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Contains spoilersOverview
Demon reunites with the Peggots and learns his grandmother Betsy had tried to intervene before his birth, exposing his mother’s secrecy. He visits June and Emmy’s geodesic dome, where June’s boyfriend Kent, a pharmaceutical rep, touts long-acting pain pills and the pain scale. Mr. Peggot accepts a coupon, but Mrs. Peggot vows to destroy it, signaling the looming opioid threat.
Summary
The Peggots track Demon to Jonesville and invite him over. Coach arranges for U-Haul to drive him, and Demon stays for dinner. In the kitchen, Mrs. Peggot reveals that before Demon’s birth, his grandmother Betsy arrived with two companions to see his mother. Demon’s father had written Betsy about the coming baby, but after his death, Demon’s mother hid Betsy’s approach, fearing the baby would be taken.
Demon and Maggot reconnect awkwardly. Maggot’s goth look and new friends underline how they’ve drifted. He reports his mother’s parole was denied after a confrontation with a guard. Despite tensions, the Peggots remain welcoming, and conversation turns to their star daughter June and her unusual dome house.
They visit June and Emmy, now poised and older-seeming. Upstairs, Emmy confides that she despises June’s boyfriend Kent. Demon notes Emmy’s maturity and emotional distance from their childhood closeness, while Maggot needles about her supposed boyfriend, which she denies.
Emmy describes Kent’s charm offensive at the clinic: gifts for staff and lavish perks for prescribers. Maggot jokes about Hawaii rewards, while Emmy explains June can’t accept such incentives from her own boyfriend but still admires his popularity amid overworked local healthcare.
Downstairs, Kent lectures about pain as the fifth vital sign and “objective” pain scores, with June backing his assurances of low addiction risk. In bad weather, the family readies to leave; Mr. Peggot accepts a coupon for powerful long-acting pain pills, and Mrs. Peggot immediately vows to flush any such drugs, as U-Haul waits to drive Demon home.
Who Appears
- Demon Copperhead
Visits the Peggots, learns Betsy sought him pre-birth, and witnesses Kent’s pharma pitch at June’s dome house.
- Mrs. Peggot
Reveals Betsy’s pre-birth visit and later vows to flush Kent’s powerful pain pills.
- Mr. Peggot
Recalls the visiting car; accepts a coupon for long-acting pain medication from Kent.
- Maggot
Goth-leaning cousin; standoffish, reports his mother’s denied parole; jokes while rifling Emmy’s makeup.
- Aunt June (June Woodall)
Nurse practitioner living in a geodesic dome; dating Kent and defending his pain-management claims.
- Emmy
Now poised and older-seeming; confides hatred of Kent and shares upstairs secrets with Demon and Maggot.
- Kent
Pharmaceutical rep dating June; pitches long-acting pain pills and pain scores; wins Mr. Peggot’s coupon acceptance.
- U-Haul
Teammate who drives Demon to the Peggots’ visit and waits outside like a chaperone.