Work in Progress

Episode starts with the trio getting the Mayor on their podcast as they try to figure out a way to circumvent their contract.  Mayor and his assistant comes to Oliver’s, they (not so) casually mention that one of their suspects is Bash and the Mayor sends his assistant out for coffee.  She’s Bash’s niece, who the Mayor was forced to hire.  It turns out that Bash spent a lot of money getting the Mayor elected and he pretty much owns the office now.  And the police department.  But the Mayor just happens to know that the Billionaires are at a weekend retreat at Bash’s country home.  So, the trio go there. 

We find the billionaires playing board games.  They say it’s for fun (and show the trio a cheap trophy) but, long story short, Jay lets it slip that it is a continuation of whatever they were playing for the night Lester died.  Mabel challenges the billionaires to a game.  If the trio wins, the billionaires tell them what they’re playing for.  If the billionaires win, the trio will stop investigating them.  Except Oliver bows out and leaves because…honestly, it’s just an excuse for him to “save” the others later.

Charles and Mabel win the game, and we find out that the billionaires are playing for the rights to build the first casino in New York (a building first mentioned last episode).  Because all deals are done in the back room.  Sure.  But then, Mabel lifts up the trophy and the three gets nervous.  On a hunch, Mabel breaks the trophy and they find the finger.

Charles and Mabel take the finger and try to leave, but Jay steps out in front of them (I can hardly say, “tries to stop them”).  He, again, lets it slip that the other two apparently paid a woman to get the finger for them.  He then lets the two of them go.  And this is where they’re saved.

Later that night, the trio are back at the Arconia.  There’s a knock at the door and Charles’ opens it, thinking it’s Williams (Come on, we know damn well that those doors have peepholes.  And he wouldn’t use it after all he’s been through?).  It turns out to be Camilla and she wants the finger.  When they refuse, she pulls out a gun and, eventually, they do give her the finger.  We also find out at this time that the mysterious offer Oliver got for his apartment?  It’s from Camilla.  She’s buying out the tenants in order to turn the Arconia into her casino.

So, now I have a few theories.  First off, the story about Nicky coming into the Velvet room in a rage is likely true.  The billionaires said that the night of the murders, they were playing to win the contract to build the first legal casino.  Of course, if casino’s become legal, then there’s no reason for the wealthy to go to the Velvet room and where does that leave Nicky?  Nicky probably found out about their plan and went to confront them.  He probably did have that cleaver too.   

The finger is going to be somewhat of a red herring.  It’s been assumed that it either came from one of the victims or one of the suspects.  After all, we still don’t know anything about the fifth person in the room.  However, it wouldn’t surprise me if the finger has some significance to the billionaires; but it has nothing to do with the murders other than it’s something they had in their possession.  That they literally have a finger they’re carrying around and, in the confusion of that night, ended up leaving it behind. 

Who is the woman they paid to get the finger?  Well, there are three women who come to mind.  It could be either Sofia and Rainey.  I think both may be a long shot.  At this point, we haven’t seen any evidence that Sofia has even been to the Arconia.  Rainey has, but she seems to have an airtight alibi for the night of the murder and seemed generally shocked that Lester was murdered.  Could be an act, but I don’t think that’s where we’re headed. 

Then, there’s THE.  THE lives in the building.  THE, last episode, mentions how Mabel made living in the Arconia seem worthy of a life goal.  Given that obsession and the fact she had been to the Arconia years before makes me think she has a good idea where things are laid out.  Yes, she’s the one who said she saw the light in Charle’s apartment.  And it seems like this was done by the writers to set up that talk between Mabel and THE.  At the same time, it could also be a ruse.  THE mentions she was in an altered state when she saw the light.  Yet seems to have a pretty damn clear memory of that moment and about what time it happened.  Also, it’s an apartment complex, who hasn’t noticed a strange light coming from another apartment?  If THE knew that the camera footage would be altered, then why not use it to her advantage?  Make sure you’re never a suspect by making it seem like you’re a witness. 

Jay is interesting…I don’t think either slip of the tongue was an actual slip.  What I’m not sure is what he gets out of this.  Is he a…selfish little douche who’s gotten way over his head with the other two and is trying to find a way to get the case solved without him just straight up confessing what happened that night and hoping he’s just somehow not convicted of anything?  Or is he some sick mastermind, playing the Rich Neppo Baby persona so perfectly, that you don’t realize what kind of mastermind he is and he’s using all of this as a way to get rid of the competition? 

I really am leaning towards the Mayor as being the fifth person in that room that night.  What I’m not sure of is how much of a pawn he is in this “game” of theirs.  It’s very clear the Mayor knows more than what he’s letting on; which is why he was at Lester’s funeral and why he really was trying to get on the podcast.  He wants to use the trio to take down the billionaires.  Now this could be for the very reason that he told the trio, that he’s indebted to Bash.  And he’s hoping the trio can expose the billionaires for who they really are.  At the same time, he’s just a little too friendly; a little too slick. I have a feeling that, when it comes to the contracts, it’s a little more complicated than just following Bash’s orders.      

Speaking of Bash, I don’t think he killed anyone.  His story about how he hates death and why he’s trying to stay alive?  Yeah, that whole scene was so bizarre, I have a feeling it was the truth.  He’s still involved as he’s clearly covering things up, but I don’t think he’s the killer or one of the killers (I do think we might have two).

Loretta is back, yay!  But, uh, it’s not all good news.  Loretta hadn’t had time to move her stuff out of her old apartment.  And it appears that someone broke into the apartment (or made it look like someone broke in) and set it aflame.  But then, according to the report, it was a short in her electric tea kettle (uh-huh). 

Of course Loretta is said by loosing what is essentially her history (it’s tying back into Oliver’s decision on if he wants to get rid of the apartment).  But there’s a murder to be solved and so we move on to that.

Mabel wonders where Rainey was at the night of the murder.  Also, what was in the bag that Sofia gave to her.  It should also be mentioned that Sofia just gave Charles his phone back.  Mabel is about to suggests that Oliver goes to talk to Rainey, as he also is originally from Brooklyn.  But Rainey hates Oliver.  But she doesn’t know Loretta. Also, Loretta just wants something to take her mind off loosing her apartment.  So, she convinces Oliver to show her around Brooklyn. 

