UnReal 3.10

Commitment

Well, I kind of guessed the outcome, or at least part of it, but there was still at least one twist in the tale that I wasn't expecting. I have to say that this season of the show was the most lackluster to date. I get the friendship between Rachel and Quinn but the rest of it felt like window dressing and didn't carry any heft.

UnReal 3.09

Codependence

Serena spends time in a sweat lodge with each of the three remaining men. Not much happens with Jasper. August strips naked and she follows suit. Owen talks to her about a horrible memory he has from his time in Iraq.

Rachel desperately tries to connect with someone after Dr. Simon questions whether she has any friends or a life outside of her job. Serena suggests that Rachel should come and work for her after the season is over. It sounds very tempting but by the end of the episode Rachel has pulled some tricks that probably sank any chance there was of Serena following through on that offer.

UnReal 3.08

Recurrent

Quinn tries to enjoy a day away from Everlasting but Chet finds out where she is and comes after her. Fiona tries to shoo him away but she has to leave. At the same time Chet encourages Madison to create some chaos on the set.

UnReal 3.07

Projection

The show, Everlasting that is, takes center stage for what feels like the first time this season. Serena has to go on a hometown date with one of the guys. Rachel and Quinn want her to pick Owen. She's cool with that but Owen questions her sincerity. Serena takes a moment, thinks about what happened, and then asks Owen again. This time she is more open and honest about what they've been through up to this point. This time Owen says yes and takes her home to Colorado with him.

UnReal 3.06

Transference

Rachel tries to keep an eye on her father. He seems normal but Dr. Simon warns her that he needs his meds or else he will start experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Rachel needs to work and leaves her Dad in her trailer. He wanders off and surprises Serena by wandering into her room while she is in the shower. Rachel was trying to keep his presence on the set a secret but all of sudden everyone knows about it.

UnReal 3.05

Gestalt

August tries to blackmail Quinn. He doesn't like the direction things are headed. It's clear to him that Serena knows about what he did with Quinn and that she's no longer interested in him. Rachel does what she can to get him in even more trouble. August can see what's going on but it doesn't look good for him.

UnReal 3.04

Confront

It looks like Passport to Dance, Jay's proposed show is getting the green light. Things never move that fast but in the reality of the show it seems to be the case. A couple problems arise over the course of the episode. Jay wanted Xavier, his boyfriend, to hosr the new show but Quinn wants Alexi to be the host. Guess who that fight? Later in the episode Jay finds out that Alexi likes to snort coke. His coke habit probably explains in part his wild behavior. Jay bribes Alexi with more coke after he loses interest in hosting Passport to Dance. Jay does not look like he is comfortable being his provider but he still does it.

UnReal 3.03

Clarity

Rachel and Quinn continue to butt heads over the direction the show is headed. Quinn has the ultimate say and lets Rachel know that from here on out Serena will be produced by Madison. It doesn't last but it ultimately it causes a confrontation between Quinn and Rachel.

UnReal 3.02

Shield

Serena continues to do things her way. This enrages Quinn and causes the men to lose interest. She beats them all in a game of poker. Chet suggests to Serena that she should try a different tact if she wants to have any success with the guys. Madison chimes into agree with Chet. Serena decides to give their approach a try and tries being more deferential.

UnReal 3.01

Oath

Rachel returns to Everlasting after a 6-month hiatus. She has spent the time on a farm, taking care of animals and working on telling the truth. Quinn talks her in to coming back to work on the reality TV show. Rachel talks Quinn into accepting Chet's idea: have a female (instead of male bachelor at the center of the show. Serena, the female bachelor, is loaded and makes her money investing in tech companies. She hasn't had much experience dating, or at least that's the impression I get.

UnREAL 2.10

Friendly Fire

It is the final episode of the season and the final episode of the season for Everlasting. Darius has a choice to make. Romeo is back with no physical signs that he was shot in the midsection a few episodes back. He advises Darius to pick Tiffany, but Darius looks and acts like he just wants to skip out on the finale.

Quinn amps things up by telling both remaining contestants individually that Darius is going to pick them. Not only is he going to pick them but he wants to get married right away, on the show. Quinn doesn't say anything to Darius about his. He doesn't even know that they are planning to have a wedding. That was totally Quinn's idea.

