“Famous In Love” Episode 2 Recap
California’s calling my name and I know I’m going to go insane
I know it’s only episode two, so am I crazy for wanting to already put “Famous in Love” at the top of my new television shows list? This week’s episode continued to capture my attention, as each character has an interesting backstory that promises twists and turns later on. As we’re still learning who is who, I think it’s helpful to break this episode down by characters.
Paige: Paige clearly wants to please everyone. We see this as she agonizes over telling her parents about being cast in the movie; her father is a teacher who has always told her to put education first. She also meets with Nina, who tells her to drop school and “eat, breathe and sleep” the movie. Talk about pressure, right? Through most the episode, we see Paige freaking out about what to do. At her dress fitting, she asks how she’s supposed to get through all this. She has a moment where she actually thinks it is too much to handle.
The other conflict Paige deals with is her romantic feelings towards two men in her life. She and Jake have been meaning to talk about their relationship. When they finally get the chance, Jake tells her he just wants to be friends. At first she seems upset, but Paige soon forgets her disappointment when Rainer surprises her. He picks her up for a party that will introduce the cast of “Locked” to the world. I love how she is always nervous around him; it’s stinking adorable. Her heart gets a little crushed when she overhears Nina tell Rainer she knows he sleeps with a different girl every night, which causes Paige to walk away looking upset. As she’s officially introduced, Paige is overwhelmed with all of the press questions and leans on Rainer for help. When Rainer takes her home, she questions him about his romantic “history” with “a lot of different people.” The two almost share a kiss, but get interrupted by her parents.
At the end of the episode, her dad is upset that Paige lied and believes she’s throwing away her education. He wants her to quit, but she refuses. The movie is something she wants to do and this is “as big as her dreams get.” Her Dad doesn’t respond. She also shows she’s still upset about Jake after Alexis calls him. In a fit of jealousy, Paige answers the phone in Spanish and tells Alexis to stop calling her “husband.” Things end with Paige mending things with her dad. After he sees her sign her first autograph, he realizes the impact she could have. However, he will only be cool with her acting if she agrees to stay in school at the same time.
Rainer: First off, I just have to say how much I love Rainer Devon. He’s a calm, cool, and collected flirt. This is evident when he flirts with Paige and helps get her past security at the studio entrance. But, this episode has him re-thinking his approach to romancing women. He goes to see Alexis, who makes him realize he was a terrible boyfriend in the past, especially to Tangey; Alexis also flat out tells him he’s not relationship material.
Moving away from Rainer’s relationship woes…. He surprises Paige at her apartment by picking her and her friends up for the “Locked” party, telling her she should arrive like a star. He is quite taken when he sees Paige in her dress. He tries to sweet-talk her by telling her she’s beautiful and a star attraction. Cue my fangirl squeals. When they arrive at the party, an overwhelmed Paige freaks out. Rainer tries to calm her down by telling her she can lean on him. When Paige says he can’t be by her side the whole night, Rainer instructs her to “throw up” an “R” in sign language to signify she needs rescuing.
Unfortunately, Rainer’s relationship woes return. After he almost gets into a fight with Jordan at the party, Nina confronts him, telling him to quit believing his own press. She says that even though the press sees him as a good guy, she knows he sleeps with a different girl every night. She also tells him to stop pretending Tangey meant something to him, which leaves him to ponder what his mom, of all people, just told him. When the party is over, Rainer takes Paige home. She asks about what she overheard Nina telling him. He tells her the drama between him, Jordan and Tangey is “history.” He also tells her he’s never met anyone quite like her and goes in for a kiss only to be interrupted by her parents.
Jordan: Jordan’s story doesn’t really take off until the middle of the episode, when he runs into a woman who calls him “Jordy Michaels.” When she says he looks familiar he responds with the following snark: “In the movies, people think they know you. But I promise you, they don’t.” His pointed comment suggests a history with this woman, whoever she is (and not just because of the ominous music playing in the background as she walks away). When he’s with Nina later that night (remember they are secretly hooking up), he asks whether or not she has ever told anyone about his past. She assures him she would never do anything to jeopardize his career.
