Diksha Sundriyal
Starz’s ‘Three Women’ begins with a writer named Gia Lombardi trying to find subjects for her book through which she can talk about the sexual experiences of women. Over the course of ten episodes, Gia travels the country and lands on three women who not only have interesting and important stories but also agree to share them with her, unlike a lot of other women who drop out due to one reason or another. The final episode of the series wraps up the narratives of Lina Parish, Sloane Ford, and Maggie Wilken, showing us where Gia takes their stories in the book. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Why does Lina Break Up With Aidan?
When we first meet Lina in ‘Three Women,’ she is starved for love and touch. Her husband seems entirely indifferent to her physical and emotional needs, and her life is buried under the burden of taking care of the house, the children, and a husband who hates kissing. So, when she reunites with her high school love, Aidan, she is over the moon. The affair is exciting, the sex is passionate, and Lina finally has something to look forward to. However, soon enough, the sheen of this affair also starts to wither as Lina sees that it will never be more than an affair. Aidan is indifferent to her in his own way, and just like she couldn’t persuade her husband to kiss her, she could never persuade Aidan to change either.
Lina accepts the reality of her situation and is happy with whatever Aidan gives her. But then, she finds herself at his mercy. He texts her when he wants, they meet when he wants, and they have sex when he wants. Lina finds ways to tell herself that she is in control of the entire situation, and in some ways, she is, but eventually, she gets tired of waiting for his texts. She wishes for more, but Aidan will never give it to her. So, she decides to break it off with him. However, it isn’t the clarity of mind that allows her to make that decision.
Over the course of the affair, Lina had become so desperate to see Aidan that she would drop whatever she was in the middle of to drive miles away to meet him at the river whenever he called her. She would drop her children to whoever would agree to keep them for a few hours, and later, when that option wasn’t feasible anymore, she would hire a babysitter she couldn’t afford. Her desperation is not hidden from her, but it isn’t until she leaves her child alone and he falls into a toilet pit at a park that she realizes what she is putting at stake by giving all her time and attention to Aidan. So, for the sake of her children and all the things she had before Aidan and will have, even when she stops seeing him, Lina decides to end things with him.
Why Does Aidan Give Lina Money? Why Does She Throw It Away?
For the breakup, Lina meets Aidan at their regular spot at the river. He is surprised when he sees her son, but she explains that she is there to have a talk. She tells him how she feels and how she wants more and will never get it. She pours her heart out before telling him that she won’t be seeing him anymore. Lina also reveals that whenever they met, she would always bring his favorite brand of cigarettes because she thought that it would make him want to see her again, even if it were simply for the cigarettes. This was a trick she had been using, hoping that whenever he smoked those cigarettes when she was not around, he would think of her, and so, he would call or text or meet.
As a gesture of parting ways, Lina gives Aidan a pack of cigarettes. Instead of understanding the importance of the gesture, he tries to pay her back for the cigarettes. He puts the money on her car’s windshield, thinking that she would take it. However, she drives away, leaving the money flying in the air. To Aidan, the money was a form of reparations, even if a meager one. But to Lina, being paid for the cigarettes felt like she was being paid for all the times they had sex. This was never the equation of their affair and she refuses to accept it even as they break up. Moreover, the cigarettes were her secret power move. It was her way, even if a small one, to try and control Aidan’s emotions about her, for him to remember her and want to be with her. Being paid for it removes that power from the move, which is also why she refuses the money. Above all, the whole affair was a way for her to explore herself, to know her sexual desires, to act on them, and to understand what she wanted from a relationship. It was never about the cigarettes or the money, which is why she let the money fly away.
Do Richard and Sloane Get Back Together?
While Lina’s story is about finding out what she wants, Sloane’s story is about owning what she wants. The terms of Richard and Sloane’s marriage allowed them to sleep with other people, but the rules were kept in place to prevent cheating. So, when Sloane breaks that rule with Will, Richard feels deeply hurt by it and forces Sloane to move away while he considers his next move. The brief separation from her husband leads Sloane to Gia, to whom she tells her entire story. She was hesitant earlier because she didn’t want people to know about her private business. But now, she has no reason not to throw caution to the wind. In fact, not only does she want Gia to write about her story, but she also wants to get a happy ending in the book.
The desire to have a happy ending leads Sloane to go back home and beg Richard to take him back. But then, he calls her a slut, which shocks her. Then, later, Lily calls her the same thing, which infuriates Sloane for several reasons, one of them being that no one has any business calling her that word, which she thinks doesn’t even mean anything in the first place. She is also tired of being scared of what other people will think of her and is over it now that she has shared her story with a writer who is going to write a book about it.
Sloane is also tired of waiting and decides to turn the narrative her own way rather than have other people control it, especially after Sloane realizes that people who have heard things from Lily’s perspective are keeping a distance from her and her family. Eventually, she decides she’s had enough, so she takes charge of the situation and confronts Richard. Instead of apologizing to him, she tells him how important he and her family are to her and how she won’t walk away from all of it just because of a minor hitch. Her taking control of things works, and Richard is persuaded to get back together with her. In the end, we see the couple celebrating their daughter’s birthday together, confirming that things have patched up for them.
Does Gia Have Cancer? Do She and Jack End Up Together?
While Sloane makes peace with her partner, Gia continues to struggle with staying with Jack. Having lost both her parents, Gia worries that she or Jack will die as well, leaving their daughter in the same position she was left when her parents died. Her fears are aggravated by the possibility that she may have cancer, something that couldn’t be confirmed until her baby was born. All through this, Jack tries to convince her that neither of them is going to die and things are going to turn out just fine. He also tries to persuade her not to run away again, especially now that their daughter, whom they name Fox, is born.
Still, Gia’s fears don’t go away. She finds an excuse to leave in the form of Maggie, whom she had called before Fox was due. It takes a while for Maggie to make her decision. But when she realizes that no one, including her own brother, believes her, she needs someone who can tell her story and tell her story without it being influenced by Aaron Knodel’s narrative. Sure enough, when she meets Gia, she realizes that this complete stranger is the first person to fully believe in her story, making it easier for her to say yes and be a part of the book. She also makes a conscious decision to have her real name used in the book rather than a psuedonym, unlike what Gia does with Lina and Sloane. She knows that she needs to own her story and not hide behind a fake name, as it would only invalidate her version even more.
With Maggie in the fold, Gia focuses completely on the book. She refuses to talk to Jack, even when his anger bursts out and he spews venomous words towards her. In the end, he gets so desperate that he decides to call the cops. Meanwhile, Gia finishes her book, following which she finally goes for the scan that she had been putting off because she wanted to complete the book before she died. The season ends before revealing the results of Gia’s scan. Considering that she is based on Lisa Taddeo, it is safe to say that Gia does not have cancer. Reportedly, Taddeo also had a couple of health scares, including the one when she was pregnant with her daughter. However, that’s all they were: scares. None of them materialized into something that could kill her, and Taddeo lives a healthy life now. From the way things turned out for Taddeo, we can expect the same fate for Gia, which means that perhaps when she finds out she is not dying, she will put Jack out of his misery and receive her own happily ever after.
Read More: Three Women: Is the Starz Show Based on True Stories?
