Episode Report Card Pablo G: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Like Father Like Son-of-a...
By Pablo G | Season 1 | Episode 3 | Aired on 09.22.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Last week on MP, we found out that Violet is a tenant at The Complex because she tracked down Sydney, who she believed was her mother. Sydney denied it, but looked rattled enough to make us believe it's the truth, so let's go with it for now. We also got some hints that Violet has a weird craving to posthumously be close to her mother or things that were related to her when she was still alive. So all of that boils down to Violet stealing one of her dead mother's dresses and wearing it to try and impress Auggie, who shoots her down again. Thanks for playing, Violet.
There's trouble in paradise when Jonah comes to the realization that Riley has yet to update her Facebook status to "engaged" and realizes that, hey, if she hasn't updated her Facebook... she must not have told anybody! What gives? Riley is her usual non-committal, terrible girlfriend self, revealing she hasn't even told her parents. Jonah flips about it just in time to get whisked away by Ella for a music video shoot. Oh, that Ella. If she came between Jonah and Riley any more, we'd think she was the lucky one in a threesome.
Speaking of Ella, this music video shoot is yet another job-threatening "crisis" at Ella's publicity agency. Her schedule must look like this: MONDAY: Morning - Crisis, Afternoon - Avert crisis, Evening - Keep job; TUESDAY: Morning - Crisis, Afternoon - Avert crisis, Evening - Keep Job... It's called "job security," El. Buy Caleb a gift or something, jeez. This time, a music video shoot has gone disastrous, and it's Ella's job to save the day. A popular director has walked off the set and it's Ella's bright idea to employ Jonah to replace him. Looks like we'll finally get a chance to see Jonah's directing chops.
And... yeah, Jonah's not very good. I mean, in the context of the show what he does is a big success and people seem to like his work for some reason, but the ideas he has and what we see him actually shooting -- not good. He does show a more assertive side when he gets into the swing of shooting and it leads to him making a bizarre connection with the lead singer of the group he's filming who is some crazy chick packing heat at all times. Makes perfect sense. Naturally, he rejects her advances and rejects Ella's veiled remarks about Riley before the shoot is over. The music video is a big success with Ella's agency, but they refuse to give Jonah the directing credit. Ella is forced to screw her friend out of the recognition he deserves.
Meanwhile, Riley is mulling her trepidation about announcing her engagement with the help of Auggie. She decides that she can make up for being a bad fiancée with some cooking. That might be the smartest thing Riley's done so far because it means she gets to spend some time with Auggie who advises her on what to cook for Jonah. When Riley shows up at the music video shoot to apologize and try to schedule their meal, Jonah brushes her off because he's being an important filmmaker. She retreats back home and catches the eye of Auggie. Noticing things didn't go as planned for her, he lets her drink her sorrows away until she kisses him. Worst. Fiancée. Ever. Jonah comes home later and they make up, but not before Jonah unwittingly drops a guilt trip on Riley about not keeping secrets from each other.
David does some more sneaking and stealing. He goes back to his father's house to steal a security keycard to gain access to his dad's office at the hospital. Once in the office, David gets on Dr. Mancini's computer so he can install a remote access program that'll allow him to spy on his dad's files from the comfort of The Complex. In the process, he gets caught by Lauren who just so happens to be applying to be an intern under his father. How convenient is that, guys? Wow, what are the odds?
Lauren gets no help from David in seeking a recommendation since his dad kinda doesn't like him. Her qualifications nearly get her the internship, but her financial situation is a red flag. Dr. Mancini appears ready to pass on her when she reveals that David had been in his office earlier. He catches on to what David is up to and confronts him. The outcome is that the good doctor decides he will be keeping a close eye on David and his friends. That means Lauren gets the internship. Yay! Everybody's happy! But, man, the doctor ain't lying about keeping an eye on everyone. When David gains access to his dad's computer, he finds that Dr. Mancini has files on all of the tenants at The Complex. At least somebody cares what these people are doing.
-- Pablo G. is some guy who lives in San Antonio, Texas. Check him out at Space Monkeys!, Obscure Sports Reference, and follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!David's black Porsche weaves through traffic to the tune of Sean Paul's "Press It Up" until he arrives at a nice suburban house. The music keeps playing as we see Ella walking through her apartment, texting. Her newest message reads: "DISASTER on video shoot. Where are you?" Lauren sits at the breakfast table and asks if Ell wants coffee, but she's already out the door. Lauren's eyes go down to the newspaper where there's a job posting for a rotating physician assistant at ULA, the hospital where she works. Back to David, he's doing his breaking and entering thing in broad daylight. We see picture frames right away to let us know he's broken into his dad's house again. David makes a b-line for a briefcase, cracks it open and grabs a security keycard with "ULA" on it.
At the Love Nest, Riley is sneaking up on Jonah who is singing in the shower, "I got Riley Richmond in my hand!" Riley turns on the sink to shock Jonah with some cold water and stop the singing. First good thing she's done all series.
Back at The Complex Pool, Violet runs her hand through the water. She looks up to see Auggie coming back from a run, sweaty and shirtless. She smiles at him. Auggie smiles back and just sorta Auggies away.
