Rachel? Hi.
What are you doing here? Didn't you move to New Jersey?
Do you think she's gonna win?
People really hate her.
Rachel!
What happened?
What do you mean? You've been gone.
You left--
Toby has been looking for you.
Y-Your kids have been looking for you.
You disappeared.
Uh-- Can I ask you something?
Yeah.
I can't find my phone.
And... Okay.
I keep trying to ascertain...
How many days are in July?
I always forget that.
Um...
I'm just-- I'm gonna call Toby.
No! Don't!
No. I'm-- I feel like--
You know what? Let me just--
Let me just eat something.
Um, I feel like I need some protein.
Right. Um...
Ri-- Just one-- one second.
"Delayed further.
Be home later. Sorry. Will explain."
Um...
Why don't I just take you home?
Okay, sure. Yeah. No.
It-- It'd be--
It'd be good to catch up.
Uh...
I-I wasn't expecting anyone.
Um...
You know what it's like. Heh.
Uh, do you-- do you want some coffee?
I'm fine.
I'm okay!
Sorry. I just dropped it.
Um, I haven't used it
in so long.
Um, I-I haven't been drinking coffee, so...
Uh-- What is going on?
There are so many parts to this!
Rachel.
I-I also have all this tea.
It might be easier.
I, um-- I bought all this tea
'cause I was having a hard time sleeping,
but all it did was just keep me in the bathroom all night.
I feel like I-I don't know where my toaster is,
but-- but I do have some bread.
Rachel.
I want to be honest with you.
I don't think I-I can make you coffee right now.
That's okay. Uh...
Do-- Do you want to sit down?
Okay. Let's...
Why don't you just tell me what's going on?
W-What do you mean?
I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to.
I just-- I want to help.
I got dumped.
Yeah. By who?
By everyone. Yeah.
Yeah, I g-guess I got dumped by everyone.
I don't understand.
So she started talking.
At first, she didn't make sense.
And she wasn't always coherent.
She definitely did not tell me anything
in the correct chronological order,
and it started a lot earlier than three weeks ago.
But in the end, I understood it.
What happened was that Rachel was busy.
She was busier than she'd ever been.
It was last year-- months before Toby started
asking Rachel for a divorce,
back when they were still holding on.
Yeah? Here's my counter.
Sam Rothberg on the line?
To what do I owe this rare pleasure?
Hey, you!
I have a huge favor to ask.
Uh, my nephew is dying to get an agent.
And he just-- Look, he just played Judas
in Godspell at Wesleyan. He was really good.
Oh, wonderful. That is not true.
He was... fine.
Well, Godspell is terrible.
It is. Anyway, I was wondering--
be honest if I'm asking too much here--
do you think you might be able to meet with him
and talk to him about the business?
It would just be huge for him.
Oh, sure I will.
Um, I-I also know a casting director
he could maybe go and sit with for a while.
Uh, why don't you give him my number?
That's so great. I guess it's like everything else.
It's-- It's who you know, yeah?
So she said yes, because she always said yes.
She didn't have time to be on committees
and she didn't come from prestigious stock
and she didn't have a house in Zermatt or whatever,
but she was useful.
Useful had worked for her so far.
Then, a month later...
I just honestly feel like I'm wasting my time at this point.
Why don't you circle back wh--
No. I'm in the middle of--
Hi, there.
Um, I-I gotta go, Joe.
Circle back when you start making sense.
Uh, what are you doing here?
I had to thank you myself.
Ohh! This is totally unnecessary!
Are you kidding me? You just helped that kid leapfrog, like,
10 entire steps in his career.
Much to his parents' disappointment.
You're amazing. No. Really.
I know so few people who could get something like that done.
I rarely see that kind of efficiency.
Well, Toby says if medicine
were as well-run a machine as this office,
"doctors could afford to be doctors again."
Heh. Totally.
You know, doctors are the real heroes.
Yeah.
Um, come. Sit down.
Hm!
Wow. Look at this view.
I just had a thought.
We're trying to find a doctor to run our new cannabis division.
You did this great thing for me.
I could push Toby to the head of the line easy.
Toby?
Salary starts with a mill, then the bonus.
You get the keys to the Vail house.
Oh. Um, I don't know.
Um, you should ask him.
