UnREAL – Infiltration

By starrymag | July 5, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

Rachel (Shiri Appleby) shows up to work with Coleman (Michael Rady) in his new, completely unearned car. Jeremy (Josh Kelly) taunts her for betraying Quinn (Constance Zimmer) and sleeping with the boss. Like always, Jeremy has absolutely no room to judge anyone, as Hot Rachel (Monica Barbaro) comes out of his trailer two seconds later carrying a photograph of Rachel that Jeremy uses for shooting practice. That definitely doesn’t scream anger issues or anything.

 

Quinn is trying on dresses and hating every single one of them. Chet (Craig Bierko), who has just been bailed out of jail for kidnapping by Jeremy, tells her she looks hot as hell and repeats what he said earlier about her being the love of his life. Quinn tells him to eff off because she’s getting ready to schmooze a powerful executive into letting her run her own network.

 

Graham (Brennan Elliott) tells America to vote for who gets the first overnight date of the season. It is a little early in the season for overnights, but this is not a typical season by any means.

 

Coleman spies Jeremy’s creepy picture, telling Rachel she could fire him for doing something psychotic like that. Rachel says they can’t fire him since he’s good at this job. Coleman attempts to kiss and make it better by inviting her to the Impact Awards. Rachel hesitates at first, as that’s Quinn’s thing, but eventually agrees to go with him.

 

The results are in—the two fan favorites of the season are Hot Rachel and Dominique (Elizabeth Whitmere). They get to share a drink with Darius (B.J. Britt) and then Darius will pick the winner of the overnight date.

 

Rachel goes to Quinn’s office and is like, “Literally nobody knows who Dominique is, you realize that right?” Quinn tells Rachel they don’t even tally the fans’ votes—she just didn’t want Hot Rachel to have any competition to win the overnight date. Rachel doesn’t understand why Quinn is doing overnight dates before the final two anyway, irritating Quinn further. She takes her agitation out on poor Madison (Genevieve Buechner), yelling at her to get her a stylist and the Impact tickets. Rachel says Madison can’t do that because the tickets are for the show runner and the show runner is Coleman now. Quinn promptly kicks Rachel and Madison out of her office.

 

Coleman tells Jeremy the network was criticizing the show’s visual effects, informing him he’s being demoted for the time being. Jeremy doesn’t take this news well, blaming this on Rachel and threatening to quit.

 

Rachel tells Dominique she needs to get Darius to actually notice her. Jay (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) tells Rachel the other competitor should have been Ruby (Denee Benton). He knows Rachel brought her there for the wrong reasons, but now she and Darius are actually starting to have something. Rachel tells Jay to have a little faith.

 

Hot Rachel and Dominique both have to make their own drinks for Darius. Hot Rachel’s drink is a fancy cocktail and Quinn—who is watching from the control room—refers to her as “sex on a stick.” Dominique’s drink is a simpler glass of red wine. When she hands it to him; however, she reveals that Hot Rachel is sleeping with crew members.

 

A drunk Jeremy is taking a leak on Coleman’s car because he’s a mature adult. Chet tells Jeremy he knows a way to help them both.

 

Darius isn’t picking Hot Rachel for the date, as he’s hurt by her behavior. He’s not picking Dominique either though, since he’s not thrilled by her actions either. Instead, he’s picking Ruby, which pisses Quinn off and excites Jay. Quinn yells at Madison to go get Rachel, but Coleman asks everyone to leave the control room so he can talk privately with Quinn. Coleman tells Quinn to take a few days off to help her deal with the loss of Rachel, who finally outgrew her. Quinn asks why he won’t just move her if he hates her that much—does he not have the power or the balls? Coleman promises her that she’ll get her show back at the end of the season, as he doesn’t plan on putting down roots and he wants to take Rachel with him. Quinn changes the subject back to the show, saying featuring Ruby is a stupid move since last week when they did it the ratings were trash. Coleman says ratings aren’t important anymore; the only thing that matters is making some noise. Quinn screams for Madison to get her Ruby’s files, mumbling to herself that she can make some noise.

 

Ruby and Darius start their overnight date with a kiss and some champagne. Ruby is feeling the pressure, but Darius reassures her she doesn’t have to do anything. He turns the camera around to give them some privacy, but Quinn turns on hidden backup cameras so she can watch everything that goes down. Ruby and Darius start to make out, but they find the whole ambiance kind of weird. Ruby clears the air by jumping around on the bed to help lighten the mood. Jay comes in the control room, asking Quinn how she has these cameras and audio, as it’s against the rules for an overnight. Quinn tells him that those are her own rules so she can break them if she wants. Jay feels uncomfortable about the situation, as he promised Ruby nobody would be watching. Quinn tells him he can turn the cameras off if he wants, but she just wants to capture the beautiful love story of the first black “Everlasting” couple. She tells him not to blame her when he’s stuck working on this show for the rest of his life before leaving the room.

 

At the Impact Awards, Coleman points out everyone he knows to Rachel. Rachel is obviously impressed and a little starstruck. Coleman says these people buy the people behind the ideas and introduces himself and Rachel to John Booth (Ioan Gruffudd), who just bought their network and is looking to build a television empire. Booth claims to be a big fan of “Everlasting.”

 

Chet takes Jeremy out in the woods by a campfire, saying they’re both going to dig down deep within themselves and help each other out no matter how much it hurts. He admits that he did, in fact, steal his child on purpose. Jeremy says he got fired by a network douchebag, whining that nobody understands how talented he is. Chet smacks him across the face, saying he’s placing blame instead of taking responsibility.

