UnREAL – Espionage

By starrymag | August 2, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

Rachel (Shiri Appleby) walks in on Coleman (Michael Rady) watching her confession tapes. Coleman tells her the whole despicable culture of “Everlasting” is their real story, but Rachel regrets ever admitting to any of it. She refuses to take down Quinn (Constance Zimmer), frantically rushing to erase the video evidence.

 

Coleman tells Rachel that Quinn is only pretending to care about her—if she really loved her, she would have her get out of “Everlasting.” Coleman keeps pressing Rachel to expose the show, but Rachel accuses him of just being concerned about his career. Coleman tells Rachel that Quinn is going to try and pin everything on the two of them, especially since she is an easy target considering her history with the mental hospital. Coleman warns that either Quinn or Rachel is going down for all of this.

 

There are only three contestants left—Chantal (Meagan Tandy), Tiffany (Kim Matula) and Yael (Monica Barbaro). Graham (Brennan Elliott) briefly introduces each of them before being cut off by now second-in-command Jay (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman). Darius (BJ Britt) expresses concern that black women all across America will be pissed at him if he cuts Chantal for Tiffany, but Jay tells him he has to do what he has to do in order to secure a future with Tiffany and her father, especially since football is now out of the question. Darius makes Jay promise to try and get Chantal to drop out on her own so she can leave with some dignity.

 

Yael takes Coleman into her room, sharing some juicy information Jeremy (Josh Kelly) dropped via her secret recording. Coleman is thrilled, saying now all they have to do is get Yael to win—an article from the season winner would be gold. Yael flirts with him a bit and the two kiss. Coleman halfheartedly reminds her he’s with Rachel, but Madison (Genevieve Buechner) spies the two locking lips through the window.

 

Quinn and John (Ioan Gruffudd) drive to set and reminisce about the morning’s going ons at the doctor’s office where they tested to see if Quinn was still able to have children. Quinn is surprised the doctor didn’t laugh her out of the office, but John tells her that age is just a number.

 

Rachel surprises Quinn in the control room, saying she wants to go back to work. Quinn refuses to let her in that easily saying that Jay and Madison have everything covered. Madison chimes in telling Rachel that she could use some help preparing Yael’s dress, but Rachel refuses to take orders from someone who got their job by blowing their boss. Madison fires back like the savage she’s grown to be and says the hot version of her is stealing Coleman away.

 

Rachel confronts Coleman, but Coleman covers for himself by saying he was just in Yael’s room for business purposes. Rachel reminds him he’s not actually the showrunner anymore, but Coleman says they have to keep up appearances in front of the contestants. He admits Yael made a pass at him, but he shut it down. He begs Rachel not to push away the one person that cares about her.

 

Jay secretly tells Chantal that Darius is planning on cutting her, sending Chantal into meltdown mode. Chantal genuinely likes Darius, but Jay tells her runner-ups always tell him the same thing: they wish they would have left before they could get dumped. Jay tells her that after she leaves she can get any man she wants.

 

Rachel goes to make some sweet small talk with Yael, promising to grab her blue dress for the date that night.

 

Chet (Craig Bierko) finds Tiffany lounging by the lake, implying she’s a slut for banging Darius the previous night. Tiffany calls him out, saying if she would have screwed him then he would be singing a different tune. She tells Chet she likes Darius and intends to win regardless if that makes him happy.

 

Rachel crumples up and hides Yael’s blue dress, grabbing a white one for her instead. She lies and says the costume assistant burnt a hole in the blue one while steaming it, annoying Yael.

 

Darius and Tiffany go on the world’s most boring golf date. Quinn is irritated that Jay didn’t plan something better and is catering too much to what Darius wants. Quinn regrets giving Jay his promotion, telling him to stop acting like Darius’ little bitch. Madison is excited that she still has two girls left, but Jay tells her Chantal is dropping out at the ceremony.

 

Someone sets the sprinklers on the golf course off, satisfying Quinn with enough drama for the time being. Jay goes outside to assess the situation, finding that Chet is the culprit behind it. Chet tells Jay the two have zero chemistry and that he just wants to help the show, but Jay sees right through it. He’s disgusted when Chet admits to kissing Tiffany.

 

Darius tells Tiffany the previous night escalated things a little too quickly. He apologizes for taking advantage of her, but she promises that’s not what happened at all. She’s glad he realized the connection they had and came back to save her. Darius awkwardly says he has to go.

 

Quinn threatens that she cannot sit through another snooze worthy date, yelling at Madison to go fix up something exciting. Rachel pleads with Quinn to let her entertain her, as she has something against Yael off her sleeve. Quinn gives her blessing, telling her to go for it.

 

Rachel briefs Yael on her date—she and Darius are going to eat food from her favorite sushi place. Jay thinks Rachel is acting fishy, as she’s acting way to happy.

 

Tiffany tells Chet she’s salty that Yael gets dinner and dancing while she got stuck with golf. Chet goes down on Tiffany while Yael stuffs her face with raw fish.