At this point, Detective Williams shows up for the finger.  But when the open the Stanley Cup it was kept in (yes, really); it’s gone.  So, Charles, Mabel, and Detective Williams start looking around Charles’ apartment for clues.  There’s a scuff by his refrigerator, but Charles’ thinks he may have left it and takes a picture to send to his cleaning service. 

Charles is texting a person he met on a dating app.  They send random pic of body parts, instead of their face (that sounds a lot worse then it is).  Charles is also wearing an earing because the woman, Percilla, likes it.  Mabel forces him to remove it because, no. 

Williams asks how she can get access to the cameras to the building (I’m guessing a warrant might be in order).  They go to see Howard and LSTR 2.0.

Meanwhile, Loretta and Oliver go to Flatbush.  Wait, Oliver is a Foster Child?  Has this ever come up before?  Doesn’t seem like his childhood was too happy.  So, the go to Rainey’s house and find that it’s for sale.  Of course, it’s immediately assumed that she’s selling because of murder not, you know, not wanting to stay in the house that she shared with her husband for decades.  Loretta is sure the bag is back in the house.

Back to Mabel, Charles, and Detective Williams.  There going downstairs and the elevator opens up to see THE dancing in there.  Okay, long story short, according to THE she may or may not have seen a light in Charles’ apartment the night before (or she was tripping on Shrooms).  They went to the apartment (14c) and there was a little light under the door. 

They get off the elevator and THE is stopped by people wanting her picture.  Detective Williams tells Mabel that she needs Mabel to talk with THE to get more information. 

Back in Flatbush, Loretta and Olive go inside the house.  Loretta goes upstairs and starts looking in the room that clearly says keep out and has music playing behind it.  The door slams behind her and there’s Rainey holding a dagger.  However, it’s a prop and the two start to bond over the Opera singer on the record.  Rainey starts telling Loretta about Lester and Loretta gives Rainey some half truths about her life.  But it turns out that Rainey isn’t just selling the house, she’s selling some of her stuff for money.  She tries to sell the dagger to Loretta, but Loretta pays her to keep the dagger. So, either this is either an elaborate lie to hide the truth or it is the truth.  Loretta thinks it’s the truth.

Oliver is downstairs speaking with the person who’s acting as the agent selling the house, except he seems like he may be “of the family.”  Also, it seems like Oliver lived in this house?  Really?  So, the agent leaves as he keeps choaking.  Oliver finds a group of bags but is distracted by his own memories coming back to haunt him.   

 So, Oliver and Loretta meet outside and Loretta tells him what she learned.  It’s at the point they see Sofia and Rainey, with the bag, walking down the street and so they follow. 

Back at the Arconia, Oliver, Mabel, Williams, and THE meet up with Howard.  Uh, something interesting to point out.  Robot LESTR says he was killed by water yesterday.  The robot did crash into the fountain, which could have shorted out parts (although, I don’t know if your putting that thing back together regardless).  But given we know that it’s been given information about Lester (uh, human Lester) and his notes; why do I feel like this may be more significant?  Like will we have a moment when everyone thinks LESTR is talking about itself, when it’s talking about Lester. 

Anyway, they ask LSTR to pull up camera footage of Charles’ door for the night before.  At first it looks like THE made it up (to create more drama between THE and Mabel), but the person who happened to wipe the footage also just happened to leave a few seconds of her in the footage (so helpful).  Charles and Williams are going to the police station to see the footage of Lester falling into the fountain.  Mabel has to go apologize to THE.

Oliver and Loretta continue to follow the two widows, but lose them.  But that’s ok, because Oliver has found a happy childhood memory of an old theater and takes Loretta inside.  Well, Oliver’s backstory makes sense.  The only place where he could be himself was the stage and his apartment.  Which is also why he doesn’t want to let either go.

Of course, the two widows also are in the building and make themselves known.  Okay, so…long story short.  Nickey ran several businesses out of the Arconia and Lester worked for him.  Sofia did give money to Rainey, but it was Lester’s cut.  Rainey seems shocked that her husband was killed.  She didn’t know that there was a card game that night, she thought Lester stayed because of the wedding.  She didn’t go to the wedding because she was at the theater which she runs.  And I guess Sofia helps with the financials?  Rainey’s, and perhaps Sofia’s, alibi is the students.  It seems like Lester was trying to save money, so they could move into the Arconia.

Rainey thanks Oliver for trying to find out the truth about Lester’s death.  She gives him a carved bird whistle that the police found on Lester when he died.

So, Mabel apologizes to THE (I ain’t getting into all of that mess). 

Mabel meets up with Charles and Willams.  They go to Oliver’s apartment to look at the camera footage of the night Lester died.  Also, Oliver tells Mabel he’s going to sell the apartment.  He then leaves as he’s talking Loretta to the airport. 

As Williams is brining up the footage, Charles mentions that he happened to tell Pracilla about the break in.  William takes his phone as it’s obviously something more going on.  And, yeah, the footage has been edited. 

At which point Charles’ realizes that the dating app he’s using and the security footage have the same logo.  It’s Bash’s tech company.  Bash is also the person who’s been messaging Charles and the last message he wrote can very much be interpreted as a threat.

Detective Williams is still an active officer right?  ‘Cause, while I enjoy the fact that we’re to the point that she actively believes everything the trio told her about what they found, they also would have had to admit to a lot of crimes here.  Which, if they had just told her the story, there might be some wiggle room (like there was no evidence to back up the story).  However, they show her the Velvet Room, the picture of the cops from the laundry room, and (most importantly) she knows they have a finger.  If she helps them, how does she explain away her involvement? 

Anyway, all damage in the Velvet Room has been swept away.  Detective Williams says that that must mean someone in the building is helping the Billionaires.  And she suggests talking to the help, as rich people always do things in front of the help.  Charles mentions that Sofia gave him the key card, so he will speak with her to see if she knows something.

We also find out that Charles is in a trial program and is taking Testosterone (which he’ll probably be part of the placebo group).  However, it is interesting to note that he just so happens to be taking a drug in the same season where one of the suspects gets his money from big Pharm. 

So, Oliver and Mabel go downstairs.  We see Randell trying to memorize Lester’s book (in order to keep his job).  Howard is still “training” LESTR, who turns out not to have a privacy filter (I’m sure this will be used later on...in some form).  And Ursula is back!  And she has a new form of gut milk. 