Rachel is tasked with dealing with Coleman and Yael who are threatening to blow the show wide open. They know about Mary, from the previous season killing herself. Quinn steps in to help Rachel early in the episode. She has dug up some dirt on Coleman, that some of the people in his critically acclaimed documentary were actors. After having security snatch his computer and his files, she threatens to blow the whistle on him if he blows the whistle on the show. That works for a little bit but eventually he can't resist and starts making threats about going to CNN with the real story about Everlasting.

Chet has to deal with losing Tiffany. He doesn't take it well. This is at a point in the show when Tiffany is convinced that she is about to get married to Darius.

Jay isn't crazy about the direction in which the season finale is headed. He wants true love to win out. He pulls a fast one and invites Ruby back for the final show. When Darius can't decided whom to pick she steps out and Darius proposes to her. She laughs and says no but just to marriage. She likes him she just isn't ready to marry him.

Coleman finds Jeremy and sneaks back on the set with him. The plan is to disrupt the final episode with an announcement of the truth about what happened to Mary. Jeremy changes his mind after he hears about what happened to Rachel when she was young. It completely changes his allegiance. He ends up doing something very drastic when it looks like Coleman and Yael can't be stopped. It is an ultimate statement of loyalty but it also casts a very dark cloud over the end of this episode and season 2 of UnREAL.

This season did not end with the sort of fireworks I was expecting. Early in the episode it really felt like that they were building to something monumental. I am happy enough with the way the season ended. It isn't for me so much about where they went but how they got there. There were some shortcuts and things that seemed to be dealt with a little too quickly but for the most part I was happy with this episode and the season as a whole. I will be happy to give the next season a try once it is available on Hulu.

UnREAL 2.09

Espionage

Rachel goes on quite the journey in this episode as she vacillates between her love for Coleman and her loyalty to Quinn. Jay finds out how fleeting success can be. One episode after replacing Rachel things quickly begin to fall apart for him as the actions of Rachel and Madison completely undermine his plans. Coleman goes over to the dark side and solidifies his pact with Hot Rachel. Chet does what he can to score with Tiffany who is angry about the way she is treated by Darius after their date ends.

Rachel gets revenge on Yael and humiliates her on camera, partly for the sake of the show and partly for personal reasons, during her date with Darius. She spikes the contestants food with (presumably) a laxative. She then refuses to let her make a quick run to the bathroom. When Yael insists she finds that the closest bathroom is locked. This is something that Rachel did earlier in the episode, although it wasn't explained at that time what she was doing. Yael poops herself on camera, although nothing is actually shown other than her crying. Quinn loves it. It is hard to say who has the higher moral ground here, Rachel or Hot Rachel, both of whom do things that are somewhere between questionable and evil.

Jay tries talking Chantal into quitting the show. It seems to work until Madison talks her into staying and doing something bold on her date with Darius: she gets in the hot tub naked with him. Darius loves it. Quinn loves it. The only one angry about it is Jay, who had plans for her.

At the elimination ceremony, Yael gets the boot from Darius. Coleman consoles her about getting kicked off by jumping into bed with her. This is after he reassures Real Rachel that she is the only one for him. The man is evil, plain and simple. This turn on his part may be in character for him but it does seem a bit fast. Not too fast for me, but still a bit out of character for who he presented himself to be initially.

Quinn finds out that she can't have children and loses her cool. She tells John she never wants to see him again. She kicks everyone out of the control room and then starts tearing apart equipment. Rachel is the only brave enough to approach her. Rachel talks her down by letting her know what Coleman knows and has planned.

Everything seems to be set up in the final episode as a showdown between Quinn and Rachel on one side versus Coleman and Hot Rachel on the other side. There's going to be more to the episode than that. no doubt, but that seems to be the most likely central conflict. I can't foresee what sort of twists and turns there will be in the final installment of season two but I will be surprised if Quinn and Rachel don't come out on top. What happens to everyone else? Who will Darius pick? Will Jeremy, Rachel's mother, or John Booth return in the season finale? How will Rachel and Quinn's relationship be affected by the events in the final episode of the season? I have no idea.

UnREAL 2.08

Fugitive

Darius is out of the picture for most of this episode. Quinn decides to do things a little different and have the contestants decide which one of them should get voted off the show. Tiffany knows that the other three women hate her. She doesn't think she stands a chance. Chet gets her the answers to the immunity challenge, which is a trivia contest where the questions are all about Darius.

