UnREAL – Gestalt

By starrymag | April 1, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Still thinking about her conversation with Tom (David Chisum) the previous night, Rachel (Shiri Appleby) decides to call her father (Barclay Hope). However, her mother (Mimi Kuzyk) answers the phone and says her father is lying down due to not feeling well. Rachel is fed up with her mother keeping him drugged up and demands that she let him know she called.

 

Crystal (Kassandra Clementi) helps Chet (Craig Bierko) shoot an Emmy-bait video to put on his social media. It turns her on, and she wants to have sex. Embarrassed, Chet reminds her he needs Viagra in order to get things going in that department.

 

Quinn (Constance Zimmer) takes Dr. Simon (Brandon Jay McLaren) off of Rachel duty, saying he’s making her worse. She tells him he’s failed at stabilizing her, evident by the fact she crawled into Quinn’s lap the previous night. Dr. Simon attempts to talk to Rachel, but she promises she’s fine and handling things herself.

 

Quinn and Jay (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) are headed to LA to pitch Jay’s show, and Quinn leaves Rachel in charge of running point despite her wanting to take a personal day. August (Adam Demos) interrupts, demanding to talk to Quinn in her office. He is furious that Serena (Caitlin FitzGerald) knows about the two of them hooking up. He vows to start a sexual harassment suit if Quinn doesn’t fix things.

 

Quinn calls Rachel into her office, telling her to take August down and destroy his credibility. During the wilderness-themed challenge, Serena tells Rachel she wants to cut August but needs an excuse. Rachel promises she’s got her covered and sets up a trap, making it so it looks like August had sex with Ranger Pam (Carrie Anne Fleming). August confronts Rachel about screwing him over, but Rachel tells him nobody protects anyone and he never should have slept with Quinn.

 

Serena is disgusted by August’s behavior and thanks Rachel for helping her out. Charlie (Chelsea Hobbs) is also appalled and tells Jeremy (Josh Kelly) so. Rachel sees them getting close and warns Charlie to stay away from him. Despite Owen (Alex Hernandez) doing the best in the challenge, Serena picks Jasper (Bart Edwards) to spend the date with her.

 

Jay and Quinn wait an exceptionally long time to be seen by Gary (Christopher Cousins), and one of the office assistants tells them that he won’t be able to meet with them that day after all. She offers to have his assistant hear their pitch, which sends Quinn over the edge. She is so insulted that she orders production on Everlasting to be shut down.

 

Gary furiously calls Madison (Genevieve Buechner), telling her to give him a list of people who are loyal to Quinn so he can fire them. Madison is hopeful she will be promoted to showrunner, but Gary is not even considering that. He doesn’t recognize the name of her pilot, either.

 

Rachel sees she has missed several calls from her dad but anxiously continues working. She orders everyone to stay in their rooms while production is down, struggling to separate a suddenly lovey-dovey Jasper and Serena.

 

Serena shows up at Jasper’s window wearing all black, saying there are cameras everywhere. She mischievously says there are ways around them, though, telling him to meet her in her room in five minutes. The two share a glass of wine before having sex. Serena also says she trusts Jasper, which is a rare thing for her.

 

Dr. Simon tries to talk to Jeremy and get better insight into Rachel, but all Jeremy will say is that Rachel is a liar. Frustrated, Dr. Simon tells him he’s just trying to do his job, and Jeremy says he was just trying to do his, too, hinting at the murders last season.

 

Chet and Rachel are both panicking that maybe Gary wasn’t bluffing after all. Quinn is not backing down, daring Gary to fire her and try to make the show without her. She’ll just have to find somewhere else to build her empire. Rachel asks Quinn for the night off, saying she wants to get a massage. Quinn suspiciously grants her request, telling her to leave her phone on.

 

Rachel does not go get a massage, instead going to her house to talk to her dad Asa. She doesn’t dare go in until she sees her mother Olive leave. Rachel confronts Asa about her rapist, asking him why he never said anything about it. Asa admits he always hated the work Olive did, but she was the one paying the bills. He tells Rachel that he beat the guy up, but Olive convinced him not to call the cops so Rachel’s name would stay out of the system.

