Money Talks ("For Love or Money" S1 E4)

Still the Place with Laura Layton, Courtney Thorn Smith and.

Daphne's Aniga an iHeartRadio podcast. So we've had a fan question about shooting in front of the iconic exterior of Melrose Place. The exterior was actually I think in Los Felis. I never had a scene out there outside of that wherever it is in Los Felis. I know we had a piece of it on like the inside of the exterior we had on on the soundstage.

Yeah, but we did shoot like the first in the pilot, Andrew and I had that scene where he's I'm getting out of my car and he's trying to talk to me. That was in front. It must have been most feelis we were driving how far we drove all the time, Like our locations were all over town. We had a location over an hour away in Oxnard, So I guess it was just you get the call sheet, you look it up on your Thomas Guide, remember the Thomas Guide pre gps. You have to try to figure out where

And for the building, I think they just picked this great looking Spanish apartment complex and it just happened to be in Las Filas. So they shot establishing shots and then just used them over and over as stocks farded.

So maybe someone walking.

Yeah, when we're going to arrive at the court aired first, we're going to use this establishing shot that we shot a long time ago in front of the actual apartment, which is the Las Fela. So when you confuse people, I think, like down the line, when fans would come to Los Angeles and they'd be like, I want to see Melros place, they'd go, you know there, it's not actually it's a it's not Yeah, mel Re's place itself is not going to.

Have never lived there and yeah never we've never shot there really, but.

That establishing shot comes up in our episode that we're about to.

Recapt Yeah, the title, Yeah, We're ready for Love Money, We're ready, season ready, Season one, episode four.

We're only on episode four. We have a long ways to.

Go, lad, Yes, we did thirty six years.

We need to go like if okay, So this was July. This one aired July twenty ninth, nineteen ninety two, and I did look it up. There were Summer Olympics going on in nineteen ninety two, just.

Like, oh no, that was summer.

Yeah, I didn't know that.

Do you want to know what what songs are popular? I?

Do you do? My god?

Well, I just have one for you and you may you may remember this that made ring a bell Sir, Mix a lot, Baby got back?

Do you know that one?

I can't believe it was that long ago. Wow, that feels more recent.

Or maybe it's just like on a loop in your mind when I say the title, Wow, I like.

I'm like looking at my notes, going, did she look that? Well?

I just thought, you know, like, let's get looked it up, Let's get us let's back to that.

Let's like I was thinking about, like thinking about the exterior night shoots. I was thinking, you know, it's so funny because back then, you know, none of us had kids, were all kids. I don't remember thinking about how late it was, like, you know, call time at ten o'clock in those feelers, okay, right, Like we didn't question it. We just sort of showed. I got my store mix a lot in my car.

I'm just driving off cassette player, right Like, I don't.

Remember questioning the schedule. You're just there from you know, six a m. Till midnight. You don't think twice about it.

M hmm. Yeah, we just did well because it was ensemble and each of our scenes were separate, right like you might have a call from six am to whatever noon, and I would have one from three at three, and you would have one at you know, six at night. I mean there were just sometimes in the most arbitrary in the middle of the day.

But also just the sheer number of hours. I just I just brought me back to think about that time. And Yow didn't even question it, like I didn't like now I would look at and how late am I working? What am I doing? It? Just show up there there's nothing paying youthful and youthful. And also remember so I know we're getting right into the episode, but we open on D and D advertising, which was spelling for the exterior.

Of actual spelling productions. Yes, yeah, on Willshall Wiltshire Boulevard? Is that the Is it only me? I cannot say boulevard When I first said, I just say the whole thing will Boulevard. It's two times in house.

Okay, now you dab you no, But when you came here, when you came here from the Midwest, did you first pronounce it will Shire? No, I didn't, but I didn't put it.

I will say there's something wrong with it because also when we started doing like the promos and we'd have to go, hi, it's Laure Lane from Melrose Place, I'd be hi, it's Laure Lane from Moo's place, like what, I couldn't get it out. So Wilshire Boulevard, maybe you just shouldn't say I just need to announciate.

Just stay around it gay the street.

You know that sounds like right down right down the center of Beverly Hills.

Okay.

So this episode for Lover Money Season one, episode four aired July twenty nine, nineteen ninety two, and we open on Jake working on his motorcycle in the courtyard and Jane and Michael are returning from their run. How about that they're just like running along the streets of.

Melrose and U.

Michael immediately notices that Jake's motorcycle is dripping oil in the courtyard and he warns him that he's going to need to move that and oh, by the way, drop off your rent check, which is where when we find out that Jake is having trouble.

Finding jobs, and Jake is do how immediately he was defensive and angry, like I'm like, wow, you're just out of the gate.

Bad ye madam yep, already already angry, And Michael said exactly what I was thinking. He's like, dude's oil all over the pool.

Yeah, and just like okay, okay, just maybe you know what this is where people make out.

