Good Trouble – Disruptions

By: Marnie Faith

Alice’s story this week was the one that carried the most shock value. Everything started off so promising – Lindsay (Rhea Butcher) was helping her run through her stand up set and not even ten minutes and a few constructive criticisms later she’d arranged Alice a slot at the Comedy Club to finally debut her set. Naturally, Alice (Sherry Cola) was overwhelmed – she couldn’t quite believe her luck. Even the comedy night host was taken aback when Lindsay said they were organizing this just to help a friend out. Their intentions were transparent from the minute Joey (Daisy Eagan) opened up about their unease of them – it appeared Lindsey only ever took an interest as a means of getting back at Joey. 

Following this, Alice informs Joey of her set over pillow talk. Joey reveals they had some business cards made up for her, insistent Alice needed at least something to give to the flocks of bookers that’re obviously going to take an interest in her. Despite how flattered Alice is at this gesture, she still asks Joey not to show up. Whether it be a result of nerves or the knowledge that Lindsay will be there isn’t clear. Regardless, Joey turns up anyway – front row, a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a beaming smile plastered on their face. Alice looks to Lindsay for a pre-show ritual, some advice…anything to help calm her nerves. Lindsay gives her a bottle of beer, tells her to take a sip and put the cap in her back pocket for good luck, before taking her backstage. It’s here something happens that not even I saw coming…Lindsay kisses Alice!! Of course, Alice rejects their advances as soon as she realizes what’s happening. When Alice explains she has a partner, Lindsay admits they already know. Feigning disappointment in themselves, they reveal that they’ve done exactly what Joey did to them. Too late to turn back now as Lindsay goes on to admit that Joey had an affair with Lindsay’s ex-girlfriend and is the reason they broke up. Now, this is certainly not what Joey recalled happening and the timing of this revelation is absolutely awful. Poor Alice! She just wanted to make a good first impression for her stand up debut and instead has no time to process everything that just happened backstage and is left to go on looking like a deer caught in the headlights. 

For Gael (Tommy Martinez), his love life isn’t going much better. Still reeling from finding out Jamie (Beau Mirchoff) is the one who anonymously bought his work, as well as the fact he discovered this by finding the piece in a storage closet in Jamie’s apartment, he seems to be dead set on hurting Callie (Maia Mitchell) as much as she hurt him by keeping this from him. When he confronts Callie, he doesn’t hold back. He remarks about Jamie getting off to the idea of hanging the piece in his place, knowing Callie chose him over Gael. He goes as far as telling Callie she was a mistake – that she and Jamie are perfect for each other because they’re both as lying and manipulative as each other. 

Gael’s heartbreak doesn’t stop there, unfortunately. Having received a call that his commission had been pulled only three scenes after he found out the designers wanted to work with him. He’s left both hurt and confused as to why this is happening. The designer’s reasoning for pulling his commission is that they don’t want to be involved in any scandals, something Gael has no clue what they are talking about. When he goes to look online he discovers Elijah (Denim Richards) had in fact paid for the positive review on his art installation. Elijah, when confronted, attempts to defend himself under the guise of any publicity is good publicity and that it won’t stick to Gael and his brand. He even goes as far as trying to reason that Gael wouldn’t have even been considered for the commission if it wasn’t for the review, as if that was going to make any of this better. Considering at the start of the episode, Elijah promised Gael he could trust him…he’s not doing a great job of proving it. Clearly sick of being had over by anyone he lets in, Gael makes the decision there and then to end their relationship. Seeking solace in the balcony and a beer, Gael sees the onslaught of online hate that’s started as a result of the news breaking that his review was paid for. Hundreds of comments calling him a fake and a sellout litter his Instagram posts, so it’s no wonder he ends the episode feeling utterly dejected. 

For Malika (Zuri Adele), this week seems to be one of the most significant episodes in the series for her. Today’s the day she partakes in her first Black Lives Matter disruption. Regardless of Isaac’s (Sarunas J. Jackson) promise to pick her up for her dad’s dinner at 6PM and his pleas for her to take a step back from the activism in order to focus on herself and her career, she still finds herself on the front line of the protest. In the weeks leading up to the event she attends multiple meetings, all of them reminding her how important her participation is. They assure all those involved that, despite the fact they aren’t anticipating any arrests, their lawyers numbers will be written on their arm just in case. Following the succession of the final meeting in the lead up to the protest, Malika is kept back by the organizers. They ask her to take on the important role of filming the entire thing, assuring her that regardless of how heated things get during, she can’t stop filming. They say that it’s not only due to them needing as many eyes on the disruption as possible, but also for their safety to which she agrees without so much as a second thought. 