Quinn is one step ahead of Chet. She gives the answers to Chantal and add in a question that was not originally part of the challenge. Chantal wins the challenge and Tiffany is sure that she will get voted off the show.

Rachel does not get as much of a spotlight as she has in the past but there are some interesting twists and turns in her part of this episode. In the beginning she is still in the mental hospital, sedated. She has been there for a week. Coleman wants to visit her but before he does he catches Yael snooping in his office, looking at his laptop. She tells him that she is a reporter and is working on a story about Everlasting. They broker a deal but the exact terms aren't known.

Coleman visits Rachel in the hospital and brings her back to the set. Her mother of course disagrees with this course of action and later comes to the set with another doctor to try and convince her daughter to return to the hospital.

Darius is missing throughout all of this. He left the hospital without notifying the producers of Everlasting. He meets up with Ruby at a diner. He tries to sweet talk her but she isn't buying what he's selling. She is still stinging from the fact that he dropped her from the show. She called Jay, after she heard from Darius and let him know where they would be meeting. Ruby walks out and Jay talks Darius into returning to the show.

Quinn has some personal drama of her own. John Booth still wants her but he also wants to have children with her. She's not up for that. Chet tries making a play for Quinn, for the umpteenth time. She's not up for that either. Chet focuses most of his attention on Tiffany. He still wants her to win in the hopes that it will get him in the good graces of her father who is the owner of an NFL team, a very exclusive club that Chet would like to join. He promises to do everything he can for her. Once it looks like she will probably get voted off the show he suggests that he could start another show for her. She likes the idea and in one of the weirder turns of the show they start making out.

Rachel's mother temporarily backs off her push to bring her back to the hospital when Rachel seems about to reveal something about her mother in front of the other doctor. She tries talking her daughter into it privately but Rachel still won't go back with her. Rachel tells Coleman in confidence what it is that her mother doesn't want her to reveal: she was raped by one of her mother's patients when she was 12. Her mother has managed to keep it under wraps but it is clear that this is something that Rachel has never recovered from. Does anyone else know about this? Does Quinn know? I'm guessing not.

Coleman assures Rachel that they will get through this together but I don't trust him. I think he sees dollar signs. I think his next move maybe to expose her story as a way of advancing his career. Of course he will probably couch it in terms of it being for Rachel's good. At the end of the episode He meets with Hot Rachel, nothing overt happens between them but she is Hot Rachel. I've got a feeling that something is going to happen between them.

Darius returns to the show in grand fashion. He walks in just as Tiffany is announced as being voted off the show and changes the rules of the game. He votes Jameson, the cop, off the show and picks Tiffany to spend the night with him.

There are lots of twists and turns here. I continue to enjoy watching the show progress. I wondered about Rachel's past, why her mother wanted her medicated. I was right about Yael being a reporter but that was kind of telegraphed.

UnREAL 2.07

Ambush

Rachel has lots of drama, Quinn has a little. Mostly this one is about Rachel.

Rachel gets ambushed by Adam late at night, when she is in bed with Coleman, who has just asked her to be his date at his cousin's wedding on Martha's Vineyard. Adam and Rachel had a fling during the previous season. He was invited back by Quinn, who wants to break up Coleman and Rachel. She also wants Adam to make a guest appearance on the current season of Everlasting, which he does.

Rachel doesn't want to have anything to do with Adam. He backs her against a wall at one point and gets her to start making out with him but it doesn't get very far. He is trying to be nice but it is too late, at least in Rachel's mind it is, for the two of them. Quinn also attacks the Coleman and Rachel issue from another direction, she sweet talks John Booth into trying to lure him off the show with another project. Quinn just wants Coleman off the show. She wants Rachel to stay. Rachel finds out about this when she walks in on Booth and Coleman chatting about possible projects. This sows a bit of distrust between Rachel and Coleman.

Darius has to pick one of the four remaining contestants for a date. He goes with Chantal. The date is kind of fake and ends in a tragic-comic way. The boat they are on isn't a gondola, like it is supposed to be but actually a prettied up row boat, which isn't even on a body of water. The date ends with Chantal emptying her dead fiance's ashes from the locket around her neck and the ashes blowing into Darius' face.

Quinn is having a great time with John. She is very happy. He gives her a ride to the set of Everlasting. They make out in his car before getting out. Later they go back to his place. It is while they are there that they find about what happened after Darius and Chantal's date.

