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I just adore the choice to have One-Eyed Jack's be in the middle of remodeling. Continuing the imagery of Shelly and Leo's house; half-finished, the guts and skeleton open to view. The perverse mixture of luxury and seduction, with exposed insulation and plastic sheeting. The beauty was always only a painted mask, a velvet veneer.

The promise that it will one day be beautiful, a luxurious bath, mythical Roman decadence, Venus in her mirror, with fake fruit and flowers to decorate the dissaray. To sell eternal youth and spring, a great deal of ugly upkeep is required. The illusion must be maintained through the very means that expose the illusion.

Entering the brothel feels fleshy; all soft plush insulation and red velvet. Skin peeled off to show the meat, yellow fat, red blood. This house is not intact. This house is not whole. They enter like thieves into a body that has already been vivisected. Seeking Audrey, so close to death. A roll of plastic sheeting waiting by the door.

It hurts me.

Joan Chen as Josie Packard