The L.A. Complex, episode 3: ghost of an ex-gay lover and a sex-free birthday
This week’s episode of The L.A. Complex takes a turn for the surreal as extended dream sequences, visions of tormented ex-lovers and a show-within-a-show hospital killing spree play with our expectations of reality. Find out who left the Deluxe broken-hearted and who is just broken after the jump.
Unwisely in promotion mode for his new album after a failed suicide attempt, Kaldrick King is all over the place in tonight’s episode. Despite repeated visions of Tariq clouding his recording sessions, the rapper manages to school an aspiring hip-hopper in a rap battle. And King’s journey doesn’t end there—he bails on his own house party to visit a local mission in hopes of reconnecting with his estranged father. Meanwhile, Nick is coping with his ex sabotaging him on The Paul F. Tompkins Show, leaving him wanting to connect with his live-in girlfriend Abby. Unfortunately, communication problems and their neuroses (they are actors, after all) force the two into a standstill so bad that the couple calls it quits (for now). Our guess is, after a string of bad rebound sex, the two will rejoin forces, and there will be a tearful reunion (perhaps in the rain).
But it isn’t all ghosts of ex-gay-lovers and breakups for the cast of The L.A. Complex: the budding relationship between Raquel and Connor has become a love triangle. Megastar Jennifer Bell has forced Connor into a sham relationship and is laying it on thick, hand-delivering vegan birthday cakes to the set of Saving Grace and staging intimate paparazzi dinners. And instead of issuing out some birthday sex or vegan baked goods, Raquel goes into a (possible) miscarriage of her and Connor’s love child. (Jewel Staite, the series’ most commanding actress, took some very interesting beats this episode.)
And for something completely different, newcomers Beth and Sam navigate child stardom this week when their refusal to take $600 headshots leads to loss of representation. Beth’s supreme freak out at the receptionist who refuses Sam an audition shows the stage mom behind the cool teenager’s careful façade. “It’s okay to get angry,” she assured her brother after she was told he didn’t get the part. It’s also okay to get even.
The L.A. Complex is a veritable Frankensoap, mining the backlogs of other prime-time dramas for inspiration. Here, our weekly look at what they stole and from whom:
• Raquel’s guest spot on Saving Grace forces her into heart surgery with her one true love. So E.R. it hurts.
• Hospital killing spree? Blatantly stolen from that terrifyingly watchable episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
• The rap battle at Kaldrick King’s mansion is completely over the top, but also amazing. If 8 Mile was directed by the Wayans Brothers, instead of Curtis Hanson, it could reflect how awesome and hilarious it is.
• Kaldrick King’s obvious daddy issues tug at our heartstrings. If his dad was in jail and not in a mission, it’d be just like Ryan’s severe daddy drama in The O.C.
 force the two into a standstill so bad that the couple calls it quits (for now). Our guess is, after a string of bad rebound sex, the two will rejoin forces, and there will be a tearful reunion (perhaps in the rain).
But it isn’t all ghosts of ex-gay-lovers and breakups for the cast of The L.A. Complex: the budding relationship between Raquel and Connor has become a love triangle. Megastar Jennifer Bell has forced Connor into a sham relationship and is laying it on thick, hand-delivering vegan birthday cakes to the set of Saving Grace and staging intimate paparazzi dinners. And instead of issuing out some birthday sex or vegan baked goods, Raquel goes into a (possible) miscarriage of her and Connor’s love child. (Jewel Staite, the series’ most commanding actress, took some very interesting beats this episode.)
And for something completely different, newcomers Beth and Sam navigate child stardom this week when their refusal to take $600 headshots leads to loss of representation. Beth’s supreme freak out at the receptionist who refuses Sam an audition shows the stage mom behind the cool teenager’s careful façade. “It’s okay to get angry,” she assured her brother after she was told he didn’t get the part. It’s also okay to get even.
The L.A. Complex is a veritable Frankensoap, mining the backlogs of other prime-time dramas for inspiration. Here, our weekly look at what they stole and from whom:
• Raquel’s guest spot on Saving Grace forces her into heart surgery with her one true love. So E.R. it hurts.
• Hospital killing spree? Blatantly stolen from that terrifyingly watchable episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
• The rap battle at Kaldrick King’s mansion is completely over the top, but also amazing. If 8 Mile was directed by the Wayans Brothers, instead of Curtis Hanson, it could reflect how awesome and hilarious it is.
• Kaldrick King’s obvious daddy issues tug at our heartstrings. If his dad was in jail and not in a mission, it’d be just like Ryan’s severe daddy drama in The O.C.
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It’s Jewel Staite, not Straite
LOL! I love the Grey’s Anatomy parody they filmed with Raquel and Connor. The acting was so funny. Poor Raquel though. She’s regretting ever pushing Connor to accept the deal with Jennifer.