Jordan runs into Tangey at the “Locked” premiere party, where he tells her he is hiding out because he doesn’t want to cause another scene with Rainer. He also shares how he doesn’t like what the press is doing to her because of “us” and apologizes. However, his plan to avoid conflict fails as he and Tangey run into Rainer and Paige. Jordan apologizes to Rainier, saying he and Tangey made a mistake back in Chicago. Since they are all going to be working together, Jordan tells Rainier it would be best if he “get over himself and stop being a little bitch.” Towards the end of the party, Jordan gets a text from an unknown number that says, “DO YOU WANT THE PRESS FINDING OUT ABOUT YOU?“ An attached picture shows him with the mystery woman from earlier in the episode.
Cassie: We see Cassie leaving a man’s house and all we know is that he pays her and wants her to start coming over “more than once a week.” I don’t know about anyone else, but my immediate thought was “she’s a hooker.” Everything pointed to that conclusion. At the “Locked” party, Cassie sees the guy who is paying her and immediately tries to steer her friends away. The mystery man, Brody, comes up to her and Jake later on. Immediately, she steers her friend away, not wanting him to know her secret. We later learn what she’s been hiding: she’s a topless maid.
Jake: Is it just me or does anyone else not care about anything relating to Jake? Despite the fact he got a call from an agent regarding his script in the last episode, most of his stuff revolved around his relationship with Paige. It’s clear as day he likes her as more than a friend. This is evident by the fact that he can’t take his eyes off her at her wardrobe fitting. Yet, when he finally talks with her about defining their relationship, he somehow screws it up. He tells her he knew they would be friends forever, after their freshman theatre workshop, and what she really needs right now is for them to be just friends. His exact words were, “It wouldn’t be right to complicate things right now.” He had his chance with Paige and he failed to take it. So he has no right to feel threatened by Rainer. As they are leaving for the party, Cassie tells him she didn’t believe a word he said about Paige. She knows why he made that particular choice and applauds him for it. At the party, Jake meets Alexis Glenn while Paige looks on from afar, clearly not happy about their interaction.
Nina: Nina, in her role as producer of “Locked,” meets with Tangey and her momager, Ida, to clear up the bad press about Tangey and Jordan. Nina wants to clear up the situation because she doesn’t want it interfering with her hooking up with Jordan. Later on, she runs into Alan Mills, her ex-boss from when she first started out. Apparently, she stole the rights to his movie, but that revelation isn’t elaborated on. They quickly move on from their awkward meeting, but their encounter comes back to haunt Nina when she learns Alan is her new boss after the previous studio head was fired. Alan tells her he’s going to have a lot of fun making her life hell. Guess she learned “what goes around comes around.”
Alexis: Alexis came off as a misunderstood bitch in this episode and I totally loved every moment she was on my screen. She’s clearly still bitter about losing the lead role to Paige. The first time they meet in the studio’s parking lot, Alexis tells Paige the part is not hers until the camera starts rolling. Knowing Wyatt, the director of the film, is attracted to her, Alexis easily manipulates him into giving her the part of the dumb sister. Later on, she runs into Rachel (played by Katelyn Tarver); the two of them clearly share some kind of past. Alexis makes a point of finding Rachel later on at the party, even though she plays it off as a crazy coincidence. Alexis tells her she made a mistake once, but says she’s a different person now after therapy. She kisses Rachel, confesses she has missed her and desperately wants to know if they can start over. Rachel encourages a new beginning when she reveals she’s got a part in the movie.
Tangey Turner (Pepi Sonuga): We finally get to meet the reason Rainer and Jordan are no longer friends. Nina offers the recording artist the title song in exchange for good press regarding the trio. Tangey visits Rainer, slapping him as soon as she sees him. She wants an apology from him for being such a bad boyfriend when they were together. However, she seems to be over Rainer, if not Jordan. When she runs into Jordan at the party she says she’s not sorry for what the press is doing because “being with [him] was worth it.”
Lots of drama! Check back next week for our recap of what happened in episode 3!
“Famous in Love” airs Tuesdays on Freefrom at 8/7 c