Romeo, Darius' cousin and manager, came back. Darius didn't like how the date with Chantal ended. They run into Tiffany and Hot Rachel (Yael) while Darius is complaining about the date. Someone, I don't recall whom, suggests that the four of them should party together. They take one of the show's cars without permission. Rachel and Coleman decide to call the cops and report the car as stolen. They then follow the stolen car they with a camera crew.

They get there in time to see Darius, Romeo, Yael, and Tiffany pulled over. When Darius can't provide ID to prove who he is the cops put him in handcuffs. Rachel and Coleman are filming the stop. Rachel gets nervous and runs out to try and calm the situation down, at least one of the cops at this point has a gun out. The cop gets distracted by Rachel, turns back around, sees Romeo coming towards him and shoots him.

At the very beginning of the episode there was a disclaimer about gun violence. I wasn't sure what that was foreshadowing. I thought that maybe Jeremy was going to come back to the set with a gun. Once I saw Darius, Romeo, Tiffany, and Hot Rachel take the car I had a bad feeling I knew how that would wind up. The truly awful part about it is that instead of telling the cops who was in the car when they called it in Coleman and Rachel just reported it as stolen.

Romeo's status is unclear. Is he dead? At first I thought he was shot in the head but when they showed the replay it looked like he was shot in the midsection. They took him to the hospital, not the morgue but there have not been any updates on the status of his condition.

Jay gives Rachel a very hard time about what happened when he finds out how everything played out. Rachel is already blaming herself for the shooting when Jay confronts her. She goes back to her trailer and curls up in a ball. Adam comes back and tries to talk to her but she doesn't want him around. She winds up calling her mother who comes and takes her to a mental institution and has her take some medication to (presumably) take the edge off her dark mood.

Quinn sees Rachel leaving the set with her mother and doesn't look happy about it at all. The only thing Quinn is happy about is that Gary the network executive has fired Coleman and put her back in charge.

Finally, before the final scene with Rachel taking the medication, Hot Rachel meets with Jeremy. She acts distraught, at first about what has just happened. She asks Jeremy to tell her everything he knows. She surreptitiously start recording their conversation. I'm starting to think that Yael is more than just a contestant on the show. I think she might be an investigative reporter who wants to do an expose about Everlasting.

This was a very powerful episode. It was clear from the last episode that Rachel was already spiraling downward. She continued in that downward trajectory and more or less crashed. Never say never but I don't see how things can get any lower for her from here.

UnREAL 2.06

Casualty

Rachel does her best to cover up what happened (with Jeremy) and move on. At first she wants to report it to the police but Chet talks her out of doing that.

Darius has to pick one of the contestants to go home with for an extended date. He's planning to pick Chantal but Rachel talks him into going home with the controversial candidate, Beth Ann. She is hoping for fireworks or an explosion of some sort when they get to Beth Ann's home in Alabama. At first it doesn't look like things aren't going to go Rachel's way but then Beth Ann tells her a secret: she's pregnant. Rachel talks Beth Ann into coming clean with her parents and Darius.

Beth Ann isn't sure which way to turn but decides to trust Rachel. Just as Beth Ann starts to confess, the guy who got her pregnant shows up. He proposes to Beth Ann, her father pulls a shotgun, for a second there it looked like he might get shot.  Beth Ann's ex eventually backs off but by then the damage was already done and it was all captured on camera. Rachel is ecstatic, Coleman not so much.

Rachel didn't tell Coleman about what Jeremy did. He doesn't know anything about what happened between Rachel and Jeremy until Quinn calls and tells him. She has her own ulterior motives for spilling the beans. It is a little murky what those motives are. There is some indication that she is concerned for Rachel's well being. She confronted Jeremy, grabbed him by the balls (literally), and threatened him verbally. She also seems to be concerned that she is losing control of the show.

Coleman tries to use what influence he has with Rachel to try and get her to listen to him but she doesn't. She is focused on turning the show into a train wreck and ratings darling. Quinn and Chet back her up on this once Rachel and Coleman get back from Alabama.

While most of the show's focus is on the happenings in Alabama, Jay and Madison organize a segment for the latest episode of Everlasting that revolves around the four other contestants. As a group they sit down on camera with Dr. Wagerstein. They are there to discuss why they think that Darius didn't pick them but it quickly gets vicious and becomes even more so after Madison tells Chantal to ask Tiffany about Romeo, Darius cousin and former manager. Tiffany was caught giving Romeo a blowjob a few episodes back.