What are you doing fixing your motorcycles?

This is the makeup you're going yard, dummy. Well, he just broke up with the sixteen year old, so he's like, I don't he's doing it on purpose.

But that's where we learned that's Jake's going to need to go find a job. He's got to pay his rent. So that's establishing what we're going to do in this episode. So then going to D and D Advertising, Allison our little advertising I want to be exect. She's making all the right moves answering the phone, and she's congratually an executive on the phone on this on a stock split. She's like, I know what to say and I'm going to say it and.

I'm going to get some ends with the higher ups.

And Rick from the mail room notices her phone etiquette, compliments her on it, and also hands her a donut.

Yes, very flirting.

Zach Gallaghan who we remember like and yeah, I'm now a very recognizable.

Fakemlin Yes fromtally like years before, like nineteen eighty four or something like.

And he's had a long career and it was really fun to see him as.

Your flirty, flirty co worker baby.

It was a super cute and flirty scene.

Adorable.

So then we find that Jake's looking for a job at a coffee shop. Goes up to one of the staff and saying, hey, I can do this. I know machines, I can I can operate that espresso machine. But the guy assumes Jake is an actor writer or model, which is like a quintessential La reference. You know, a good looking guy, you must be you must be an actor model.

Yes, And also it's annoying and you don't want to hire them because they're going to leave. If they have an audition, they'll just leave. The cappuccino overflowing. I mean they have like they come and go. So he's like no, He's like, oh no, gross, I make you know.

He's like, no, I work on instruction. I'll be perfectly suited for this to operate. His fresh machine, but the coffee guy, he's also had a long career Simon Tuppleman.

He was the kind of recognized them. Yeah, I thought he was great.

Actually he was great. Yeah, he's done a lot of voiceover, big voiceover guy in gaming.

I think he's funny.

Yeah, I thought it was funny.

He was very skeptical of Jake's ability to make a coffee and it gives him a shot. Anyway, we'll see how that turns out. And then back at the exterior of D and D again on what Bulvard on Wilshire Boulevard, Laura nicely said, very enunciated. That's where Alison is sitting outside at Lune with this new little UH co worker.

Ris seems very promising, you know, at first.

Yes, that's very cute, very flirty.

Turns out he's the boss's son.

Yep, he's the son of the client that they're trying to get this advertising campaign right for sun Ray sunscreen. And that's where we're also introduced to Lucy Cabot, who is Deborah Dare and she's one of the D and D. Is she your boss at D and D?

Alison, she's a vice president at D and D who also had a long career in soap operas before she came to us.

Didn't she actually have a soap opera at the same time as she was doing Melrose Like in later seasons? Didn't she overlap and both.

Of these jobs simultaneously sounds so familiar.

Crazy, she was a proan imagine she was great.

I cannot imagine.

Well, so she's she's the she's the boss that Allison is trying to she's trying to sort of grow into her shoes, and she looks up to her as a mentor, and and she's becoming friends with this coworker Rick. And then Rick asks Alison out to dinner and she's a little wary, like, I don't know, officer romances. Doesn't sound like risky business. Also a reference to a nineties movie. But then we here's the first time we see Alison in a vest. Did you guys notice her vest?

I did? I wrote that down vest over a tea.

It was kind of a bad vest. It wasn't a cute vest.

It's a lot going on. There's a lot going on, but it was. It was definitely a sign of the time.

But vests were big then, vests were very cho wore some best I wore vests, and well this is later, let's I know a few months later. But they're back now, aren't they? Yeahs coming back.

But I didn't find that there were enough vests in this episode alone that I made kind of a vest count.

Count.

Yeah, we have a kiss counter shirtless count. This is actually a vest count.

Episode, and this is the first vest I really liked the wardrobe in this in this episode for many reasons. Yeah, I don't know the vest we all noticed it.

So then back at the coffee shop Jack Jake is foaming the milk he's learned how to operate that little steamer thing, and his boss Kurt is hovering giving him a hard time, and Jake is rolling his eyes, like why can't we just have like regular just coffee? Do we need the half cap cappuccino all the thing? But in walks uh a girl who looks an awful lot like Winona Writer in this moment.

It's not Michelle Johnson. And she came back because I was surprised to see her because I had stuff with her later.

As joke the character, Yeah, because she came back.

She was like Jake's bad boy, his hou, his past. She was bad news.

She's going to come back, but this is the first time. Yep, she's going to come back. And then they have that line another sort of noir reference. So the in last week's episode, we had like the whole noir opening for episode three, and then there's there's this line when she walks in and she's like all the cappuccino joins in l.

A you had to walk in.

I noticed a line. I noticed the line she said, did you get this one? I love the way you bury that nozzle?

Super awkward, but it started, it started with a casablancaes for reference, and then we then we seek right.