On the day of the protest she and her fellow activists walk the streets of Los Angeles as if they’re just mere passing faces to each other. She arrives at the lawyers’ conference, collects her badge under the name of Michelle Green and waits to be given further instructions. Finally, when Judge Wilson (Roger Bart) is called to the podium to make a speech, it’s go time for them. The activists gather at the front of the stage and hold up signs with Jamal Thompson’s face on it and others denouncing Judge Wilson’s ability to be fair to instate justice. All the while Malika, true to her word, ensures the entire ordeal is filmed. Though clearly taken aback by the fact the protest targets Judge Wilson, she perseveres and ensures her live stream runs through the entire thing.

For Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) her week looks as though it could also have some branches of law enforcement getting involved in the not too distant future. Her week starts off promising; Evan (TJ Linnard) apologizes to her piling so much pressure onto her and informs her he’s taken command and set the ball in motion to get the go ahead for her activism app launch. They both share a moment of genuine remorse toward each other as Mariana is sorry for snapping and Evan is sorry for expecting so much from her. He goes on to confide that he deleted the dating app he relied heavily on Mariana to navigate for him, believing that his inability to read social cues will forever stunt him from finding someone. Following this he tells her all about the Amanda situation. He explains to Mariana how she quit as a result of him being inappropriate towards her, without him even realizing it. All of his failed ventures in the romance department have clearly left him feeling more dejected than ever, which Mariana refuses to stand for. 

She goes on to organize a meeting between Evan and Amanda (Allison Paige) in order to get them to reconcile their differences. She truly believes that they have a genuine connection, their sparks just got twisted. Though it’s unclear exactly what happened during their reconciliation, new Chief Operating Officer Kendra (Azita Ghanizada) informs him that Amanda is set to file a lawsuit against him for unfair dismissal. That’s not all; however, as Kendra introduces herself to Mariana by promising she’s here to to address the racial and gender pay gaps and ultimately tame all the company’s problems internally. Her first order of business looks to be firing Angela (Heather Mazur). Mariana feels like this decision is her fault, until Kendra reveals that she was well aware of the accusations several female employees made against ex-employee Josh and she sat back and did nothing about it. Hence, her termination. Kendra’s next order of business is to launch an investigation in order to find out who leaked the company’s salary information online and as a result forces Mariana to step down as project leader on her app development. When she turns to Callie for help, her sister is quick to silence her phone and ignore the texts. It seems as though this could all be about to blow up in Mariana’s face. 

Things aren’t much better for Callie. She’s faced with making the decision of choosing between taking on a big case within the company or prioritizing studying to pass the bar exam. Teresa (Lisandra Tena) is quick to remind Callie that, should she take on the class action case, there’ll be a lot of unpaid overtime, none of her work will be credited and it could massively affect her already struggling work-life balance. However, when meeting with the ACLU, it would appear that Callie’s mind is already made up and she’s ready to take on the case and find a way to somehow fit some studying hours in.

Her plan to study in her limited spare time looks as though it may be about to go out the window; however, as she makes the decision to finally move in with Jamie. Feeling like everyone’s sworn enemy in the Coterie, she decides this’ll be what’s best for herself. She silently packs her things and leaves Mariana a note on her bed, assuring her she’ll continue to pay rent until she finds a new roommate, but she’s made the decision to permanently move out. 

We’re also reacquainted with Jennifer (Annie Little), Dennis’ soon to be ex-wife this week. Following on from last week’s final scene in which Davia goes to his room with every intention of admitting her feelings for him, he breaks the news that he and Jen are going to try again. Of course, Davia is absolutely crushed by this. It was her realization of her feelings for Dennis that acted as the push she needed to finally leave Jeff (Chris Sheffield). However, all may not be as it seems.

Jennifer and Dennis (Josh Pence) meet again and they both apologize for setting out to hurt each other. Dennis apologizes for being such a crap husband and father and Jen apologizes for intentionally setting out to hurt him following the death of their son Jacob. All the while, Dennis can be seen to be tiling a mural together on his wall – though it’s unclear what it’s meant to be until the grand reveal shot at the end of the episode. Of course, Davia runs into Jennifer the one time she stops crying long enough to leave her room. She congratulates her on the news that she and Dennis are trying to work things out, though she admits that it would seem Davia has read the situation wrong. Despite a scene of Dennis and Jen admitting they still love each other, she leaves the Coterie with signed divorce papers and the news that she’s pregnant and will soon be marrying Dennis’ old best friend.

All of this just seems a little heavy for poor Dennis, but instead of hitting the self-destruct button he channels his energy into completing the mural on his wall, which turns out to be the most gorgeous photo of Jacob. Along the way, it seems as though he begins to realize his feelings for Davia go deeper than just friendship.