In the elimination ceremony, Beth Ann is let go. Darius promises to provide financial aide for her child, even though he clearly isn't the father. There was a little bit of drama but it wasn't quite as explosive as in some of the earlier episodes.

Finally, Dr. Wagerstein warns Quinn about brushing off John Booth. It wasn't clear that she did. Still, she gives him a call and suggests that they have dinner. He agrees and she seems much happier once she gets off the phone. While this is happening, Coleman is going down on Rachel in his office. Everything seems to be looking up for the two of them.

In the very last scene, a car pulls up to the set. A man gets out and starts walking up to the set. It is Adam, the suitor from the previous season of Everlasting. He was in 2.01 (War) very briefly and hasn't been seen since. Is this Quinn's doing? Is she the one who got him to come back. Adam and Rachel had a fling in the previous season. His appearance certainly could complicate things between Rachel and Coleman.

Throughout this episode Rachel seems very much on edge. She does not seem emotionally stable. She has been manipulative in the past, especially when she wants the suitor or the contestants to do something they don't want to do. The difference here is that it doesn't seem like an act.

One thing that I really liked about this episode is how they addressed the issue of racial politics. Here was a black man going to visit the family of a white woman, in rural Alabama. Her family is very accepting and happy to have him there. Rachel becomes the wet blanket. She wanted conflict, presumably conflict over race, the fact that Darius. an African American man, is courting a white woman. When she can't get that she pushes another button to try and create tension and hopefully a fight. The issue of race is present but the episode did not become a public service announcement about racial harmony, even though that is kind of happening in the background.

Overall a pretty good episode. I'm interested to see how things play out.

UnREAL 2.05

Infiltration

Things are still not good between Rachel and Quinn. Rachel is sleeping with Coleman. Most people on the set know that after she arrives to the set in his car with him.

On the set of the show Quinn tries to set things up so that Darius will pick Hot Rachel for a night together. He has to choose between Yael and Dominique, the basketball player who hasn't had many (if any lines) prior to this episode. He seems all set to pick Yael when Dominique fills him in, on camera, on the fact that Yael slept with someone in the crew. Rachel must have given her that information. Quinn is pissed. Rachel is messing everything up, as far as Quinn is concerned. Darius passes on Yael but he also passes on Dominique and picks Ruby instead.

Chet returns to the set. He tries to win back Quinn but she isn't biting. He talks to Jeremy, tries to help out by using one of the techniques he learned in the paleo retreat he went on between seasons one and two. He isn't very successful. Jeremy ends up drinking a lot after their little talk and gets too aggressive with Rachel at the end of the episode. Chet sees what happens and fires him.

Ruby and Darius have their night together although it ends up being just a few hours. At the same time Rachel and Coleman head to a big award ceremony to hobnob with big name people who can help them get ahead. It looks like they are making progress with John Booth, a big shot in television, when Quinn shows up. Booth is played by Ioan Gruffud, whom I know best from the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four movies; he played Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic.

Before leaving for the party Quinn planted a little "bomb". She had Ruby's father flown in. Ruby's father is played by Carl Lumbly, whom I know from Alias, Justice League and JLU. She invites Booth, who is a big fan of Everlasting, back to the set to watch the fireworks go off when Ruby's father arrives. Quinn and Booth arrive on the set just before Ruby's father and at the same time as Rachel and Coleman. At first Rachel refuses to let Quinn ruin things for Ruby and Darius. Quinn doesn't give up easy and talks Rachel into going in to the room with cameras to film confrontation that occurs when Ruby's father storms into the room where his daughter is shacked up with Darius.

Despite the confrontation it looks like things aren't all bad between Ruby and Darius. Quinn orders an elimination ceremony. Darius picks the obvious person to eliminate, Dominique; obvious because she has had such a small part in the show up to this point. Then he goes on to eliminate Ruby, for her own good. She wants to believe that he can be more than just a quarterback, that he can be a force for social justice but he isn't as optimistic as she is.

