Previously: Naomi lied. Debbie appeared to cheat with her sexy yoga instructor (but didn't actually). And Liam stole away back to the garage at his mom's house.
West Bev. Naomi picks up trash, Boy George-style as part of her trumped up sexual harassment allegations. All her "friends" and Liam pass by giving her the side-eye. Harry shows up with a paint bucket for her task: Paint over the "MOLESTER" vandalism that someone spray painted over Mr. Cannon's parking spot. Naomi's actions, meet consequences.
Liam's garage. His newly returned dad joins him in sanding his home-built boat. Liam moans about how his dad was framed, but ol' prison pappy promises things are looking up now that he's out of the joint. He says they'll really get better once he can open up a tackle shop down by the water. He just needs a little seed money (a-ha!), then he can start looking for an apartment for the two of them. They agree not to ask Liam's philandering stepdad.
Navid meets up with Lila in some shady corridor, and they have a conversation about kangaroo rats. I have no idea what the eff that was about. But then it all makes sense as they head inside one of the doors. Inside, Dixon is dealing cards for a little underground poker game. Looks like this is the very special gambling episode that's been brewing all these weeks. Just as Lila starts to shuffle the deck, there's a knock on the door. Everyone looks around anxiously, but the kid outside screams "kangaroo rat" so they let him in. He swaggers in like a stereotypical cocky rich prepster and snarks that he didn't know Dixon could pull such an event together. Dixon tells the prep -- Mark Driscoll -- to scram, but the kid throws down a thick stack of bills, so they let him in. Dixon says he'll look forward to taking this punk's money.
La Nueva Casa. Debbie and Harry have a tense conversation about the dry cleaning, but it's clearly not actually about dry cleaning. Debbie suggests they go to counseling. Harry says they don't have any problems and walks away. She blurts out that she kissed someone, then quickly backtracks that her yoga instructor kissed her two months ago, but it was meaningless. Harry can't believe she would keep something like that from him. He sulks away.
Poker game. It's down to Dixon and Driscoll. Driscoll raises the bet by $175, which Dixon doesn't have on him. He says he's good for it, despite Navid's gentle urging not to be such a fuckwit. Dixon thinks he's got it nailed with his Ace-King Clubs. They show their cards. Dixon displays his full house and starts to take all the chips.
Not so fast! Driscoll has four queens. Driscoll tells Dixon to get the money to him by tomorrow afternoon, or he'll sic the baseball team on him. And with that, Dixon's spiral of debt has officially kicked into high gear. Credits.
West Bev. Teddy and Silver meet up for a flirty lunch. She notes that he's been MIA lately and invites him over to her place to study for SATs, which are in two days. He says he has tennis training, besides SATs aren't all that important anyway. She says they're pretty important if you want to get into college. He counters that college isn't for everyone. He wants to be a pro tennis player. She says he's throwing away his future, and he tells her she's being a judgmental hag who doesn't get him if she doesn't get that tennis = life. Tough talk for someone in a pink shirt, mister. Did that argument come out of nowhere or what?
Beach club. Ivy is blabbing about some kayaking adventure, but Dixon is too preoccupied by his kneecap-breaking debt. She calls him out for being barely there, especially since the date was his idea. He assure her he's excited to be there, but runs away as soon as his phone rings. It's Driscoll, and he wants his money. Dixon tries to barter his laptop and DJ equipment, but Driscoll wants cold hard cash. He says he could forgive the debt if Dixon gives him the key to the school so he can "decorate his girlfriend's locker" for her birthday the day. Sounds fishy, but Dixon's in the hole for six grand and not exactly in a position to question Driscoll's motives.
Liam's garage. He brings home a pizza and asks his dad how the job search is going. Not so good, says dad. They joke some more about Liam's fat cat stepdad, and prison pappy implies that he might be more into spanging the lousy-with-money lout than he originally let on.
West Bev. Dixon drives up to deliver the key for a nefarious-looking Driscoll. Dixon tells Driscoll he's going in with him. He barely gets the door open before several masked teens sprint in. Dixon wonders what just happened, so Driscoll reveals the locker decorating was just a ruse. In fact, they're there to steal the SATs. He puts on his mask with a smirk, leaving Dixon in the dusk with his jaw on the ground. Eventually he picks it up and follows the guys into the building sans mask. He tells Driscoll the test packets won't be delivered until the day of, then calls the guys idiots and walks out.
The day, Dixon walks into school all cocky that he averted disaster and got out of debt in one fell swoop. Then he sees that the halls and lockers are massively vandalized with spray paint. He finds Driscoll near the trophy case, which someone threw a chair into, and asks, "What the hell?" Driscoll tells him that the guy he was going to sell the SAT test to was pissed because he will actually now have to study to earn his way into Stanford. Imagine! Studying is such an antiquated notion. Driscoll notices Dixon's sourpuss and tells him to lighten up, jokingly handing him a trophy as consolation. Dixon stomps off.
