The Valley Recap: Jax Returns From Rehab; Brittany Serves Him With Divorce Papers; Plus, Janet and Nia Butt Heads and Luke Preps for the Upcoming Proposal

On this episode of The Valley, Jax is coming out of rehab after a 30 day stint, and nobody is sure what is going to happen without Brittany babysitting him. He has NO idea that Brittany has filed for divorce, and he is likely going to implode upon being served.  Speaking of imploding, Danny and Nia vs. Jason and Janet continue the awkwardness, and neither side is backing down. Does Danny have a drinking problem, or is Janet making a mountain out of a mole hill?  

Jesse has seemingly drawn the short straw, and he is stuck picking Jax up from rehab. (Of course Jax is decked in his bar merch.) Jax explains that he was safe in rehab, but now he is forced to face his reality without slipping back into his old ways.  He tells Jesse that he unpacked some serious stuff from his childhood and explains that this experience has been “humbling.”

Jax says he has never been held accountable for his actions, and Jesse hits him with the real truth: He’s going to have to go on an apology tour. Jax is salty that no one came to visit him, but he is the most angry at Brittany. Jax somehow found out about Brittany’s party at Jax’s, but Jesse reminds him that he needs to tread lightly.

When Jax enters the house to see his things in garbage bags, he is shook. In true Jax fashion, he feels like a hero that he is not taking the $20,000 love sack couch, but in the same breath, he wants Brittany to put the house on the market because she needs something “more manageable for a woman.” Jax admits to not paying the mortgage, but he justifies it because he was angry, a totally normal reaction for a 45-year-old father…

Zack will be hosting a welcome home surprise party for his boyfriend, Benji, at Jesse’s house. Jesse carefully breaks this news to Jax, who insists on attending because… it’s Jesse’s house… I’m sorry, what?

Zack is stoked that Benji is moving to LA, but Jax is putting a damper on the hype. Zack finds it fascinating that Jax wants to come to the party when he still has Zack blocked on everything. Typical.

Over at Aaron’s house, Michelle is over the moon that he gets along so well with her daughter Isabella, and she is hopeful that one day they will form one big happy family. Speaking of family, Michelle fills Aaron in on her mother’s current status. She is deteriorating.  Michelle says she sent Jesse an email asking for Isabella to have some more time to spend with her mom, and he said no. Michelle worries what this means for their coparenting.

Jason is still not okay with Danny despite Danny’s apology text for his drunken antics with Janet the night before, but he sets that aside for a “Jax party.” Jax talks from his high horse about drinking and drugs, and he wants his friends to hold him accountable. Jax claims he will no longer get sh*tfaced.  

Jax’s business partner wants to talk about his friends “hijacking” Jax’s bar, and Jax is mad about them “defacing his bar.” It is clear that his anger issues have not been brought under control. 

Because of FOMO, Jax wants to be filled in on Santa Barbara, and he already seems to know about tequila-pantry-gate. How? Jax wants Jason and Danny to get their issues out of the way, and Jason claims that Danny is in denial about blacking out. Jason thinks he should be driving Danny to a mental health institution, and Jax teams up to remind Danny that he has been kicked out of his bar a few times.

Danny feels attacked and realizes that Jax and Jason are for sure not his friends because they are blowing things out of proportion.  Jason lets Danny know that being an alcoholic does not mean drinking every day, and Jax is just loving that all of the heat is no longer on him.  He seems to relish the fact that someone else is getting called out for (non)issues.

Janet is still uncomfortable with Danny and Nia, but what’s more awkward is that Brittany has not seen Jax since he has come out of rehab.  He has not reached out to see Cruz even once, but he did get his Botox and a haircut. 

Benji’s surprise at Jesse’s house is pretty anticlimactic (thanks, Jasmine, for the sign placement). After a beat, Nia and Janet sit down to chat. Janet admits to speaking negatively about Danny behind his back because she thought his actions were “horrible.” She continues to remind Nia that Danny gets blacked out and his behavior is concerning. Janet wonders if Danny is not a drunk a*shole or just an a*shole. Janet feels like Nia is either in denial or just hiding the truth about who Danny is when he drinks, but Danny is sick of her dragging his character.

