Last week’s episode of the freshman series ended with Jorge and Bernardo surrounded by some guys and about to get themselves into trouble. In this week’s episode, everyone is still reeling from what happened, especially Jorge’s father, who wants to make sure nothing like that ever happens to his son again. Meanwhile, Katy tries to get Guy’s apprenticeship, but she realizes that it may be a bit tough when she has to mix professional with personal.
Find out all that went down in Katy Keene‘s eighth episode, “Chapter Eight: It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding).”
Get ready to party, West Coast. #KatyKeene starts now! pic.twitter.com/tV4g4tupWC
— Katy Keene (@CWKatyKeene) March 27, 2020
The gang, KO, Bernardo, Jorge’s parents, and brothers are all in the apartment, talking about what had just happened to Jorge and Bernardo. Bernardo says there were three, maybe four men, and once he got back on his feet, he started fighting them off. They ran off pretty fast after that. Bernardo mentions that the cops said without any witnesses, it’s as close to impossible to find the guys who did this. Jorge’s cop brother, Mateo, says he knows the boys at the precinct and will give them a call. KO says he went to Molly’s Crisis to ask if anyone saw anything, that whoever did this could’ve followed them from the club, and Jorge thanks him. “Of course. We’re family.” KO leaves, telling Jorge if he needs anything at all, he knows where to find him.
Jorge tries to assure everyone that he’s okay. Jorge’s mom, Luisa, tells Bernardo she doesn’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t there, but Jorge says he got a couple of good swings in there with his high heels. Jorge’s dad, Luis, wants to know why he was in high heels, and Bernardo tells him that Jorge didn’t have time to change from “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Luisa tells Jorge that from now on, he should put on his regular clothes before he comes home. Jorge refuses and finally confesses to his dad that he’s a drag performer. Luis asks Luisa if she believes this, and after she doesn’t respond, he realizes she’s known. Mateo tells Luis it’s not a big deal, but Luis doesn’t get it. Jorge could’ve been killed “because he thinks he looks cute in a dress!” Katy tells Luis it’s been a really long night and thinks they should let Jorge rest. Luis leaves without another word.
As Katy, Josie, Jorge, and Pepper are working on getting Josie’s EP out, Jorge brings up the fact that Katy took her sweet time with KO the previous night; what’s going on between them anyway? Katy says nothing. She just wants to be friends with him, real friends. However, Pepper thinks you can’t be friends with your ex. It never works. Josie adds that she and Archie keep in touch, but he’s in Riverdale (even after five years), while Jorge says he hasn’t talked to Buzz since they broke up on Valentine’s Day. Pepper never thinks it’s worth the work unless there are benefits involved. Katy tells Pepper that’s not going to happen; it’s just lunch. She misses KO, and applying to Parsons and getting the apprenticeship with Guy are things she wants to share with him. Seeing KO at the apartment with everybody reminded Katy he’s a member of her family. “I’ve already lost enough of them.” Josie changes the subject and asks Katy if the apprenticeship means she’s quitting Lacy’s, and Katy says she can’t; it’s unpaid.
Katy and KO meet up to have their “friends-only” lunch date. Katy tells him she’s never seen him eat a salad in her life; why now? KO admits he has a photo shoot the next day for Caboture, and it was Xandra’s idea. KO also admits they started seeing each other, which feels kind of serious. Katy says it’s not that crazy; she thought the two of them had a vibe. Is it weird for KO and Katy to be talking about it? Katy says no, they’re friends. “And friends talk about their love lives.” She tells KO she’s happy for him. KO asks Katy about her designing for the royal wedding, and Katy says a big designer is taking it on, but the upside is that she’s going to be his apprentice. KO’s proud of her, telling her to just think of how many people she beat out.
Katy shows up at Lacy’s for Guy’s apprenticeship, confused after seeing so many other women also interviewing for the position. Katy finds Guy, wondering if he’s hiring more than one apprentice; she thought she was a sure thing for the job.
She knows she doesn’t have the most impressive resume but is hoping to hear back from Parsons soon, and with Gloria’s recommendation, she thinks she has a really good shot. Plus, no one will work harder for Guy than Katy. Guy points out that she seems rattled, and Katy says it has nothing to do with him or the other girls. Katy starts to talk about KO and Xandra, realizing she’s talking about her ex’s sex life in a job interview with half of the fashion institute in Guy’s waiting room. Guy wonders if Katy foresees a problem prioritizing the job over whatever drama she may hypothetically be experiencing week after week. She tells him no; she prides herself in keeping her personal life and work life separate. “Clearly.”
Jorge’s working at Molly’s Crisis when Buzz comes in; glad that Jorge called. Buzz tells Jorge he’s been reading about the recent string of attacks over the last couple of weeks, but until he called, it almost didn’t seem real. Jorge sets the record straight. He is being himself, dating somebody who wants to be seen in public with him, totally worth getting beat up for. Buzz wants to help and tells Jorge he can give legal advice to him and to anyone who’s been assaulted or even harassed. Buzz says it just sucks that anything he does as a lawyer is reactive. He wishes there was something they could do that was proactive.
“Make the powers-that-be notice us so that something like this doesn’t happen in the first place.”
