The surrealist comedy drama on AppleTV+, Government Cheese, brings us back into the thick of the action after last week’s episode had pulled us back to focus on the life and struggles of Astoria Chambers. After having robbed the safe at Temple Hillel and then experiencing an apparent act of divine intervention in which he was swallowed whole by a gigantic catfish, Hampton now returns home with Harrison, with the supernatural warnings that he had received still looming large in his mind. Government Cheese episode 8, also presents a police investigation that takes place in the neighborhood of the temple, following the report that had been made by an elderly woman about the strange emergence of a boot in her fireplace.
Spoiler Alert
Why does Hampton return the money?
Government Cheese episode 8, begins with Hampton and Harrison driving back home from their fishing trip on the outskirts of the city, but the father and son do not talk much. Harrison can tell that his father is not in a chatty mood, perhaps because he is not feeling too well physically, while the real reason for Hampton’s silence is his mental turmoil. After having received multiple warnings, seemingly from God himself, and even after being swallowed whole by the enormous fish, he had still kept the bundle of money safe in his pocket. The question of whether he should have done so keeps him distracted, and when they reach home, Harrison grabs his things from the car and silently takes them in. He briefly notices the pamphlet of Temple Hillel on the back seat of the vehicle, and although the teenager understands that the piece of paper had not been present earlier, he does not take it seriously.
Back inside the house, Hampton simply lies down on the couch to avoid any discussion with his family, pretending to be unwell, while Harrison sees off his mother as she leaves for work. It is only once Astoria and Harrison both leave the house, leaving Hampton alone, at least for a few minutes, that he springs up on his feet and pulls out the cash from his pocket. The way in which he looks at the banknotes makes it evident that the protagonist is quite confused about what to do with them because of his moral dilemma, but he also currently decides to keep them with him and sleep away his worries. However, this is when another bizarre incident takes place, which does appear to Hampton to be one more divine intervention.
Hampton has a strange dream in which he sees himself in the parlor of his house, only with a number of unknown people all around him. It seems like a congregation of some sort is taking place in his house, or rather in his yard, and among the visitors is also his dear friend, Bootsy, who is carrying a Seder plate that he had stolen from the temple. Hampton is confused about Bootsy’s presence, especially as he has not been in contact with his friend for a whole day, as Bootsy has been missing since the robbery. Hampton soon follows his friend out into the yard, and he spots a table where everyone has been placing tithes. Here, Bootsy directly tells him to return the money to God and place it on the table, which is once again a divine message ordering him to undo his grave crime.
When Hampton refuses to follow the order, or rather decides to hold on to the money, thinking about how he needs it for the safety and well-being of his family, a horrific storm kicks up and literally blows him back into the house. The fisherman, from episode 6, is back once again, and he smacks Hampton in the face, which wakes the protagonist up and makes him realize that he had been dreaming all this while. The presence of the fisherman, who symbolized God or a messenger of the divine father, makes it clear to Hampton that he will keep receiving such odd messages until and unless he makes amends. Thus, Hampton is seen driving to Temple Hillel and then entering the praying hall to return the money sneakily, although he is interrupted by Rabbi Marty. Incidentally, the robbery has not yet been discovered by the rabbi or Eli, and so he is not alarmed at all.
Rabbi Marty asks Hampton what he is praying for, and the protagonist very quickly talks about the strange experiences he has been having, including how he had been gobbled up by a fish. Marty feels that the man is talking in symbolisms, referring to the Biblical story of Jonah, and so he sort of preaches a sermon about the same. The rabbi tells Hampton that nobody knows how the story of Jonah ends, suggesting that if anyone ever finds themselves in the position of Jonah, they have to write their own fate by making their own decisions. This convinces Hampton that he is going to be the sole person responsible for his actions and his fate, and he therefore leaves the stack of money on the bimah.
If we are to think of the matter from a logical perspective, Hampton’s guilt finally catches up to him, along with the fear of being punished for his actions. His decision to have stolen from God’s house backfires, as he cannot bear the emotional turmoil that follows. The hallucinations and nightmares get too real for him, and he realizes his mistake. The fact that Bootsy appears in his most recent nightmare, despite having been missing for so long, kind of makes Hampton feel a bit spooked, especially since his partner-in-crime, who had in fact brought up the idea of robbing the synagogue, talks about returning the money to God and repenting for their crime. Hampton receives the final push when Rabbi Marty tells him that he has to forge his own path forward and decide what he wants his life to be like. Thus, Hampton finally decides to leave the money and sneakily escape so that nobody can tell that he was the one who had stolen it.
What does the police investigation reveal?
Almost right after Hampton escapes from the synagogue, Eli notices that the safe has been looted, and he informs Rabbi Marty about the same. The police are called, and two detectives immediately respond by reaching the crime scene to carry out an investigation. They speak with the pastor and learn that thousands of dollars have been stolen, and they also start questioning everyone at the place, which is a rather short affair, since the rabbi and Eli are the only ones present. When the detectives ask how the robbers could have sneaked into the temple at night, Eli immediately realizes that it must have been because of his horrific carelessness, since he had left the keys to the building literally hanging on the front door.