Cafeteria. Annie laughs as Naomi moans, "How am I supposed to build an outfit around fluorescent orange." They overhear someone calling Cannon a pervert, and Naomi realizes her lie is still pinging around school. She calls out to get everyone's attention so she can announce that Cannon never harassed her. She says Cannon's not the pervert, she is for perverting justice with her lies. She apologizes profusely, only to be met with chants of "PERVERT! PERVERT!" Silver, AAdrianna, and Annie forcibly remove her from the impending stoning then tell them they're proud of her for owning up to her mistakes. They group hug to celebrate their five-minute-long spat.
Harry's office. He's called Dixon in to show him the surveillance footage taken outside West Bev the night before. Dixon's face is prominently featured. Because he's a moron. Dixon tries to explain, opening up the whole can of worms about his gambling problems. He doesn't actually say the names of Driscoll and his hoodlum friends, so Harry bears down on him for the intel. Dixon folds like the cheap card table he used for his janky poker games.
Outside, Naomi runs into Cannon, who thanks her for speaking out in the cafeteria. She apologizes again, and they part ways. Naomi smiles as she closes that ugly chapter, then turns to see Liam. He acknowledges her only with a slight frown before turning his back and continuing to walk.
Nueva Casa, later. Debbie corners Harry in the living room she wants to be honest with him. He snarks that that's a novel concept, but she soldiers on. As she starts, Annie and Liam walk into the kitchen laughing about some project they're working on together. They pipe down in time to hear Debbie confess that she kept her secret from Harry for so long because she had feelings for her sexy yoga instructor. Liam tries to excuse himself, but Annie shushes him so she can the bombs drop. Harry calls her selfish. Debbie blames Harry for not being there, calls him out for flirting behind her back and being distant, and accuses him of being cold and oblivious. Debbie says that she turned to her yoga instructor because he was there for emotionally in a way Harry hadn't been for some time. With tears in her eyes, she tells him, "I stopped that kiss because it was the right thing to do, not because I wanted to." Annie starts to cry, so Liam grabs her and gets her out of there. Harry finally admits that they do need counseling.
Liam takes Annie to a park so they can commiserate about their shitty, cheating parents. He gives the backstory that his parents divorced when he was seven. Annie decides it's tantrum-throwing time.
So she jumps into the closest fountain and acts a fool. Liam tries to give her a hand to get out and winds up falling in himself. They hop out in their dripping clothes and huddle together for warmth. You know, because L.A.'s so damn cold. It's really just a half-assed writing tool to get them close enough to almost-kiss. Luckily, Annie is sexual tension napalm, so she blurts out that Liam should be with Naomi. She acknowledges that Naomi did a screwed-up thing but says she redeemed herself by doing the right thing in the end. She skitters off, leaving Liam looking pretty unconvinced.
Tennis court. Silver finds Teddy to extend the olive branch. By way of an apology, she's brushed up on tennis terminology to show her interest in his passion. She promises to be at his big match to show her support. Teddy says he knows it'll be boring for her, so just knowing that she supports him is enough. Honestly, the Teddy doth protest a little too much, I think. But it doesn't matter. This bunk fight was wholly superficial and really just meant to kill time, so it doesn't take much for them to return to status quo.
Clarkette Compound. Liam knocks on the door to apologize to Naomi for being so harsh. He says she was brave to take responsibility for what she did. She promises never to pull a stunt like that again and rushes into his arms to tell him she loves him. He rotes, "You, too," and it's written all over his face that a lot of his love for her is irretrievably lost. And there's a little more to it -- something devious. I'm guessing he's back in the picture to ask Naomi for a loan to finance his dad's tackle shop. Now that Naomi's gone all soft and morally upright, someone's gotta pick up the scheming slack, you know. (Speaking of, at 40 minutes in, where's Jen?)
Tennis stadium. Silver shows up after all, much to Teddy's surprise, and says she brought her SAT study cards with her so she can double-task. She asks where his section is, then quickly spies his famous father (played by Ryan O'Neal) signing autographs in the stands. Teddy is ultra-hesitant to let Silver join his father, but he's called up to his match before he can stop her. When Silver reaches Mr. Montgomery, she introduces herself and is met by a blank stare. She clarifies that she's Teddy's girlfriend, which comes as quite a surprise to Teddy's old man. Silver swallows her pride and claims she has to be somewhere before shuffling away.
Nueva Casa. Harry enters Dixon's room to tell him that Dixon was facing expulsion by the school superintendent. So Harry lied that the security camera malfunctioned to save Dixon's ass. Harry brings down the hammer, putting Dixon on lockdown and taking away all his toys.
Dixon asks if Harry told Debbie. Harry says he didn't because has "a lot going on right now." He gives Dixon a cover and starts to make his way out. Dixon earnestly says he's sorry. Harry says he's sorry, too. He thought Dixon knew better.