When Jax enters the party, the entire vibe changes, and it is clear he doesn’t care who the party is for. Jax talks to Kristen about his anger issues and points out the take over of his bar. He claims that Brittany has a “moment for a whole month,” and he hopes “she’s spending a lot of time with Cruz,” a clear dig at her mothering. Kristen will not stand for that, but she does remind Jax that despite it all, she loves and cares for him. Jax is moments away from a spiral, stating, “I’m so jealous everyone is drinking. Drinking is not my problem.  Anger is my drug.” K.

In the meantime, Nia confronts Jesse about Isabella not being able to spend time with Michelle’s dying mother. Jesse claims he would never say no to that and becomes emotional about the discussion of mortality with Isabella. Isabella is dealing with a lot as a five year old, and he just wants to handle the situation delicately.

Jax is talking to anyone who will listen, including Jesse’s life coach, while Brittany avoids Jax like the plague. Zack and Jax wind up having an awkward conversation. Jax goes on and on about his therapy, but Zack wonders if Jax listened to the doctors and if they allowed rage texting. Jax justifies this by claiming Brittany took his son from him. Jax explains he took down the coverings of the cameras because it is his house…that he does not pay the mortgage on. 

Zack lets Jax know that Brittany does not want to talk to him, and to retaliate, Jax bans Zack from his bar. He reminds Zack, “It’s my show, not yours” (very #1 guy in the group energy). To that, Zack retorts, “It wasn’t for the past 30 days.” When Jax decides to leave, Zack shouts, “Okay, everyone can unclench their buttholes. Jax Taylor has left the building.” OMG.

It’s moving day for Jax! And Jason and Schwartz are there to assist. (Side note: Please tell me that Jax is not serious about this Flava Flav necklace.) Jax still has not seen his son since Brittany has him blocked on everything. He feels like he is being punished. Jason works as the liaison for Brittany, but Jax refuses to do anything she is asking until he sees Cruz. 

When Brittany returns to the house, seeing the empty garage really hits her, since that was Jax’s area; however, she is ready to get rid of the bad Jax juju. Brittany goes on to tell Janet that she unblocked Jax on Wednesday, yet he has made no effort to see Cruz. She lets Janet know that she has filed, and Jax is going to get served on Tuesday.

Brittany then talks about Jax’s burner account, Frank Dremon, and how he was commenting that Jax Taylor is a legend. Jax even accidentally DMed Brittany from his burner account, which is so cringy and sad, but also hilarious.

In the meantime, Danny and Nia continue to talk about expanding their family. Danny, however, wants to look at houses before having a fourth child. When Luke arrives, the proposal takes center stage. Danny and Nia are calling Maui “their trip,” as a guise to get Kristen out there without being suspicious. This will hopefully help the engagement be a total surprise. 

As Jax makes his townhouse a home, Schwartz enters with plants (what else is new?) and gets the full tour from Jax. Jax refers to living next door to Schwartz as his “dream scenario.”

Jax gets served some paperwork, and he assumes it’s for the podcast, but it’s for a divorce. Schwartz translates the papers to Jax, and Jax wonders if he should sign it right off the bat so they can give it back immediately.  No hesitation. Jax calls it the “best case scenario,” until he realizes the custody part.  He doesn’t know what any of the legal jargon means. But when this divorce goes public before Jax “even has time to digest it,” his head starts spinning.

For every notification on social media, Jax spirals further. Interesting because on one hand, Jax calls the divorce papers devastating. On the other hand, he was ready to sign them and move on two seconds ago. Jax then delivers THE line: “It’s safe to say that these are no longer the best days of our lives,” and that, my friends, truly makes him the legend that Frank Dremon spoke of.