As David leaves the house he just burgled, his dad, Dr. Negligent, pulls up in his car, jumps out and immediately begins to question him. David shouldn't be there without calling first, the doctor yells. David says he was just leaving a birthday present for his little brother and gestures to the porch where there's a little RC car with a big, red bow on it. Michael has his wife Vanessa in tow so David takes the opportunity to direct some animosity toward her before his dad can direct her inside the house. The two guys fill us in on some backstory via their barbs. David reminds Michael that Sydney was going to the medical board to tell them Michael helped her fake her death. That's plenty of motive for Michael to have murdered Sydney, he adds. Michael says nobody on the board would believe her because she was whacked out on drugs. He starts to walk away from David and FLASHBACK. A bloodied Sydney is being rolled through an ER on a stretcher. Michael, in scrubs, asks her who did this to her and she cryptically says it was someone from her past who wants to kill her husband, and asks him to let her die. Next, Michael is zipping up a body bag and putting Syd's name with the corpse. She's lying there on the next cold, metal slab and begins to thank him for the risk he's taking. He and Sydney share a tender moment when he tells her she's worth it. END FLASHBACK. David tells him he'll do what it takes to prove Michael killed her and walks off.
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Ella walks into her WPK office to find Caleb waiting for her. Their client, a director named Kavi DeKnight, walked out of a Boomkat music video shoot. Ella's spin recommendation? DeKnight had a bad burrito and had to go home. Craft service will take the hit. That diabolical Ella. Caleb says it's too late for that brilliant strategy. If they don't find another director, Kavi will take a huge PR hit. Halfway listening to Caleb, Ella pulls up her contact info for an A&R guy from Columbia Records. She shouts out for someone to get him for her. Umm... you just pulled up his contact info and you have a phone in your hand, Ell. Caleb asks what she's doing, and she points out that this guy owes her a favor and can handle things on the label's end if she can get him to sign off on the director. "Who is the director?" Caleb asks."Only the hottest up and coming director in Hollywood," she declares as she walks off.
Cut to Jonah taking photos of Riley looking at wedding dress magazines. He plops down at his computer and brings up Riley's Facebook profile. Riley, this guy is way too clingy. He's lurking your page before he even finishes a conversation with you. Jonah notices her status still says "in a relationship," which to all the Facebook aficionados out there immediately means she hasn't updated it to "engaged." That's an offense punishable by tacky inclusions of social media references in storylines. Jonah asks about it and Riley lets it slip that she would like to inform people in a more personal way. Uh oh. She hasn't told anyone at all. "It's not like I'm hiding it from them," she tries to appease Jonah, but he's already ahead of her in the argument. Has she told her parents? Riley stays silent. Cue Jonah getting all emotional. "Did the fact it was three a.m. East Coast time stop me from calling my family and sharing the happiest news of my life... BLAH BLAH BLAH." This is what happens when you say "yes" to a Facebook lurker. Riley digs herself an even deeper hole, saying there's nothing wrong with telling people in her own way, which is to say, not telling them at all. "Should I have saved the receipt for that ring?" Jonah cuts at Riley. Just before Riley can put her foot any deeper in her mouth, Ella walks in. "Did someone forget to put down the toilet seat?" It says something that a terrible line like that is relief for this ghastly argument scene. There's an attempt by Riley to tell Ella now isn't a good time, but Ella goes straight to Jonah to tell him he's about to get his big break. She explains about the music video shoot and Jonah turns to Riley so he can passive-aggressively make his exit. "Let's get out of here," he says to Ella as he stares down Riley. Ru-fi-ohhhhhhhhh!
Lauren is leaving her apartment when she hears something upstairs in Syd's roped off apartment. She slowly goes to investigate. Everything seems normal until she finds a framed picture of her, Sydney and Ella on the floor. She walks by a suspiciously open closet door with the light on without investigating as the music swells. We catch a brief glimpse of Violet in there. Lauren just keeps walking and leaves. Violet is standing naked in the closet alone, covered only by a green dress she's holding up against her chest. She does a suspicious eye thing. Why is this happening?
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At the hospital, Lauren is walking and talking with a doctor who says Dr. Mancini is the best cardiac surgeon this side of the Mayo Clinic. Everybody wants a chance to work with him. Lauren's asking for a chance to just talk to him when he happens to walk up behind her to ask the nearby receptionist for help getting into his office. He seems to have misplaced his keycard. That's some skillful storyline weaving there. Lauren introduces herself to Michael, but he is all business and disinterest. "I'll see you at the interview," he says. Lauren starts to walk off and then decides to play the David card. Michael asks how well Lauren knows David. She mentions they live in the same apartments and that leads to her bringing up Sydney. Michael brushes it off as he enters an elevator. FLASHBACK. Michael is at home putting together a crib. His wife comes in the room to tell him one of his colleagues from the hospital is there to see him. It's Sydney. Michael is obviously shocked to see her and concerned that if the cops found out she's alive they'd both be in a lot of trouble. Sydney puts that concern to rest when she tells him she just finished a 6-year prison term. She's pissed that he's married and living a nice life, and begins to remind him that she protected him from the rap of being an accomplice to a felony. Then, she tries to appeal romantically to Michael. "We want what we want. And we get it. It's just who we are." END FLASHBACK
At the video shoot, Ella and Jonah arrive. She tells him that the label already signed off on the original treatment, so he has to follow their storyboards. Jonah asks how Ella got him the gig. She told everyone he's a younger, hipper version of Kavi DeKnight, and if anyone can imitate his work, it's Jonah. Jonah's never met the guy, but he follows him on Twitter. Same difference, Ella claims. Her phone rings and she walks off, leaving Jonah lost in the madness.
Violet shows up at the Love Nest, which is being manned by Riley. She asks for some help with a wardrobe malfunction (ugh, I hate that phrase). Riley