The Bee Sting

The narrative returns to the present.

Dickie, Victor, and PJ are constructing a well. Victor insists a well will be helpful when environmental disasters create society-wide breakdown, insisting that they keep the well a secret because if other people know about it, they will invade it when the climate crisis hits. Imelda is against PJ spending so much time with such a strange man, but PJ and Dickie have fun and are patching up their tight-knit relationship. They even camp out in the woods, like Dickie and Frank used to do.

Dickie drives Cass to Dublin to move her into her new place. He’s excited about spending time with her one-on-one, even though she makes it clear that she’d rather drive with Elaine and Big Mike. He helps her move into the cottage she and Elaine are renting, then brings her on a tour of Trinity. He shows her his favorite spots and the dorm he once lived in. When he points out a tricky intersection, she notes that this must have been where he had the big accident that sent him home before Frank’s death.

Dickie realizes that parenthood is different than he expected; Cass is bored and judgmental of him. When he returns home, he spends more time with PJ.

Dickie never had an accident—this is just the lie he told everyone.

The narrative flashes back to Dickie’s time at Trinity.

Instead of partying or making new friends like the other first-year students, Dickie studies hard to pass a test called the Schol that earns him free student housing. He’s relieved that this enables him not to return home so often. In his first year, he was homesick, but when he returned for the summer, he remembered all of the reasons why he doesn’t like home, such as Frank’s popularity and having to work in his father’s dealership. In school, Dickie was bullied. Maurice tried to teach Dickie how to fight back, but physical violence is against Dickie’s nature.

By his second year, Dickie has gotten to know Willie, the guy who started a strange conversation at the Historical Society stand at the fair. Willie is a much lauded master debater. Willie is also gay, which makes Dickie feel sorry for him. One night, Willie invites Dickie out and brings him to a gay club called The Butterfly. There, Dickie meets a man named Sean who, like Dickie, seems uncomfortable at the club, where overt sexual activity is taking place. Sean proposes they leave the club, brings Dickie to his apartment, and they have sex. In the morning, as Sean gets ready for work, Dickie sees that he’s a police officer. Sean gets mad at Dickie for being there and beats him up. Dickie runs away in only his underwear. He gets back to his apartment but realizes that he’s left his wallet at Sean’s place, which means Sean has his ID and knows where he lives. Dickie is confused, scared, and hurt. Sean finds Dickie at his dorm and beats him up again. Willie, who also lives in the dorm, finds Dickie beaten to a pulp.

The narrative returns to the present.

Dickie and PJ discuss the fact that the grey squirrel is not native to Ireland, but is an invasive species. Victor hunts them to protect other wildlife. PJ feels bad about killing squirrels, so Dickie helps PJ free a squirrel from one of Victor’s traps. Dickie is avoiding phone calls from his father. He is certain that Maurice has found that money is missing; Dickie tries to come up with excuses about why the money is gone.

The narrative flashes back to Dickie at university.

After his physical assault, Dickie goes home to recuperate. He tells his family that he was hit by a bus while crossing the street. Willie and Dickie speak on the phone every night. Dickie, who is unused to having someone to talk to about everything, likes Willie more and more. When Dickie tells Willie about his future as a dealership owner, Willie challenges Dickie to defy his father and choose his own path. Frank tells Dickie that he wants to be the one to take over the family business; if they tell Maurice together, maybe Maurice will agree.

The narrative returns to the present.

Dickie, PJ, and Victor are almost done with the well. Victor’s next project is to camouflage their bunker and well so that when the end comes, no one else will find them. PJ is frightened, but Dickie becomes increasingly obsessed with this doomsday scenario.

The narrative flashes back to Dickie’s past.

After recuperating from his assault, Dickie returns to Trinity. He and Willie spend a lot of time together, sleeping next to each other, although they don’t have sex. When Frank and Imelda visit Dublin, Willie and Imelda immediately hit it off. Dickie notes with surprise how in love Frank is with Imelda. Frank is planning to marry Imelda and still wants to take over the family business. That night, Willie and Dickie begin the sexual and romantic chapter of their relationship. For the first time in his life, Dickie is genuinely, ecstatically happy.

One night, Frank unexpectedly comes to Dublin. Paddy Jo has been putting pressure on him to marry Imelda soon, but Frank doesn’t want to marry her yet because he’s only 19 years old. Frank is scared of Paddy Jo’s increasing threats, sure that if he stays and doesn’t marry Imelda, Paddy Jo will kill him, but there’s a professional learning course he can take in Birmingham to get away. Dickie realizes that with Frank in England, his hopes that Frank would take over the family business and free Dickie to stay in Dublin would be dashed. Dickie encourages Frank to marry Imelda.

After Frank dies in the car accident, Dickie returns home, desperately grieving and feeling guilty for not encouraging Frank to go to England instead. When Imelda gets pregnant, Dickie sees an opportunity to atone for his role in Frank’s death by replacing Frank. He proposes to Imelda and decides to take over the family business after all. Willie and Dickie break up, breaking Dickie’s heart, but he sees no other option.

The narrative returns to the present.

Dickie’s father confronts him about the missing money. Dickie promises to meet him and Big Mike the following day to explain, but then gets extremely sick from the well water. When Dickie comes to in his bed, Imelda is worried about him: He has been feverishly saying Ryszard’s name in his sleep. Dickie promises to make things right with Maurice.

The narrative flashes back.

Dickie loves Imelda. He finds her beautiful, and he is happy to take care of her. In the early years of their marriage, she spent a lot of money, and he was surprised by her lack of education. Still, they have a good life together, and Dickie has loved being a father. He doesn’t have sex with men, though he still desires to.

As soon as Dickie hires the young and beautiful Ryszard, things go missing around the garage. Then, customers notice that parts of their cars are being stolen. Phil, the manager of the garage, blames Ryszard, but Dickie is easily swayed by Ryszard’s charm and lies.

Dickie is thrilled to get an email from Willie after decades of not speaking, but is disappointed to see that it is only an automated campaign email: Willie, now a barrister with a passion for architecture, is running for office. He’s openly gay and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. When Dickie is invited to a car dealership crisis conference in Dublin, he schemes to see Willie again. Dickie creates a fake Facebook account and reaches out to Willie, claiming to be interested in learning about Dublin architecture. Willie responds and agrees to meet at a private club. When Dickie goes to the club, he and Willie see each other, but Dickie is kicked out as a non-member. He messages Willie to meet him outside, but Willie doesn’t come out.

Dejected, Dickie returns to the garage. Ryszard appears at the door of his office, and they have sex. Their affair continues for a few weeks, but it becomes impossible to keep Ryszard on because of his thieving. However, when Dickie tries to fire Ryszard, Ryszard extorts Dickie with recordings he’s taken of them having sex.

The narrative returns to the present.

When Dickie recovers, he goes to the garage to meet with his father, but Maurice is already on his way back to Portugal. Big Mike proposes that he stay on as CEO; Dickie will earn money as the owner since he can’t manage the dealership anymore. Big Mike grew up admiring the Barnes family for their glamor and wealth and sees taking over the business as his way of moving up in the world.

Dickie is excited about not returning to work at the garage. He wants to stop the construction on the Bunker, but Victor comes up with new ideas for their survival shelter. Imelda is angry and sad when Dickie tells her about not returning to work.