Episode 12: New York, New York
We open with Whitney in church–no, not a cleverly named nightclub, but an actual church! Whitney’s not there to confess, though–in fact, she wants to turn the confessionals into photo booths when Teen Vogue’s Young Hollywood party takes over the space. As she and Lisa Love discuss placing a runway down the aisle and a band on the altar, they miraculously avoid being struck down by divine lightning.
Teen Vogue. Lisa Love tells Whitney and Lauren that they’ll be taking the red-eye to New York to meet with Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Amy Astley and her staff and bring them up to speed on the party preparations. Whitney’s nervous… about what she’s going to wear. Way to prioritize, sweetie!
Bolthouse. On his way in, Spencer runs into Frankie, who reveals that he’s picking up his paycheque–seems he works for Brent Bolthouse occasionally. Spencer, appearing visibly annoyed at the reminder that most people his age do actual work, is eager to talk about their mutual friend Brody instead. Cue the familiar rant about loyalty and evil L.C. and years of friendship down the drain. Spencer needs some new material, man.
Teen Vogue HQ, NYC. As the girls wait for Amy Astley, Whitney reveals that she’d never wear her current outfit, a strapless floral-patterned dress, to work in LA. She also reveals that she hasn’t practiced for the presentation. I hope she didn’t expect Lauren to prop her up, because almost as soon as the girls take a seat in Amy’s office, the editor sends Lauren back out–on a Top Model-style mad dash across town to help out with a Marc Jacobs casting.
A flustered Lauren makes it on time, and is quickly put to work doing the finishing styling on the models. She handles her job well, and later, as she’s sorting through photos, is rewarded with an introduction to Marc Jacobs. “Whatcha doing?” he asks. “Alphabetizing,” Lauren replies, which earns a laugh from the designer. “You’re alphabetizing,” he says. “That’s very important.” Lauren smiles.
Whitney’s day isn’t going quite so well. Amy Astley and a table full of Teen Vogue staffers question the idea of hanging chandeliers from a tree in the church’s garden (too many will look tacky), dislike her choice of wicker furniture (it’s too brown), don’t want the chosen floral arrangements lining the walls (they look more like tabletop arrangements), and pooh-pooh her idea of a carpeted runway (tacky and sloppy). “So, you can go back and maybe fine-tune some of these things?” Amy asks. Whitney, aware that by “fine-tune,” Amy actually means “overhaul,” is already scratching out everything on her list of party plans.
Heidi and Spencer’s. Spencer calls Brody. Brody doesn’t answer, so Spencer leaves a message. The Spencer/Heidi storyline is incredibly exciting this week, is it not?
Patina restaurant. Lauren and Whitney join Lisa Love and some other magazine staffers for a tasting. As they wait for their food, Lisa says that Amy Astley was, despite what we may have thought, happy with Whitney’s presentation. “We heard about the dress you were wearing,” she adds gravely. “Was it bad?” a nervous Whitney asks. “Well, it was very dressy, wasn’t it?” Lisa replies. “I will expect you to be in the office like that every day now.” She smirks, and Whitney looks like she doesn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified that Lisa actually cracked a joke.
Hillside Villas. Lauren and Brody cuddle on the couch. The lights are dim and candle flames flicker. Brody is wearing a T-shirt with a huge grinning skull on the front. They’re talking about Spencer. It’s all incredibly romantic. Lauren and Brody vow to forget the B.S. and agree to always be there for each other. Aww. I’m taking bets in the comments section on how long that’ll last!
