At some point in the episode, almost all of the main players of How To Make It In America utter last night's titular phrase "It's Not Even Like That," but they're either trying to convince themselves that's it's all good, or just plain lying; Cam (Victor Rasuk) probably means it when he tells LuLu he's not just using her to get at her dad, though. In fact, by the end of last night's heavy (by this show's standards, at least) episode, Cam was the only one who came out cheesing.
Ben And Domingo Have A Falling Out
Raise your hand if you thought Ben (Bryan Greenberg), who's allegedly finally over Rachel (Lake Bell), would have a chill reaction to Domingo's (Kid Cudi) private "meeting" with Rachel between the sheets. If you did, well, then you don't have a clear understanding of Ben Epstein. Dom tries testing the waters with Cam and Kappo (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and the response is not good. And then when he tries to sugar-coat it by acting like he's asking Ben for his permission before he does anything, Ben plays him out. No way a go-getter like Rachel would ever be into a stagnant stoner like Dom; guess Ben isn't aware of how adrift Rachel is these days.
Making matters worse for Domingo, the wedding that Ben and Rachel later attend with Kappo typically stirs up some not-so-dormant emotions. But didn't it seem like Ben was slightly trying to put Domingo in when he told Rachel she should give her "cowboy" (i.e. a romantic interest far from her type) a shot? All that goodwill is undone when Rachel unwisely spills the beans at the end of the night and Ben and Dom have it out in the streets the next day, the same day that Dom was scheduled to do the guys a huge favor and model for the new CRISP lookbook. It seems like the homie Domingo might be way more into this whole thing with Rachel than she is. Or will Rachel heed Ben's unknowing advice?
Cam Puts In Work With The Whole Family
Give it up for this guy. A new side hustle on top of a million side hustles, a new apartment, and a based master chef stove later and Cam has finally landed LuLu. We're not really sure what all the hype was about, but, good for him. What's more, he's getting in good with her artiste pops Felix (Joe Pantoliano), as well.
When Nancy (Gina Gershon) tells Ben that CRISP needs a new lookbook before she can pitch it to her buyer, Cam immediately thinks of Felix's crib as the perfect set. Felix's price of admission: Cam has to beat him in wrestling match. A random plot-point, for sure, and also a blatant attempt to drive home the fact that Felix is eccentric. After Domingo flips Ben the bird, Felix comes through as the model and it seems like his fame is going to pull the brand even more attention. Would the youth masses really be into a 60 year old dude modeling their clothes though?
What with winning over shorty and her dad in one fell swoop we can't help but feel like Cam's about to embark on something serious with LuLu, and, just like Domingo and Rachel, we can't help but wonder if the interest is unrequited.
Rene Is Back To Thugging People
After four episodes of insisting to his goons and everyone else that they pull this Rasta Monster thing off as legitimate businessmen, Rene (Luis Guzman) is sliding back towards his criminal ways. Unsurprisngly, Wilfredo's stunt was indeed the viral hit the energy drink needed, but all the publicity and new orders give way to a glaring hole in the finances, and most of it's due to a Korean shop-owner in Flushing who's twelve days overdue in payments.
While he gets it together, Rene fails fantastically at swapping out his girl's expensive new earrings for some CZ fakery as a non-violent but still douchebag way of getting out of the red. Backed into a corner and with no model girlfriend on his arm, Rene knows no other method than lurking menacingly in backseats while his goons garrote the Korean into paying what he owes. Is this a momentary lapse or is Rene back on his bullshit? Rene was, once again, saddled in plots that the show just could not make us care about. On second thought, the suspense of whether or not he and his lady friend will get back together is killing us. Really, it is, we swear.
Still Developing...
-- Kappo may be facing investigation by the SEC, possibly facing jail time and/or poverty. Which explains why his whole weed-influenced best man's speech subplot was decidedly not funny. (Explains but doesn't excuse.)
-- Rachel's boss, and whole office, hate her. What the hell happened to this chick? She used to be so together. Whatever the case, days where the Biscuit Mag crew are getting jokes on her facial expressions are just going to make her want weed even more, so Domingo's good for a little while longer at least.
-- "You look good in black, you should wear it more often." Ben is definitely going to bag Nancy, if not the other way around.