Quinn and Rachel have words after everything goes down. Quinn warns Rachel about Coleman, that he is her Chet. Rachel isn't buying Quinn's perspective and insists that she is going to do better and go farther than Quinn, with Coleman by her side. After Jeremy hits her and Chet tries to help her, Rachel looks very confused. It seems like she is trying to have her cake and eat is too or at the very least she needs to make a decision. Her experience seems to be telling her to stick with Quinn but her heart has her going with Coleman. I think that ultimately she will break with Coleman. He might make it easy for her to make that decision by stabbing her in the back, but I don't know.

Overall, not a great episode but a really good one with a lot of interesting developments.

UnREAL 2.04

Treason

Rachel finds out what is up with Darius. He had back problems before Brandi attacked him in the last episode and before the season began. He has been hiding it from everyone including the team for which he plays. Rachel sneaks in his doctor who tells Darius that he needs to get surgery right away. Romeo, Darius' manager, talks him into listening to the doctor and gives Rachel one more day with Darius.

Quinn finds out that her father has died. Rachel tries talking to her but Quinn isn't listening. Rachel stabbed her in the back.

Darius was supposed to take part in a football game with the ladies. Rachel reworks it so that Darius will be commenting from the sidelines with Tiffany. Darius is getting along just fine with Tiffany when London, one of the ladies, who is more than just a little tipsy, talks him into joining them on the field. There is a reporter from Entertainment Weekly on the set so Darius joins the contestants. London tackles him before they start playing which just makes his back that much worse.

London was pushed to do what she did by Chet. He and Quinn picked up on the fact that Darius was nursing some sort of injury. Their plan to drum up some publicity was to get him injured and then taken to the hospital. At first it looks like everything is going their way but then Rachel offers Darius another alternative. Against the advice of Romeo he goes with Rachel's plan and is given an epidural by a physician that Coleman called in. Romeo goes ballistic when he finds out. He gets into an argument with Darius who fires him on the spot.

Quinn and Chet aren't exactly pleased with Darius' miraculous recovery. Chet, who has had his baby with him on the set for the entire day, tries talking Quinn into getting back with him. She looks very skeptical. Chet looks like he has put on a little weight since the last episode. He doesn't look overweight, he just doesn't look as thin in the face as he did before. Before Chet's talk can get very far a couple police cars show up. Apparently Chet took his son from his ex-wife without permission. He gets arrested and hauled away in handcuffs.

Ruby visits Darius later than evening. He is nervous about letting down his guard. There's no camera crew with her but there are cameras everywhere on the set. He seems to have forgot that fact. They start by talking but it isn't long before they start making out. They think they are alone but there is a camera crew filming the whole encounter.

Throughout the episode Yael, Hot Rachel, has been cozying up to Jeremy. He has looked not quite as fit and trim as he did in the previous season. I don't think that has anything to do with why he is receptive to her advances. I thought it was a bit strange that she would show an interest in him, but not because of his appearance. After watching the entire episode, I think she is up to something. I don't know if Rachel knows what she is up to but I think she is doing it to try and win points with Rachel. The last thing she does in this episode, before joining Jeremy in his trailer, is to swipe his keys when he isn't looking.

Rachel and Coleman share a drink and a kiss on the hood of his car in the final scene.

I continue to enjoy watching this series. I have yet to grow tired of it even though there was a lot of setup in this episode but not a lot of delivery. I expect that there will be some payoff in the next one.

UnREAL 2.03

Guerilla

Coleman, new show runner, lets Chet run the show, at first. Chet's first idea gets shot down by Darius as being too dangerous. His second idea is to have the women run an obstacle course. Darius is okay with that but refuses to run the course himself. He says it is because he can't afford to risk an injury. There is some sense to that but considering what happens later in the episode I have to wonder if he wasn't hiding something.

Quinn goes behind the scenes to spice things up. She has chats with two of the contestants (Brandy and Chantal) before the obstacle course, and gets them mad enough to start a shoving match during the obstacle course. Chantal falls from about 10 feet up on the climbing wall and lands on her back. Quinn loves it. She has Rachel put Brandi in a room and locks the door. Brandi flips out. All of this is being filmed for possible use in the show.

Darius is sent to check on Chantal who is by now in a hospital bed and has a bandage around her head. They talk. He is sweet. She feels better. They make out. Quinn loves it.

Ruby and Beth Ann have a moment at the party that afternoon. They go at one another, vocally. There are no fists thrown or hair pulled. Quinn does not love it.

Quinn pays Brandi a visit. She explains to her that she needs to apologize to Darius, tell him about her past, about being a foster child. They set things up. Darius and Brandi have their moment alone. Brandi explains how tough she had it growing up. Darius comforts her they kiss. Quinn is much happier.

