SXSW continues! Wes is a little bit in love with Halifax during a concert. However, Lacey continues to be a Halifax hater! Oooh, but the biggest Halifax hater is Neh. See...sigh. Here's what happens: Rachel likes singer Mike. Rachel then breaks the Pop-A-Shot basketball game drunkenly trying to impress Mike. Then Neh either play-kicks Mike out or actually kicks Mike out for egging Rachel on and then Rachel cries and then Neh reveals that he was "kidding" and everything is okay. Except they're drunk and oversleep for a Hellogoodbye band event at a campsite the morning. While Wes, Danny, and Rachel are gone, Lacey is back talking shit to Ryan on the phone about Rachel "whale-diving" into the b-ball hoop. The kids discuss Lacey's shit-talking habits. W/D/R show up at the campsite having no idea where they're supposed to go and end up not being able to find the band. Rachel then suggests that Lacey and her "team" do the campground thing with Hellogoodbye to cover to their fuckup the day instead of them. Lacey refuses. Rachel, Danny, and Mel (this time) head back out to the campground where the band, too poor for a hotel room, is camping. Danny gets Rachel to jump off a cliff, and it means something to him about her trusting him. Or something. Lacey and Neh eat, and Neh tries to get her to stop talking shit behind people's backs but she refuses to see the habit, somehow forgetting...well, everything. The kids then discover footage, during editing for their doc, in which Lacey talks shit about Rachel. Rachel shows Lacey the footage, and Lacey brushes it off.
I am the Recap Nazi. No Previously for you!
Opening credits. This is the real "true story": Wes's attempt to look sexy in his stare at the camera is goddamn hysterical. Lacey has bad teeth. Neh can't dance. And Danny was sort of cock-eyed even before he got his head caved in.
SXSW is in its nineteenth year, we learn, as we get a montage of the kids filming people on the street talking about the festival. Guy from the band Halifax says he just met Robert Plant. He is high. (And yes, I am speaking of both the Halifax guy and of Robert Plant.) Neh camera-talks that SXSW makes Sixth Street feel very different. Yeah, instead of just drunk sorority girls and frat guys puking in the gutter outside of the Velveeta Room, there are now drunk rocker boys puking in the gutter outside of the Velveeta Room. Totally different vibe. Neh says it's much more exciting that he thought it would be. A horse. A band plays. Neh films. Oh, it's Halifax playing. Wes shoots from right in front of the stage, and camera-tools that he's shooting Mike who is screaming his lungs out and beer and sweat are dripping on the camera and "it can't get any more real than that moment right there." Holy shit, Wes. This is a confessional, not a letter to Playgirl. As Mel and the crew are listening and totally digging on the band, Lacey voice-overs that, after getting to know the guys in Halifax, she still thinks they "totally suck." Ha. Good for her.
Outside afterward, Rachel goes up to Halifax and tells them they did a good job. Rachel camera-flabs that she doesn't really like rocker guys, but that she digs the Halifax boys. One of them hugs her and rubs his sweat on her. She giggles, "Ew!" Yeah, she really hates rocker boys. More like, she loves any guy who will still pay her any attention when she's out with Johanna and Mel. People dressed in fries and shake costumes walk down the street. Oh, I love that band: Happy Meal. More people walk.