Down, let's her mind is where we really are? And then I do remember though she Michelle had a she was discovered and put in Do you remember that movie eighties? I think it was a eighties movie. Blame it on Rio, Blame on Rio. She was like the girl to me. Moore was in that too, Michael Caine.

It was a huge movie and she was the teenager with Michael Caine, fresh new thing who and then she again also a super well yep, not making that movie today, No, no, thank you. But yeah. So so Jake is feeling a little defensive of his job and no, I'm you know, and she says, wait, I might have an opportunity that you would be interested in to make a lot more money. He's like, no, I'm I'm good here, I'm just I'm

Shy object for a second.

I'm talking to Matt dress.

I'm all going to help you. I'm totally dedicated. You can trust me. Oh what's up? Yeah that was Rhonda? Do you know what?

Matt volunteers at the halfway House where he works at the Halfway House. I am not even sure worked at the halfway House.

He must, you must have some He's definitely a do gooder. That must be his actual job, not just volunteering.

But I think that is his job.

Yeah, but that's how that's where we sort of learned the first thing about Matt besides him just being everybody's nice neighbor.

Here's what he does.

He's the do gooder and he is a good guy, and he did I think when Rhonda had that squirrel moment, he sort of like was like kind of his out on that scene.

Was Matt going like what the heck was that? You know?

And Doug's watching the episode with me and he's like, I remember there were a lot of scenes where I sort of like finished on a like what just happened?

Yeah, Well, because the dress was called the come and Get Me Dressed? Yeah yeah, and so Sandy's like, I'm loaning my come get me dressed to Jane, and Ron is like, that's my come get me dressed.

Yeah. It was a lot, so he he got to have a justified eye roll or a head shaking out. And then back in Allison's bedroom, she is trying on the dress, thanking Sandy for the dress, wondering if it's really right for her for her date with Rick. When Billy walks in shirtless, right, was that the first shirtless I did.

I did write down a shirtless for that, and I was like, well, why just because we need to there's several people in the house, I'm going to walk out without my shirt, Like, yeah, for a long it's a long scene to be shirtless. That's before they started putting the kibosh on the shirtless and like, all right.

Sure, yeah.

Andrew's like, all right, that's what they tell me. We're all just two hours and shirtless for no apparent reason except I know I'm gonna be answering to the door and it's gonna be another guy.

It made sense later then I was like, oh, that's why. But for most of the scene, I'm like, I mean, it's nice, but why he just hanging around shirtless?

I just thought it was funny to see like all four of you in this tiny little room, and like, it just felt so funny to me. Awkward. You usually see like two people in a scene and you know it's in the courtyard and you're someone's leaving and someone's going and then they all come in here, and can I just tell you what I thought was really weird? And I want you to answer it. The doll, the shelf of dolls in your bedroom? Did you notice the shelf crammed with dolls? Floor to see dolls? Forget the

Those were my dolls? Thinking about this like no, no, no, because I think Billy makes a joke about it at some point. It was like one of those strong character choices that just was never really dressed.

But because it's a big like you didn't make the character choice, so we're assuming, like set.

I did make a choice. Was it was written in It was like that I had. It was kind of Allison's, you know, her control her organization, like I have the shelf of dolls, Everything has my label on it. It was part of that initial character.

I was really wondering choices because there's so many ways to show that, and I just thought, what are these dolls?

It'll be interesting we should pay attention to when they just disappear. I'd I don't never really day it just sort of somebody came in and the night and just removed men.

Address these. Let's get rid of this.

I mean, there's so many dolls. You need to have a story about them or something we're not going to.

Tell you about. This is where they should go.

Nobody mentioned the dolls.

I want to be honest, I didn't notice them, So now I'm going to start looking for it.

You didn't, I didn't.

I didn't notice them either.

I didn't know well, but imber so if they're still there, I'm going.

To be looking. I mean, because there's a small room and the reason I think I noticed and that there are four of you in there and you can't really move, so they're just there behind you. And I'm like, what is with these fifty dollars she has?

It gives us something to look for.

That so funny.

Definitely will they or will they not be? The will disappear?

So and uh.

Anyway, so she's getting ready for this date, trying to decide if the dress is too much, and Billy is giving her advice, saying, just keep it to business, just stick to business, just talk about business, and then he of course has to go answer the door when Rick is knocking, and he answers shirtless in a towel, not only as you shure, he's just wearing the towel, which you know has a full conversation doing that, which exactly is.

In a full on suit like he's going to a mixture. But he did.

He did have like the eyeball, like the shot where he had to like thing didn't tell that about yes, yeah, what do I know? We watched his eyes go yees, yeah, got it, he noticed.

But Billy just listened to his tie right then or something, just to confuse us. Where is this going?

But yeah, so Billy uh says No, I'm just the roommate and just have Alison back by one thirty at the latest, which is yeah, that's a very late bedtime for a working girl.