He's got this whole thing about "patient interface."
He's not likely to say yes.
I'm gonna ask him.
Hey, are you... almost done for the day?
You want to get a drink?
Was it weird that her best school-mom-friend's husband
was at her office?
Um-- I can't.
I've-- I've got too much to do here.
Was it weird that he wanted to go out with her?
Do you have a curfew?
Yes.
Good, crazy, but...
Yes, it was. Yeah.
Rachel had met Miriam Rothberg
in a Mommy and Me Class six years earlier.
After a lifetime of shallow friendships that never endured,
Rachel had been determined to play it cool
so that the stench of her desperation
could no longer be detected.
She should have been the nominee.
Sam says he doesn't like her voice,
but, what, you need to like her voice?
Honestly!
We flew with them private
to the Tennessee fundraiser that fall...
Miriam had the line on nursery schools,
on the concierge pediatrician who gave you his cell.
She was on the board of everything.
Her family fortune came from a dubious pharmaceutical company.
They're pretty litigious. I shouldn't say their name.
Well, I was going to send her to Spence
because I went there, but then I had a boy
and I want them to go to the same school,
so I was thinking Lois Francis instead maybe?
Miriam was so far ahead of the game
that private-school applications
were just a formality.
What are you doing right now?
I have to get back to work.
I have an agency. I'm an agent. A theater agent.
What?!
That is so interesting! Actors, writers, what?
Oh, everyone. Yeah. I-I represent the team
Lindenblatt, Silberman and Wadler... Okay.
...from Camps Come Here.
And Loenberg, the singer.
Do you remember Alejandra Lopez?
Remind me? The Suffrage Monologues?
Yes! Right! What's she doing now? I love the theater.
Yeah, no, she's, um-- she's developing something.
It's pretty incredible. I shouldn't say more.
God, I just want to blow off the rest of the day
and go see something.
Come with me.
Well-- I should get back to work.
The agency-- You work every day?
I do. I work every day.
And the time I don't work goes to the kids, so...
You need some you-time.
Ugh. Yeah.
You know, on an airplane, the thing's going down,
you put your own oxygen mask on first
before you put it on the kids.
So... are we blowing off today or what?
I could get us tickets right now.
To anything you want. Uh, yeah, let's do it.
Yay! Yeah.
Uh, let me just unplug a few things.
Okay. Great. I'll go home and change.
Okay. Yes!
And suddenly, Rachel and Miriam were friends.
Good. And lifting up. Don't let that tailbone come up.
And then Miriam's friends were Rachel's friends.
Pull together.
Three more times. And open wide.
Rachel had this whole little Upper East Side gang.
It was a second full-time job,
but she was willing to work it.
Her mother had died, and her grandmother
had sent Rachel to a fancy Catholic school
even though they were poor and her mother had been Jewish.
Everyone there was named Catherine,
and they took tennis lessons and all seemed to know
each other from Nantucket or St. Moritz.
She understood that it wasn't her lack of money and proximity
that made her an outsider.
It was that her lack of proximity and money
created an outsider's desperation in her.
But, also, sophistication is a language.
You're either born speaking it...
or you always speak with an accent.
But then... she met Toby.
So, I was, like, maybe thinking that this would be
a good time for us to kiss?
Yeah? You want--
Toby couldn't hear her accent.
So, where's your family from, Rachel?
We're from Baltimore.
But I don't have a lot of family.
My mother died when I was young.
Um, cancer. She was a single mother.
That's so sad. Who raised you?
My grandmother.
Ugh! That's terrible.
No, it's okay. No.
It's too young to not have a mother.
I lost my mother last year.
I had her all this time, and I still feel like an orphan.
I'm sorry.
You know, uh, you won't believe who I ran into.
Who? Stu.
- Which Stu? - Stu and Jessica.
Stu and Jessica?! Oh, no!
Rachel had been saying it was okay for so long.
Um, where's your bathroom?
It's through there, dear.
You have to understand-- Rachel never had a family.
You okay in there?
I'm great.
You're doing amazing.
No, I know that. Yeah. You too. You too.
No. Okay.
Wait. Yup.
No. We need to take it that way. No. Wrong.
Nope, nope, nope. Wrong direction.
This is much heavier than it looks. Okay!