The kids arrive home. Drunk eating. Neh plays his little basketball game. Halifax arrives. Lacey camera-brats that she doesn't think Halifax should be at the house because it "breaks down the professional level..." Honey, don't worry. There is absolutely nothing professional about this little project of yours. Especially not with a pasty cameraman getting hot over watersports with the subject. Mike, the lead singer, convinces Rachel do to a shot. Yeah, like getting these girls drunk is a challenge. Or a necessity, really. Rachel camera-talks that she likes Mike from Halifax and thinks she and he have a lot in common. The camera-talk is intercut with Rachel sitting on Mike's lap in the confessional. She calls him her "Jewish" friend. You know, when I was a kid, one day I was fishing in a little rowboat with my grandpa and he told me that I shouldn't categorize my friends like that. He told me: "Well, maybe you are prejudiced. Because you think of Jimmy as your 'Jewish Friend' and not just 'Your Friend.'" Oh, wait. Maybe I'm not thinking of a memory but of an old Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints TV ad. Oh, that's right. And come to think of it, my grandpa never took me fishing. And he actually was racist, so that makes less sense now. Mike then plugs their website, and Rachel expresses surprise. Oh, no! No, this band wasn't out for exposure when they kept coming by the house. Perish the thought! Rachel tells us that she'd hook up with Mike if they were both single. Uh, does he know that they'd hook up? He might have a differing opinion.
So the stupid cameramen miss this, but Rachel apparently jumps into the little basketball game to "help" Mike get the balls in the hoop (she's rather help him get his balls into her hoop) and breaks the machine. Neh is super-pissed because, like, the only things he cares about in this goddamn life are him, his drums, and that basketball game! He starts going nuts on Rachel, asking her if she thought it was "cute" or "attractive." "Is that going to make him like you more?" Neh asks, referring to Mike. Suddenly, Mike is walking toward Neh and Neh is telling Mike, "I don't like you." Neh says that it's because Mike's the reason Rachel broke the game. So Mike says he'll go home, and Rachel is all yelling for Neh to stop, and someone says that Neh is just joking. Wannabe Trent Reznor Mike tells Neh that they'll settle it with a one-on-one game, and it sure doesn't seem like Neh started out joking, but maybe when you grow up with a cracky mom, you learn some weird mind-fuck ways of joking, because Neh then camera-talks that he was, indeed, joking and that Mike was totally in on it. Neh is "walking" Mike out to the front door, and then suddenly Rachel is crying.
Bathroom. Johanna and Mel are in the stall with the hysterically sobbing Rachel. Mel says they're happy that she broke the stupid machine, and Johanna is drunk and wondering what the fuck Rachel is crying about, and everyone is drunk and one of the band guys comes in, and Mel tries so lamely to cover for Rachel's crying by saying, "Nobody's crying. We're laughing really hard. We were laughing so hard it hurt." So suddenly Lacey pokes her dumb head in there and says, "This is stupid," and has to repeat it a bunch of times because she can't not point out everyone else's faults, and then everyone is drunkenly hugging. It's like every ridiculous drunken party you went to when you were twenty where there was pointless drama and then it was solved and by 3 AM you're all hugging and singing along to Billy Joel songs in a half-mocking, half-tearful way. Or maybe those are just cast parties I'm thinking about.
Morning. Wes camera-Schmoos that he, Danny, and Rachel ("Team Blue" -- WTF?) have to drive a hour to a campsite to film Hellogoodbye, the band. But, Wes goes on, Rachel got so drunk last night "trying to hook up with Mike" (heh) that she forgot to set her alarm. Rachel leaves a message for Forrest from the band, telling him that they had "alarm clock problems" and that they'll be late.
Driving. Wes bitches that they won't be able to find the band, and then Danny adds that they now also don't have a basketball hoop and they tiredly yell at her for that. Rachel says, "I acted stupid last night and I hate myself right now." You know who should hate himself? Danny. Because he's sitting in the back seat right now in the shot digging boogers out of his nose! Dood, there's a camera on you. A little decorum, please. Rachel then says something about how they couldn't make her self-esteem any lower than it already is.
CUT TO: Lacey, making Rachel's self-esteem lower than it already is. Back at the warehouse, Lacey is talking to Ryan on the phone about the basketball thing, describing Rachel as having done a "whale-dive" into the hoop. Yo, that's fucked up! I enjoy Lacey's shit-talking and do it myself. But what makes her particularly hateful to me is that she sits on the sidelines and doesn't participate in things, but still watches so that she can then talk smack to her boyfriend. Either be part of it, or leave it alone. That's my feeling. She goes on to talk about how dumb it would have been for Mike to cheat on his girlfriend with Rachel.