It's so late girl. I said, how about nine fifteen. Yeah, I'm going on my pajamas by nine thirty.

By ten, yeah, please give me back a way earlier than that.

Rick.

But there they go. They go out on their date. It's a very romantic restaurant with white tip cloth and and they're getting to know each other.

It felt weird to see us out on a date like in a restaurant I think grown up. That feels very grown up. It did. I thought, oh, that looks very grown up to me. Yeah, which, of course we were in our twenties. We were going on dates like that.

Yeah, but you as if he's the son of the sun ray sunscreen, like maybe he's got money money.

Also, I think we spend so much from in the courtyard in the apartment that to see us out in the world on a real looking date, it was fun to see.

And it was an actual restaurant, wasn't it.

It was an actual restaurant people walking by on Melrose and it was on Melrose Avenues. It was outside you could see the Great Greek restaurant.

Yeah.

Well, I think it was one of the first times on the show there was there were you anyone was in a restaurant. So I know later over the course of all our years there were tons of restaurants scenes.

But yeah, but I think they shot on Melrose a lot early on. It was like, use as much of Melrose as do you remember the restaurant?

It was no, but it was read across the Green Greek probably look it up. But I do remember the excitement of shooting there, Like first we would shoot there and and I had I was in an acting class on Melrose Avenue who sometimes Greco was his name, and uh so I would be an acting class sometimes when you guys were shooting, and I would come out of my acting class and see you guys shooting my gos like time warp.

It was always like because shooting on a place like Melrose, you know, they have to bring all those trailers and all those like set up like base camp, like somewhere in the neighborhood. It was a big like high we're here, wasn't really subtle, So the whole neighborhood is like, what is going on when there's a you know, a TV or movie shoot on a busy street like that?

And was it at night?

It was at night. And the shift from before we were on TV, and people like what do you you have to explain it? Like with this the show it's a DV sho to when it became more popular, was so it was so severe, like the people that would stop, they had to keep the crowds away. There was a lot of noise. There was a lot of people wanting to come close. It was so different. But I'm sure here we just sat there nobody cared. People walked by it.

Yeah.

Probably.

Yeah, it's really fun to see those locations and and there you are having your little romantic sort of get to know each other. And Alison decides to tell Rick about an idea she had for for a campaign idea for the sunscreen company. Yep, I mean I can't say I was surprised.

Yeah, keep it inside, Alison, don't take the quiet part out loud. But you know she was just just assuming a naive and trusting and trusting. She's from Wisconsin. Alison dolls have a doll next at.

The table, and then next they come back to the courtyard and Rick is walking Alison back to her apartment and they start making it.

Yeah, Alison made.

The kiss out since first makeout in the courtyard, there were many, but this is my first guest star they brought in for me to make out with.

Billy's Piero's.

We should start is how many guest stars did you get to make out with?

My brain doesn't remember.

I'm gonna do my own very best. Because there was a time when everyone talked about what a slut Amanda was was sled. Amanda was, but she and I actually did account. I'd actually made out with more people. But because they brought guest stars in for me to make out with, you didn't count them as much. But because she was sleeping around in the apartment building of characters and it sort of stuck to her, I was like people, No, I was because I kind of didn't stick to Alison.

And I think it's a good time to start the count.

I'm starting my own will I will be in charge of. I'm starting a new list of Allison's guest star makeout opportunity, Allison's.

Conquest star opportunities. The star kisses.

That's adorable. I'm going to think of something better.

You get to us.

We we'll find out what the title of this.

Alice's out Okay, I think you should keep looking for.

Billy notices. He peeks out the window shades, because if you're going to kiss in the courtyard.

Somebody's going to see you so and he.

Sees some kissing your platonic boy, probably everybody, probably all everybody's looking out their window like who's doing it now? Because it was a constant kiss your board lookouts to use making out.

But then, can we talk about the next thing that happened in the courtyard the next day? Yeah, Ronda is rehearsing her new workout routine by the pool, but she's doing it full onto the camera. Yeah, like onto the camera, and she's like booking and she's looking at the camera. It's very strange.

I don't know why it was.

That seemed like a direction thing, yes, you know, and I don't know. I didn't it was.

It was an odd direction because it was a little jarring to go to the courtyard and then all of a sudden she's doing this boogie down routine. But she was like fully committed and did her thing. But just the the shooting of at the angle, like to have her square to the camera, sent her frame and looking in the lens was bizarre, a little jarring.

And Allison's leaving for work.

Sandy comes downstairs in a bikini asks about the date and suggests maybe that she should model for Sunray Sunscreen. And then Matt comes out of the apartment reminds Rhonda, don't forget five pm.

You're coming to help me, make you committed. You're coming, and in.

Walks Perry looking for Jake, yes, and knocking on the door of his apartment. Sandy's sunning herself in her bikini tells Perry that Jake isn't home.

