Remarkably Bright Creatures Maybe not Marrakesh—Not a Movie Star, but Maybe a Pirate Summary & Analysis

Summary

Maybe not Marrakesh

Cameron can’t sleep while crashing at Brad and Elizabeth’s house. While going to find a phone charger he meets Elizabeth, who is up to get a glass of water. The two have a chat about Elizabeth’s pregnancy and Cameron’s next steps, with Elizabeth encouraging him to get out of town and do some traveling. She goes back to sleep while Cameron starts looking for apartments on his phone. He remembers the box of his mother’s things and decides to go through it in search of valuables he might be able to sell. He finds little of worth, except for some jewelry. At the bottom of the box, however, he finds a class ring from 1989 and a photo of his young mother beside an unknown man.

Bugatti and Blondie

Tova is sitting in a park by the sea, doing a crossword, when a man bikes up to the drinking fountain near her. She tells him it’s broken, and offers him a bottle of water from her bag, which he accepts. He helps her with the crossword and introduces himself as Adam Wright before recognizing her as Erik Sullivan’s mother and telling her that he went to high school with Erik. He offers his condolences before biking off, and Tova tries to catch her breath, jarred from the conversation. Later on, at home, she debates whether or not to chop up Lars’s old bathrobe into rags; she ultimately decides to keep it, along with a photo of Lars and Erik on a sailboat.

Day 1,311 of My Captivity

Marcellus makes fun of the way humans are always saying that they can’t believe the weather they’re having. He notes the changing seasons, saying this will be his final summer.

Nothing Stays Sunk Forever

Tova goes to the hair salon and chats with Barb about Lars and Charter Village, stifling her irritation when Barb says her own daughter would never put her into an old folks’ home. Later, at the aquarium, Terry offers his condolences for Lars’s death and asks Tova to clean the front windows before Fourth of July weekend. Before she leaves his office, Tova notices a clamp on Terry’s desk meant to keep Marcellus from escaping his cage. Tova greets Marcellus while she is cleaning, and responds to his silent plea for her to open the lid of his cage. To her shock, he presents her with the house key she had lost last year.

Day 1,319 of My Captivity

Marcellus says he found the key on one of his expeditions out of the tank, and that he once found a copy of the same key at the bottom of the sea, along with a pile of clothes and shoes. He connects them to her missing son, and wishes he could give her all of what he found.

Not a Movie Star, but Maybe a Pirate

Cameron goes to Dell’s Saloon to ask Old Al if he can rent the empty apartment upstairs. Old Al refuses, citing other times he has thrown Cameron a bone by waiving his tab and other acquired fees over the years. Cameron insists he can pay, and shows Old Al the box of his mother’s things, causing Old Al to recount how Cameron’s mother got into trouble in Sowell Bay and had to be picked up by Aunt Jeanne in high school. Later, Cameron searches through his mother’s yearbook and identifies the unknown man in the photograph as Simon Brinks, a seemingly successful real estate developer. Elizabeth comes downstairs and Cameron tells her that he is going to Washington to find his father and make him pay retroactive child support.

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