tvdinner&amovie

Ben is going to meet with a new Crisp sales rep and doesn’t want to wear a t-shirt from his brand. Which makes me wonder why so many of us shy away from self-promotion. Are we scared it will come off as self-serving? Or is it just easier to watch other people believe in us than actually show off how much we believe in ourselves. A little off topic, but hey, I warned you last week that I watch this show as much for inspiration as I do for the entertainment value.

The boys meet with Andy, Crisp’s new sales rep, who lacks experience with shopping around a fashion brand. But offers them big dreams and immediate loyalty. Something he’ll be “rewarded” for by the end of the episode.

Rachel’s on the hunt for a new job and proves she’s perfect on paper and can say all the right things in an interview. She lands the job at Biscuit, just like she knew she would. This does nothing for her happiness and what does any respectable transitioning adult do after landing a job they’re not excited about? Call up their weed man and place an order…of course.

Rene is trying to change his image and instead of using his former tactics on Kevin (Andre Royo, Bubbles from The Wire aka more proof that once you’re on an HBO show, you can pretty much guarantee you’ll act your way onto another one), is told he can help with marketing for Rasta Monsta as an alternative payment method for his gambling debt. Kevin is fired from his ad-agency, but not before they advise Rene to get an athlete and do some old fashioned viral marketing. Enter Wilfredo (we first met him as the elusive skater in season one), who isn’t really given an option and becomes the first “celebrity” Rasta Monsta works with.

Cam, who appears to want to make some life changes as well, tries to woo Lulu…unsuccessfully. But it doesn’t deter him from apartment hunting and convincing Ben to go after Nancy Frankenburg (Gina Gershon, gorgeous in both Showgirls and Cocktail) as a potential sales rep for Crisp that could get them in the door at Barneys. Somehow Ben is tasked with getting the samples back from Andy, who doesn’t take things well and departs with a über sarcastic, “Enjoy your weekend, Shabbat Shalom!”

Ben and Cam find themselves at Nancy’s party, hobnobbing with Isaac Mizrahi, but otherwise completely in a “fish out of water” scenario. Between Ben’s lackluster pitch to Nancy and Cam’s childishly frolicking in her son’s bedroom, it wasn’t surprising that the boys left without securing a new sales rep. Fortunately, they left the duffel and Nancy’s son grabbed a Crisp hoodie. Ben tried an earnest approach, but we won’t know until next week if Nancy was impressed.

The best parts of the episode were the interactions between Dom and Rachel. As they went around the city, completely stoned and doing some dog walking, a little spark developed. The expression on Dom’s face after Rachel’s little peck on the lips was hilarious. Hopefully this doesn’t result in heartbreak for Mr. “The whole work needs to learn how to relax,” as that might seriously harsh his perpetual high.

At its end, “In or Out” proved to be another setup episode. Will people fall in love with the revolting taste of Rasta Monsta if/when the drink goes “viral”? Is Ben going to care that Rachel and Dom have something brewing…assuming he even finds out? Does this mean the writers will finally stop making Cam just “Ben’s boy” and give him a deeper story? This is pressing stuff people! And they only have six episodes to cover all of this, lest this season goes down as a dud.