UnREAL – Fugitive

By starrymag | July 27, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

Newly reinstated showrunner Quinn (Constance Zimmer) tells the crew that all the public knows is that there was a police incident and they’re going to keep it that way. Jay (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) is angry that they’re not going to tell the public what really happened, but Quinn says the only thing they’re going to be focusing on this week is romance.

 

Meanwhile, Rachel (Shiri Appleby) is still in the hospital with her straight out of a horror flick mother (Mimi Kuzyk).

 

Jay and Madison (Genevieve Buechner) tell Quinn all the girls are worried about Darius (BJ Britt), but Quinn orders them to keep their mouths shut. She’s confident that he’s going to take them all on a nice helicopter ride into San Francisco.

 

Coleman (Michael Rady) is mad that Quinn isn’t helping Rachel get out of the hospital. Quinn says that since Rachel’s mom is literally Satan, shit must have really hit the fan in order for Rachel to call her. Plus, considering what Rachel’s been up to lately she could probably use some time off. Coleman stupidly tries to talk back, but Quinn cuts him off. He’s not an authority on Rachel, as her issues go way back. His career as a television producer is done-zo; all he has is an office and a paycheck until his contract expires.

 

Coleman goes to sulk in his office where he finds Yael (Monica Barbaro) snooping through his computer. Yael admits that she’s a reporter working on a story about how reality TV kills. Jeremy (Josh Kelly) leaked her loads of information including stuff about Mary. She blackmails Coleman, saying if he turns her in, she’ll turn him in—she’s uncovered footage of Romeo (Gentry White) being shot on his computer that he was supposed to have turned over to the cops—unless he agrees to work with her on the piece.

 

Tiffany (Kim Matula), Chantal (Meagan Tandy) and Jameson (Karissa Tynes) are all drinking and discussing how bored they are. Quinn tells them to get everything shaved because they’ve got a big date in the city tonight. Jameson is insulted they’re just going to go on like nothing ever happened, but Quinn says they turned all the footage over to the police and the whole situation is a PR nightmare for everyone. She reminds her of her nondisclosure agreement before going to talk to John (Ioan Gruffudd).

 

She apologizes for neglecting him and being busy with “Everlasting,” but he sees through it, knowing she’s been avoiding him. She addresses the elephant in the room, telling him that if they wanted kids they would have had them already and the people that work on the show are like her children. John wants something more, telling her he doesn’t want to invest anything else into the relationship unless she can see a real future for the two of them.

 

Chet (Craig Bierko) interrupts, saying Darius isn’t in the hospital anymore. Quinn yells at him to find their suitor and orders Jay and Madison to help change the date around. Darius walks into the diner to meet Ruby (Denee Benton), who tells him he has five minutes of her time.

 

Coleman visits Rachel in the hospital, who insists she has to stay because of what she did to Romeo and Darius. Coleman is confused, as the two of them are going to be fine, but her mom has clearly been feeding her different information. Rachel’s mom walks in, saying that all of this is Rachel’s choice. Coleman tells Rachel that he knows she’s not crazy and Rachel wants him to take her back to his house.

 

Quinn and Madison watch Graham (Brennan Elliott) tell the girls about “Exile in Paradise” a game Madison whipped up which they’ll be competing for immunity during. Chet confronts Quinn about her conversation with John; Quinn says just because she didn’t want a kid with his diseased sperm doesn’t mean she doesn’t want one with anybody else. Chet says once he cuts the deal with Tiffany’s dad he’ll be a league owner and be able to give Quinn anything she wants. Quinn says the only things she wants is a horserace—Tiffany is the obvious choice so they might have to help Chantal out. Plus, John bet $60k on Chantal winning.

 

Darius tells Ruby he was too chicken to be a better person before, but after what happened with Romeo he has to do something. He’s done with the show and all he wants is Ruby. Ruby isn’t easily swayed, saying he dropped her and implied she was a stuck up bitch on national television after she admitted she loved him. She says nothing he does will ever make it up to her and she tells him to play football and fix his own problems. He can’t play football, though, as he’s just had back surgery and it didn’t work. Ruby guesses this means she was his second choice, but Jay walks in before he can defend himself. Darius is mad Ruby is trying to get him to get back on the show, but Ruby tells Darius he’s not making him do anything before storming out.

 

The girls have mixed feelings about having to vote each other off this week. Tiffany confronts Chet, worried the other girls will get rid of her when she was finally getting somewhere with Darius. Chantal is also concerned about getting sent home and is less than pleased with Madison’s plan to help her stay. Quinn steps in, telling her not to worry because she likes Chantal and she can rig the odds to be in her favor.

 

Jay tells Darius coming back on the show is the smartest thing he can do, but Darius accuses him of still being part of the machine. Jay owns up to it, saying both he and Darius have to figure out how to make the machine work for them. If he plays his cards right, he can marry Tiffany and he and his family will be set for life. Darius feels bad about using Tiffany, but Jay says Tiffany is using him, too. That doesn’t mean they don’t genuinely like each other, but everyone is looking for something to gain.

 

Graham explains the game—each contestant will be sitting in a dunk tank and getting asked questions about Darius. Get it wrong, you get dunked. Chet slips Tiffany the answers to all the questions.

 

Coleman brings Rachel to his office on set, telling her to talk to the camera about the police brutality she witnessed so they can put a package together for a network. Rachel says it was her fault Romeo got shot, but Coleman argues it was clearly the cop’s racism. He just wants her to tell the truth so they can tell an important story.