When can I tell him? Who's call in? Just tell him that Perry with a secretary.

There's there's a little bit she bantered there between.

These and you know, I love anyone noticed her choker so nineties Perry's yes, she wore it more than one scene. She wore in the next one too, which with that fabulous outfit in the art gallery with the collar to hear and yeah, stretchy pants up to hear. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But she had this classic uh choker from the nineties, like this thick black band with this like a star or something hanging like we're like so big back then, and yeah, like they're just I don't think that's translated.

Wore some of those oh yeah chokers back in then. Sidney probably woh yeah, Sidney wore everything in style or not, she was the choker this she's the arts one Sydney when she comes on the scene. But also like Sandy's bikini in this same very like vintage up. Yeah, like very cute, styly but vintage not at all in the nineties.

Like she's advocating for herself. I'd be good for the sunscreen modeling, don't you think?

I did notice that her her she got darker and darker as like as the scene went on, like her body makeup got reapplied.

As I really close up, it.

Was like, whoa, she's gotten a lot of sun in the forty seconds.

She really Wow, that's such an inclusing thing.

You noticed, dolls.

I noticed there's things. There's so much chopped up.

So Alison gets to work and there's an envelope with a rose on her desk and in walks her boss, Lucy Cabot, and you take this up. Alison takes her that opportunity to introduce herself, tells her that she's excited about the sunscreen account. Do you remember the first scenes in D and D, like, does it feel like the same D and D or does it feel like a different version than than where it kind of landed?

Well, because I moved into the bullpen. Oh true, right, you're the receptionist. Yeah, that's what it was. Yeah, And I think then we must have had a set by then, right when it moved into the office, And so.

Was the when you were shooting the scenes at the receptionist desk? Was it like it wasn't a full set? Was that like a did they set that up like in our production?

Suggestible? I feel like it was there. Maybe it's not. Maybe we just did the of course we did the X years there. It must have been on the sound stages. It's just funny. I remember it as being there, But that can't be right.

Because soundstage, because it looked like it was a sound stage. But was it a whole set or I just I don't remember.

I was thinking it was about a block at the spelling offices. I think I'm just so naive that it's suggestible. I think, well, we walked in the front door, it must be in there. Oh, but I think you must be right. It must have been. It must have been video. I don't remember I remember Deborah being at at Santa Clarita, so it must have been there, because why would she get ready there if we weren't shooting there.

Definitely huh.

So.

Then so Matt comes into the teen shelter. He's got his scucies, is already for this big night and he needs his help. And Ronda shows up and he and but not to help. She's showing up to say she can't help that, I'm double booked and I've got to teach in the rugby's class. And she lets him down and he's clearly disappointed. Yes, But back at D and D, Allison is overhearing Rick pitching her sunscreen idea to Lucy and seeing that they're responding positively to it, and she

Yeah, before hr she goes right to the boss and Lucy says, you got to get a tougher skin, which I think was really true of the times, right, you had nowhere to go. You had to just tough en up if you wanted to be a woman in business, and you had to just definitely the.

Son of the times. Yeah, like you don't get away with that anymore. It's like, no, you changed the density of your skin. Yeah, mine's fine.

Well yeah, but I think it actually was good advice. I think it was good advice, like you're going to have to grow up if you want to be in this in this kind of world.

And she also points out that like, ooh, this is delicate because Rick is, you know, this big client. It's the son, and I don't want to rock the boat. So you're gonna have to be you know, you're gonna have to toughen up, and you've got to take this one.

Well, but it's like a being a parent and you have two kids and one because they did it, they did it, who do you believe? So she's kind of like, look, he brought the idea to me, yep, and you should have. You should have brought the idea to me like it was on you. I think it was actually a good lesson. Yeah, tough enough, Alison.

So then back at the coffee shop, Jake's boss Kurt is giving him a hard time, telling him he's making the coffee wrong, and he's like, I've had.

It, forget it.

Shockingly, Jake is mad yep, takes off his apron, throws it down, and walks out.

He's been there only a couple hours. I don't think I'm a couple. It's only been a couple hours. But he's had it, and he says, I don't need your five dollars, And that was probably gonna happen. Yeah, but it really only took a couples. This was not a cliffhanger. We did not need to do each other next episode to find out. But five dollars an hour. He said, I don't need your five dollars an hour, which is personally my sign of the.

Times for the episode.

Yeah.

Well, but then another sign of the times. He goes to a payphone to call Parry and says, let's talk. So turns out he wants to hear about her idea. After all, He's desperate, so he goes to Perry's art gallery, where Perry tells Jake about her idea, that she's actually made a small fortune selling paintings to this guy and his friends. And I think, you know, we should scam these guys. You should pretend like you're the artist. You're hot new artist. Trust me, they'll believe it. It's a

To do it.

And she starts painting him, painting his t shirt.

