Rich Girls, Episodes 8 & 9: Third Wheel

In the opening sequence of week eight’s episode, Jaime is packing to go to London with Ally and Liz. “I think it’s a city that’s made for me, so I’m really excited to go.”

Cut to Liz’s Upper East Side apartment where she and Ally are running through a hall, spraying stuff and running into each other. Okay… they decide to get up early (around 9:30) to make breakfast. Morning arrives and we see shots of Ally and Liz making Bisquick pancakes. Ally says she finds cooking very relaxing. (Sure… we observed that a couple of weeks ago.)

Jaime shows up while Liz and Ally are doing hand stands against the hallway wall. She has brought Liz flowers for making breakfast. Over breakfast, talk seems to be strained. In a side interview, Jaime expresses her discomfort about the whole Greece thing, meaning that Liz is a passive person who doesn’t communicate well and that she’s terrified about what might happen in London.

Cutting back to breakfast, Ally brings up Greece, Liz says it’s okay and that she wishes they had just told her how they felt, and then she starts to cry. Back to the side interview with Jaime – she claims that Liz is uncomfortable with the friendship between Jaime and Ally and that Liz believes that time is directly related to a friendship. (I never heard Liz say that, but we’ll just have to take Jaime’s word for it.)

Ally and Jaime are in a cab, and Ally tells Jaime that she talked to Liz last night and that Liz is fine about Greece. She goes on about how great Liz is to be able to take a positive outlook on things, how they’ve known each other for 15 years, and what a great friend she is. Jaime sits there in stone cold silence. (This does not bode well for the trip, I’m thinking.)

There is a clip of a sign that reads, “Depression is a flaw in chemistry not in character for free information.” Why did they stick that in there, I wonder?

So the girls get on the private plane that Ally’s mom arranged for them (must be nice) and there’s a voiceover of Jaime expressing her inability to be completely honest with Ally when they’re not alone, and that Ally can’t expect Jaime to be as close to Liz as Ally is.

First thing we see on the plane is Jaime asking Liz to have a heart to heart with her and Liz responds by snuggling up to Jaime in her cashmere cover-up thing. Jaime says she’d like to be made of cashmere, and Liz comments, “Wouldn’t that be amazing? I think I’d like you more.” Jaime rolls her eyes and Liz replies, “I couldn’t like you more, Jame.” From then on the girls seem to be getting along better in groups of two – Ally and Liz or Ally and Jaime.

And they arrive in London. Ally and Liz have a water chugging contest in the car. They are staying at the St. Martin’s Lane Hotel. As they check in, we find out that Ally got Jaime a separate room from her and Liz, and immediately Jaime feels “a little secluded.” (And from this point on, she makes it very clear how secluded she feels by behaving like a complete brat.)

So Ally and Liz go to dinner without Jaime, who’s apparently sleeping (pouting) in her room. Ally expresses how much she wants to help Jaime not be so depressed all the time. Liz is upset that Jaime doesn’t appreciate all the things that she and Ally do, then mentions how much everyone loves Jaime and how she wishes that her and Ally’s positive outlook would rub off on her.

Back at the hotel, Ally feels bad about Jaime feeling secluded. Liz tells her that every now and then she’s going to have to hurt people (wasn’t she just one of them?), and they go to sleep.

The next day Ally and Liz go into Jaime’s room. She’s writing. Ally and Liz propose going to lunch or brunch. Jaime says she’s not hungry, but goes with them for coffee. At lunch (or brunch), Ally tells Jaime about Liz coming out of the bathroom in the hotel with a hooded robe on. Ally: “She looked like a little gnome.” Jaime: “I’m sorry I missed that.” The subject changes to vegemite, which Jaime thinks is, like, a vegetable spread. Jaime: “But you’ve never heard of vita-meata-vegamin? From I Love Lucy?” Ally: “That’s from I Love Lucy, right?” Jaime: “That’s where it’s taken from.” Ally: “Oh, really?”

So let me get this right… in Jaime’s world (where Benjamin Franklin invented the light bulb), vegemite was derived from a fictional product featured on an episode of I Love Lucy. But what the hell do I know, maybe it was. After all, I didn’t go to Stanford.

The girls take a cab around the city. Ally asks Jaime how much she loves her, and Jaime replies in a flat, very non-convincing tone, “I love you an elephant-sized amount.” They go to Harrods and compare play dough and bouncy castles. Ally and Liz decide to buy pirate hats and swords. They ask Jaime to join in, and she says, “No, that’s okay.” Outside the store, Ally and Liz engage in a sword fight. Jaime stands by and pouts. “Can I have my sunglasses?” They leave, and we cut to Ally crying. “Jaime just didn’t seem like she was having fun at all. I was like, What, I can’t have fun? Give me a f***ing break.” Cutting back to the girls in another store, Jaime is off by herself. Ally asks Liz what they’re supposed to do about Jaime and Liz has no idea. (Tell her to stop acting like a child who didn’t get her own way, maybe?)