Nothing is ever simple for Sarah.
Immigration should have been an issue that Sarah could have easily gotten behind on The Republic of Sarah Season 1 Episode 7.
She even had the perfect group of people as a test case — refugees from a small Pennsylvania town overrun by a fracking operation. Greylock residents could certainly relate to that.
But then another potential immigrant appeared: Sarah and Danny’s long-absent father Paul.
As angry as Sarah was about Danny taking off, that was nothing compared to how she felt about Paul, who abandoned her when she was only six years old.
Sarah rejected Paul almost immediately, especially after he didn’t make much effort to explain his actions.
Paul’s reappearance put Sarah in a tough spot. She had gained a national reputation for progressive thinking, and yet here is one refugee that she wants to eject from her country.
Fortunately, she had her contentious new Congress to tie up the issue for her, at least for a time.
Liz naturally didn’t want any people from away accepted into Greylock. Danny made the sensible suggestion of background checks, and Sarah agreed, kicking that decision down the road.
There was enough personal drama happening that putting the government stuff on the back burner made perfect sense. Also, that meant less of Liz, which is always a positive development.
First up had to be Paul’s coming to town, which wasn’t nearly as well-intentioned as it first seemed.
Initially, it caused another point of contention between Sarah and Danny, as if they needed one.
Being older than Sarah, Danny actually remembered some good times with Paul, whereas all she recalled was a sense of loss.
Also, Danny was Team Paul while Sarah was Team Ellen. So it didn’t help that Danny installed Paul in Ellen’s house.
Then’s A.J.’s background checks revealed that the only suspect immigrant was Paul, who was wanted by the U.S. government. Paul could stay in Greylock without the threat of extradition from the new country.
Granted, Paul had a good reason for doing what he did. Inspired by Sarah’s idealism, he stole and published classified documents detailing government corruption resulting in deaths in less-developed countries.
It was a sweet, if way too late, way to honor his little princess.
Danny’s absence forced Sarah and Paul to talk at dinner. She didn’t forgive him, but, at least, she listened to his sad story.
Danny was missing because he continued down that slippery slope that he’s been on since returning to Greylock: unfinished business with Corinne.
He helped her when a bank was trying to rip her off on her student loans. She reciprocated by making him his favorite cookies.
Grover warned her about the pull of first love. Yet Corinne didn’t listen at the worst possible time — when her husband and son were out of town.
Of course, they ended up kissing after Danny finally confessed he left town because he was afraid of the violence inside himself.
Now how do they pull back from this? If they don’t, Corinne is sure to blurt out the truth about Josh’s parentage, complicating matters further.
Grover is a fine one to lecture about the hold of first love since he can’t get past Patience’s death. He couldn’t even talk with a therapist about it.
A.J. was a good friend to let him inside her secret to help him get back on track.
I thought that meant that A.J. had undergone therapy following military service. But instead, she introduced Grover to her ailing father, locked inside his own little world because of a neurological condition.
The point she made forcefully was how much life her father had missed because of his illness. She didn’t want the same thing to happen to a grieving Grover.
Grover’s therapist’s shifting gears also helped his breakthrough. She began talking about her losses, which led the empathetic Grover to confess to having survivor’s guilt that he can’t shake.
Upon returning to Sweetie Pie, he appeared to have taken the first step to recovery as he was at least able to admit he was going to therapy.
Grover wasn’t the only person at the restaurant going through things, as the two teen workers were clashing with each other.
Tyler understandably has been in a bit of a funk since Bella got shipped off to boarding school just so her arrogant father could keep her away from the bad progressive influences in Greylock.
That’s on top of Tyler being an “other” in a very white New England town.
After discovering Tyler’s photos, Maya thought she was doing him a solid by entering a couple in the local art show.
That move was a fail for a couple of reasons.
First, Tyler felt betrayed by another friend. Secondly, the aged arts council snottily rejected his photos.
Luckily, Grover gave Tyler some perspective, and Tyler set up his own counter exhibition of rejected artwork.
Greylock even got a Constitution, with the very wise stipulation that it be rewritten from scratch every five years so that it doesn’t get outdated. I think every 10 years in conjunction with the census would be often enough, but whatever.
To follow the Greylock government’s growth, watch The Republic of Sarah online.
Do you have any sympathy for Paul?
Are Danny and Corinne headed for trouble?
Is Grover starting to heal?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.