By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) and Bobbie (Reba McEntire) are anxiously waiting for Steve (Pablo Castelblanco). The reason is that they’ve officially opened the speakeasy, and Isabella is very worried about whether her idea actually made any money. Steve comes in and rips the badaid off by sharing that the night was a success, but they still lost some money. Isabella feels bad, but Steve tells her it’s to be expected and that he respects her ambition. Still, Isabella wants to pay the tavern back, and Bobbie appreciates the sentiment but says that it isn’t possible. Steve offers to comb over the tavern’s finances and see where there’s extra money. He does this sometimes when things are tight. Then Bobbie says she’s going to talk to their suppliers and get some discounts. Isabella, still feeling guilty, offers to sell her plasma, and Steve tells her she’d get more money for her kidney.
Later, Gabby (Melissa Peterman) wants to gossip about someone named Tall Kathy, and normally, Steve would be all-in, but he says he’s too busy doing a poke-around (what he calls his money-finding mission). He makes some suggestions on how to save money on mimosa and other popular orders, but he still says it’s not enough. To Takoda (Takola Black Elf), he suggests he ditch the coasters and stop serving peanuts. But Steve says there is still money to be found, and Gabby says it’d be great if there was a Steve to help Steve find extra money.
An unspecified amount of time later, Emmett (Rex Linn) asks Gabby about [insert name later]. Gabby is embarrassed about it, but apparently, she got kicked out of there and possibly banned. They’re having a music festival, Emmett says, and Monica asked if he wanted to go. He’s a little unsure, but Gabby says it’s a good time, and Emmett says okay. Gabby asks if he told Monica he wanted to go yet, but Emmett says no because he’ll see her in person in a few days. Gabby says it’s inconsiderate to leave Monica on read, and if he says nothing when she asks him about the festival for days, Monica will just assume that Emmett doesn’t want to go. She adds that texting is like ping-pong, since he wouldn’t hit a ball back, text messages shouldn’t go unanswered. That actually makes sense to Emmett, and he goes to text Monica.
Steve goes into Bobbie’s office to tell Isabella and Bobbie that he found enough money to make up for the speakeasy losses. Bobbie says he knew he could do it and tells Isabella that Steve has a gift for squeezing dimes out of nickels. But, she’s surprised he managed to find so much, and Steve explains that he stopped looking in little places and moved onto the bigger ones. He cheerfully announces that to save money, they need to fire him. Bobbie says that firing the man who saves her money sounds like a crazy idea. But Steve says the AI revolution meant this was inevitable. Bobbie only knows AI as the thing that made a fake video of the pope dunking a basketball. But Steve says there are new AI accountants that do what he can do faster, and since she pays him for financial advice, she has to give an AI accountant a shot. He leaves, but Bobbie doesn’t love the idea of replacing a computer with Steve, so she tells Isabella that they just have to show him that a computer could never look out for the tavern’s interests the way he does.
Emmett thanks Gabby for her advice earlier and says he texted Monica back and feels good about it. When Gabby asks him what he texted her, he says he said, “Sure.” Gabby doesn’t think that, that’s good enough, and said that over text message, which shows a lack of enthusiasm. Emmett says he isn’t a words guy, but Gabby says he doesn’t have to be because he can be an emoji guy. Emmett says he barely understands those. Gabby texts Monica for him, and he asks that she convey that he loves blues and is excited to spend time with him.
In the office, Bobbie downloaded the AI accountant, and Isabella is confused, but Bobbie explains it’s a free trial. Plus, she only downloaded it to prove that the software isn’t as good as Steve. They see if the Money Fairy can save them more money on their taxes than Steve did last year, and it turns out that Steve did a better job.
When Isabella and Bobbie tell Steve, he isn’t as excited, but he still feels like the AI accountant is the best thing for them. But Steve is worried that they won’t be able to compete with their competition. Bobbie disagrees and says Steve is an important part of Happy’s Place. Steve disagrees and says he can’t risk the tavern shutting down, because it’s the only place he ever fit in. So, Steve says, it has to survive for the next person like him. He says eventually they’ll see that the AI accountant is what’s best for them, and the software will improve.
In the kitchen, Emmett recruits Takoda’s help because his hands are full, but he has to text Monica a confetti emoji. Takoda wants to know why, but Emmett doesn’t know and just asks him to do it anyway. They keep going back and forth with Monica until Takoda sends Monica a burger and fries emoji because of something Emmett was telling Gabby, and Emmett calls it quits.
In the office, Isabella and Bobbie have another talk with Steve and tell him they did what he said and used the software to find other ways to save money. The solutions it came up with were to fire Takoda and Gabby, and Steve is shocked. But, Isabella and Bobbie say, it’ll save them so much money. But, Steve says that they can’t do get rid of Takoda and Gabby. And Isabella and Bobbie agree they can’t get rid of Takoda, Gabby, or Steve because they’re a part of the family. Also, Isabella says the software says they should close the speakeasy, but unlike the computer, Steve believes in her. With that said, Steve decides that he’s sticking around. When Isabella and Steve leave, the software tries again to convince Bobbie to get rid of the staff.
Gabby talks with Emmett, and he’s upset. He’s been exchanging so many emojis and GIFs with Monica that he no longer knows what they’re talking about. Gabby reassures him that he is, in fact, a words guy and encourages him to call Monica because the things he says always sound honest. She dials Monica’s number for him, and he tells her that he isn’t a texter, and she agrees.