Luis visits Jorge, telling him he’s sorry for walking out before. Luis sees the dress that Jorge is planning to wear at Pepper’s party and says he always knew that Jorge wasn’t the same as his brothers. Jorge was more sensitive than them. It’s a good thing. When Luis was tired and stressed from a long day at the bodega, Jorge’s brothers barely noticed. Luis had to act strong because Jorge would know, and it would upset him. “I can’t be strong now. I can’t hide it. I’m scared for you.” Jorge was attacked because he was dressed as a woman, so now it’s his fault that he was physically assaulted? Jorge can’t help being gay; Luis knows that. “But you can help the way you dress. That’s a choice.” Luis is begging Jorge not to do this anymore. He doesn’t know what he’d do if he lost him.
Guy tells Katy he needs her to get a dress back from a former client of his, he loaned her the dress when she was courting him for a business partnership, and now she won’t return it. And, of course, that client is Alexandra Cabot. Katy told Guy that Xandra was dating her ex in confidence. He knows that this is the third rail for her. After what happened with Patricia’s wedding dress, Guy needs to know Katy can execute in her professional life no matter what is going on in her personal life.
Katy shows up at KO’s Caboture photoshoot, and Xandra comes up to her as she is watching KO. Katy tells Xandra she knows she and KO are dating, and she thinks that it’s great. KO seems happy, and Xandra seems like she cares about him. Katy tells Xandra she is there on behalf of Guy, and he would love it if he could have the dress that he loaned her. “That man has some nerve! First, he leaves me high and dry for Lacy’s, and now he has the audacity to ask me to return a gift?” KO comes up to them, wondering if everything’s okay. Everything is more than okay. According to Katy, they were just discussing some fashion business. In fact, so okay that Katy invites the new couple to Pepper’s party.
At Pepper’s party, KO and Xandra walk in, and Pepper comments on how she loves Xandra’s dress. “Oh, this old thing? It is a Guy LaMontagne original.” “Oh, hell, no.” Later, as everyone is talking, Xandra spills her drink on the dress. Katy can’t believe Xandra would do that on purpose. Guy loaned her that dress, and now she disrespects him like this? This will ruin Katy’s chance at the apprenticeship. KO tells Xandra that Katy’s got a point. Xandra has a million dresses. This is Katy’s one dream.
“Well, it’s good to know that you’re more concerned with your ex’s dreams than your girlfriend’s feelings.”
Katy tells Xandra they’ve been together for 10 minutes while she and KO were together for 10 years. They supported each other’s dreams while Xandra is trying to change everything about KO to suit herself. Xandra does know one thing. If Katy fought for KO half as hard as she’s fighting her right now, she’d still have him.
Katy finds Xandra in the restroom, trying to get the wine stain off the dress. Katy apologizes for what she had just said and admits she still feels something for KO. They were together for so long. Katy seeing KO happy with somebody else is hard for her to comprehend. Xandra confesses that’s how she felt seeing Alex with Josie and says that maybe she’s taken things too far with KO, but she doesn’t want him to be a different person. She just thinks he’s capable of more. Katy agrees that KO deserves somebody who will fight for him. Xandra accepts Katy’s apology and walks away.
Katy finds Jorge backstage and asks if he’s okay, they haven’t talked much since the attack. Jorge is angry that he can never walk down the streets of his city without looking over his shoulder. He’s mad that there’s nothing he can do to find those thugs. The truth is, Jorge’s not scared of being attacked. What gets him is that he could lose the support of his family.
“Family isn’t just your blood. It’s who you choose. And Jorge, I choose you. We have each other. We’re your family.”
Katy’s right; he does have another family. And families celebrate.
The next day, KO shows up at the apartment with Guy’s dress. Xandra had it dry-cleaned and is completely wine-free. Although KO didn’t have to bring it by himself, he wants to talk to Katy about the previous night. Katy apologizes for all the drama, saying she’s not proud of her behavior. She let her work frustrations get the better of her. It’s also much harder for Katy to see KO with somebody else. KO’s been thinking that he should’ve stood up for Xandra; he’s just so used to being Team Katy. “I guess old habits die hard.” He does want to be friends with her and hopes she gets that apprenticeship.
Katy delivers the dress to Guy, who is stunned that she managed to get it from Xandra. She tells him that her ex is the one who convinced her to give it back. “Turns out sometimes your personal life can help your professional life.” Katy freely admits that her life is messy, but she never lets her feelings get in the way of fashion. “Okay then, Katy Keene. You got the gig.” Katy is officially Guy’s new apprentice.
Katy, Pepper, Josie, and KO show up to a rally to end hate, with dozens of people holding signs and gathering around. They find Jorge, as Ginger, and Katy can’t believe she got so many people to come out; plus, according to Pepper, everyone in the city will read about it in The Daily Hail. Bernardo tells Ginger to say something and gives her a blow horn.
“I just want to say, for anybody out there who’s living in fear, today’s the day we refuse to hide ourselves. Today’s the day the city sees us as we really are.”
Afterward, Buzz comes up to Ginger, telling her he finally came out to his parents, and she introduces him and Bernardo.
“Thanks to Jorge, I learned the family you choose is just as important as the one you were born with.”
Just friends. Stream #KatyKeene: https://t.co/SbfBrtsGzQ pic.twitter.com/Y9JsgWkX5n
— Katy Keene (@CWKatyKeene) March 28, 2020
Due to COVID-19, Katy Keene is taking a few weeks off but is reportedly coming back Thursday, April 16. In the meantime, rewatch the series from the beginning for free on The CW app.