 

Coleman and Rachel start telling John about how they’re trying to mix huge ratings and social relevance to revamp their show. Quinn interrupts them, asking John why he’s talking to them if he wants pioneers in the industry. John drops Coleman and Rachel in a heartbeat, instead doting on Quinn and all her brilliance. Rachel is salty that John isn’t paying any attention to her anymore, telling Coleman she wants to stab Quinn in the eye with lobster forks. Coleman tells her to chill—John already noticed them and seemed impressed.

 

Quinn apologizes for Rachel and Coleman harassing John before asking him what it’s like to be able to buy anything he wants. He flirtatiously says he can’t buy anything he wants before admitting being a billionaire does take the fear away. He promises he is a real fan of the show, getting grief at the cigar club for never missing an episode. He asks what the secret is to getting so much insanity into one house, but Quinn is interrupted by a phone call before she can answer. Madison tells Quinn that “the eagle has landed,” and Quinn invites John to accompany her to set.

 

Back in Ruby and Darius’ room, Ruby confides in Darius. She tells him about going to protests with her dad since she was six years old. Darius says he can relate, since when he goes out on the field every week, he’s playing for his family. Sometimes he wonders what would happen if he couldn’t play football anymore and he was just a normal guy. Ruby says he would like that person even more. The two start making out and soon the clothes start coming off.

 

Jay calls Rachel to tell her how amazing everything is going. When Rachel finds out Quinn put new cameras in the room, she panics, knowing something big and probably awful is about to happen. She and Coleman leave in a hurry.

 

In the forest, Chet keeps slapping Jeremy. Jeremy finally admits that Rachel is the problem. She is a black hole and cancerous, but it’s his fault because he still loves her.

 

Quinn takes John to the control room at the same time Madison is taking Ruby’s dad (Carl Lumbly) there. Jay freaks out, as this was supposed to be a closed set. Ruby’s dad demands to know where his daughter is and Quinn informs him that she’s the one under the sheets on the monitors at the moment. Ruby’s dad exclaims this is pornography while Jay promises none of this will ever air, but Quinn says there’s always a chance.

 

Quinn leads Ruby’s dad to the dream suite where Jay, Rachel and Coleman attempt to stop Ruby’s dad from entering. Quinn tells Rachel to let this be the great piece of television they both know it is and Rachel finally allows the camera crews and Ruby’s father to ambush the couple in bed. Ruby’s dad tells her she’s being foolish to throw everything she’s worked so hard for away. Ruby says nothing about her has changed except for the fact she’s fallen in love. Ruby’s dad thinks she is naïve since she has only known Darius for four weeks and he has done relatively nothing for his people considering his powerful position. He wants to take her home, but Ruby refuses. He says he is ashamed of her before leaving; Ruby cries in Darius’ arms.

 

John is impressed with Quinn’s work. He always thought this show was scripted or made up, but Quinn says they just make it happen. Quinn tells Jay to wake the girls up, as they are having an elimination ceremony at midnight. Rachel confronts Quinn, saying she’s taking the fact that she’s upset she wasn’t invited to the party out on Ruby. Quinn says, “Bitch please, I’m always invited to the party,” and the only reason Rachel got to go is because she’s banging the boss. “I learn from the best,” Rachel replies.

 

Quinn isn’t fazed by the sick burn and says that Rachel could run circles around Coleman, but she’s too scared. Quinn says Coleman is just Rachel’s Chet, except she won’t survive when he takes all of her ideas and kicks her to the curb. Rachel tells Quinn that she and Coleman are true partners and for the first time she isn’t scared. In three years, she vows she will have her own show and a man who loves her. Quinn says she just wants to protect Rachel, but Rachel accuses her of sabotaging her because she’s about to have the beautiful life Quinn never had. Quinn softens slightly, telling her Coleman is a user and she wants Rachel to be careful.

 

Ruby apologizes to Darius, but he isn’t angry. He even defends her dad, saying he was just surprised and angry which is why he said what he said. Ruby tells Darius he can be more than just a football player and everything her father said he wasn’t. The two cuddle while the crew sets up for the ceremony.

 

Before the elimination, Hot Rachel apologizes for the mistakes she made. Darius says he isn’t here to judge anyone, promising she’s safe for the week. He does; however, eliminate Dominique for using someone’s mistakes to bring them down. He also sends Ruby home, saying she has a lot of important work to do and should go be with a man she thinks he could be. He doesn’t think he’s enough for her and doesn’t want to disappoint her every day. Jay, angry that he ever trusted Rachel, storms off.

 

John asks Quinn if she wants to go home with him. She says she would, but her dad’s funeral is tomorrow and she still needs a coffin. John informs her Costco has a full moratorium section, so the two head off to pick a coffin there. Chet watches them leave, hurt Quinn has already seemingly moved on.

 

Coleman isn’t disappointed by the events that unfolded, as he’s sure the footage will be amazing, but he is upset Rachel let Quinn get between them. Rachel promises she didn’t get between them and the two part ways for the night on good terms.

 

Jeremy follows Rachel into her trailer, asking why she had to send Coleman to demote him. Rachel calls him out for being an ass and Jeremy turns around and calls her a manipulative bitch. The fight turns physical and Jeremy eventually overpowers her and flings her into the wall. Chet barges in, grabbing Jeremy and throwing him out of the trailer. He tells him that’s not what a man does before firing him.