Driving. Rachel says she's been seeing a whole new side of Lacey lately. Danny says that she's so conniving, and that he learned it during his face-caving recuperation...and we see a flashback of Danny holding his eye in his head while Lacey talks about how Rachel thinks she's the ugly girl in the house and Wes thinks he's the ugly boy in the house. Well, yes, and yes, but still. Danny disagrees about Wes. Then we get another flashback of Lacey, which starts with the words, "It's not that our roommates are super-stupid...." Hee.
Now back to Lacey telling Ryan how Rachel was crying and having a "hissyfit." Poor Ryan keeps trying to talk, but Lacey doesn't let him, ending by bitching, "Shut up, Rachel. Just shut. Up." Commercials.
Bird. Horses. Campground. Ranger station. Rachel tells a ranger that they're looking for a band, but that they don't know where they're staying, exactly, what name they registered under, or even any of their last names. Great planning, guys! Danny shakes his head as Rachel continues to try to figure it out. Finally, they get directions to the "primitive backpacking sites" and learn that it includes a two-mile walk (wow, that sounds like fun). They leave and they're all very mad. Wes camera-ghosts that they're all frustrated and late and can't find the band. There is a long discussion in the car during which they finally just decide to give up and go home. Man, that is some dedication to your craft.
Home now, Rachel gets a call from poor Forrest from Hellogoodbye, who was apparently waiting for them. Rachel plays off her fuck-up so terribly: "Hi, Forrest! Where are you guys?" "We're at our campsite. Where are you guys?" "No...We...were there and now we're back." "What? Where were you?" "We were at your camp-- Well, we were at the campgrounds..." Ha. She sucks. She wants to try to shoot them in town tonight, but instead he tells them to come back to the campground the morning. Rachel camera-talks that she's thinking this is great -- that they can redeem themselves...and then says, "But at the same time..." she's thinking that maybe it's Lacey's job to do some of the producing stuff and to go film this. Wow. That's a bold, baffling leap in logic.
You got to give her points for trying: she immediately talks to Lacey, who is in bed, and awkwardly says, "Maybe...you, Neh, and Mel can go meet them, because we've been up...early." Rachel walks away as Lacey rolls over and goes back to sleep. Lacey then camera-chins that there is no way in hell she's covering for their oversleeping, drunk fuck-up. Girl has a salient point.
Night. Sixth Street. Rock club. Hellogoodbye plays. Neh is shooting. He voice-overs about his shooting prowess and how he's shooting with the editing room in mind and what shots he's going to need. Better than Wes shooting while thinking how hot it is for band guys to drip things on him. Lacey sits sourly in the back and glares at the band as she then camera-talks about them, adding some snobby comment about how this band isn't usually the "kind" of thing she likes, but that she's actually surprised by how happy and cheesy and fun they are. Snob fuck. More band. Mel and Rachel dance. Dancing. Applause.
Outside. Mel and Danny hold hands and walk as Fifth Wheel Rachel strolls with them. Danny bitches about their busy day tomorrow and how the last thing he wanted to do was hike two miles through the woods to find some band. Rachel brats that Lacey put her foot down and refused to go shoot Hellogoodbye. Danny, amazingly, cries, "I thought she was going to take this thing seriously!" Hee. Right. Just like you cats this morning. All Danny took seriously was booger-diving. Mel then brats that she wanted to produce, but that Lacey wouldn't let her. She goes on to say that she thinks she might need to have a talk with Lacey about her attitude. Danny then decides to say something even more retarded: "Even though we had, like, a bump in the road this morning, Rach, I think you did a really, really good job the last three days." Heeeeeee.
