On this week's episode of Tyler Perry’s The Oval, we open in the bunker with Victoria and Jason bleeding out side by side in their cell—possibly headed for a permanent vacation to hell. Hunter is above ground yelling for help like it might actually do something, forced to watch his wife and son slowly fade from the very wounds they inflicted on each other. Even while slipping in and out, mother and son are still trash-talking, because dysfunction is basically the Franklin family love language.

Upstairs, punk-ass Eli asks Priscilla to talk to Simone about moving into the main White House bedroom with him and officially playing first lady. Simone is not feeling it—mainly because she still can’t get past Eli sleeping with Victoria. Eli swears that situation was strictly “business,” and while that may technically be true, it also exposes an uglier side of him than Simone ever anticipated. Still, ambition wins. Simone is just as power-hungry as the rest of them, and with Priscilla’s nudging, she eventually agrees to move forward with the plan. Everyone involved is wildly naive in thinking this situation is anywhere near under control.

Meanwhile, Nancy, Dale, and Sharon end up back at Nancy’s house, with Dale and Sharon painfully aware that the illegal money they’re holding needs to get back to whichever drug lord it belongs to—fast. Nancy, of course, doesn’t care and guilts them into running errands with her instead. Things escalate when Richard shows up unexpectedly. A vicious war of words breaks out, and when Richard tells Nancy she’s not worth it, she goes straight for the jugular, snapping back, “Your daddy thought it was worth it.”

Shockingly, Richard keeps his composure. He tells Sharon he’ll let her know where Barry’s funeral will be held, which Nancy is absolutely not okay with. There’s no universe where she lets someone block her from her child’s funeral, so best believe she’s already plotting how to get that information. Richard then discovers Nancy bought Dale a car using the money she drained from their accounts and demands the keys. Dale tries to hand them over, but Nancy snatches them at the last second. Richard finally leaves, and Nancy makes it crystal clear: they’re still going with her, whether they like it or not.

Eventually, Eli agrees to let Constance head down to the bunker to check on the degenerates he locked away—which brings us to the episode’s final moments. Max escorts Constance to the Franklin family’s cells, where they find Jason and Victoria unconscious, bloody, and barely hanging on. Even Constance is visibly shaken.

And just like that, the episode cuts—setting us up to pick this chaos back up during next week’s mid-season finale. Because on The Oval, rock bottom is never the end—just a brief stop on the way to something worse.