When Dale left his father out in the woods to die last week, it apparently wasn’t just to become the head of the Traveler group. I’m sure that’s it, but it wasn’t the only reason.
When a leader, especially a leader as beloved as Earl is buried, all the Travelers who are out on the road come back to attend the funeral, and it seems like that may have been the real reason. Dale wants to confront Doug and Cherien face-to-face. Or maybe he just wants to kill them. Either way, it will work.
Doug doesn’t really want to go back to the Traveler camp, but to make his wife happy, he agrees. Cherien generally goes along with things but she’s on the verge of a breakdown. While Doug may not be a total Traveler, Cherien grew up in that lifestyle. Being stuck in the life of a housewife in Eden Falls doesn’t come easy to her, and at least being able to see her “family” should help. So Doug gives in, and agrees that the entire family should come along.
When they get there, they find out another curveball has been thrown at them, this time by Ginny. She plans to have the wedding between DiDi and Ken while everyone is gathered. This isn’t sitting well with anyone, least of all DiDi, who still isn’t interested in getting married to Ken – under any circumstances. Doug trying to convince Ken to wait doesn’t help.
The funeral goes over well, as backyard funeral pyres on a kitchen tables go. At least until DiDi is congratulated by someone on her upcoming wedding. It seems that Ginny may have gotten to Ken – apparently Travelers have weddings at funerals. When something dies, something is born and all that.
Then Dale adds even more fun to the festivities by paying to have Ken killed. To the couple that ran the real Riches off the road. Doug, thinking quickly, averts that problem by talking to them. When the husband shoots the wife, that’s one problem averted.
At least when Ken comes in to consummate the marriage, things work out a bit. He asks DiDi for help, and she says that she can’t help him with it. When Ken asks her about love, she tells him that she’ll never love him. Then Ken does perhaps the best thing anyone has done. He tells DiDi that he’ll never let Ginny hurt their family. And if she doesn’t want to marry him, she doesn’t have to. He’ll protect her. It’s like he’s a whole different person.