Yeah, they start mixing each other up with paint. And let's put it this way. They had a real painting date. They had the painting date that Alison Billy, the opposite of Alison and Billy had on that episode when they were like go up and down, go up and down. In this they painted each other and end up against the wall and.

There were visible tongues there. She came and she had her tongue out about three feet from wows we got to keep it in a little bit.

There was no intimacy coordinator, no intimacy coordinator, and he lifts her up but against the wall and they make.

I mean that is something to talk about. Like with kissing scenes, I always like working with people. A lot of experiences go what do you think? Like, what is your idea about kissing scenes? Some people really kiss, some people close mouth. My vote is open mouth, no tongue, because they want to look like a real kiss, but you don't want to like she.

Did it on purpose. I felt like it was very like.

It and let's shoot it right close up.

Yeah, but it was the characters. I mean, they're trying. They're doing everything to show.

Us something to say is the character and another to go out another actor with your tongue like that, Well it's really.

Well, I mean, let's let's this is some sign of the times as well.

Well.

We didn't have intimacy coordinators and pretty much actors could do whatever they want and you had to like say stop.

And it's a really awkward thing for the director advocate.

But it's funny court because Grant said to me early on when I came on the show, He's like, we do proper kissing, which is open mouth and no tongue. And I'm like, okay, so I think you were like, I don't know anyway. I was like, I wasn't planning on, Like I've been doing this for a while too. I know that you open mouthed, no tongue. Okay, well, but she.

Didn't have It looks bad if you have this passionate scene and their mouths are pursed and it looks like they're kissing, right, But it's also a lot if they're like really making out. You're like, oh my.

Goodnessney, because I would think it would be a censor thing too, But I just listen. I also think it was very right for the characters. I mean, listen, they have all this energy to get up. They clearly are these grifter, edgy people from the past.

I agree, But you create the illusion.

Yeah okay, I'm just saying, but what they don't.

Put your tongue out as you're walking through the door heading for the kids.

You have to like, like, we could have probably gotten that amount of pass She did it more than one.

They did it, and I didn't see him do it because he came from the soap operas. Heap opera kissing.

Well, he knew the ground rules, I wonder should but then they ended up all over this canvas.

With their paint and everywhere, and paint is paint button marks on the canvas.

Yes, we're going to get there, and we're totally on the same page about this. First but first, hang on that. We find out that Ronda is trying to talk to Matt while he's swimming in the pool, and I have to say Matt was having his first storyline in this episode because he keeps appearing he's actually having.

Shirtless scene and the pool.

Shirtless stude, right, and he's like, he's he's angry, he's he's disappointed, and he tells Ronda that she's self absorbed, and she says in retaliation, well, we can't all be saints, Matt, which was like sort of an interesting accusation that leaves him thinking about hmm. But then back in Allison's room, she's in bed eating ice cream.

With a teddy giant wooden spoon.

Giant I mean not a little bit of a regular spoon.

Huge, I know, and not like a pint of ice cream, like a half gallon of ice cream with a huge wooden spoon.

And c yeah yeah, and the Teddy Bear? Yeah camera, were the dolls trauma in our own way?

Were the dolls in that scene?

I have to know they're opposite.

Okay, so they were off camera?

Bear, you knew they were there. The Teddy Bear was right here.

Yeah.

And Billy comes in and just like my poor girl, what with the wooden spoon girl?

All the other ones are in the dishwasher.

That seemed like a situation where the props like this is all we have. Let's just go with it.

Yeah, okay, and she sort of tries to blame Billy, well, you told me to talk about business and then this happened whatever, and he gives her a pep talk and says you can go back to work and show them what you made up. So it gives her another pep talk, so off she goes. She goes back to work, and Lucy is sort of now Lucy the boss is telling coming to her and sort of apologizing like, hey, listen.

I don't want you to be disgruntled.

Oh But instead of being annoyed by that, Allison is like, well, actually I have more ideas, and to her credit, Lucy says, great, want but why don't you work with Rick on them and present them, which can.

Then come to the thing.

I love this, Yes, very satisfying.

Yeah, seeing Alison standing up for herself and getting how to take things into her own hands. So back of the art gallery, here's where we get to talk about this art. So Perry, Perry comes into the art gallery. It's the night of the presentation. There got these potential buyers.

And she's snorting cocaine and we're.

Not going but first she's introducing Jake is the new artist right to this potential buyer. And here's where we reveal the canvas and it's just got these blobs of color the that are all these round prints.

Which yeah, what did you think they were?

Butts?

Boobs?

Right?

What did you think they were? Deaf? Totally boobs and butts. Yeah, like cocaine but.

Not like they were making like they were doing but yeah, like like let me lift you out there.

And also what did the prop guy actually do to make that art? Do you think he just like went around like put this on the floor and yeah, like what was that to like? Was it they kind of like pillow a sponge.