Quinn calls a meeting with Darius in her office. She has a woman with her, Brandi's mother, who explains that Brandi was never in foster care. Her daughter is a compulsive liar. Darius feels totally betrayed and agrees to kick Brandi off the show. That is exactly what he does. He calls her out on camera in front of the other contestants. Brandi flips out and attacks Darius. She jumps on his back and gets him in a headlock.

Security pulls Brandi off of Darius. Darius looks injured. I'm left wondering at this point if he wasn't already nursing some sort of injury. It is possible that Brandi was able to cause him that much damage that quickly but I wonder if Darius hasn't been hiding something from the folks on Everlasting and everyone else. What Darius doesn't know but it quickly revealed is that the woman who claimed to be Brandi's mother was just an actress who was hired to convince him that Brandi was lying about the foster care system and the abuse she suffered when she was younger.

Quinn is laughing it up and has a good time though out this episode right up until the last few minutes. She has owned Chet. She did a masterful job of manipulating Brandi and Darius, with some help from Rachel. In the last few minutes of the episode Gary stops by the set of the show, the next morning, and congratulates Coleman (in front of the entire crew) for putting together a great episode. There was a moment there where it was unclear who he was going to congratulate. For a few seconds there I thought it was going to be Rachel, which totally would have blown her cover, but he didn't, not in front of everyone.

Gary pulls Quinn aside after he talks to everyone. He reprimands her for the voice mail she left him and then tells her about Rachel. Quinn is facing Rachel who can't overhear the conversation but who can see the look on Quinn's face. She knows that Gary is letting Quinn know about what she did. She freaks out, goes back to her office and starts to pack. Coleman walks in. He tries to reassure her. They make out briefly.

The final scene is a bit of a tease but honestly it wasn't as good as wondering what Quinn is going to do to Rachel. In the last scene Rachel goes to see Darius. He looks like he is in a lot of pain. Yes, it is a bit of a cliffhanger but there are other things that intrigue me more like what is going to happen to Quinn and Rachel's relationship now that Quinn knows that Rachel went behind her back.

This was more along the lines of what I was expecting from this season all along. This episode more or less followed developments on the set and behind the scenes of an episode of the show. This time out Rachel seemed to play second fiddle to Quinn, that isn't usually the case on this show. Yes, Rachel works for Quinn but Rachel seems to spend more time in the spotlight that Quinn does. It was also different to see Quinn running around goading the contestants and the bachelor into doing things. In the first season she usually stayed in her office or the control room and got Rachel to manipulate the folks on the show.

Overall this was a great watch. I consistently amazed at how much they manage to pack into each episode without making it feel bloated or like it is dragging.

UnREAL 2.02

Insurgent

In some ways this felt like the first episode of the first season. In many other ways it did not. The previous episode built up to the first episode of the new season of Everlasting. The focus this time around is the first episode of the season. Chet is trying to take control of the show back from Quinn but she is not about to give up without a fight. She knows how to run this show. Chet's new ideas all come from the paleo-influenced diet/regimen that he has been on and don't make the best creative or business sense.

There are a lot of contestants on this episode but four of them get little spotlights: Beth Ann, Ruby, Tiffany, Yael. There are other contestants with speaking parts but none of the others get a moment in the spotlight with Darius (the bachelor) that standout like these four did.

Beth Ann is a southern, white girl. Rachel talks her into wearing her Confederate flag bikini on the first episode of Everlasting. Once she sees who the bachelor is she tries to run away and hide. It isn't just the fact that Darius is African-American but also the fact that he is the quarterback for her favorite team. Rachel talks her into going up to Darius and talking to him. They have a bit of a moment as Beth Ann strips off her top after apologizing. Maybe it is this boldness or her apology but Darius includes her in the contestants that make the cut to the next round of Everlasting.

Ruby is the contestant that (last episode) Rachel talked into dropping out of university for the show. She is not trophy wife material. She is African-American, outspoken, and takes great exception to Beth Ann's bikini. Early in the episode she confronts Beth Ann but later when the cameras are on she holds back her feelings, much to the disappointment of Quinn. Rachel made promises to Ruby, some of which she had no intention of keeping. Ruby is kind of fed up with the show by the end of the episode but Darius likes her enough to keep her around.

