Summary
The consequences are mounting for Coop and co. in Episode 8 of Your Friends & Neighbors, and it seems like nobody is going to get away clean.
“How Did We Become These People?” is, like the previous episode of Your Friends & Neighbors, something of a slow chapter. To be fair, though, I think that depends on your definition of the term. Sure, nothing major happens in it, at least in terms of the core plot; Coop’s legal fate is undecided at the start of Episode 8, and it remains so at the end. But a lot happens interpersonally. To everyone. And a much-needed night on the town leads to a level of introspection that people this privileged rarely ever have cause to indulge in. It seemed like Coop’s self-serving actions were only threatening to detonate his own life, but the entire neighborhood seems on the cusp of ruin by now.
Needless to say, word of Coop’s very public arrest is doing the rounds. The wives are gossiping about it. Is Coop a killer? Nobody seems totally sure, and that includes Sam, who later suggests that she thinks Coop did kill Paul, despite being the only person present when he enters his plea, and Mel, who won’t let him see the kids (Hunter later goes to see his dad anyway, mostly to tell him he has a girlfriend now. He’s the only person in the show who’s doing moderately well.)
I mentioned that Sam was the only person present in court, but that’s not entirely accurate. Kat is there, obviously, since Coop is still retaining her services via blackmail, and she has a long road of working the case ahead, since there’s pretty significant evidence tying Coop to the crime scene (his DNA, for one thing) and giving him a motive (he was sleeping with the victim’s wife). Detective Lin is also there, since she probably thinks she’s sitting on a slam dunk for the same reasons.
But in the meantime, Coop is free to go, though admittedly he has to be picked up by his dad in more humble transport than he’s used to. With the absence of the Maserati, the downfall is almost complete. Almost.
Shortly after getting back home, Coop discovers that his stash of cash is missing, and it presumably wasn’t taken by the police since it would have come up by now. That leaves a relatively narrow pool of suspects, and Coop immediately points the finger at Lu. She’s innocent, though. But on the downside, she isn’t interested in working with Coop anymore since he’s a legal liability, and he didn’t listen about not plunging his sticky fingers into the art world.
Jon Hamm in Your Friends & Neighbors | Image via Apple TV+
As it turns out, Elena took the money to pay off Chivo’s debt. Your Friends & Neighbors Episode 8 is the second time since the establishment of their partnership that Coop and Elena haven’t interacted, which makes me wonder whether we’ve already seen the end of that little relationship. It’d be a shame since they had enjoyable chemistry, but there’s probably no coming back from this unless Coop is in an unfeasibly forgiving mood.
To be fair, nobody is. Mel takes the news of Coop and Sam’s torrid affair pretty badly, which is a bit rich given her relationship with Nick. When they run into each other in a coffee shop, Mel can’t help but throw Sam’s apologies in her face. She gets so carried away that she confesses to having slept with Coop recently, right in front of Nick, and then the two come to blows. The encounter is filmed by everyone present and does the neighborhood rounds immediately, having a knock-on effect for Hunter and Tori, and ultimately losing Mel her job. News travels fast.
Nick, in turn, goes to punch Coop, but dudes being dudes, they end up watching Commando together, and when Barney turns up, they all go for a night on the town. It’s a nice break from the morbidity, but given their circumstances, I think the last thing these guys need is alcohol and cocaine. After all, the consequences will still be there the next morning, and a thick head won’t help to deal with them.
With every relationship in town ruined and Coop being faced with the possibility of having to take a plea deal because of the evidence against him, things aren’t looking especially upbeat for the finale. We’ll have to see how that goes.
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