In this week’s Katy Keene, there’s a bit of a crossover with Riverdale as Casey Cott guest stars, bringing Kevin Keller to New York to visit his step-sister Josie while she also handles the new Pussycats. Meanwhile, Katy deals with new information about Gloria.
Find out what happened in the newest episode of Katy Keene, “Chapter Ten: Gloria.”
People from #Riverdale be like… A new episode of #KatyKeene starts now on The CW! pic.twitter.com/TpsnPmnb1j
— Katy Keene (@CWKatyKeene) April 24, 2020
Katy is woken up to a knock at her door, and Josie asks if she’s okay; she was screaming in her sleep. A voice says he’s sorry to barge in, and it’s Kevin Keller, telling Katy he’s Josie’s step-brother. Katy says she totally didn’t forget he was staying with them, and Josie asks if she was having a sex dream. “Because you are flushed as hell.” Katy was not having a sex dream about anyone; she was having a nightmare that Gloria was chasing her around with this giant Jimmy Choo. Desperately trying to get away from embarrassment, Katy gets up, telling Kevin it was lovely to meet him, but if she doesn’t get to work on time, Gloria will actually attack her with a Jimmy Choo. She pushes Josie and Kevin out of her room so she can get ready.
Josie, Cricket, and Trula are rehearsing Josie’s new song, and while Josie says it was a good practice, the girls don’t quite see it that way. Cricket tells Josie they thought that since they’re a band, they would all be part of it. What Cricket is trying to say is they just feel like Josie’s background props. Maybe they could rearrange the song a little so they could all sing? Josie reminds Cricket and Trula this is Josie & the Pussycats; these are her songs. When they start writing new material, they both will be a part of the creative process. But she just doesn’t want any surprises for their first show.
Xandra walks in, wondering if she’s interrupting. Josie and Xandra talk, and Josie tries to clarify: Xandra wants to be in the Pussycats? Xandra admits that Josie’s EP is really good, and she knows they started off on the wrong foot, but she wants to be a part of what Josie’s building. Josie said it herself that Xandra’s a good singer, but that was when Xandra ambushed Josie’s song. Xandra says that was to piss off her stepdad; he’s the one who discouraged her from music. Now that Alex has cut ties with him, why shouldn’t she? Xandra could be a real asset to the group; market the hell out of it. “I also happen to love cats.” Josie tells her it’s just too messy between the two of them; too much has happened.
That night, Josie tells Pepper and Jorge about Xandra asking to be a fourth cat. “Trojan horse, much?” Josie says this is her first show there, and she’s not going to let Xandra mess with it. But she’s so glad that Pepper and Jorge are finally getting to meet Kevin. “He is a prolific playwright with a harrowing origin story.” Not quite prolific, he teaches drama at Riverdale High. Kevin thanks Pepper for hosting his reading; he’s hoping it’ll get him an agent, and she asks him what his play is about.
“La Bonne Nuit. It’s a coming-of-age noir set in the small town of Creekdale. A lot of people die and also make out.”
At Gloria’s book launch the next day, Mrs. Lacy introduces Gloria while Katy, Amanda, and the other girls are off to the side. As Gloria is reading an excerpt from her book, phones start going off in the small crowd. A journalist stands up and asks Gloria if she can comment on a piece just published in Daily Hail that claims she offers sexual favors to her A-list clients using her sales girls as bait, including a worker who “slept with a member of the royal family to secure Lacy’s involvement in the royal wedding.”
In her office, Gloria asks Katy if she did this, and Katy says of course not; she would never betray her. Plus, Katy didn’t want anyone to know about her and Errol. Katy only told Gloria … and Jorge, Josie, Pepper, Francois, and Guy LaMontagne. “That’s half the world, Katy!” Gloria should be reading from her memoir right now, not a Daily Hail smear piece. Katy assures Gloria that no one’s going to believe this because it’s not true. Mrs. Lacey comes in, saying she needs a word with Gloria privately. As Katy and Amanda help clean up the book launch, Gloria comes back down, leaving. Katy runs up to her, and Gloria tells her it’s okay; it’s just for a few days until the dust settles.
Gloria shows up at the apartment, much to Katy’s surprise. “Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to let me in?” As they’re talking, Katy tells Gloria that what they did to her was wrong and that she’s sorry. Gloria says not to be sorry; these days, if there’s even a whiff of a scandal, “You’re out on your Pucci before you even have a chance to defend yourself.” That’s why Gloria needs a favor from Katy. She tells Katy to write an op-ed explaining how she’s never coerced her girls into using sex as a tool in the workplace, just clear the air. Gloria’s close friend at the Times agreed to publish it. She’d do it herself, but Lacy’s lawyers put a gag order on her. Katy would love to; Gloria has done so much for her, and she will always be grateful. Katy’s already trying to figure out the source of the leak. Gloria will be back in her domain, helping clients before she can say Prada.
Kevin shows up to a Pussycats rehearsal, telling Cricket and Trula that Josie’s Plunkin’s manager wouldn’t let her out for rehearsal, so she had him stop by Target for some snacks on the way home as an apology. “So, you’re the new Pussycats.” The new Pussycats? Kevin tells them all about Josie & the Pussycats at Riverdale High; they were iconic. Mel and Val, his bestie Veronica joined at one point, and Cheryl. Intrigued, Cricket and Trula ask Kevin what happened.