 

Asa says he thought Olive was handling her pain, but Rachel says all she ever did was medicate her. Asa says he was so upset about Rachel’s assault that he almost committed suicide, but Olive put him on lithium, which saved him. Rachel argues that it just numbed him out, stopping him from talking to Rachel. Rachel hints at the fact she feels partially responsible for her rape because she lied about her age, but Asa adamantly says there was no excuse for what that man did. Rachel says there’s nothing wrong with either one of them and that she wants to get him out of the house before her mom arrives back home.

 

Rachel’s mother pulls into the driveway right as Rachel and Asa are leaving. The three get into a heated confrontation, but Rachel and Asa manage to get away. They arrive on set, and Rachel shows Asa to her temporary home in the back of the truck. Dr. Simon sees this and warns Rachel that it’s not a good idea to try and wean Asa off of lithium without a doctor, but Rachel doesn’t care—this is what he wants, and she has to take care of her father. She asks him to keep an eye on her dad while she goes to set, and Dr. Simon hesitantly agrees.

 

Quinn sees Madison typing away in the control room. Suspicious, she tells Madison she’s a snake who needs to give her some venom. She warns Madison that Gary isn’t going to protect her—he’s going to take whatever information she gives him and clean house. Now worried, Madison admits she stole Gary’s email password.

 

The two log in and hit the jackpot, making a plan to get Gary to set. Quinn warns Madison that if she agrees to go through with this, her pilot is dead. Madison says she’s more than one pilot and wants to bet on Quinn. She calls Gary, lying and saying Quinn doesn’t suspect a thing.

 

Quinn and Chet gather all the cast and crew together, and Quinn begins her epic takedown of Gary. She says that he’s going to pick up Passport to Dance straight to series and give it a prime time slot. He’s also going to let her have four shows in development by the end of the year. Quinn did some investigating and found out Gary has been hiding Everlasting’s international profits, stealing $18 million from her and Chet to cover for his other failing shows. Quinn tells Gary she owns him now, and he reluctantly gives in to all of her demands in order to save his career and reputation.

 

Chet is incredible turned on by this, going into Quinn’s office and admitting he hasn’t gotten this hard without Viagra in years. Quinn refuses to give into his sexual desires, reminding him that he chose easy Crystal over her.

 

Owen rants to August about not getting picked for the date despite crushing all the challenges. He mentions Jasper’s bet, which is news to August. August tells Serena this, and she is devastated at Jasper’s betrayal. At the ceremony, she shocks everyone by announcing that she will not be cutting anyone that week, as she wants to find out everyone’s true intentions. The only rules now are the ones she makes herself.

 

Quinn tells Serena she can’t skip an elimination due to budgets and schedules, but Serena doesn’t care. Jasper interrupts them, trying to explain himself, but Serena is having none of it. She throws the fact that he lost his bet because she already slept with Norman (Joe Abraham) in his face, and Quinn takes this as her cue to walk away.

 

Quinn pops some champagne in honor of Jay’s show, telling him that he’s going to be sleeping at work for the next two years. Quinn wants to celebrate by going dancing, but Rachel and Jay are both out, Rachel having to get back to her father and Jay to his boyfriend. Madison is game, but Quinn lies and says she’s changed her mind. She thanks Madison for all her work and intel that day, but when Madison tries to give her a hug, she rejects it, saying it’s too soon for that.

 

At the club, Quinn spies her old friend Fiona (Tracie Thoms), who has just sold a VR company. Fiona is surprised to learn that Quinn is still in the trenches instead of a big office in Beverly Hills. Quinn giddily says that she made $9 million that day. Fiona is in awe and buys Quinn a shot, toasting her to accomplishment.

 

On Jay’s way out, Alexi (Alex Sparrow) stops him, saying he needs more cocaine. Jay is furious, saying the last round was supposed to last him a week. He’s about to be a star, and they need to get him clean and sober. Alexi pushes him against the wall and gives him a blow job despite Jay saying that Xavier (Jaime M. Callica) is waiting for him at home. If Jay gives him something, Alexi says he will have things to offer in return.

 

Rachel tells her father about the cabin she’s hoping to buy in Oregon. It doesn’t have any electricity, so it’s rather cheap. Asa promises to help her fix the place up and update it with modern accommodations. Rachel wants him to come live with her, thinking it could be good for both of them. The two peacefully fall asleep, unaware that Dr. Simon is watching them on a surveillance camera.