Lotus

Sydney remembers becoming best friends with Oliver. She was five, and he was six. After she assured him that he wouldn’t contract “cooties,” they bonded over his mother’s oatmeal cookies and jumped on his trampoline.

In the present, Sydney bakes oatmeal cookies for Oliver, but they’re flat. Clem and Poppy are with Sydney, and Clem references Sydney’s favorite movie, The Big Lebowski (1998). Poppy repeats a line from the movie. The line has a curse word, and Clem unexpectedly snaps at Sydney for letting Poppy watch the R-rated film.

At Gabe’s house, Gabe asks Sydney if she’s okay, and Gabe’s voice reminds her of the attacker. Sydney conceals the link and tells Gabe she’s fine. She brings Oliver the oatmeal cookies. He doesn’t remember his mother making them, but he likes them. He also likes Sydney’s smile. Sydney notes the difference between Oliver’s “profound innocence” and his manly body. They carefully embrace, and Oliver commits to being her friend.

Oliver shows Sydney his drawings, which feature a caped cat, a young man, the Faceless Man, and the Queen of the Lotus (a girl with pigtails). Sydney realizes she’s the queen and she cries. She asks about “lotus,” and Oliver says he found the word on his arm—maybe Bradford wrote it.