Tiffany's father is the owner of a professional football team. She's upset because she came on the show to get away from football. At first she thinks that it was her father's idea to get her on the show. They assure her that it was not although it is a little unclear whether he had anything to do with it. At first she wants to get off the show as quickly as possible and does something which might cost her. Rachel talks her into making a run at winning the whole things and marrying Darius. Tiffany is Quinn's pick for the winner. She looks like "wifey" material in Quinn's eyes. She is the last one that Darius selects to advance to the next round.

Yael is given the nickname of Hot Rachel by Quinn. Rachel hates the name. Yael seems oblivious to it, if she is even aware of the nickname. She tries to get some advice from Rachel on what to do to make herself standout. Rachel isn't feeling very charitable and doesn't take Yael under her wing. Yael is forced to create her own dramatic moment and does so by falling in the pool and then pretending that she doesn't know how to swim. Darius dives in, fully clothed, to rescue her. Like the other three she also advances to the next round.

Rachel is doing her best to keep it together but seeing how the war between Chet and Quinn is destroying the show and her chance to be the show runner get to her. She goes behind their backs to Gary, the network executive who green lit the show. She thinks she is doing the right thing and that Gary will hand the show over to her but that's not what happens. Instead Gary brings in Coleman Wasserman to run the show. Coleman is the show runner of another successful show. He knows that Rachel is the one who blew the whistle on Chet and Quinn but they don't know that yet.

This episode was much more focused on the contestants than the last one. I like how this season is shaping up. It has some wrinkles that the previous one did not. The contestants who are getting the most screen time don't seem like carbon copies of the ones from the previous seasons. The changes to Chet and his role on the show have also helped to guide the show in a different direction. Rachel is still the star of the show. It seems like she is in a dark place right now. The music helps to emphasize that fact. I am eager to see where the show goes next and how it may surprise me.

UnREAL 2.01

War

The 14th season of Everlasting is about to begin. Rachel is now the show runner. Quinn is still her boss. The relationship hasn't changed much. Mostly it is their roles on Everlasting that have changed. Early in the episode they celebrate the new season by each getting a tattoo on one wrist that reads:

Money

Dick

Power

By the end of the episode things aren't quite so rosy.

Darius Beck, the bachelor for the 14th season is a professional football player, a quarterback. He is African-American and the network suits aren't happy about that. Quinn has to play hardball with the network to get her way. She promises ratings and all sorts of drama which will have everyone talking about the show. Rachel has to deliver on Quinn's promises.

There are a number of familiar faces in the supporting cast. Jeremy, the cameraman that Rachel was engaged to once upon a time is still working for the show. Jay, the assistant producer, who tried cozying up to Chet last season is also back.

Chet is back and boy has he changed. He went through a paleo-regime that has him thinking and talking very differently than he did last season. He lost a considerable amount of weight and looks much slimmer than he did during the first season. He is no longer in charge of the show but he isn't about to take that lying down. The title of the episode refers to his attempt to regain control of Everlasting from Quinn.

Madison, the PA, has been promoted. She is now doing the the job Rachel used to do. She isn't great at it. Rachel has to walk her though an interview with a contestant. It seems during the interview that Madison is about to lose it but based on her comment afterwards it sounds like she got a rush from the the experience even though she blew chunks after the interview.

Rachel tries to do run the show right but somethings go wrong. She can't delegate everything. She has to talk Darius into not breaking his contract when he gets cold feet. She goes after Ruby, one of the contestants, who changed her mind at the last minute because it would push back her graduation from university. Things really blow up when Chet lures the bachelor away on the first night of filming. Quinn has seen enough and steps in. She promises to relinquish control once things are back to normal whatever that means. Rachel doesn't look too happy about that but that's where the episode ends.

---

Everything has changed and yet everything feels very familiar. I like it. I had my doubts but I like it. I don't understand how this show does it. It seems like a string of highlights but it works for me.

Part of the appeal for me is that it is essentially a workplace drama. I have a certain affinity for those kinds of shows. I don't like them all. I don't love them all but when they get it right, like this one does, I fall for them hard.

I think part of it is clashes of personalities. In part it is the moral ambiguities that the show navigates. They (Rachel, Quinn, or whomever) do something wrong but there usually is someone there to balance it out, to offer a counterpoint. They don't always say something, sometimes it is just the expression on their face, but their presence gives the show the balance it needs.