It turns out that quite a few people knew about the Casino, but not really went on down there.  Lester seems to have been keeping people out.  However, according to Ursula, Lester once mentioned that any work order that pertained to the Casino went through “Tommy the Tongue.” But that’s all she really let’s them know.  It turns out that a number of people are leaving the Arconia and, as far as she’s concerned, it’s all because of the trio. In fairness, there’s been eight dead people in this show.  Two murders, and the Professor offing himself, happened before they even started the podcast.  Two of the dead people, the trio didn’t know.  Four of the dead people, the trio knew but their deaths didn’t have anything to do with them (unless we find out something more about Lester’s death).  That leaves only Sazz’s and Bunny’s death that can be truly linked to the Trio.  So, yeah, building had problems no matter what.  Also, you have an illegal Casino in your basement, kind of hard to say you aren’t asking for problems.

They then decided to talk to Gray the Trash Guy, to see if he can help them.  Turns out Gary has retired, the new guy is Miller.  Well, new as in he’s been here three years.  Uh, yeah, he’s creepy.  Clearly likes to go through people’s trash.  They ask if anything unusual has come through from the Casino or from Tommy the Tongue.  He refuses to help Upstairs Folk.

Next, Mabel and Oliver just start searching the staff locker room.  Oliver asks if they’re even allowed in their because this feels wrong (Really?  THIS is where you draw the line?).  They’re looking for the trash room key (Wouldn’t that be on Miller? As he’s the…ok, sure,).  They find, scratched on a table, “Die Lester Die,” but then they’re confronted by Randell and a bunch of other staff members.  But it’s quickly explained that this is about LESTR, not Lester.  But, honestly, they’re all afraid of loosing their jobs.  Oliver (in hopes they’ll start to talk) says he’ll stand up for them, at a building meeting (good luck).

Charles gets a text from Mabel telling him to ask Sofia about “Tommy the Tongue.”  He meets her at a restaurant.  I would say it’s a pseudo date, except she had to bring her five adult sons with her?  So, let’s just call this weird and move on.  But then then Mayor comes in?  (What the hell?).  Look, wild guess, the Mayor is the fifth person and Sofia is in on it as well?  But the Mayor really wants to be on the podcast, even though he doesn’t seem to know what the podcast is about.

Charles gets back to Sofia and asks her about the Casino.  She claims she knows nothing about it and wants to know what Charles is up to.  I’m sorry…can we stop with the food thing?  Anyway, it seems like Sofia’s family was Mafia and she didn’t want that life, so she married Nicky.  But Nicky seems to have been influenced by Sofia’s mother (according to Sofia) to become more aligned with the family business.  They end up leaving the boys at the restaurant.

The next day, Mabel and Oliver have invited the building to a meeting (right, like anyone would show up with one days notice).  They also can’t get ahold of Charles.  Howard comes to the meeting with LESTR and now there’s apparently a ranking system of the Tenants in LESTRS programing (also, the more Howard learns about LESTR’s programming, the more terrified I become).  Ah, but the important part of this is part of that listing is comprised from Notes that Lester made and that was uploaded into…LESTR?  (Again, how?  I mean, it’s possible given enough time.  But it doesn’t seem like it’s been enough time).  Mabel’s four on the list. 

Uh, so meeting between the Tenants and Staff happens.  It does not go well.  Staff threatens to walk if LESTR stays.  Then, Charles comes in…off his meds (because he’s on meds).  Mabel takes Charles away.  At which point, Howard realizes that LESTR is gone. 

In Charles' apartment, well Charles shares a bit too much about the night before.  And, no, he didn’t get any information.  Charles wishes they could ask Lester about Tommy.  Mabel mentions that Lester’s paperwork was uploaded into LESTR, so maybe they could ask the robot.  And then we hear a robotic “Oh, no” as LESTR goes flying past the window and crashes onto the pavement below (Does that make nine victims in the building now?). 

Howard is upset…at least, until the new version of the robot arrives.  Meanwhile, Miller shows up at Oliver’s apartment.  Even though the meeting was a failure…well, it was the thought that counts.  Oh, uh, I guess Miller killed LESTR.  And he brought a present.  It’s a picture of human Lester made out of the garbage from the night that Lester died….

I’m going to say it, it’s not the fault of the Trio that there’s so many murders…it’s whoever the fuck is vetting the people coming to live/work in the building.  They’re all psychos!! 

Also, I guess we’re about have some plot of Oliver considering moving out of the building.  Mabel isn’t pleased. 

Also, Charles has lost his phone or Sofia has stolen it.  It only has pictures of Nicky’s body and the murder board.  And he gave her the passcode.  But, fortunately, Mabel realized long also that she’s hanging out with geriatric toddlers and has had their phones hooked up to a find my phone app.  The phone is at Sofia’s house but it’s on the move.  They’re going to intercept the phone.  They also take the Lester painting to search for clues.  On it, they find invoices written to a Tommy in Lester’s handwriting and on the invoices is an address. 

At this point, they get a call from Detective Williams.  Mabel had told her about Tommy the Tongue and Detective Williams found…well, it.  Turns out it’s a company, a big one.  But all the money from the company was suddenly withdrawn by someone.  She doesn’t have a name, but an address.  The same address on the invoices.  The same house that the trio finds Sofia’s mini van in front of. And see Sofia walk up to.  And inside that house, is Lester’s wife. 

Just one quick note.  They brought in a robotic door man…and named him LESTR?!  So, they’re not getting rid of a human doorman, union won’t allow that, but this one will deliver packages and such.  Also, it needs to scan everyone’s iris and fingerprint.  Normally, this would creep the hell out of me.  But after that many murders….

Anyway, back to the mystery.  It should be noted that Jay Pflug is wearing a bandage on his hand and is missing a finger. 

The trio manage to escape the Velvet Room, but not very well as it’s clear the Billionaires see them before they manage to go through the closet door.  So, the three birds in the credits are supposed to be representing the three Billionaires. 

