum. She has to make films that sell if she hopes to reap the financial gains that come from associating herself with his films. She does rebel initially but gives in finally to make one movie with a cliched porn scenario that has nothing to do with her signature style of filmmaking.
So for someone who doesn't care about the moral code set by others, you may wonder why she refuses to take money from Hank. After all, the feeling that she seems to have of crossing the moral line is dictated by the same society that judges her for her choices. We think her decision here is a lot more deep-rooted in what she went through in the second season while she was forced to provide sexual favors to land an investor. The conversation between Hank and Eileen about the investment takes place just after the two of them have had sex. So when he offers to bankroll her project, considering $150,000 is not much for him, this probably takes her back to that moment in season 2. These contradictory emotions that Eileen goes through is what we expect to see more of in the next episode.
'The Deuce' season 3 episode 4 titled 'They Can Never Go Home' will air on Monday, September 30, at 9 pm ET on HBO.
