Ep 2. The Marriage (2)

The TV show Hope & Faith season 3 episode 2, titled The Marriage (2), delves deeper into the misadventures of squeaky-clean and over-the-top Mom Faith Fairfield and her sister, washed-up soap star Hope Shanowski. The episode focuses on the aftermath of Hope's attempt to save her marriage with Charlie by renewing their vows in a faux ceremony organized by Faith.

The episode starts off with a hungover and anxious Charlie waking up to the realization that he has renewed his vows with Hope, whom he no longer loves. Despite Hope's best efforts to pretend that the ceremony meant something, Charlie is adamant about getting a divorce. Faith offers to intervene with Charlie, but Hope insists that she will handle it herself, earning the former's displeasure.

Hope's efforts to save her marriage are made more difficult by Charlie's cold behavior towards her, and when she discovers that he has already consulted a divorce attorney, she turns to Faith for help. Faith quickly offers to help Hope patch things up with Charlie by organizing an elaborate dinner at their apartment. The dinner starts off great with Faith shoving her foot in her mouth, but when Hope tries to broach the subject of Charlie's impending divorce, he storms out of the apartment.

Hope continues to struggle to convince Charlie to keep their marriage going, but with little success. Meanwhile, Faith discovers that her husband has joined a gym to shed off his weight, and she jumps on board hoping to take advantage of the situation to see her favorite soap star. Faith becomes extremely competitive with her husband and reveals her hidden motives for joining the gym. However, her plan backfires when she learns that the soap star is leaving the gym.

Hope finds herself caught in a web of lies when Charlie's divorce attorney drops by and reveals that she has been masquerading as Charlie's legal wife. As a result, Charlie's lawyer insists that the terms of their separation will be worse if they go through with the divorce. Hope and Charlie quickly realize that they need to fake marital bliss to save their financial interests and agree to go out for a romantic dinner, much to Faith's chagrin.

The episode ends with Hope and Charlie pretending to be madly in love to convince their lawyers, while Faith comes up with crazy ideas to endear herself to her husband, who is clearly distracted by his new-found appreciation for fitness. With the future of Hope and Charlie's marriage and Faith's attempts to reconnect with her husband hanging in the balance, the episode leaves audiences eagerly awaiting the next installment.