The next day, Mabel and Charles go up to Oliver’s apartment and discover Larry is there.  It turns out he was bird watching buddies with Lester, so Oliver invited him over to help crack the code that Larry had written in his ledger.  What they were able to discover that, while the Velvet Room usually has a number of players, the Saturday before last, there were only five.  Nicky – the Brown-headed Cowbird, known for retaliatory behavior; Jay Pflug is the Eurasian Jay, pretends to be a philanthropist but is funneling money to not so nice people; Bash Steed is the Kakapo, no one knows how old he is because he owns the internet; Camilla White is the Bowerbird on the count of her being the queen of décor.  Uh, hang on, they said there were five there that night?  So, who was the fifth?  Because Lester wouldn’t have put himself in the book. 

So, the trio drop a teaser for the new season of the podcast, hoping to get Pflug to reach out to them.  We have a few minutes about why Mabel doesn’t want THE around (skip).  And then the trio get a video from Pflug saying he’ll be at the building at 7 to clear up information.  Long story short, all three billionaires show up (either because all three are trying to protect themselves from what the others have to say or they’re just saying that and they’re working together.  Both possibilities make sense). 

The Billionaires are there basically let the trio know that they can’t have their names tied to this illegal den and, if the trio puts their names in the podcast, they’ll sue.  And the thing is, the trio don’t really have a leg to stand on here.  Yes, they technically can report that they saw the trio in the Velve Room, but anything beyond that?  Neither body was found in the Velvet Room, the cops covered up the murder of Nicky (Charles only has a photo of the cops, but nothing was ever recorded so he can’t prove what they said), the felt under Nicky’s fingertips can’t be used as then they would have to explain where the hell they got that; so to suggest that the Billionaires were involved in murder?  Yeah, that’s nothing but a lawsuit. 

Also, according to the Billionaires, they knew Nicky but didn’t really know Nicky.  They also remember Lester but didn’t interact with him. Of course the trio being the trio accidentally reveal that they had their hands on Nicky’s body and didn’t report this, so now they’re really screwed.  The trio decide to split the group up.  Oliver gives Camilla a tour of his apartment, Charles cooks with Bash, and Mabel talks with Jay.

Oliver learns from Camilla that Jay acts like a toddler when he loses.  Honestly, she’s more concerned with redecorating the place as it’s a bit…much.  We also learn she was born in Vegas, to a Cascino owner and former show girl (so, gambling is part of her life, huh). Then, she moved to Connecticut.     

From Bash, we learn that he used to have duck during the war; but we don’t know what war this was and that Dorothy Parker took his virginity.  Well, she died in 1967 and I’m assuming we’re not going, um, underage here so, latest he could have been born is late 1940s. 

According to Jay, he wanted to use his blood money to do something good. hired a friend to run his nonprofit, and his friend took the money and ran (and gave it to people to fund wars).  And the reason Jay continues is that he wants to prove to people he isn’t a fuck up (I mean, Gorilla Warfare…intentional or not, that’s going to be a tall order).  And then Mabel just immediately tells him her problems with THE (Why?!?).  Jay says he was playing Poker with the others the night Nicky died, but he didn’t kill him.  Mabel asks then what happened to his finger and he just said it was a bad decision. 

But then, according to Camilla, Bash, and Jay, Nicky showed up when they were playing cards.  Nicky was waving around a clever, quoting Goodfellows, and had white powder under his nose (except, the white on his coat wasn’t powder…so either this is an alibi they concocted or the white powder under his nose is true and the white on his jacket was something else).  Jay tried to stop him, but Nicky cut his finger off.  Jay also asks Mabel if they’ve seen a finger, but she doesn’t reply. 

So, as of now, there’s no real way to prove that any one of them had anything to do with the murder. 

Also, somehow Camilla remodeled Oliver’s dining room without anyone hearing it.  I’m not even going to question this (I wouldn’t have gone for such a light color for a dining space, but it is much better).       

 Oh God, is Mabel getting feelings for Jay.  Do we really have to…?

So, going back to Mabel’s drama with her ex BFF, Mabel told THE that they had a deal in work with this world’s version of Spotify.  And then she tired to make a deal with the company.  And then, just after talking to the Billionaires they get a text with an offer of a contract.  They go down and sign said contract, at which point Mabel realizes (due to a picture she had of the finger?), that the finger cut off couldn’t be Jays as it’s from the wrong hand.  At this point, they find out that their contract stipulates that they cannot say anything negative about the companies’ owners and guess which three people just became owners?  Also, that contract is binding for three years.

So, we start with a bit of a history lesson here.  The area where the gambling area was found was the old underground stable of the Arconia (back when it was all horse and buggies).  The mob turned into a gambling place in the 1920s.  Apparently, this is the famed Velvet Room (well, in the context of the show, not in real life).

And as the Charles and Mabel are discussing the room, they hear the groan of Oliver (so, when they said the dry cleaners apart of Arconia…it really is a store that apart of the building, I guess.  Also, I guess that makes two murders in the building).  They tell him to meet them back at Charles' place.  Also, not to touch the body as he wouldn’t want his DNA all over the mobster’s body (whelp).  So, Oliver just decides to take the body?!  (Ok, this is strange even for this show). 

Okay, so this is just a long-winded thing to find out more about the body (they need to clean off Oliver’s DNA…look, it probably won’t work, so I’m not going to worry about explaining it).  They see that he has all 10 of his fingers but also seems to have the same green under his fingernails.  Charles says that it’s from the felt off of the table in the Velvet Room (I mean, really stretching here people). 

Uh, then the corpse starts talking to Charles as Charles is going through another…late life crisis.  Also, he’s conflicted because he found the wife of the dead man attractive. 

So, we learn that Nicky is wearing the same clothes as he did when he was at Oliver’s wedding; however, his flower is fresh so he couldn’t have been dead for a week. 

So, uh, how does this not end with them in jail?  Because there are several felonies happening in this episode.  Uh, so now they’re just checking all over the body.  There’s no rigor which either means he died in the last few hours or so long ago that rigor has passed.  There’s also a white substance on his sleeve; probably paint.  No signs of maggots.  Rope marks and cleaver in chest.  A burn on the side of his ear? Which might have been sign of freezer burn, which would mean he could have been killed days ago, but nothing decomposed because he was placed in a freezer, and then his body was put in the dry cleaners. 

Mabel goes to check if his lips are chapped and she finds a piece of Lester’s ledger (I’m assuming that’s what it is). 