As we had seen back in episode 5, Eli had realized his mistake that very night, and had driven back to the synagogue from the Prevost farm, where he had been gambling, in order to lock up the building and, most crucially, take the keys with him. However, he cannot reveal any of this to the police or to his boss at this time, since he will be held responsible for the terrible lapse of security, and the detectives might even suspect him to be involved with the robbers, as this level of carelessness is really unheard of. Much to his delight, Rabbi Marty mentions that the latch of one of the windows in the washroom has been faulty for a long time, and he asks Eli, in front of the detectives, whether he had remembered to fix it.
This gives Eli a perfect chance to conceal his mistake, and therefore he lies that he had forgotten to fix the latch, while in reality, it had been fixed on the very day of the robbery. When asked by the detectives to show them this window, the caretaker excuses himself for a few minutes and quickly breaks the lock to prove his story, and the authorities take note of the matter. They also ask the rabbi if anything other than the money, that too the amount that had been set aside for the development of the temple, had been stolen. This is when Rabbi Marty panics and goes to check the Torah, which he finds safely kept inside the closet, but also crucially finds the stack of cash neatly placed on the bimah.
It is clear that the rabbi immediately understands that it was Hampton who had left the money at the temple, for he had been the only one to visit the building of worship that morning. Interestingly, the man immediately decides to not act against Hampton, for he wants to respect the protagonist’s decision to return the money. He must have considered the protagonist’s choice an act of honesty, and he must have also figured out that Hampton had already experienced some spiritual awakening, because of which he had returned the money. Therefore, Rabbi Marty tells the detectives that he no longer wants to lodge any official complaints about the theft and asks them to leave the temple.
While Rabbi Marty might deal with Hampton in his own way, maybe by speaking to the protagonist and helping him stick to the right side of the law, it does not mean that he is totally out of trouble. Firstly, Harrison noticing the pamphlet of Temple Hillel in their car might become important later, as the boy will learn about the news of the robbery at the synagogue and connect it with his father’s unlawful practices. Furthermore, the lady police detective we see in this episode is clearly quite determined to tackle crime, as it is mentioned that she had recently started investigating the Prevost Brothers, for which her police chief had been angry at her. It is very possible that she will find out about Hampton’s crime through her personal investigation of the Prevosts, and the protagonist might get into trouble again.
Did Astoria finally apply for the job?
We had spent the entirety of Government Cheese episode 7, with Astoria Chambers, learning about how she had dreams of working as an interior designer but struggled with low self-confidence and a fear of being rejected. She had ultimately come to the resolution to apply for the open position for a designer at her office, where she had been working as a receptionist, and in this episode, we finally see her muster up the courage and approach her boss, Mr. Briess. Her first attempt to speak with him is not successful, as the man acts busy and turns her away, but Astoria decides to not stall the matter any further.
She walks back to her boss’ desk and simply tells him that he wants to apply for the position of a designer that is currently available. Astoria also pulls out her design portfolio and presents it as a reference of her sense of lighting and aesthetics, which immediately impresses Briess. He does not waste any time either and gives Astoria the job, which is a matter of jubilation for the character. It is not yet clear whether Briess is totally impressed by her designs or if he had already known about her potential and is now satisfied by her self-confidence. Either way, Astoria is elated with the promotion, and she celebrates it by making love to Hampton, signifying that she has once again let him back into her life in every aspect.
Is Bootsy dead?
During this passionate night of romance, Hampton promises Astoria that he has wholeheartedly decided to stay away from crime so that nothing can take him away from his family anymore. He is genuine in making these claims, as Hampton evidently feels a lot lighter after having returned the money at Temple Hillel, but a significant discovery near the synagogue is bound to bring him some trouble, at the very least. After having been turned away hurriedly from the synagogue, the police detectives had decided to check the neighborhood for any clues, and they had finally made up their mind to visit the old woman who had made a call to the police station at the end of Government Cheese episode 6.
The old woman was not taken seriously by the police initially, because she had a habit of placing emergency calls very often, and so the authorities felt that she had panicked without any actual cause for concern. But now, when the detectives check the neighborhood, they find a shoe randomly lying on the street, currently under a car, while the other piece of the pair is found in the fireplace of the elderly woman. She had earlier reported this incident of a single shoe lying in the most unusual of spots, and now the detectives have to take her seriously. A further search of her house ends in a shocking discovery for everyone involved, as the dead body of Bootsy is found stuck in the chimney.
Nothing about how Bootsy had died or how he had ended up in a chimney, of all places, is revealed, although it seems like he might have been hit by a speeding car, no matter how comical it sounds. But significantly, Bootsy is found with the kippah covering his head, which immediately ties him to the robbery at Temple Hillel. The detectives are also quick to realize that neither the stolen money nor the drill that had been used to break into the safe are found on or near Bootsy, which confirms that there must have been a second perpetrator as well. This is bound to bring the police to Hampton’s doorstep before Government Cheese ends.
