Summary
Platonic‘s pattern of immaturity for a half-hour finally giving way to a five-minute adult resolution is really starting to become tedious this late in the season.
This recap of Platonic Season 1 Episode 9, “Slumber Party”, contains spoilers.
I believe I made this argument a few weeks ago, but Charlie is easily the best character of Platonic.
Obviously, the plot turns on the misadventures of Sylvia and Will, but the former is having a midlife crisis and the latter seemingly never left adolescence, so they’re difficult to root for. Charlie is the only character with skin in the game who functions as a straight man to the absurdity.
And he’s great in this role in large part because he’s a nice guy. He isn’t written as the killjoy spouse archetype who immediately bristles at the idea of his wife having a platonic relationship with another man. He has been supportive and understanding even while being the punchline in his own office (see: “My Wife’s Boyfriend”.) The only time he has gotten annoyed is when he has been genuinely overlooked or disrespected. He’s like a barometer for the acceptability of Will and Sylvia’s relationship.
Platonic Season 1 Episode 9 Recap
In “Slumber Party”, Charlie is still smarting from the revelation in last week’s Episode 8 that Sylvia told Will she had lost her job with Kirk Friedkin before telling him. He’s trying to be moody and unreasonable but still makes sure he’s home in time to help the kids with their homework. The dude’s adorable.
Does Charlie cheat on Sylvia?
However, he makes a mistake. He doesn’t quite cheat on Sylvia, but he has a moment of inappropriateness with his colleague, Vanessa.
For context, Charlie had decided to stay late at work, embodying the persona of “Late Night Charlie”, the kind of guy who gets drunk in the office and eats steak from a plastic tray with his hands. He, Stewart, and Vanessa all get drunk. When Stewart leaves, Charlie and Vanessa steal more booze, dance to UB40’s “Red Red Wine”, and in the midst of that off-beat dry-hump for 8-10 seconds in a moment of madness.
Charlie immediately goes home and tells Sylvia. She doesn’t take it especially well.
Why does Sylvia arrange a slumber party?
Because Sylvia is a child in a grown woman’s body, she arranges the slumber party of the episode’s title simply as a way to make Charlie’s life difficult.
The kids all bring friends home and Sylvia promises Charlie will take them out for pizza when he gets home from work. And they can all sleep over. And so can Will, awkwardly, who has fallen out with Reggie and Andy because he wants a majority share of their kombucha side business and has gone on strike in protest.
Because Charlie feels bad, he doesn’t push back against any of these demands, which eventually come to include renovating the garage into an ADU (additional dwelling unit). It’ll add some extra square footage, possibly increase the resale value of the house, and provide an additional bedroom and bathroom if needed. Charlie, understandably, assumes that the idea is it might also house Will, but he doesn’t say this out loud.
What happens to the garage?
Will asks Charlie for business advice, and he recommends divide-and-conquer tactics. So, Will talks to Andy alone, but the conversation quickly turns to Sylvia, who told Katie about Charlie dry-humping Vanessa, who then told Andy. He and Will both think it’s weird.
When Will returns to Sylvia and Charlie’s house to start work on the garage, he brings it up, but Sylvia doesn’t want to talk about it. An incident with a raccoon destroys the entire garage and Charlie, rightly, points out that this probably isn’t the best way of dealing with being upset. When Sylvia tries to downplay it again, even Will scoots off and tells her to deal with her sh*t.
Platonic Season 1 Episode 9 Ending Explained
But at least there’s a happy ending. It takes the entire episode, but Sylvia and Charlie are finally honest and up-front with each other about how they’re feeling, and — lo and behold! — they’re able to work through their difficulties like adults and make amends.
Things are less positive for Will, who returns to the Lucky Penny to negotiate about Daa Booch and finds that Andy and Reggie have a lawyer present. They’re trying to cut him out of the Lucky Penny entirely since he disagrees with absolutely everything when it comes to running and growing the company — which is kind of a defensible point when you think about it.
You can stream Platonic Season 1 Episode 9, “Slumber Party”, exclusively on Apple TV+.