Okay, so now they have to move the body back to the dry cleaning in 14 minutes.  Probably going to skip a lot of this part, but we do hear Urma tell Randell that the elevator is making a noise again.  Randell starts looking through Lester’s book to see what he says about this and Urma looks suspiciously at the trolly the trio are wheeling out.  Also, Mabel notice that the paper in the ledger looks like the same as the one they found in Nicky’s mouth.  Olver says he get the ledger, sticking the other two with the dead body. 

And then they happen to run into the…okay, in the second episode we see Mabel going upstairs with a couple of friends (during one of the flashbacks).  And, low and behold, one of those friends just happens to be at the building and is now a famous…social media person.  Turns out she just bought the penthouse.  And so, it’s just Charles moving the body. 

Charles gets the body inside, but not past the desk (if the place opens at 7, shouldn’t there be workers?).  So, he has to get the body moved by using plastic bags on his hand (uh folks, DNA doesn’t just come from hands). 

Oliver, meanwhile, just tricks Randell and steals the ledger from his hands.

Charles drags the body into the back and sees “Death Alone,” tattooed on Nikky.  So, someone comes in and Charles hides.  It’s two cops, who knew the body was there.  One is confused as to why the body isn’t hanging, but the other says just to write up what “they” said.  Charles take a picture of them, but they hear his phone and demand he comes out.  But he’s able to hide (…yeah, we’ll go with that) and the cops leave. 

So, Charles goes back to Mabel’s and tells her about the cops.  We find out the friendship Mabel had with THE ended poorly.  Oliver comes in with the ledger.  So, long story short, it’s clear that Lester had been keeping tabs of the people using the Velvet Room.  And he gave them all bird nicknames.  Each page is different game and there should be a game that night at midnight (really?  How?  Who lets them in? Lester didn’t want Randall to know and Nicky’s dead.).

Oliver then returns the ledger to Randall, who clearly is not ready to take over for Lester. 

Also, Charles’ is in some sort of trial for medication.

But this is the episode where we learn more about the person who died.  Lester was an aspiring actor, who took a job and fell in love with the place (also, I love all the cameos from some of the former cast members).  The old doorman had a deal with Nicky (just let people in on Saturday night) and when that doorman left, Nicky took over.  Got paid for it too.  But, yes, not on the up and up. 

Anyway, I’m kind of conflicted with this first episode.  We find out that it’s four days after Lester’s death and there’s about to be a memorial service in the building.  Oliver is eating shrimp from his wedding, that for some reason wasn’t served.  The three of them are talking about the fact that Lester’s death was ruled accidental and Howard, who briefly stops by, mentions that there’s tape that proves that the death was accidental.  After Howard leaves, the trio discover a severed finger within the shrimp.  I know that the trio has an issue with calling the cops at the right time; but this one seems like a stretch.  I mean, hypothetically, assuming it is Lester’s; it might lead to the police asking more questions.  And if it isn’t Lester’s…as many threats as these people have had against their lives at this point, I have a feeling the police would take it seriously (mostly to avoid the inevitable headache they will face when the trio gets involved).

But they don’t call, and they decide to go see if Lester had all of his fingers.  And I’m going to make this quick.  Lester seems to have know a lot of people.  The mayor (Keegan-Michael Key) shows up for some reason (he doesn’t know the man and this wouldn’t normally be important enough for a campaign stop, so there must be more).  We meet Lester’s wife, Loraine (played by Diane West).  There’s a new doorman, who was training under Lester, and seems to know a lot about everyone. Lester’s hat is in a case, but it still has blood on it.  And Lester either had eight fingers or eleven. 

So, Oliver shows the other two a picture from his wedding.  In it, they can see Lester…and the missing Mob Boss that they were asked to find.  And it looks like the Mob Boss is handing Lester a package.  Charles and Mabel tell Oliver about the visit they had.  They decide they need to go visit the Sofia (well, Oliver refuses at first because he once barrowed $400 from the mob; but then goes anyway). 

So, they go to the family house and it’s…literally the house from The Godfather? Methinks their involvement in crime might be a bit…over embellished.  Which, yeah, that becomes pretty clear after meeting the five sons.  Anyway, long story short, it doesn’t seem like the Sofia sent the finger.  So, they show ask her what she meant that her husband was connected to the building and show her the picture taken before Lester’s death.  According to her, Nicky (the Mobster) runs the dry-cleaning service out of the Arconia and that he was dropping of receipts.  The reason why she wanted them to find Nicky is because she didn’t want the world to find out he’s a failed mobster. 

So, this is all a bust; but then they kind of create this connection to Sofia and Charles and…yeah, we’re not getting the whole story.  Otherwise, she’d be a one and done character.  Also, the night Nicky went missing he left a pack of playing cards on the wife’s nightstand.  She gives the cards to Charles. 

So, they go back to their apartments.  Charles plays with the cards and discovers one is a magnet.  And that it has a tiny map (?) written on the back of it, but you can only see it through a red lens.

Mabel is looking over the security cam footage that clearly isn’t complete as it doesn’t have the footage from the courtyard.  We see Lester with something in his hand, and he keeps looking over his shoulder.

Mabel runs into Charles in the hallways (she’s looking at where the cameras are place) and he shows her the map.  They follow it and Mabel realizes that the map shows all the blind spots of the security cameras.  It leads to a closet, with a stairway leading to a door.  Which happens to unlocked by the playing card; which leads to a hidden gambling den.  And a damaged table.  The card also has numbers at the bottom 6, 24, 00; which, when spun on the roulette wheel, opens a small compartment. Inside the compartment is the envelope that Nicky gave Lester, with a bunch of money.

But just because Agnes treats her well, and has less prejudicial views then her counterparts, does not mean that she understands just how much racism affects society.  When Peggy gets sick, Agnes knows that the family doctor is prejudiced.  But she believes that the fact that her family is of high standing, the doctor (who is of lesser standing) will just do as she says.  Of course he doesn’t.  Agnes, in this case, is the well-meaning white woman who understands that racism exists but doesn’t truly get how racism affects all aspects of life until some incident happens that smacks her in the face.  Unfortunately, in cases like this, it's usually detrimental to the physical and/or mental wellbeing of a Person of Color (in this case, Peggy could have died). 

