A lot of the time you listen to these and think, "I would never have done that if I was in that situation." That is, the actions of the characters are just to move the plot along and aren't realistic. But this one was an exception. I could easily see myself getting discouraged and being ready to give up as Gene in this story was, and I imagine the situation would definitely stress, if not destroy, a marriage as happens here. (OK, maybe it's not all THAT realistic: The lawyer works for free after Gene runs out of money.)

I liked the detail of Gene doing something at every stop like ordering scotch and rice pudding to make himself memorable, too. Gene's last action may have been a little iffy, but if you'd been in that situation for that long, you might take things into your own hands too. (Of course, nowadays a simple cell phone call would've ended it.) This was a really strong episode, I thought.