 

Rachel tells Quinn she prepared some very special sauce for Yael. Quinn beams, telling Rachel it’s good to have her back and sending number two Jay to the back of the room. Yael and Darius begin to dancing, but Yael quickly gets the urgent need to use the restroom. Rachel has locked the outdoor bathroom though, trapping Yael outside. The poor thing gets diarrhea wearing a white dress on camera. Everyone is understandably horrified, except for Quinn of course, who cannot stop laughing. She literally bows down at Rachel’s feet.

 

Jay apologizes to Darius who is livid at Rachel and Quinn’s actions. He’s also going to look ridiculous if he chooses Yael over Chantal now. Jay tells him not to worry because Chantal agreed to bow out gracefully at the elimination ceremony. Madison goes to talk to Chantal, trying to convince her not to drop out. She tells her Jay is just playing her so Tiffany wins and he gets his cash bonus, but Chantal thinks Madison might be playing her for the money she would get if Chantal makes it to the final two. Madison tells her dropping out would make her seem like a prissy cocktease, saying that’s how people view her on social media since she’s so reserved. Madison tells her if she truly committed and was unafraid to put herself out there, it wouldn’t even be a contest. Chantal takes her advice, stripping down naked and hopping in the hot tub with Darius. The two start making out and Quinn praises Madison and Rachel for their great work.

 

Quinn and Rachel sip some tequila and bond over Yael’s embarrassment. Quinn thinks it may have been the worst thing they’ve ever done, but Rachel replies that they both know that’s not true. Rachel asks Quinn if she ever thinks about Mary, but Quinn tells her she needs to stop caring so much. Quinn reminds her that Mary’s death was Shia’s fault, but Rachel still feels guilty for covering it up. Quinn tells Rachel covering things up is her job—Rachel would be in prison if it weren’t for her. She has a lot of friends and a lot of cash; she can make things disappear. Quinn says the difference between her and Rachel is that she limits the people she cares about to about two. She then gets a text from John saying he is in front of the mansion, dodging Rachel’s question when she asks if things are serious between the two of them. She welcomes Rachel back, telling her she missed her.

 

Jay confronts Chantal since she changed her mind about bowing out gracefully. Chantal says Jay underestimated her—she’s more than just an airhead pageant girl and if Darius wants to cut her, he can do it himself. Plus, her chances seem pretty good considering Yael’s humiliating date.

 

Quinn and John walk into the control room, causing Rachel to give the two a few odd glances. Quinn notices, asking her if she’s having second thoughts about destroying Yael. Rachel promises she’s not, focusing her eyes on the monitor.

 

Darius predictably sends Yael home and she says she’ll never forget her time at “Everlasting.”

 

Rachel informs Coleman she’s not going to take down Quinn and the show, telling him it’s over between them. Coleman pulls out a recording of her conversation with Quinn and admits he tapped her phone. He says he knew it would be hard for her, but they needed evidence of Quinn admitting to her illegal activities so she wouldn’t take Rachel down. Quinn’s quote about having enough friends and cash to hide anything plays so well into their piece and Coleman tells Rachel this is the beginning of their future. Coleman found a place for the two of them where Rachel can get a real therapist and relax and heal from everything. Rachel starts crying, telling Coleman how touched she is and that she now realizes Coleman is the only person that truly cares about her (it is so phony, but Coleman is clearly oblivious). Coleman says she’s going to get better and then they will burn “Everlasting” down.

 

Coleman walks in on Yael frantically packing her bags. She says everyone on set is insane and that she is not safe—they poisoned her and everything. Coleman tells her to stay calm since he has everything they need now, including Rachel on their side. Yael is afraid nobody will ever look at her the same way again, but Coleman tells her that she is a sexy, smart, good person. They kiss and vow to get revenge on the producers.

 

Chet covers the camera in Tiffany’s room, giving her a fancy ankle bracelet and kissing her foot.

 

Quinn and John get the results from the doctor and it turns out that Quinn is too old to have children. John says they can work through it, as he has money and resources to fix it. Quinn says he can’t fix this, breaking up with him on the spot. She says some hateful things to him, calling him a dumbass used to getting everything he wants. He wants kids, she can’t have them, and she refuses to be anyone’s disappointment.

 

She storms into the control room and screams at everyone to get out. In a fit of rage, she swings a golf club at the televisions and knocks files off of desks. Rachel opens the door, asking if Quinn is okay. Quinn yells that nobody ever shows up at your work and warns you that your time to have children is almost up. Rachel asks Quinn if she wanted kids, but Quinn replies that she wanted the choice.

 

Quinn, now crying, tells Rachel that needs to get out while she still has time. She doesn’t even care if she leaves with Coleman that she just needs Rachel to be happy and not get stuck like she has. Quinn tells Rachel that she loves her and she’s fired. Rachel calmly tells Quinn that Coleman knows about their coverups and he’s going to expose them. She realizes she was wrong to ever trust him, but now they need to stop him. Rachel tells Quinn to suck it up because she needs her. “We’re taking that asshole down,” Quinn tells her and the two hug.