Liam's garage. His assbag stepdad has stopped by to rub it in Liam's face that he's closer with Liam's mom than ever, and also to inform him that this little garage pad he's got going on is going to be converted into a home gym. "It's not normal for a young man to spend so much time alone in a garage," he says. Heh. Obviously stepdad hasn't gotten wind of prison pappy's return. Stepdad says the renovations will begin when Liam's mom goes off on a weeklong Swiss spa holiday. He adds that it took some convincing for Liam's mom to leave her son alone with him. Then he says ominously, "It's just going to be you and me alone for a week. I can hardly wait." Honestly, though, given Liam's anger issues and his shadow-figure ex-con pappy, my thoughts immediately flash to a vision of stepdad bound, gagged, and held hostage. Like Serious Moonlight, only with more facial movement.
Casa Nueva. Complete silence at the dinner table as Annie pushes her food around and flicks her eyes between Harry and Debbie. Dixon has his own shit going on to account for his pained expression. And Harry's just clinking away at his plate, carrying on in the oblivion that got him here in the first place. Debbie finally breaks the silence to ask about Harry's day. He is overly enthusiastic and overly generous with the non-answer that is "Fine." Debbie is likewise over-enthused about some banal story about her adventures at Trader Joe's. Her nattering prompts eyebrow raises from the kids. Annie eventually asks if she can take her plate up to her room to study for the SATs.
Dixon makes his way upstairs, too, and calls Ivy to bail on a date they planned. He's cagily glosses over the details of why he's grounded, so she huffily tells him she'll see him the day at school. After they hang up, Annie makes her way in to talk to Dixon. She nearly spills the beans about the fight she heard between Harry and Debbie, but Dixon's too wrapped up in his own self-imposed traumas to engage. He rudely asks her to leave him alone.
Liam's soon-to-be-home-gym. As predicted, Liam offers to "speed things up" for his dad's tackle shop. But, in a surprise twist, he opens up his palm to reveal three rare dimes he lifted from his stepdad's coin collection. He says they're worth $10,000. He hands the coins over to his dad, saying he can't take it any longer at his mom's house, and he needs his dad to open up the shop so they can live together. Dad looks equal parts shocked and apprehensive about this new responsibility.
Casa Nueva. Annie leaves a voicemail asking Liam to talk about her weird home situation. As the word "trapped" hangs in the air, she thinks better of the message and erases it. A split-second later, Liam dials back to ask if she called. She lies and says she didn't, then chipperly says she'll see him at school.
Beach club, day. Naomi tromps in as the employees spruce up the place with lots of fresh flowers and new furniture. She orders five brain booster smoothies for the girls and Liam, telling the bartender she's ready to take the SATs. Then she hears an unsettling screeching in the background. It's Jen, clipboard in hand, who explains that she's reconciled with her cheating husband Olivier. To make up for his indiscretions, he offered to live anywhere in the world with her and bought her the beach club. Naomi can't believe her ears. "I suppose I should let you know, "I'm a little upset with you," she spits. "You know me, I do tend to hold grudges." Naomi's face falls as Jen wraps up her well-rehearsed speech. Like the crashing symbol at the end of an overwrought symphony, she drops this gem: "Just call me karma, babe. And karma is a bitch."
West Bev. Dixon finds Ivy to offer her a Power Bar for bailing the night before. Ivy isn't so quick to accept his apology, so Dixon takes her hand and says emphatically that he really likes her and promises to make it up to her. Just as she begins to soften, he looks over her shoulder to see Driscoll and one of his nogoodnik buddies. Dixon vamooses out of there as if he had wings on his heels, leaving Ivy to doubt his sincerity.
Dixon crosses paths with Driscoll, who asks for his 6Gs. Dixon thinks he held up his part of the bargain, but Driscoll says he got screwed financially since he couldn't steal the tests. Dixon proves he's just as shitty at life as he is at poker by showing his hand and blabbing everything about the security cameras, the possible expulsion, and how Harry knows who was behind the vandalism and chose not to act on it. Driscoll doesn't point out that Dixon was the only one Harry would have seen on his security footage since everyone else had masks on and, therefore, Harry could only know who was behind it because Dixon snitched. He does, however, curl his rat face into an evil smile as he notes how useful it will prove to know that the principal orchestrated a major cover-up for his son's benefit. Dixon, you suck!
The kids head inside to take their SATs, each a bundle of nerves less about the test itself but all the bullshit melodramas they consider life-altering. Teddy strolls in late and sidles up to Silver, who hasn't been returning his calls. He asks if they're okay. She says they are definitely not okay, then coldly dismisses him to take his test. Liam strolls in a minute later, casting a glance at Annie, who consciously averts his gaze. Naomi is the last straggler, carrying not five smoothies but rather a double-serving of emotional baggage.
Individual close-ups as everyone stares forward for one last second. The proctor tells the students to begin. Everyone opens his/her book... everyone except Naomi, who slumps forward in powerless dejection. Test or no test, the forecast for her future is darkest of all.
week: Silver meets Teddy's dad, officially, and does everything in her power to mess it up.
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