Locked promotion has taken over the city as the first day of shooting commences. Paige is a bundle of nerves and it doesn’t help that Jake is still in the desert working on his script. Paige gets her first swag bag from the studio which included a three diamond bracelet that Cassie immediately flipped out over. Paige gives the bracelet to Cassie as a sign of gratitude for helping her get this far. Just as Paige is heading out for her big day, Cassie gets a final notice tuition bill from CMU.
When we pick up with Jordan and Rainer at the beginning of this episode things are still going pretty well between them. Jordan is at Rainer’s place to take him to set. “I always pick you up on the first day of a shoot,” Jordan tells Rainer. These two have traditions! This bromance is my absolute favorite. Rainer really quickly drops that Nina is in Hawaii because of a location crisis, which explains why Jordan gets a text at the end of this scene from Nina saying how much she misses him. Anyway, as Rainer and Jordan talk a bit, Jordan can tell that Rainer is into Paige, just like Rainer can tell Jordan isn’t having the best time staying in his hotel room. Rainer says that Jordan can crash at his place if he wants because the Tangey thing is in the past. He trusts Jordan again. Oh, Rainer, only if you knew that your mother just texted Jordan calling him “baby.”
Paige meets her set PA Adam right when she pulls into her parking place at the lot. He introduces her to loads of crew members and settles on the nickname “Red” for her. He’s adorable and I love him. The 1st AD Arthur greets Paige by dropping some unintentional pressure on her about playing a ton of people’s favorite character. Paige learns that the movie costs a substantial amount of money to make and employs 281 people, so Paige immediately starts to worry about 281 people losing their jobs if the movie crashes and burns because of her. But it’s okay, because Cassie gives Paige a pep-talk like the great friend she is. Not that my friends aren’t the absolute best or anything, but I need a Cassie in my life.
We pop back in Delta Five Studios this week to see Tangey recording a song that she doesn’t seem to be that ecstatic about. Though she does perk up when Jordan stops by for a visit. Tangey is super pumped about being able to spend time with Jordan during Locked, but Jordan draws a very sincere line in the sand by saying that nothing can happen between them while he’s mending the bridge between him and Rainer, even though he does have feelings for Tangey. I can see where Jordan is coming from and I think Tangey can too, but that doesn’t mean Tangey isn’t crushed. He even said their night in Chicago, presumably the night that caused all of the Rainer/Tangey/Jordan drama, was a one-time thing. I think Jordan needs to take a step back and look at his situation, because for someone who doesn’t want to screw things up with his best friend, being in a relationship with his best friend’s mom may not be the greatest move. Anyway, momager, powerhouse Ida (I love her for some reason) steps in to protect her daughter from the distraction that is Jordan Wilder, and Jordan agrees with her, telling her that he knows Tangey needs a friend right now. We learn that Jordan has known Tangey since she was 16 years old. Yeah, I audibly awed during that scene.
Rainer thinks he’s at the top of his game and brings Paige a present on her first day. Guess what it is. It was “the necklace.” When handing it to her, he says, “I thought you could wear it on our first date.” Come on, Rainer, you didn’t have a better way of asking her out than that? Cassie and Paige talk about the necklace later on in the episode and what it means. It’s basically Rainer’s thing; it’s a necklace with the girl’s initial. To make matters worse, he gave Tangey a “T” and turned around and gave Paige a “P.” I thought Paige was special, Rainer… So Paige graciously hands Rainer the necklace back and says she can’t accept the gift or the date offer he presented her with.
Paige’s first day takes a turn for the frustrating when she learns from Arthur that Alexis is out sick with a “sinus infection,” so they’re starting with a scene that Paige is anything but prepared for. This leads us to our first real Paige and Jordan scene since the pilot. Paige fumbles over her words a bit, just like any of us would in front of Keith Powers. Jordan gives her some free advice to get through the scene, but that didn’t save Paige from messing up. She asks for a small break to get her lines under control. Wyatt is irritated beyond belief that she would even come to set without being fully prepared. Paige then gets an alert on her phone about Alexis being in Palm Springs with Jake. Adam tells Paige to steer away from bringing up the guys Alexis is seeing around Wyatt, because hearing Paige talk about Alexis set him off into a tirade. Because she clearly can’t catch a break, Paige then has to film a scene with a tennis ball because the character will be CGI’d in later. Of course it doesn’t go well because nothing is going well. Wyatt is anything but happy with Paige, calls her abysmal, and basically threatens to fire her if she doesn’t get her act together by tomorrow.
Back at the studio, Tangey tells her mom that’s she’s been working on some new music and her mom shuts it down without any second thought. She convinces her daughter to “stick to the Tangey Turner everyone knows and loves.” Apparently that Tangey Turner sold out Madison Square Garden, so she must’ve been doing something right. Later on Tangey literally runs into Rainer on set. He owns up to his mistakes and apologizes to Tangey, “You were right. You deserve more.” That more Tangey has in mind is Jordan, so she tells Rainer that she can’t be with Jordan as long as he’s friends with Rainer. Tangey then finds Jordan at the craft service table. He immediately notices that she doesn’t look happy and the two spark a conversation about how she will be appearing on Conan. She brings up her ideas for a new sound with him and how she thinks she should stick with her mom because she wouldn’t be anywhere without her. Jordan counters with, “You’re where you’re at because you’re talented. You’re passionate and you sing from the heart.” He encourages her to do what she wants to do with her career and life.