This is the way to move forward in life from here on out.
It was true. She was great.
And then she wasn't.
I don't know. If you're not progressing, if it were me,
I'd talk to the doctor about pulling the plug
on this induction. Right?
No, I think we should take a second and--
and catch our breath, okay?
Tell him you'll stay in the hospital.
Just tell him you'll do what he says.
- Hello in there! - We heard you were here!
Get them away.
Yeah. Hi, guys. Hey. Come with me.
Yeah.
Um, did you hear from Dr. Goldberg?
I told you. I'm covering.
I've done this at least five or six times before.
Okay. I-- Um--
My husband is-- is, um, gonna, um...
D-Do you think that maybe we should stop the induction?
Because my-- my blood pressure is--
is lower now, I'm not progressing,
I'm exhausted from the Stadol.
Um, it made me hallucinate all night last night.
I didn't want the epidural yet.
Let's just see what's going on in there,
and then, if you're still not progressing, we'll talk.
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
I-I-Is this-- Is this just supposed to be a--
Ow!
This is not an exam.
There is some leakage here.
Ow! Ow! Get me the hook.
What is he doing?! What are you doing?!
Ow! Ow! Fuck!
What the fuck are you doing to me?! Stop it!
Hey, hey, hey! What the hell is going on in here?!
Stop it!
Scalpel.
There she was, paralyzed-- literally paralyzed--
splayed out like she'd been crucified.
Everything in her told her to get up and run,
to make a break for it.
But she couldn't.
Any power she ever thought she had was suddenly gone.
You're doing great, honey, okay?
You're almost there.
Oh, my God! It's-- It's a girl!
Rachel! Rachel, it's a girl!
It was the worst day of her life.
I think you should hold the baby
I still can't feel my legs. It's not safe.
What if I have to run?
Okay.
Give her to me.
You want to go to Mommy now?
Okay. Okay, honey.
Okay. Your mommy.
Rachel looked down and knew
that the baby knew what she was thinking.
She knew... and would never forgive her.
This was Rachel's introduction to motherhood.
You can go. I'm fine. Really.
Ahh. Hey.
How-- How was your day?
Hey, I'm not-- I'm not telling you what to do,
but I think you should-- I'm not going to a therapist.
...speak to someone. Okay.
I-I don't-- I don't feel sad.
Just... crazy.
Like I'm a car stuck in a gear.
But awareness that I'm a car stuck in a gear doesn't help.
See? I just-- Just crazy.
Yeah, therapists deal with crazy.
So do psychiatrists.
That's, like-- That's their whole thing.
What's that?
Oh, yeah, somebody, uh--
somebody from the agency dropped this off.
These are so weird.
I'm glad they're already training our daughter
for the fighting arts.
Hey. Come on. How about getting in touch
with one of your friends?
Everyone's working.
Those are not your friends. Those are your colleagues.
What about the women from the prenatal yoga?
You liked them, right? Why don't you get in touch with them?
Get a coffee with them.
I'm gonna take Hannah for a walk, okay?
She had taken a prenatal yoga class,
and all the women kept in touch on an e-mail chain.
Those had to be her friends. Right?
She had searched their e-mails for signs that the birth
they'd had was the same kind of nightmare she'd had.
But there was no indication.
The women joked that their vaginas needed to bounce back,
their breasts needed to bounce back.
Would their abdomens ever bounce back?
"Can't. We're in the Hamptons."
"We're sleep-training.
I can't go anywhere. Sleeping emoji."
The phrase "bounce back"
seemed like it existed to make fun of her.
There was no bouncing.
There was no back.
It's Rachel.
Hey. We just got back from the Hamptons.
Oh, right. Well, we should-- we should get together.
We'll find a window.
It's just been so crazy since she was born.
Well, I'll-- I'll-- I'll see ya.
Okay. Bye.
The rejection nearly knocked her over.
In the afternoons, she had a good hour
of Hannah sleeping before Toby came home.
She called that her me-time.
But she was being funny.
I ruined her.
No, no. Don't say that. This is normal.
A lot of mothers go through this, honey.
Please, come in. Welcome, dear.
I kept trying to explain it to my mother, but I couldn't.
She knew she hadn't been raped, but when she saw that sign,
she knew that inside that room would be people
who understood what she'd been through--
far more than the people in a postpartum depression
support group would.
