How It All Goes Down
Libby Day—Now
- Libby sets off to jail, she does not pass Go, and she does not collect $200. She collected $300 from Lyle already, remember?
- On her way to visit her brother, Libby remembers how Ben never protested the charges against him. He didn't have an alibi. He continued talking about Satan. "Ben didn't help himself" (8.12).
- Finally, Libby reaches the prison and sits down at one of those glass partitions, complete with telephone—the kind you've seen in all the movies.
- Libby sits opposite Ben on one side of the class, and he sits on the other, phone in hand.
- One of the first things he observes is that Libby "look[s] just like Mom" (8.27). Before Mom got chopped to bits with an axe, that is.
- Ben asks if people tell Libby that all the time or what, and she reminds him that everyone who would know that is dead.
- When Ben realizes that she's never read his letters, he tells her that he's mostly forgiven her for what he believes to be her false testimony.
- Ben then shares a memory about a porcelain bunny they used to keep in the bathroom. Even though Libby can't remember it, the memory bridges a gap between them.
- Libby asks why Ben was unhelpful with the police. Ben says he just wanted to play tough. He had no idea he'd be found guilty.
- "We need to fix this" (8.60), Libby says, doing a complete 180 from her stance on the issue when she walked into the jail. She wonders if they can find some magic DNA evidence, "some glowing goo that was always getting people out of prison" (8.62).
- Libby notices a tattoo on Ben's arm, a girl's name perhaps, that ends in –lly.
- Before Libby leaves, Ben tells her where to find Runner and says he hopes she'll come visit him again.