Day. Fiddler. Signage. Danny, Rachel, and Mel (for some reason instead of Wes) drive out to the campground. Danny reveals that Lacey got out of bed this morning and asked if they'd get a few establishing shots of the city as long as they were going out this morning. Danny expresses strong feelings about that statement. Lacey apparently also said that the whole idea of shooting at a campground was stupid, too. Oh yeah? Well, I think the whole idea of shooting these three idiots shooting a band at a campground is stupid. Commercials.
Driving. The kids pass a sign that reads, "Weddin'." They joke that that's really "country." Rachel lies that she's psyched to go do this and get more shots of the band. They meet Keith, the band's tour manager, and then hike, Rachel droning on the whole while that it's a good story that this band couldn't afford a hotel and instead had to pay $8 and stay at a campsite. They get to the campground, and Danny decides he's going to jump off this cliff into some water. Mel tells us she's not going to. Wasn't that an interesting story? Yeah, I'm glad they shared it with us, too.
Now the band sits there and the lead guy plays the banjo. Oy. It's bad enough hanging with some dude who is always strumming the guitar. Imagine hanging with a guy who is always strumming the banjo? Suicide, instantly. They film as the lead guy plays a song called "Oh, Is It Love?" The rest of the band just sits there. Mel camera-talks that this was a touching moment and that it's a nice song. Now they segue into Danny and Mel jumping off the cliff together. People cheer from up top as the song continues and Danny spins some bullshit about how this showed Mel can really trust him. They climb out to go hump in the woods. The song ends, and Mel does an awkward little commercial plug for this band: "Hellogoodbye are some of the most quirkiest [sic] guys I've ever seen or met." Oh, Jonathan Murray. Just give up.
The castmates interview the kids in the parking lot about whether or not they'd want to play SXSW year, which then digresses, as everything seems to these says, about how Lacey talks a lot of smack.
Back in Austin. Restaurant. Neh and Lacey eat. Lacey is passive-aggressively bitching that she can't be around Rachel these days, saying that she feels bad because she doesn't think Rachel is "trying" to be annoying; she just is. Neh is keeping quiet, and Lacey is being really unattractive on multiple levels. Neh then tells her that he doesn't like to talk shit behind people's backs. Lacey lies that the only person she talks about is Danny, about how much he whines, but further lies that she tells him all that to his face, so it's really not behind-the-back talk. Now Lacey's chin sits even higher on a throne of lies as she tells us that she cannot figure out why her roommates say she talks a lot of shit. She says that she's home alone all the time, so who do they think she's shit-talking to? Uh...your dumb boyfriend, stupid.
House. Later. Editing room. Rachel was going through footage and came across a piece of Lacey smack-talking about her right there on camera. She shows it to some of the other roommates. In it, Lacey says, talking about Mike, "You are going to cheat on your girlfriend...with Rachel?! Are you kidding me?" Wes tells us that Lacey got caught red-handed on videotape. The kids all talk and Rachel asks a dangerous question: "Am I that gross?" Johanna assures her half-heartedly that she's not that gross. Wes camera-pales that this is the first time he's seen the effect of Lacey's shit-talking up close, and that it makes him feel bad. Rachel decides that she has to confront Lacey, and everyone else makes predictions about what Lacey will say.
Rachel calls Lacey into the editing room, and they sit down in front of the machine. Rachel shows Lacey the footage. Lacey says exactly what they predicted: that she would say she meant "cheating with anybody." Lacey lamely apologizes. Rachel tells us that she doesn't believe Lacey but just has to trust her and move on at this point. Or you could, you know, kick her in the vagina. That's another way to go.
: Danny's caved-in skull tells Mel he thinks he is going to call the detective, after all, to find the guy who beat him up. Rachel's boyfriend Erik arrives with their tiny ugly horrible dog. Then -- and I have no idea how this is even possible for another human being to do to someone -- Lacey sits with Erik, telling him that she can't understand how Rachel steps out on him like she does. Yikes.