It's all at illusion, it's art making art making in every color like primary color, butts and boobs on this art campus. So then after they do that and then present the art, we go back to D and D and we see that Rick and Allison are having this like brainstorming meeting, and we find out that Rick doesn't actually.

Have any ideas, not much of a brain there.

M yeah, you go, Allison exactly. But here's another vest.

She was wearing a vest in the sea.

It was the times. I remember those very fitted T shirts, right, I remember those very fitted, like stretchy white T shirt.

With a giant vest.

It was.

It was like an oversized Yeah, bodysuits, remember bodysuits.

Yes, those are back in style.

Thouit.

But Alison is showing her grit. She's got moxie, she's got an idea. So then we get back to the art gallery where Jake walks in on Perry finding that she's snorting cocaine in the back room after they've presented this art.

Which she very graciously offers to him because she's a good hostess, and he is like, absolutely.

Not I want offered her anymore everything.

Here's here's another Like you said, daft, this was That was another scene there's a huge room, a ton of background actors, Like they populated that art gallery like a.

Crowd of people, all the hipstery kind of artsy nineties.

Yeah, it wasn't a club so much, but it was populated with a ton of back card actors. And then so Jake refuses to cocaine, says, she's pathetic. I'm not going to sync that low. In fact, I'm odd of here. And he goes and he has another angry moment. Instead of just saying I'm out of here, he's got to like take the art off the wall and you know, demonstrate just how pissed he is, Like I don't even want to, you know, follow through with this plan.

I see him having a lot of road rage incidents. I think he's probably a part of his life.

I think, yeah, he's he might be shooting himself in the foot here, like could he have maybe walked out and still gotten the money, But no, he needs to like, you know, stand up for what he believes in and show everybody that no, he's not not going to do this in this way. So Matt's working in the courtyard. He's got a book of stuff in preparation for his next assignment at work, and Alison walks in and they have a conversation about work.

And this next scene in D and D I just love. So Allison is in there and she and Rick are with his dad, the client right of the Sun's sun Ray sunscreen, and also Lucy's in there too. It's time to present their ideas, and they present their ideas. Allison goes first, and she presents a fantastic one. Oh and then he as goes first. She has this whole thing.

She saves the day in a very giving, very generous way.

Yeah, she gives it.

I don't know what, and this sneaks in her.

Then you even explain why you have all the pages because you're like, well he left them here, here are your pages again. And so he's like, thank you.

Very very grateful bailing him out.

Yeah, maybe maybe didn't have to do that, but you know that's who you are.

But I think again, this is an indication of like neatly wrapping up, like everybody's learned a lesson here, and we need to all finish on a high note, like let's just make a feel good moment.

Before breaking bad. You could have a bad guy hero, you could have an anti hero, because I would have liked it better, honestly, if she had just done her good job and then just sat and let him hang himself out, hang himself and not have to step in and protect his ego, because what's the lesson there? Here Lucy's saying you have to toughen up and be tough. She should have just left it. You don't have to be mean, as we say, like say what you mean, but don't mean, but you can still like sit back.

For a second, we were gonna have this lesson about being ruthless at work, right, and then she goes in and she's gonna do that for a second, but then it's like softened by going, oh, but I can't actually be like all.

But also doing a good job and not rescuing people isn't being ruthless. So I think it's kind of a complicated thing, like she wasn't really being ruthless, she was doing a good job. Her his bad job spoke for itself.

Yeah, so yeah, And also did you notice so John McCann, the actor who played the mister dan Worth, the dad the client, he turns up later. He will turn up later another season as a completely different character. He does in seasons two and four. I think he's gonna come. This is I'm just like giving you a heads up. He's going to be in seasons two and four as an attorney, like a recurring attorney character that some of

We cut to Ronda dancing and I saying that she was working out. She's doing amazing.

Did you guys jaide, did you hold your breath a little bit?

Like?

Please? No extreme close up please, Like I was holding my breath like, please, Matt, don't walk in with stretchy.

Man doing Ronda's moves. I don't want to say that, And Matt was holding her. Doug was holding his breath like because I may watch the episode with me. He's like, no, I didn't have am I gonna dances like?

But yeah?

There that again. I think that that set is the production offices of our testage. That would just they put the ballet bar up and that was really good.

Well, all the Neon signs and had all those pastel colors. Yep, it's just the colors of that era.

But again they're like, they have to work on this choreography and do all this like prep work just to shoot those scenes with the aerobics happening and stuff. And sure enough, like we said, Matt walks in to apologize to Ronda her being a little bit too hard on her and that he doesn't want to lose his best friend. So they make up and and Ronda makes him join the class, which is when he like reluctantly starts trying

So that was that was a good guffaw out of oh so cute.

Yeah, watching Doug Dancy, but I thought Doug was very cute, so cute. And then wrapping up the d and D story, Lucy approaches Alison saying, I know what you did, and you build him out and yeah, Alison admits she did it, but she did it for herself, but she knows she took herself.