What I like about when Agnes is confronted with the truth of her actions is how they don’t gloss over it or it isn’t something that is quickly said and moved on from.  And Arthur…I mean, he sounds like a parent in this.  You know that, like, when a child or teen knows that they shouldn’t do something, but they do it anyway and it backfires on them.  That tone of disappointment in their voice?  Arthur doesn’t just tell Agnes she did something wrong; he coaches her into admitting that she was wrong.  That she was smart enough to know that there was a very good chance the doctor would not treat Peggy and, in her arrogance, chose to call him anyway.  Now, will this one experience change the way Agnes views things from now on?  I mean, it’s a tv show so it’s possible…but, in reality….I wouldn’t be shocked if she didn’t. 

But, of course, the show doesn’t leave the topic here; it just changes viewpoints.  Peggy is treated by the young Dr. William Kirkland.  And Dr. Kirkland is very smitten with Peggy.  And while Peggy is resting in Newport, he invites her family to meet with his family.  It’s here where we meet his mother (played by the wonderful Phylicia Rashad) and her husband Rev. Kirkland. The Kirklands and the Scotts get to talking, mostly about Mr. Scott and his pharmacy.  Perfectly fine.  But then, Mrs. Kirkland realizes that Mr. Scott isn’t from money and then she finds out he’s a former slave.  And talk about a tone change.  Finally, at the end of her introduction scene, we hear her chastising the nurse taking care of her grandchildren.  She let the kids play in the sun without an umbrella and, according to Mrs. Kirkland, the kids were already dark enough.  And between her comments about Arthur, the comments about the grandchildren, and (let’s be honest) the fact that her husband happened to be light skinned…well, that’s a lot of red flags there. 

Mrs. Kirkland, like Agnes and Bertha, knows the value (as it were) of being in high society.  The higher, the better.  And while Mrs. Kirkland is absolutely at the pinnacle of Black society; it is clear that Mrs. Kirkland wants her family to achieve an even higher status. 

I would say she’s like Bertha, except that’s not quite accurate.  Bertha both wanted to be accepted and be seen as an equal by the New York Elite; to be seen as someone who had risen above her lot in life, as it were, and become something greater.  With Mrs. Kirkland it’s more about being seen as an equal.  Like Agnes and Ada and Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Kirkland comes from old money; she can trace her family back to the Revolutionary War.  She should be seen in all of society as someone just as important as those New York elites, but she’s not because of skin color. 

And here’s the thing I like about how Mrs. Kirkland is written; we never really had this, for lack of a better term, villain monologue.  Like, we don’t have a moment where she tells William that she doesn’t want him marrying Peggy because she’s dark skinned or because she the daughter of a former slave or anything like that.  But we’re given enough context clues to form an opinion of her.  For instance, the line about her Grandchildren’s skin tone…how many of us heard that and we immediately thought that she wants future generations of her family to be passing.  Also, her tone when she mentioned that William could’ve gone to Harvard instead of Howard , shows a clear bias to the white establishment even though both are excellent schools.  And then, later, when she learns William had saved the life of George…just the look on her face and the fact that William immediately tells her that she shouldn’t expect a bunch of Robber Barrons to become his patients; it’s very clear that she’s looking at this as an opportunity to become more well known in that part of society.

And then there’s her few interactions with, and about, Arthur.  Because there is a moment where, when talking to Mrs. Scott, she says that Arthur isn’t like us (or something to that effect, I don’t remember the exact words).   She is talking, in part, about the fact that he doesn’t come from money.  But we all know that isn’t the only reason.  Now, beyond this one comment, the storyline kind of shifts to Mrs. Kirkland finding out about Peggy’s child and so we never really get her complete thoughts about Arthur.  But I don’t think that necessarily is a bad thing.  Not knowing can lead to questioning, which can lead to discussing and learning more about history. 

And there could be several possible (terrible) reasons for her to be this way.  We see how she plays up the story about her family fighting in the Revolution, showing us that she has a…revisionist way of looking at history.  Arthur, just by being, is a stark reminder of the parts of history that Mrs. Kirkland may choose to ignore.  And going with that tangent…there may be, subconsciously, a sense of guilt that Mrs. Kirkland is trying to ignore.  She knows how Persons of Color are treated in this country, she knows slavery existed…but so long as she lives in her own little bubble, it doesn’t affect her.  And, again, Arther comes along and reminds her of all the bad things she’s ignoring; that if she had just been born in a slightly different location, that could have been her past too.  And, let’s be honest, no one likes to feel guilty. But there are different ways to deal with that guilt.  We all know the right thing would be for Mrs. Kirkland to start by admitting the flaws in herself, but yeah…. She also can just keep pushing the guilt down. 

But there is a third option, creating a “reason” why some were enslaved while others were not (something besides, again, just the luck of where you were born).  And that is Othering.  We may be X, but we aren’t the same.  We are different because we come from different regions, because we’re different religions, because our skin color is different, because the shade of our skin color is different.  But I’m the better person because I’m of this group.  Mrs. Kirkland is kept out of certain circles of society because she is Black, but she is superior to Arthur because she’s not “that” kind of Black.  And so, she doesn’t have to feel guilty because that’s the way Society is supposed to be (Even though, again, that’s the same argument that is made to keep her out of certain areas). 

OF course, all of this is hypothetical because we don’t know what her true thoughts were; and odds are her true thoughts would be a combination of things instead of just one thought or feeling.  It also wouldn’t be a surprise if she couldn’t answer exactly why she feels the way she does (mostly, because doing so would mean she might have to admit/be called out on some ugly truths about herself).  Which is why she didn’t actually do anything to prevent the Courtship until she had something she could use that was not about…well, I was going to say Peggy’s background, but that isn’t right.  It couldn’t have been about who Peggy was related to, but something Peggy had done “Wrong” in the past.  Of course, that didn’t work because everyone could already read Mrs. Kirkland like a book at that point. 

I wonder if we’re going to see Mrs. Kirkland again (or rather, how limited her time will be) as there was one thing that Rev. Kirkland said to Mrs. Kirkland that I found interesting.  When he found out she had been spreading rumors about Peggy, he said that this wasn’t the first time she had done this.  I want to know what that first time was. 

It looks like they’re going to set up Jack and Bridgette.  They’ve been kind of hinting at that maybe something might happen between then at some point. 

