The Offer season 1, episode 9 recap – “It’s Who We Are”

This recap of Paramount+ series The Offer season 1, episode 9, “It’s Who We Are,” contains spoilers. 

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We are coming off quite possibly the best episode of The Offer yet. Robert is slowly going down a bad path because of his wife. Albert is dealing with Gallo because Colombo is in the hospital. The Godfather is starting to shoot but not without some issues. What is in store for us in the second to last episode of The Offer? Let’s dive in.

The Offer season 1, episode 9 recap

The episode begins with the crew riding in a van heading to the set in Sicily. Francis is a storyteller and as everyone is scrunched up in the car, he is telling stories about his family. The crew at Sicily is welcomed with open arms and they all sit down for a bite. Bettye asks if Albert has heard from Robert at all and he hasn’t.

We meet Bruno, a guy promising that everything will go without a hitch while they are in town. We find out that Bruno wants to meet with Albert tomorrow. Albert asks the kind gentleman after he walks away if he is a member of the Mafia and he says yes. Albert lets everyone know they need to leave the restaurant ASAP.

Barry shows up at Robert’s office to look for him and wants to know where he is. He isn’t there and wants answers. So since he is out, he wants to meet with Robert’s right-hand man to talk about everything on the slate and what’s in production. Robert will not be happy about this at all.

We move back to Sicily, where the crew is looking for their location to shoot. As they arrive, the production crew, including Francis, are delighted with the site and happy to be there. Bettye and Albert sit down for a cup of coffee. They ask the locals if they can use their restaurant to shoot one of their scenes and they agree. As Bettye attempts to find a couple of locals for their shoot, one of the ladies stumbles up and she is impressed by her.

Bettye arrives to pull Albert away from dinner to tell him that Charles will fire Robert. They both know this will cause massive issues and Bettye reminds Albert that he is the reason he got this job and has had his back regardless of how he has acted towards him. But, of course, by now, we all know, including Albert, that nothing, and I mean NOTHING, goes right within the filming of The Godfather.

I believed in him and I chose to bet on him.

Albert arrives to explain to Charles that he can’t fire Robert. He lets him know he took a massive risk on Robert, but he can’t have someone addicted to drugs running his business. Albert pleads with Charles to let him talk to him because The Godfather does work without him. Charles allows him the chance, but the window is closing fast. Albert arrives at Robert’s house and he doesn’t answer his door for him. Caesar calls to ask about the movie and when the premiere will be.

Back to Barry and Robert’s right-hand man, he goes through the list of movies that Robert has in the works and is ditching all of them, including China Town. Then, he forces him to break down what the film is about and he explains that the movie is coming together. Next, Albert gets a call from Barry to show up and talk to him. Barry informs him he will work in Robert’s place on The Godfather. He wants to see a cut of The Godfather ASAP.

Evans said if it makes $50 million, he is going to buy me a car.

While Francis works with the editor on the film, Albert walks in to ask him how it is going and Francis sits him and Bettye down to show him what they have. It was the first time we had some real shots of the film presented to them. Francis gets scared as Albert is silent, but they love it and are beyond their expectations. They all believe it is ready for everyone to see.

Albert arrives at Robert’s house and asks him what is going on with him. He tells him people are worried about him and that they need him back into the fold. Unfortunately, Robert has lost his way and finally admits that his wife cheated on him with Steve McQueen. It gives Albert the chance to break down that he lost someone too and couldn’t give them what she needed because he was sucked into this movie. I’ve said this multiple times throughout my coverage of this series. Matthew Goode has delivered some of the best work I’ve seen in a series in a long time. He continues to be such a prominent reason this show is good. We witness in this scene Goode and Teller lay it all on the line and it was brilliant.

Next, Barry, Francis, and Albert sit down to discuss some posters they had made up. None of the posters is much of a delight to Francis and Barry doesn’t care. Barry also mentions the movie is far too long and he needs to cut it or he will cut it himself. Francis is displeased. We see Francis meet with the editor in an attempt to cut it down and realize that the film will be ruined if they cut it.

Peter tries to break down to Barry that he needs to understand how to fill the shoes of Robert. He doesn’t always have to be cutthroat and belittle those he talks with about their projects. Barry fires back at Peter to make him understand that he has his own shoes and doesn’t care much about what anyone thinks. Once Peter leaves, we have a moment where Barry looks around to more or less see the pictures on the wall and what Robert has built.

The ending

We see Charles arrive to talk to Albert. I love how Charles always has something smart ass to say when he first sees him. Charles tells him that Robert is out and that he will put Barry in charge. Albert is freaking out. Back to posters, but this time with Charles sitting down with them. As Barry is ranting, Robert walks, bringing happiness to Albert and delivering that he knows more than anyone in this room and knows what sells.

We are offering them an experience.

Robert puts Barry’s feet to the fire by reminding him he didn’t want to make Rosemary’s Baby, Love Story, or even The Godfather. Instead, he tells him the shorter runtime doesn’t work and that they need to lead the change in offering the audience an experience at the theaters. But, man, Matthew Goode delivers yet again. He is the heart and soul of this show.

We see Charles ask everyone to leave the room except Barry. As they chat about what is ahead, Charles tells him it’s his call whether or not he wants to fire Robert and take his job. Barry has a moment, one of which you do but don’t see coming, where he tells Charles that no matter his feelings about Robert, he is the right man for the job. Charles wonders if he can trust Robert moving forward but tells him that he will keep his job because of Barry. Then, with some fun parting words, Charles tells him to make him so f***ing money.

We get a little somber moment between Robert and Albert, with Robert informing him that the longer cut will hit theaters. However, he also does remind him they are facing an uphill battle with making deadlines and need to try to get this movie out soon. Next, we see Robert heading to his favorite restaurant and seeing Barry eating alone. He joins him at the table to eat some dinner with him.

If this movie sucks, you ain’t making it out of this theater.

Back at the studio, Albert talks with Bettye and needs her help with something. He talks her into stealing The Godfather footage to hold a special premiere for the mob. As they are on the plane ride, Bettye lets Albert know she wants to be an agent. She loves working with Albert but wants more out of the world. When they arrive to show the film, everyone is surprised Paramount allowed them to show the movie (they didn’t). He made a promise to Joe Colombo long ago and will not go back on this promise. Everyone LOVES the film, with Caesar saying it might be the best movie he has ever seen. As the episode ends, Albert goes to visit Colombo to tell him that they all stood up and applauded.

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