Wait it out
The Last Thing He Told Me“Wait it out” is Owen Michaels’s recurring advice to Hannah Hall when Bailey Michaels keeps her at a distance. The phrase offers reassurance that Bailey may eventually soften, but its emphasis on waiting conflicts with Hannah’s urgent wish to build a genuine relationship with her stepdaughter while there is still time.
Use and Immediate Meaning
Owen tells Hannah to “Wait it out” when Bailey is dismissive of her. He means that Bailey will come around one day, framing her resistance as something that may ease with time rather than a final rejection. The phrase is a compact instruction to endure the awkwardness and leave room for the relationship to develop.
The Pressure of Time
Owen’s reassurance carries a second, less comforting implication for Hannah: Bailey is only two and a half years away from leaving for college. What Owen presents as a reason to be patient makes Hannah feel that time is running short. Waiting for a future change does not answer her fear that she may never become someone Bailey wants to move toward.
Relational and Thematic Significance
Hannah wants closeness with Bailey not merely because of Owen, but because she feels drawn to Bailey herself. She recognizes a shared imprint of maternal loss: Hannah’s mother left by choice, while Bailey’s mother died, yet both losses leave them navigating life without the person who should have been watching over them. Against that recognition, “Wait it out” expresses Owen’s faith in time, while Hannah’s response shows that patience alone cannot satisfy her need to make a connection in the present.