Agnes has finally admitted she’s no longer in charge of the house; so it’s a good thing that she’s just been made the Vice President of the New York Historical Society. 

With all her pleasant charms, Ada can be quite the manipulator.

Gladys is happy in her marriage and apparently is four months pregnant.  (Which, huh, I knew a couple of months must have passed, but I wasn’t expecting four).

Not surprisingly there was a reason Ms. Winterton came back and was about to become a widow.  Oscar, our little opportunist, has a plan.  First, he gets Ms. Winterton invited to Bertha’s ball by promising he will get Marion to the ball as well (more on that later).  Bertha agrees (and it seems like, she and Ms. Winterton sort of bury the hatchet in the end?).  Then, Oscar has a proposal for Ms. Winterton; a very literal one.  He wants to gather their resources by getting married.  After all, he knows her past and she…does she know he’s gay?  Well, even if she doesn’t the agreement is thus:  in the city, they will play the part of the happy married couple; but in the country (where the both just happen to own separate houses) that’s where they can do what they please.  They even agree not to go to one another’s country home without sending word first.  Honestly, I can’t wait to see what these two do.

Marion and Larry, eh, there still at the crossroads but with a possible happy future.  And all the advice from the adults just basically boils down to…young love?  I think all of the adults kind of realized that he shouldn’t have lied to Marion and she shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions; but the fight is done now and the truth is out there.  So, can the two of them learn from their mistakes and understand that, if they want to get married, they have to…well, Larry needs to learn that he isn't protecting Marion by lying to her and Marion needs to learn to get all the damn facts before jumping to conclusions.

Bertha has decided to include divorcees at the ball.  Ms. Astor is against it as it just isn’t done.  She won’t even reconsider even if it does benefit her daughter.  We all knew she would end up coming.  But why did the show runners have to feel like they needed to be that damn dramatic for her reveal at the ball?

Peggy’s storyline is full on drama now.  William asks Peggy about what his mother told him.  When learning the truth, he decides he needs to take a walk to clear his head because that’s a lot of information to process (which, I get.  I don’t like, but I get.) and then, because we need drama, he says something that suggests he and Peggy will have to break up because his mother will never approve (ok, that’s bs.  You know your mother was lying, don’t let her stop you).  Peggy’s mother comes home to find Peggy crying and tells Peggy that she’s worth loving.

And I’ll be honest, I don't know which I enjoyed more, Dorothy Scott tearing into Ms. Kirkland or the fact that Reverand Kirkland did the same thing.  I mean, I really love the fact that the minute he found what his wife has done, especially as it sounds like she spread false rumors about Peggy, he’s just like who the hell do you think you are?  And after he dismiss his wife, I like how he then says to William that he’s not going to tell William what to do in this situation, because he knows Williams knows what to do deep down inside.

And then, at the Kirkland’s ball, we see William ask to speak to Arthur alone.  What I respect about Arthur is that he doesn’t judge William for having to take a moment to collect his thoughts, but does make it clear that before he agrees to William marrying Peggy, he needs William’s promise that William understands that this marriage cannot be influenced by his mother.  And, yes, William understands.  So, yeah, Peggy is now engaged.  AND THIS ENGAGEMENT WILL LAST, THEY WILL GET MARRIED, AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO WILLIAM BECAUSE PEGGY DESERVERS A HAPPY ENDING.  (Screw Larry and Marion, Peggy and William are THE young couple in this story from now on).

Bit aside, but I wonder how much money George gave William to reward William for saving his life.

George didn’t die.  George didn’t die because it just so happened that William had just come over to visit Peggy and that Ada’s butler happened to see George being carried into the house.  So, William goes running over and asks Peggy to get his bag.  Peggy gets the bag and tells Marion what happened, so that Marion can run the bag over (because Marion is more important to this part of the plot).  Bertha’s begging William to save George, who’s currently lying on the dining room table.  William thinks he can, but he needs to get the bullet out.  And to do that, he’s going to need an assistant.  And, damn if Marion doesn’t just hop right up on the table and start helping. Even the Head Housekeeper kind of has this look like, uh, ma’am?  This is also the moment that Bertha goes from “not right for Larry,” to “your my daughter-in-law now.”  Like Larry can never consider another woman again because the first thing Bertha is going to ask them is if they would be willing to help take a bullet out a man’s chest.  In all seriousness, Bertha later tells Marion that this was the first moment she realized how strong Marion actually is (well…).  And while Bertha isn’t going to, uh, “Gladys” Larry and Marion, she sure will be trying to nudge them back together (Which is why she made that deal with Oscar in order to get Marion to the ball).

So, George is saved; but the attempted assassination might make him seem weak.  Which means people, and that includes the police, cannot know about it.  And, yeah, we probably don’t want to know what happened with the body of the dead man in the office.  George has Larry hire a few, um gentlemen, to get to the bottom of this.  They will not get to the bottom of this by the end of the season.

Meanwhile, George tells Bertha that everything must seem normal, so she must continue with her plans for the ball.  And, yeah, the whole way he’s treating this like a business transaction…I knew this would be bad.  Meanwhile Bertha, who just about lost her husband, is kind of seeing his being at home, and Gladys being at home and happy, and Larry being…there, that things will be alright in the end.  She especially feels that way at the ball because George makes an appearance.  To her, it’s a sign that they’re working things out; but that look on his face….

Anyway, the day after the ball, Bertha finds George packing.  Turns out he’s going back to the city and probably back to living at the club.  Bertha’s confused as she thought everything was okay.  But it turns out that George has taken a look at his life and he doesn’t like what he sees. And it comes down to a combination of Glady’s wedding and how he feels Bertha makes him weak.   George is a powerful businessman, and he likes being a powerful businessman; but the one thing he won’t do is sacrifice his family for power.  Bertha wants to be a powerful in society and, he feels, she’s willing to use her family to get that power; no matter the cost to them.  He did not want to force Gladys into a marriage and yet, instead of putting his foot down and saying no, he walked her down that isle.  He ignored his own instincts, his own morality, and he did what Bertha wanted him to do. And he’s not sure he wants the lifestyle that, he feels, will force him to use his family again. 

