This is hard for Reed when he continues to run into Bree, who badgers him to play a game they used to enjoy when they were dating. Eventually, he gives in and even agrees to get dinner with Bree at their old favorite restaurant. Before they meet for dinner, however, Bree overhears Reed telling Nora he loves her. Realizing they can’t have their old relationship back, she cancels on Reed. Meanwhile, Clay tries to accomplish the steps in his AA program: one of them being to make amends. He apologizes to the director, Jerry, for all the trouble he caused him on the set of Step Right Up by constantly showing up drunk or high. But it’s obvious that his heart isn’t in the apology. Jerry calls him on this and even blames Clay for costing him an Emmy. So, Clay finds it in himself to give a real apology. In reality, he has so many people to apologize to for terrible things he’s done in the past–and that’s really overwhelming. But he is truly sorry to Jerry, who accepts his heartfelt apology. Zack gets approval from HR to ask out a co-worker, under one condition: he can’t ask her out more than once if she says no initially. Hannah is also infatuated with a co-worker: Mallory from HR. Gordon can tell his daughter is smitten, so he awkwardly tries to facilitate an interaction between the two. But Hannah is embarrassed and rushes out of the room, so Gordon confronts her. He admits he feels it’s his fault that she struggles with emotional intimacy. Eventually, he’s able to convince her to be confident and ask out Mallory. She does, and Mallory accepts. Zack also builds his confidence to ask out Elaine to see a movie. But as he feared, she says no, which means he’s lost his only shot. Elaine says she likes him, but she also likes her job. If people found out she was dating an actor on her first show, no one would take her seriously. Zack goes to see the movie alone, but is surprised when Elaine shows up. Two co-workers coincidentally running into each other can’t hurt–right?
The Episode Review
Overall, this was a compelling episode for Reboot. Clay’s character becomes even more fleshed out, even with just a few minutes spent on his recovery process. Hannah and Gordon share believable interactions that help their relationship but don’t repair it outright. And Zack’s and Elaine’s chemistry blossoms. My main complaint is that we lack context for Clay’s struggles with substance abuse, and for Bree’s and Reed’s rocky relationship. When it comes to much of the show’s conflict, little is shown and much is told to audiences explicitly.
