Secret Soft – Episode 5 begins with Ruby Yao (Stephanie Hsu) and AJ (Zosia Mamet) debating why the curse skipped Richie Diane (Michael Angarano). After several wild theories, Ruby is put on high alert when she hears Zack Bridgerton (Andre Hyland) yelling, to open the door. AJ is nowhere as near as concerned and soon reveals why. Apparently, Zack has a new set of virtual reality goggles. This whole debacle ends when AJ announces that she has to go to work.
Ruby is on her way to warn the next guy on her timeline when she runs into Richie, who wants more answers as to why he was skipped. After a little bit of friendly banter, Ruby asks him to accompany her to warn Caleb (Amro Majzoub). He agrees and it’s only minutes later when they find themselves in line at the bank.
While waiting in line at the bank, Ruby receives a text from Isaac (Tommy Martinez) that puts a smile on her face. It doesn’t take Richie long to learn practically everything about Isaac before he refers to him as a ‘secret soft.’ Although she doesn’t know what a secret soft is, Ruby clearly takes it as an insult before asking, Richie describes a secret soft as someone who does everything they can to make you think they have a chiseled body when in reality they are soft. Ruby is quick to remind Richie that either way, Isaac’s body is off limits to her because of the curse. This is when Richie makes himself available to Ruby should she want to have sex with someone without worrying about killing them. Ruby doesn’t get long to consider this before she is called to the counter. Her meeting with Caleb doesn’t go much better, and as it turned out, he gave her the wrong number. The only reason she never found out was because she didn’t bother to call it.
Outside the bank, Ruby receives a text from Debra (Elizabeth Bown), telling her that she is running late for their session. It’s a good thing because Ruby had apparently forgotten about it altogether. Even worse, her phone is nearly dead so she has to borrow Richie’s. While he does not have his phone with him, he does have his motorcycle. Seconds later, Ruby is sitting in Debra’s office.
Ruby’s session with Debra is practically all about Isaac but also reveals that Debra thinks Ruby pursues unavailable men because her father abandoned her after her mother died. According to their conversation, Ruby was also supposed to start writing her father a letter, which she has yet to do. The session ends with Debra suggesting Ruby take romance out of the equation for the next week.
Zack is at home playing with his new virtual reality headset when he loses connection. He manages to successfully reset the router but doing so leads to the uncovering of Ruby’s board. It’s only seconds later when Ruby is at work, ignoring his calls. Although Ruby approaches Isaac in the utmost professional way, it is Isaac who says he crossed a line when he told her about ‘The Greatest Showman.’ She doesn’t get long to digest this thanks to her boss, who wants to perform a quick rehearsal of the reading of the vows. The only problem is Merci is unavailable to play Isaac’s mother, which leaves Ruby as the only available party.
The reading of the vows goes as awkwardly as imagined but is only made worse when Ruby realizes she forgot to time the event. Before they can restart, Isaac excuses himself. With Isaac gone, Ruby takes the opportunity to answer Zack’s call, which makes matters all around worse. Before this conversation can go much further, Detective Brenowitz (David Denman) shows up to request Ruby’s presence downtown.
Once downtown, it doesn’t take Ruby long to realize she is being treated like a perpetrator, rather than a victim. The interrogation doesn’t get too far thanks to Brenowitz’s partner interrupting to announce a shooting at a downtown bank. Ruby already knows the bank and victim before he leaves the room. Despite this, Brenowitz still clearly thinks Ruby is guilty.
Zack is at home continually committing suicide on his VR headset when he’s approached by two streamers. They convince him to share his story with them. When he starts, he has 8 followers. By the time he is finished, he has nearly 1200. Little does he know, one of those followers happens to be Merci.
Ruby is leaving the police station when she’s approached by Isaac, who has just heard everything Merci heard from Zack’s stream. Much to Ruby’s surprise, Isaac thinks Merci is acting out and making the story up because he told her hours earlier that he had feelings for Ruby. Ruby doesn’t correct him and the two end up making out for several seconds before Ruby stops him. She tells him that she cannot keep repeating the same patterns because she doesn’t want to chance hurting him. When she offers him the opportunity to go back to Merci, he says that he doesn’t have a choice but to wait.
The next scene shows Ruby rushing over to Richie’s apartment and having sex with him. Things only get worse when she returns home to be confronted by AJ for sleeping with Zack.
Laid Review
I think a more fitting title for this episode would have been, when it rains it pours. This is practically what happened and it was entertaining to see it all come together right at the end. I didn’t realize that the detective was Pam’s boyfriend from the Office until this episode. I’ve only seen him in a few other roles but this would be the first as a cop. I’m not sure that the role was too fitting, although he didn’t do a horrible job.
As far as the episode goes, I don’t have too much to complain about. I was hoping Richie and Ruby’s relationship went a bit differently but all in all, this was an enjoyable episode that deserves a 5.6 out of 10.
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