Off the pass track and then we have Jake talking to Sandy offers to buy him a burger. You know, it's so funny that whole longing between the two of them. They have a nice chemistry. So I don't know what we're going to see ahead with them, but we start this whole series with them having had a pass, which isn't on the show, but they imply it all the time.

Right, Well, she definitely likes him. Yeah, it feels very one sided.

It doesn't. Yeah, well, I feel like.

They had a fling at least because she's always saying, well, you like he dumped her.

Yeah, that's how fair. It feels like she still carries the torch for him.

I'm saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, that they had something. But anyway, but.

Here's where he comes to terms with his lesson, like lesson learned that is, you know, his past came back to tempt him. Yeah, and seemed like a good place to hide. And Sandy says, well, she became an actress to hide from her past. And that's when Jake concludes he's going to need to sell his motorcycle for money because he's super desperate. One of the exteriors it might have been them or shoes. I thought I spotted Scottie Shooters.

I spotted it.

Was it shooters. Yeah, did you see Scotty did the cross. It was like an establishing shot and it was right. And so they shot these estalishing shots.

They used crew members.

Yeah, and they would just throw the crew members at there.

And it was also the pool guy opening and when you come into a scene cleaning the pool, that always he was off in the pool. That's so funny.

All right, I'm glad it wasn't just imagine gay more attention.

Oh that's so fun Yeah, be guys are good.

You'll see it again because it's absolutely will Yeah. So then at the bike shop, Jake is trying to sell his bike, but he's saying, there's not really enough. You know, I can't really offer him enough money for it.

I have all these other bikes I have to sell. And then he looks at it.

It's like a beautifully done bike, and he decides, well, you know, maybe you could tell the mechanic he could have a job here, because it's really nicely done.

Whoever built this bike, you know, they built them up from.

The so this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

He seems the mechanic mechanic than a resta.

Totally, this is the right place for him to be.

Works on the bikes, shirtless he is.

I imagine there'll be an opportunity face when do I start. Yeah, So that wraps up his story neatly. He's got a job and it's right where he should be. And then wrapping up the Matt storyline. Back at the teen shelter, he's working in the kitchen when Rohnda and the Sandy and Alison come in. Can you talk to us about your entrance in that scene?

That was well this really I was.

Looking at that thinking that because it's so not the Melrose we remember, right, Yeah, three of us coming in together, were standing there in a row, there to help, And I've got a play cherry tomatoes. I'm like one of my offering cherry tomatoes and pickles church mids and all of I think, I say to these kids, I'm offering these like.

A Mediterranean you know. Yeah, but do you remember the song you were singing? Do you remember that you had to sing almost the entire verse.

Of what do you mean should be singing a song? Oh my god?

The three of you were singing yeah, and you had kept having entire bart walked it out. Yes, you had to walk into the kitchen, walk around the camera, coming on the other side, going ah, be the like you guys are all yes, yeah, And that's like and not just that much of the song you did, like a lot of it.

It's right, right, right, we did a lot. And that's the kind of thing like that was that kind of all coming together or doing a show in the barn ending that wouldn't happen anymore, because what is strange because in the beginning it was as if we were the only eight people in the world and everything happened among us, right, we do everything together with friends together, and then our lives started outside.

But at the end of the episode, everybody just like, oh, it's been a good week. We all resolved our things. I got my job, Yes, you taught your coworker a lesson, and Ronda and mad are still friends all as well.

And it's also why not a ton of people were watching it at this point.

I mean, I have to say that that was that last scene in this episode was a perfect example of the before y yeah, three of you showing.

Up resolve cute. It wasn't a meat cute. It was a resolved.

Resolved Yes, it's a wonder we weren't all there together, right, like everybody didn't come to help out.

Yeah, and Billy sing the rest of the song together. Well, okay, So overall, I noticed this was the episode of the vests.

So that was I think outfits all together. It wasn't just vast like. I really thought that that one that Perry was wearing in the art gallery, with that white collar that went halfway down all our I mean that was so nineties. Yeah, and with her stretchy black pants that went all the way up to here and then the blouse, yeah, very art and choker again. I just thought that was so arty nine yes, archy style.

I thought of it as like our workplace episode, like everybody had a work conflict and it felt so sort of yeah, big work, this conflict, and I just but there was no drama, like nobody had a real drama. There was the tongue. There was a little bit of drama with the drama, but there wasn't any like nothing that we didn't have any big steaks anywhere, right, That's

We're gonna, yeah, we have a little ways to go.

We bring some drama.

But I was happy that. I was happy to see that Matt had a storyline. I know, yeah, a couple of cool T shirts. We're learning a little bit about Matt here, so like, hopefully it'll be more to come.

There will definitely be more to come. Yes, good times.

We'll see you next time, all right, Yay,