REVIEW: ‘The Flight Attendant,’ Season 2 Episode 6 “Brothers & Sisters”

The Flight Attendant Episode 6 deals with the fallout of the whirlwind of chaos Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) caused after finally giving in to her urges to drink. The series takes a breath from its usually frantic pace with a much more sobering tone, but things are made substantially worse by Davey’s (T.R. Knight) decision to try and help his fallen sister.

The Flight Attendant is based on the novel by Christopher A. Bohjalian and developed for TV by Steve Yockey. The series follows the particularly messy life of a flight attendant called Cassie Bowden. A year on, and Cassie is now sober, still working for the CIA, and she’s found some actual balance in life. That is until she witnessed someone trying to frame her, and that carefully constructed framework crumbles around her.

Following the events of the prior episode, with Cassie falling off the wagon in spectacular fashion and admitting to herself that her year of sobriety was a lie, Episode 6 titled “Brothers & Sisters” witnesses the flight attendant struggling with the repercussions of her choices. This week was a difficult episode to take in as the depression and self-loathing mount on Cassie’s back, making her wonder what she did wrong. Within the internal agony comes the realization that her alcoholism isn’t something that can just be fixed. It’s not a simple task she can overcome. This disease will be with her for life, and it’s something she’ll be battling every day.

This is beautifully captured early on in the episode through a conversation between Cassie and Annie (Zosia Mamet), who quite clearly tells her best friend they don’t expect her to be perfect. She just needs to focus on being honest with the people who care about her and worry about one thing at a time, and that becoming sober won’t magically fix everything around her.

There’s a significant tone of healing felt throughout this episode, but Cassie quickly learns that it’s not only her healing she has to embrace but others. As people from her past resurface, she offers them her truth in an attempt at reconciliation. Things like this are never so easy, though, and bringing up past events, and reliving painful memories, causes Cassie to face some uncomfortable truths from the people in her past.

With all of this gut-wrenching emotional baggage coming to the surface while trying to resolve the past, we meet a brand new variant of Cassie in her mind palace. Quite literally the most spiteful, malicious one of the group and the personification of all the self-disgust she’s been attempting to drown out for years through alcohol. The tension created during these sequences is a harsh reminder of how much pain our girl is in.

The Flight Attendant Episode 6 deals with A LOT of heavy topics this week, as Cassie faces the lion’s share of her issues head-on. While things start so positively with the support of her friend Annie, things quickly spiral downward as Davey’s attempt to help her sister reconcile her past explodes in an intense confrontation. Never fear, though. There is a shoot-out to distract from the weight of the characters airing out their emotional laundry.

The Flight Attendant Episode 6 is available now exclusively on HBO Max, with a new episode coming next week.