Cricket and Trula get to Molly’s Crisis and find Josie, who tells them they’re missing out on precious sound check time. She notices something’s wrong, and Trula tells her they had a very enlightening conversation with her step-brother. Kevin told them about the other Pussycats. “Something tells me you were just as bossy back then.” Cricket tells Josie they thought about it and decided that if she wants to sing her own songs so badly, her way, she should do it. Without them. Cricket and Trula leave, despite Josie asking if they can talk about it.
Josie asks Kevin what he said to Trula and Cricket, and he says he just told them about the history of the Cats, they asked. Well, they quit, thanks to Kevin and his big mouth.
“I have moved on from Riverdale, Kevin. And all of the drama that came with it. But you, you’re still dwelling in the past about my history with the Pussycats.”
Josie tells Kevin he needs to move on, and Kevin wishes he could. “I still live in Riverdale. I work at Riverdale High. That’s my life.” Cricket and Trula were unhappy before Kevin talked to them, saying Josie’s controlling. Kevin may be stuck in the past, but he tells Josie that she’s ignoring it, making the same mistakes she made with Mel and Val. The Josie he knew back then was shut off. But Josie’s different in New York, happier. Just because she’s restarting her old band doesn’t mean she needs to bring back the old Josie.
After Kevin does a reading of La Bonne Nuit at The Pepper Plant, with Katy as Betty, Jorge — in full costume — as Veronica, Pepper as Cheryl, and Josie as herself, Katy calls Gloria over to the apartment. She tells her that she couldn’t write the letter. Some things in the article are true; Gloria has pitted the girls against each other and criticizes how they look and what they wear. Katy says that working for her sometimes is beyond rewarding, but other days Gloria makes her feel disposable and unworthy. It’s the general consensus among the girls. Gloria loves Lacy’s, but she thinks of the girls like her daughters. She would do anything to protect them, to make sure they succeed. She won’t coddle them or anyone else; she doesn’t believe in it. Katy tells Gloria if she wasn’t so hard on people, they would have her back.
Trula and Cricket show up at rehearsal, despite not wanting to. Josie took their feedback from their last practice, and she worked it into the song. It’s a new arrangement for all of them. Josie admits Trula and Cricket were right.
“We may be called Josie and the Pussycats, but you two are just as important to this band. It should be all of our voices working together on that stage.”
Katy meets with Mrs. Lacy, admitting that Gloria has her flaws. But she deserves to be in the department; she built it. Mrs. Lacy tells Katy she’s always been one of their brightest girls, so she trusts she can read. Katy must have noticed that the sign that has overlooked Fifth Avenue for nearly a century says “Lacy’s,” not “Grandbilt’s.” Katy understands that, and she acknowledges that Gloria has made mistakes, “but with all due respect, you’re making one now.” Gloria made it about herself instead of Lacy’s. Mrs. Lacy says that’s unforgivable.
Katy tells Gloria that she suspects that it was Mrs. Lacy. Guy told her that the Lacy’s board was looking to make an internal change so that the store could appeal to a new generation of customers. What if Mrs. Lacy felt threatened by Gloria and wanted to remove her as a potential heir to her throne? That’s why she planted the story in the Daily Hail. To tarnish Gloria’s name and remove her from the picture. All the pieces add up, and Gloria tells Katy she told Mrs. Lacy about her and Errol. Katy suggests they expose Mrs. Lacy and Gloria tells her no; she’s already released her statement to the press, an apology, and an official resignation. Mrs. Lacy had found out about an affair Gloria had with a supervisor, and it changed their relationship, and her affair came to an end.
“When the time is right, I will rise from the ashes like Coco Chanel after World War II.”
As Josie, Cricket, and Trula get ready for their very first performance, they hear their song playing. Xandra’s on stage, performing the group’s song, with an ‘X’ across the Pussycats’ drum set. After the performance, the Pussycats find Xandra and her dancers backstage, and Josie accuses Xandra of stealing her song. Xandra says she didn’t steal anything; she recorded her songs under a deal with Cabot Entertainment. They own her music. “And side note, performing your songs without our consent will be breaking the law.” Xandra tells Josie that her songs are great and they’ll be great for her new band, Xandra and the Kitty Cats.
The Fab Four, plus Kevin, are all sitting in the apartment, and Kevin says he could kill Xandra and her Dreamgirls. Katy wants to call KO and see if he knew anything about this, but Josie tells her to not drag him into this. “The good thing about cats is that they always land on their feet.” Katy mentions that she will be handing Mrs. Lacy a letter of resignation. She’s decided to stand with Gloria. Plus, she found a love letter to Gloria in her office from Leo Lacy, Mrs. Lacy’s son. The same initials that are on her mother’s sewing machine, L.L. “What if my mom and Gloria were dating the same person?”
Katy is all ready to hand in her resignation letter when Mrs. Lacy and the girls come in. Mrs. Lacy thanks them for standing by Lacy’s during these trying times. “You girls truly are the heart and soul of this store.” Since Gloria can no longer be with them, the personal shopping department is in need of new leadership. Until they find a permanent replacement, Mrs. Lacy has appointed Amanda and Katy to be the interim co-heads of the department.
“I trust you girls won’t disappoint.”
Katy Keene airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on The CW, streaming free the next day on The CW app.