And this…I mean, I can get where he might feel like he chose his wife’s happiness over his child’s or the guilt he probably feels because he did break his promise to Gladys (saying he would allow her to have a say in who she’s marries).  And I also can understand if he were to have said to Bertha that the thing that happened with Gladys, using family for clout, that’s not something he wants ever to happen again in this family.  And if she (Bertha) can’t accept that certain things have to be done differently then their marriage might be in trouble.  But he’s just…he walked Gladys down that isle.  That was a choice he made.  However, instead of owning up to that choice and accepting that he went against his own code, he’s putting all the blame on Bertha.  Bertha needs to own up to the fact that she has a tendency to ignore the needs of her family over her own;  Bertha does not need to take responsibility for George agree to go through with the wedding.  That’s on him. 

For instance, we have the storyline of who was leaking the information to the press.  This storyline had several scenes.  Most weren’t necessary.  We didn’t need the cloak and dagger moments.  Just show that she was given a false story and then show she was caught given the false story.  Although I do like the fact that, when Bertha tells George, he’s tells her he figured as much.  And not only that, it’s very much an absentminded answer, as he clearly is involved with something more important. 

Then there’s the whole Suffrage meeting and the women from the Historical Society.  Are these important moments?  Did they have to be in this episode, which was already packed?

I also wonder the same thing about Oscar’s storyline; in that I wonder if it could have been moved to the next episode (although I will say this was probably the strongest of the stories in this episode).  Basically, Oscar finds out from John Adam’s sister that John has left Oscar a house and some money to run said house for a few years.  Oscar, in receiving such a gift, is quite conflicted.  Also, when he tells the family…well, it’s very confusing because it doesn’t make sense to John to leave such a gift to a friend.  Of course, Oscar can’t tell the reason why or properly mourn his lover and so he lashes out.  It’s in this moment, we find out that Marion is apparently more worldly than we realize because she figures out just why Oscar is upset and creates a cover story in order to help her cousin (because, if he outs himself….).  The story works with Ada, although it’s very clear that Agnes also figures out why Oscar is acting as he is.  Marion, later, will check up on Oscar and tell him that she sees him for who he is and accepts him.  Agnes, for now, stays silent (but I will say the look on Agnes’s face had the look of a mother who was in pain for her son); so I’m hoping in the next episode, we'll have a moment between those two.    

Peggy’s getting closer to William, so this is the perfect time for his mother to find out about Peggy’s child.  And, of course, she only finds out half the truth and makes assumptions.  And so she tells her son as it clearly shows that Peggy isn’t trustworthy (in her mind).  So, of course, William must ask Peggy himself.  I hate the fact that such an interesting storyline has taken such a clichéd turn, but I’m not surprised. 

It looks like Hector is falling for Georgia.  In fact, when it looks like he might not get the money from George, he isn’t willing to send her packing.  He will, however, send his sister packing as it’s been decided that it’s time for her to move out.  Hector and Georgia will be back in the States for the next episode (and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last time Georgia will be a main character).

Larry gets the letter from Marion, but refuses to accept it until he talks with her.  He also blames Bertha for this (even though she’s not at fault, this time).  He does speak with Marion, who points out that he did lie to her the night they got engaged.  And, look, it’s like I said before.  Is Marion doing the wrong thing by not having a conversation with him?  Yes, very much so.  But did Larry do the wrong thing by lying?  Yes, because as Marion (and I in a pervious post) pointed out…if Larry feels like he should lie in order to not have a difficult conversation, what does this mean for their marriage?  Because no marriage is going to be strong, if one (or both) have to question if the other is not telling them the truth. 

Now, Larry does take ownership of his mistake.  He does realize that what he did was wrong and that Marion has a right to be upset that he lied to her.  And now that Jack (who she just happened to be helping buy a house? Got to get him in there somehow, I guess) told her that nothing happened that night, I hope she realizes that avoiding difficult conversations and jumping to conclusions can also hurt a relationship.  It’s as I said in a previous post, these two love each other; but it’s clear that maybe they need to grow a bit before marriage. 

George is upset at the beginning of this episode, as it looks like his company is sunk.  He takes this out on Bertha, as she’s only concerned with what Society thinks.  I mean, he’s not wrong that Bertha has been putting her need to have the family make it in society before everything else (and clearly has stopped listening to her families wants).  But, in Bertha’s defense, George was in financial deep shit and played it off like everything was fine until he could no longer hide the truth.  If he had been honest with Bertha from the get go, that maybe he bit off more than he could chew, things may have been different.

But Larry saves the day by getting the mines and a new source of income.  George is able to get Morgan on his side and it looks like he has the capital to get the railways he needs.  George calls in Clay and the man Clay is working for, to show them that Clay made a mistake not double checking the mines.  Clay is fired and George tells Clay he’ll never work in New York again.  Clay threatens George.  Then, at the end of the episode, a person dressed like a messenger comes to Geoge’s office.  The messenger is an assassin, who shoots two men in George’s office and then we see him shoot towards George (which we know what happened, thank you previews).

Finally, and this is going to be interesting, we have a bunch of plots that are converging (forgive me if I forget anything).  So, McAllister’s book comes out and the Elite are embarrassed because, while he doesn’t exactly mention names, people can figure out who’s who.  Ms. Astor declares that Mr. McAllister will no longer be accepted at any social events.  This seems to surprise McAllister as…well, he’s the one that, according to him, created this elite group (which, that’s not inaccurate, but he might be given himself too much credit) and he didn’t think he’d be shunned.  But Ms. Astor is adamant…he can go to hell. 

At the same time, Ms. Astor’s is dealing with her daughter.  Her daughter is a…free spirit, shall we say?  But she got caught and caused embarrassment and now her husband is suing for divorce.  Of course, Ms. Astor has always been strict that any divorced women cannot come to any of the important social events, which means she has to hold the same standard to her daughter or else be seen as a hypocrite.  But it’s also clear that, if her daughter no longer can attend these events, it also brings shame on her.  Which is why Ms. Astor is planning on canceling her annual end of the season ball.  But people are unhappy with the cancellation, so she asks Bertha to host it instead.

Which, of course, makes Bertha happy.  So, happy that she’s willing to speak to McAllister and tell him that she’s going to lift the bar of divorced women.  McAllister asks if that means he might be invited as well; but, yeah, no.  (I mean, in fairness, you’ve managed to piss off a number of the most wealthiest families in the city; laying low might be a good option).