In the earlier scene where Cassie and Paige talked about the necklace and Rainer, Paige also overheard someone calling Cassie by the name of Lacey. Cassie dismissed it as Lacey being her lab partner and Paige bought it at the moment, but I’m sure this secret will reveal itself with due time. As for “Lacey,” Cassie has had to get some new clients other than Brody after that tuition bill. I despise that she has to do this to pay for tuition, let alone at all. That’s a whole other conversation about the price of education and so on. Anyway, this client is gross and was willing to pay “Lacey” more if she did sexual things with him, no matter how many time she told him that wasn’t part of her service. She ended up locking him outside of his house completely naked.
Later that night, Rainer is at a loss as to why Paige turned him down. Jordan thinks Rainer could use some new material other than a basic necklace with Paige’s initial in it. He also thinks Rainer should slow things down and just be her costar for now. Paige isn’t having the best night either, because her phone call with Nina ends abruptly. Nina isn’t happy about Paige’s performance either. After doing her best to reassure her that tomorrow will be better, Cassie asks Paige if she regrets saying no to Rainer. Paige confidently replies, “No, I’m not going to let him use me.” Cassie is proud of her best friend and they have a super cute moment. Again, another friendship I cannot get enough of.
Day two starts with Jordan passing out more advice. He tells Rainer to apologize to Paige and to tell her that he’ll put things on hold for a bit. Rainer is on his way to do so when he whips around to tell his friend that he’s okay with him and Tangey being a thing, “If there’s something there, you should go for it.”
Cute PA Adam walks Cassie to Paige’s trailer and they flirt and it’s adorable and now I want them to happen. Cassie reports to Paige tat Alexis has been tweeting “the desert air is healing her sinuses.” Cassie sees this as the perfect opportunity to start a Twitter war with Alexis using one of her seven fake accounts. Paige still doesn’t know how she feels about Jake, and Cassie doesn’t push to find out any more details. Of course things can’t be too lighthearted and easygoing for long, because Cassie calls the CMU Billing Office to learn that if she doesn’t pay her tuition by tomorrow her courses will be dropped and more.
Tangey is off prepping for her performance on Conan but her mom strides in demanding they rehearse more. Tangey takes things into her own hands by performing her new music without clearing it with her mom. It’s more country than we’ve heard, and there’s a cut to her in the studio recording more music with a similar sound. Tangey looks thrilled to be creating music she’s proud of and she’s excited for her fans to love it. Ida sets her daughter straight by telling her the truth, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a black country artist?” She continues by pointing out the lack thereof on the charts since Darius Rucker and there’s never been a successful woman. Ida is putting a stop to her daughter’s dream because this new direction could end Tangey’s career. Tangey takes a stand by saying, “Now we’re doing it my way. You’re fired.”
Rainer catches Paige on the way to hair and makeup to apologize. He confesses that he didn’t even realize the letter-necklace was his thing, and I don’t know if I buy that he was that oblivious. I do appreciate that he catches himself making useless excuses, but Paiage allows him to continue with his long list of sad stories. He brings up how he was a child actor with no friends, how lonely he was and how his father died when he was baby. Paige is willing to give him another chance once the movie wraps. They hug it out and it seems like they’re on their way to a clean slate.
Cassie visits a man named Dennis at the pawn shop he works at to see if a watch of hers sold. It did but only for $30. It was her mother’s watch and Cassie has already pawned the majority of the rest of her mother’s things. Now, she’s moving on to the bracelet Paige gave her at the beginning of the episode. Cassie then meets Paige in her trailer and fills her in on the Twitter war. Paige isn’t very focused on her friend because her mind is consumed with a big kissing scene she has to film and the picture of Alexis and Jake from earlier. Alexis must’ve known that picture was bothering Paige, because Alexis went ahead and tweeted a new one.
As the final minutes of the episode begin to unfold, we see Jordan watching Tangey’s performance with the biggest smile plastered on his face. He almost sends her a text about how amazing she and to ask if the song was about them, but he gets distracted by a noise outside of his door. He presumes it is Nina and goes out to see her. We never actually get to see who was out there.
On set, Cassie and Adam are sitting by watching Paige absolutely kill her big scene with Rainer. Rainer whispers, “You’re going to do great,” right before they start rolling. It’s impossible for me to hate him. The only semi-awkward thing that happened is Rainer and Paige continued their kiss way beyond when Wyatt said cut. Cassie is all of us when she asks her best friend, “Do you want to explain to me what just happened out there?” Cassie thinks that Paige should leave things in the past with Jake and move on with Rainer. She can tell that Paige has feeling for him. Paige notices that Cassie’s wrist is oddly naked from the bracelet Cassie was just drooling over a few days ago. Cassie lies and says that it is at the jewelers getting resized. Rainer catches Paige on her way to her car. He suggests they go get a drink. RAINER, I THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T DRINKING. Paige stops all of the confusion about a potential spark during the scene by saying that all of that chemistry was just acting. Paige turns and walks away with a smirk that only leads me to believe that Rainer is going to have to try a lot harder to win her over.