By: Mariah Thomas
Mark (Damian Young) reveals his new tattoo to Valerie (Lisa Kudrow). He has “Anywhere else” in large font centered on his back. Valerie’s main concern is that he won’t be able to go swimming again. He reveals his feelings of not liking where he currently is in life. Valerie takes this to mean he plans to leave her but Mark sweetly reminds her the tattoo says “Anywhere else” and not “Anyone else.”
This conversation is interrupted by a text from Billy. He and Valerie have plans to track down Paulie G (Lance Barber) and get him to admit he was the AI leak source of the show. Leaving her building, Valerie is greeted by Jane (Laura Silverman) waiting for her on the steps. She somberly checks in to assure Valerie doesn’t think she’s the leak. Though Jane was never on board with the AI, she wouldn’t betray Valerie to that degree. She also has come by with a request to continue filming for Valerie but being more upfront with her intentions this time. Billy (Dan Buatinsky) pulls up to the women’s delightful exchange to warn Jane to not cause a scene. He also shows off Valerie’s new security who formerly worked for Gaga. Valerie assures him there’s no ‘scene’ being caused. Billy then apologizes for having Jane kicked off set and she apologizes for her deception.
Valerie and her crew of Billy, Jane, Patience (Ella Stiller) and the cameras strut into a coffee shop to confront Paulie G. When they don’t instantly see him, Valerie confesses she didn’t know for sure if he would be there. He mentioned once that it was his favorite coffee shop. Valerie soon realizes it is a favorite spot for many writers in Hollywood, many of whom aren’t happy with the AI written show. One writer specifically blames her for taking writer’s money away and therefore taking away his child’s private school education. Billy sassily asks him if he is struggling to pay for his child’s school, why is he buying an $8 latte? This is met with the writer throwing the latte directly in Billy’s face. He apologizes and says he actually meant to do “this” as he throws the rest of the latte on Valerie. Once they leave, they run into Paulie G. The confrontation doesn’t go as expected as Paulie G states he wasn’t the source of the leak. Paulie pulls up the text he sent Valerie the night before in which he was supportive. Valerie begins to apologize for the accusation but Paulie stops her understanding why she would. He attempts to convince her to go back into the coffee shop for an apology and clear things up with the writers. She says she doesn’t need it because she cleared things up with the writer she intended to.
In the car Jane, Valerie and Billy talk through who else the leak could be. As she names all she’s told, she realizes she may be the leak for telling too many people. When they arrive at the studio, writers are outside protesting against Valerie. She awkwardly hides in the car while there are issues getting in since her new security detail doesn’t have the proper badge. Billy lunges out of the car and says he plans to order an uber home. Valerie crawls out of the car and sneakily enters the studio through another entrance. Some of the crew don’t feel comfortable working while writers are technically striking. Valerie assures them it’s not a union thing and solely personal aimed at her. Tension lightly lingers on set as people on the crew have mixed feelings with the AI usage for writing. Bec (Stephanie Hodge) gives the crew a pep talk knowing most of them need this job. She compares working the AI like working with a director you don’t get along with. They just have to put their noses down and get the work done anyway. Despite this, some crew decide to still leave.
While on her break, Valerie fears she is being chased by a writer. However she quickly realizes it is Juna (Malin Akerman). The pair catch up lightly before Juna turns to say hi to Jane. She attempts to soothe Valerie as she unloads her feelings. She reminds her she doesn’t treat people poorly despite this mess now. Juna recounts how welcomed she felt by Valerie when they worked together on her first show. This gives Valerie a needed boost of confidence.
Valerie returns home to the Fiance Dudes camera crew setting up for her interview. Mark and Valerie awkwardly stage a conversation to open up this new episode. Valerie and Mark lightly bicker to get this conversation just right as Mark struggles to play into this fake bit. The producers of the show set Mark up to be embarrassed. He received a call from one of the ‘dudes’ that he was prompted to put on speaker phone. The caller asks about Mark being “Me Too”’d. Mark immediately holds a stoic face and walks away from the cameras. Valerie tries to diffuse the situation by clarifying it was just a joke that went sideways. She goes to check on Mark and bring him back out. Valerie tells him by not speaking about it, it leaves room for people to fill in the blanks. Mark confesses the truth to Valerie. He slept with many women who worked at the company prior to being with Valerie. He realizes the women may have felt pressured because he was their boss. He says before ‘Me Too’ he never questioned anything. Valerie points out that Mark now is different and knows better. However, Mark is still embarrassed by his past and doesn’t want to cop to it publicly. Valerie sweetly gives him advice by saying he got knocked down and can’t just lay there. He needs to get back up. The couple hug before Mark goes back to the crew. As they get the cameras up, he tells them it’s not needed since he quits.
Valerie arrives at the premiere of her new show. She points out how small the carpet and press section is. Patience informs her it just has to look big from the influencer’s cameras. Valerie prepares what she is going to say in regard to AI to the press. Once she enters the carpet, the chaos begins. Valerie finds out that the ‘leak’ came from NuNet themselves. They did it to boost views right before the show was set to air. Valerie awkwardly laughs at Jane and points out the surprise in NuNet being the leak. Jane just goes wide eyed and tells her to get ready for another surprise. Valerie turns to see Billy in full emo drag enter the carpet.