In the penultimate episode of the freshman drama, we are given a reminder that in a city such as New York, everyone has a story to tell, and the variations of those stories to be told. Some versions are polished, pretty for the general romance and woven tale, while another of the same tale may be dark, and unsuitable for even your closest friends, best to be hidden away. Read on to find out what versions we were told this week on Katy Keene.
Our opening sequence features Pepper being dropped off as an infant in an apartment building in the past, then breakfast with her favorite doorman, and father, at the same building. The Pepper Plant opens the next night and she wants him to be there to see her success. His news though, is that he finally has enough saved up to afford the studio apartment in that building for her. Meanwhile, Katy is in Guy’s bed, sketching a new dress idea. He is impressed with her work, complimenting it, but further impressed with Katy herself.
However, Josie and Alex have been working all night with the Pussycats in the studio and Alex is rightfully upset. Hannah had told Alex about Pepper, about embezzling money from him for not only the “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” but also for the Pepper Plant, and his lawyers are advising he go to the police. His options are to either go to his dad or the police, and Josie doesn’t want him to do either. However, does Josie really know Pepper? Do either of them? Josie does stand firm on one fact: Katy and Jorge have known Pepper for years, and they trust her, so she does too.
Back at the apartment later that day, Jorge tells everyone about his parents being behind on the mortgage. The rent has to go up, and his parents have been covering the difference with other tenants for years. Additionally pointing out that neither Josie nor Katy are there much anymore either due to Alex and Guy, respectively. With the apartment on the line and no eggs to sell for Jorge, Katy brings him on as an associate at Lacy’s, in perfumes. However, it takes two weeks to get a check and Amanda tells him to go to the Penn Station Hooters if he needs money that fast. Jorge then immerses himself into the go-go boy game at Molly’s Crisis for some extra quick cash.
Josie approaches Pepper about everything Hannah told him, about the investments, being married, all of it. If Alex doesn’t have his money back, the cops will be called. Pepper does admit to some of it, asking Josie not to tell Katy or Jorge to save embarrassment, and the best she can do to help is to have her and the band ready to open the Pepper Plant the next night. Josie is convinced Pepper is in trouble, but doesn’t know what to do to help her. Josie later asks Raj if he has noticed anything off with Pepper, but he can’t say as the focus has been on the Pepper Plant. He is reminded of when she tried to get access to his inheritance money though, which tips off Josie.
Forwarding to the opening day, Katy and Amanda are trying to help clean up the personal shoppers office when Pepper stops in to borrow a dress. Katy encourages Pepper that everything is going to go off without a hitch as Pepper receives a threatening text from Alex regarding his money. She sees one of the diamond covered purses from the Meta Gala sitting out, and carries it out the front door with her dress! At the same time upstairs, Gal and Katy are bagging the dresses for Guy’s collection for Fashion Week when Katy sees one of her feather dress design on a hanger! Gal is thankful Katy is keeping her brother calm during the busiest week for them, but just how calm will Katy remain considering her new boyfriend and boss just stole her art and idea? Francois later tells her she has to make a choice of what means more to her, the apprenticeship with Guy, or her design.
In tracking down the diamond purse, Amanda informs Katy that Pepper may be listed at the Palace Hotel, but she is no longer staying there, nor is she welcome. And after the Night of a Hundred Hearts, she returned nearly $20,000 in merchandise for cash which was not on her card. Neither of these Katy knew, but as Amanda leaves to go see Mrs. Lacy, Katy tries to call Pepper only to be directed to voicemail over and over.
While Alex is breaking his promise to Josie and crawls back to his dad for help, Katy begins to doubt Pepper and voices her concerns to Josie and Jorge. Josie fills the two in on what she knows, including the embezzlement. Jorge can only pull up a mugshot off an internet search of her with the name ‘Rosemary Woodhouse.’ Pepper shows up shortly after only to be confronted and interrogated by the three of them. Every question is deflected and directed to Josie being the one to blame for them knowing. Jorge and Katy put their foot down with her and she admits to “borrowing” the Sunsets diamond purse, except its currently with a friend being held on to for a moment.
Pepper walks out after being ganged up on by her friends. Katy rushes after her, threatening firmly to never speak to her again unless Pepper tells her the truth. The truth is that Pepper knows everything about Katy, however Katy knows nothing about Pepper. She tells Katy what she does know about her dad being a doorman, that she was adopted. Pepper felt like the only way someone like her could make it in the world was to become someone else, and that creates an allure for others. When confronted about the purse, yes, she did steal it to pay back Alex. The truth is when you love someone you don’t lie to them, and you don’t steal from them. Katy decides to go talk to Guy about her design after all.
Relationships generally do not work with those you work with, especially when one party is the boss. Will Katy learn that lesson? Relationship aside, according to Guy, she needs to know that she can trust him to not use her work. However, she is the apprentice. They work together and she helps him design. She helps make the dresses better, though, sometimes she makes them worse. How many of his ideas became Karloff’s when he was an apprentice? More than Guy could remember. Using one of Katy’s designs means to him that she is a part of his team. Katy sees the locked cabinet as Guy leaves the room for a while. Eventually, she finds the key on Gloria’s old keychain. Digging through the sacred cabinet, Katy finds multiple sketchbooks from past assistants filled with designs that Guy has used, one being a current dress in the collection they just completed.
Pepper had taken the purse to Chinatown and to Dickie, a pawn broker she knows to get the money to pay Alex back that night. She’s confident she will be able to get it back. After everything Pepper has confessed about to her friends, and to Katy, she needs to get that purse back. However, Dickie tells her it was too hot and had a buyer nearly immediately. Pepper sells off her entire outfit to get what cash she can before her opening party at the Plant.
Jorge does not want to be the reason his parents lose the building. All the money he earned go-go dancing the night before, he turns in to his father. Though his dad refuses at first, he reluctantly takes it in the end. Later, Jorge is invited to perform a private dance for the right fee, in the dressing, by one of the boys from go-go dancing the day before, when his father walks in on him. Though Jorge is not ashamed of what he does, his dad says he doesn’t have to do it anymore because Pepper paid the past due mortgage payments. The bad news is that it only buys them time as the city is forcing everyone on the block out.
Alex paid a visit to his father and went crawling back, coming to the terms that if he wasn’t paid back, Pepper and the Pepper Plant were 90% theirs. Pepper Smith and her Plant were now Cabot Assets. Later that night, Katy, Ginger, and Josie meet up with Alex and Pepper at the Pepper Plant. There is a screening area showing “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” brand new equipment for Josie and her pussycats, and Katy has a corner dedicated to her designs. KO sees Katy and he lets her know how proud he always was of her and one day he’ll be able to tell people “I knew her when.” Katy also doesn’t think she can let someone else use her designs, even if it is just how it’s done in fashion.
Amanda stops by to check out the Pepper Plant, and to let Katy know she is not in trouble. HR handled the missing diamond purse situation. Further, that Lacy’s has been sold off and the new buyer is shuttering the store. As soon as Amanda walks away, Guy shows up to the party. Katy lays into him about stealing from his apprentices for years. He asks to explain but the police get off the elevator and immediately go arrest Pepper!
Lying and stealing aside, Pepper is a good friend. Should she be forgiven right away? No, that is going to take some time, but they will be there for her in the meantime. We will see if that holds true next week in the season finale of Katy Keene, Thursday on The CW at 8:00 pm.