Summary
As predicted, Not Suitable for Work isn’t all sunshine and rainbows in “Fisher Trashen”, with several of those promising subplots getting much more complicated.
It was, of course, pretty obvious that most of the promising-looking subplots developed in the previous episode of Not Suitable for Work were going to get a lot more complicated. But what’s a workplace sitcom without a little friction? Episode 5 delivers friction aplenty, but it doesn’t feel manufactured for cheap laughs. Instead, “Fisher Trashen” builds on what came before in interesting and smart ways, developing the characters and their individual struggles while also fleshing out the group dynamic.
Take AJ and Davis, for example. After what happened with Bill, AJ is planning to do “the mature thing” and simply pretend it never happened, which is also the strategy that he seems to be adopting. This sidelines their romance so that AJ can embroil herself in Davis’s problem, which is that he has been featured in the titular “Fisher Trashen”, an Instagram page that posts dirt about company employees. Davis is in the bad books for dumping an analyst named Madison whom, he claims, he hooked up with a couple of times casually before breaking the whole thing off. AJ volunteers to help, since it’s better than sitting and staring wistfully at Bill’s office all day.
Naturally, it turns out that Davis actually dated Madison for three months after initiating the fling, leaving her with an adopted mastiff and egg on her face. AJ helps Davis to see the error of his ways, which can only be a good thing for him, though I’m not sure she necessarily realises that she’s inadvertently giving him advice on how to pursue her. That’s a problem for another time, though, since when AJ gets home after resigning herself to the idea that kissing Bill was a one-time thing, Bill’s waiting outside her apartment. He doesn’t think their kiss was a mistake after all. And he gives her another to prove it.
Elsewhere, Kel finds himself between a rock and a hard place. His parents still aren’t talking to him, so he needs to get cast in something ASAP, but since waiting in line at 5 am for open casting calls isn’t cutting it, he needs an agent. For this, he turns to Abby, in the hopes that she’ll put in a good word with Austin. When she does, Austin is uncharacteristically willing to help out, but obviously only because he has ulterior motives.
Austin offers to hook Kel up with his agent if he hypes Austin up to Abby, hopefully convincing her to date him. Notably, Austin comes across as much more arrogant and conceited here than we’ve seen him be in his interactions with Abby, and I was picking up some serious red flags. Apparently, Kel was, too, since when it comes to choosing between furthering his career or his love life, he chooses the latter, deciding not to do as Austin asks. Looks like it’s acting classes for him after all.
To be fair, Abby might not need any encouragement to cross a line with Austin. Not Suitable for Work Episode 5 finds her styling him for George Clooney’s humanitarian awards in secret, since she can’t bring herself to tell Vanessa that she’s setting up on her own with a stolen client. The timing isn’t right, since Vanessa’s cat has just died, and she lumbers Abby with arrangements for his grandiose memorial service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Abby still finds the time for Austin, though, and his outfit is a social media hit, validating her belief that she can make it in the fashion world on her own. And she’s going to need to, since Vanessa finds out that she styled Austin anyway. She pretends to take it well, but you can tell that deep down she’s kinda hurt by the development. Still, you can’t say she didn’t bring it on herself.
And then there’s Josh, who’s also prone to making problems for himself. This one involves Paula, who he’s still relentlessly trying to charm in order to potentially further his career. When he overhears that she’s taking a day off to visit an endocrinologist for her diabetes all the way in Long Island, Josh takes the liberty of pulling a few strings with his dad to secure her an all-expenses-paid appointment with a local specialist in Manhattan. While, in front of Wes, Paula seems grateful, she pulls Josh aside in private to lambast him for ruining her one day off a year. She doesn’t even have diabetes. She just tells Wes she does to blag an annual day off. One step forward, two steps back.
Josh is making much more progress with Elena, though, who he continues to bond with throughout the episode, culminating in them sleeping together. Josh might have sabotaged his career, but at least his love life seems to be on the right track.