 

Yael and Jameson get out first at the dunk tank challenge and Chantal ends up edging out Tiffany. Chet is angry since the question Tiffany lost on wasn’t even a prepared question, but Quinn is happy and thinks maybe Chantal should win after all.

 

Rachel tells Coleman and the camera about how they call the police all the time for meaningless reasons. Coleman digs for information about Mary and Rachel spills that they killed her.

 

Chantal’s prize for winning the competition is that she gets to spend a night with Darius under a little gazebo the other girls will build for her. The other girls are pissed, especially since Chantal gives them notes on how she wants the shade assembled. Madison pulls Chantal and Yael aside and tells them that as their producer she wants them to form an alliance since Tiffany is clearly the frontrunner. Jameson isn’t a threat so they would both almost be guaranteed a spot in the final two.

 

Quinn watches Madison try to out-Rachel Rachel from the control room, impressed that she might have “swallowed some of Chet’s producing genes.” Chet says it would be a mistake to let Tiffany go, as a Darius and Tiffany wedding is “Everlasting” 101. Quinn agrees with this, leading Chet to say they make such a great team together. Quinn tells them they’re done and Chet finally gives up, saying he’s just sorry he won’t be there to watch Quinn King become a mother. The two laugh about the thought of her punching out a doctor and Chet says that her happiness is enough for him. Quinn spies Rachel’s mom on what of the monitors, instructing him to save Tiffany while she handles the situation.

 

Rachel’s mom tells Quinn she’s here to bring her daughter back to the hospital and Quinn enjoys the fact that Rachel seemingly ran away from her. Rachel’s mom says Quinn prefers her when she’s off her medication since she’s better at her job when she’s sick, but Quinn shoots back the only time she’s sick is at home with her. Quinn says the way she treats Rachel is unethical and that she’s severely failed in her duties as a mother. Rachel’s mom tells her she doesn’t know shit about motherhood, reminding her that Rachel is her daughter before demanding to know where she is.

 

Jay tells Jameson and Tiffany to stick together, but Jameson reveals she’s voting Tiffany off the show. Maybe Jay will actually have time to produce her once Tiffany is gone.

 

Rachel is finally done with all of her confessions, telling Coleman it feels so good to get everything off her chest. Quinn enters the office, Rachel’s mom close behind. Rachel is upset her mother is there, and Quinn says she can get rid of her if Rachel tells her what she needs, but Rachel brushes her off and walks out.

 

Quinn suspiciously asks Coleman why he’s pointing a camera at Rachel. He says it’s therapeutic, but Quinn calls bullshit, saying the truth incriminates Rachel. Coleman says he just wants to tell the story about racially motivated police brutality, but Quinn says that’s not the story here—he and Rachel are liable for the shooting. The only thing the camera is doing is possibly getting Coleman off the hook. Quinn tells him protecting Rachel better be his number one priority.

 

Rachel’s mom’s little doctor friend/sidekick (Graem Beddoes) isn’t so sure Rachel is capable of taking care of herself. Rachel tells him that he’s just gotten in the middle of a long family dispute and she is fine. The doctor asks Rachel if she’d like to talk about the issue she doesn’t believe they’re addressing/ Rachel is all for it, but Rachel’s mom shuts it down quickly. She says she’ll keep an eye on Rachel and inform him of her progress.

 

Tiffany packs her bags to go home and Chet says he’ll get her her own suitor-ess show where she can have her pick of men. He’s doing it out of the kindness of his heart, as the deal with her father was always meant for Quinn. He calls Tiffany smart and beautiful and she starts to make out with him.

 

Rachel’s mom is furious that Rachel almost let the secret out, telling her she did what she did to protect her. Her mom says that she needs to act like it never happened or else nobody will ever love her—they’ll just run since they don’t want to deal with the kind of damage it brings.

 

Rachel tells Coleman she needs to tell him something despite what her moms wants. She admits her mom has been trying to use drugs to keep her quiet ever since one of her patients raped her at their house when she was twelve years old. Her mother blamed her to try and keep her mouth shut and protect her practice. Instead of getting her therapy and help, her mom said she would just treat Rachel herself. She says if he wants to run since she’s too broken she understands, but Coleman wraps her in a hug.

 

The crew watches all the girls write Tiffany’s name down for elimination. Quinn is irritated, as Chet said he would handle it, but Madison is overjoyed because two of the three finalists are her girls.

 

Graham announces that Tiffany is going home this week, but Darius steps onto set saying that won’t be happening. He cuts Jameson since she’s the cop and gives Tiffany the one-on-one date instead of Chantal. He says into the camera that it’s his way or no way from now on.

 

Quinn tries to talk to Darius, but he doesn’t give her the chance. He says if he ever sees Rachel again he’s done, he will only go through Jay to talk from now on and his cane is never to appear on camera. Quinn asks Jay how it feels to be her new number two and he says it’s fine for the moment.

 

Tiffany thanks Darius for saving her, but he tells her to stop talking and they make out and get undressed instead. Chet watches gloomily from the monitors.

 

Quinn meets John outside, saying she’s not done with him yet. She muses that it might be too late for her to have a baby, but he’s convinced they can do whatever they set their minds to.

 

Rachel and Coleman are in bed together before Coleman sneaks off to see Yael. Coleman seals his snake status by telling her he has more information she can use.