Off to the Races

“Maybe his death hasn’t hit me yet, because all I can think about is clearing his name. He’s been slandered—his entire legacy—and he isn’t even here to defend himself. There’s just no way the man who practically raised me would have done this. I can’t wrap my head around it.”

Vaughn’s commentary on his grandfather’s race-fixing scandal outlines his primary emotional struggle. While Vaughn ultimately learns that Dermot has in no way been “slandered,” he still struggles to “wrap [his] head around” the idea that his loving grandfather might also have behaved immorally and illegally. This cognitive dissonance is intertwined with his grief, and he finds it difficult to reconcile these two very different pictures of who his grandfather really was.

“I only tolerate my mother’s meddling because it’s the only attention I get from her. Which sounds pathetic—I know (hello abandonment issues!).”

In this passage, Vaughn provides a casual but nuanced overview of his family history, which is later shown to parallel Billie’s own experience with her emotionally neglectful family. Although neither protagonist explicitly comments on this overlap, Silver implies that the pair’s similar histories allow them to better understand each other and develop a stronger romantic bond.

“No matter how pristine a farm is, you can’t escape it, even outdoors. You can spend all the money in the world to keep your over-the-top, swanky facility spotless, and it will still smell like horse shit.”

Billie’s enjoyment of the earthy (and down-to-earth) scent of a horse farm provides an example of how Silver uses horses and horse racing to represent reality and emotional honesty. Throughout the series, these factors are often presented as a contrast to the shallow veneer of wealth. Billie essentially glories in the fact that the real (though potentially unpleasant) version of life will always show through even the most curated outward-facing image.