Would you like to share anything with the group?
You're okay.
It's okay.
We understand.
Hey. How was it?
It was fine. It was good.
You wanna talk about it?
Cannot do any more talking.
Now, there's my wife.
For a while, the world seemed to have some light in it again.
But then, one day, on the way to her group...
She had four floors to say to him, "Look what you did.
Look what you did to a perfectly good person!"
But she didn't say anything.
What was it that he'd seen in her
that would make him think that she would tolerate that?!
How had he looked at her-- at Rachel--
and thought, "Now, there's someone I can victimize"?
She wasn't a victim!
She was Rachel Fucking Fleishman!
It fits, motherfuckers.
She is so cute.
So when do you go back?
Funny you should ask.
That's what I want to talk to you about.
Remember when I met you?
That Edith Wilson musical you wanted to do?
I can't stop thinking about it.
I see.
Crappy bar, far from the theater district.
Secret meeting formed without the use of assistants.
Rachel Fleishman, are you leaving Alfooz?
Matt is gonna shit himself.
You have so much talent and such a singular vision,
and they put you in TV writers' rooms.
It's where the money is.
That's where the money is for an agency that thinks small.
If you have a hit, that's where the actual money is.
But a person has to believe you have a hit.
And you know what?
She was right.
Every day, there was a new demand,
a new client, a new assistant. I'm sorry.
You wouldn't have to apologize if you'd been paying attention.
Someone had to be trained or fired or poached
or visited in rehab.
It took up all her streams of attention
so that when she finally got home...
Hey, cutie.
I thought you'd be home at 7:00.
Oh, I was delayed.
Yeah, well, you didn't answer me today.
Oh, God. I don't even know what happened today.
I-I'm sorry. What was it?
Passover.
Oh, well, y-you could have called Simone.
I shouldn't have to call my wife through an assistant.
She's got the schedule up. H-Honestly, Toby.
Okay, well, you don't have to call a nurse
to get me on the phone.
Well?
We can't go to your family's for the whole week.
I've got previews. Maybe we could just go for the seders?
You're like a 1950s dad. Like, you come in,
you pat the kids on the head, and then you're gone.
What the fuck kind of thing is that to say?
I-I can't take a whole week off.
Most people can't. No, I know. I know.
You can't do a whole week at my parents'
because we need more money. You know what?
Why don't I call down to, like, the concierge
and the doorman and the assistant
and tell them that we don't have enough money yet?
Toby, what would you do if you couldn't pretend
that you didn't enjoy our money?
What would it be like for you if you couldn't live like a king
and pretend it was a moral failing of mine
to force you to live this terrible existence?
Sorry. That-- You're talking about me now?
Yes! Okay.
Yeah, you get to sit back like a martyr and--
and pretend you're an angel.
"No, I only love the-- the patient interface.
I don't need to live on actual money. I hate money."
No, I don't hate money. I just don't choose it over everything.
I choose money over everything? Yeah.
No. I choose-- I choose safety over everything.
I choose acceptance for our kids over everything. Oh, please. Stop.
The only reason you can't see that
is because you've always had those things.
I mean, don't-- don't you see? Yeah, we have enough, Rachel.
Like, at some point, like, it has to be enough.
Look. It's not-- It's not just about money.
It's about their friendships.
Oh, it's their friend-- Let them choose their own friends.
What?! What, you think you just sit there
and friends come to you?
Sorry. Do you have any idea how fucked-up what you just said is?
Like, any idea? Because, yes, of co--
Sorry. Yes, of course, I do.
Because we are networking them, aren't we? No, right.
Why don't we have, like, their possible friends' agents call
so we can, like, get the ball rolling on them?
Would that be a good idea?
You're mimicking me? No, I'm...
Toby could set up a playdate, sure.
He could offer to take the kids to the doctor.
But he wasn't a mother.
The system was run by mothers, for mothers.
People talk about the expectations
that are heaped upon mothers,
but the expectations come from the mothers themselves--
the moms' nights out, the fundraisers,
the book drives,
the yoga classes, the friendships.
Well, that's a relief.
Forgot the nose.
- Oh. - Ohh.
Hm.
- Honestly? - Go! Go!
- Sam? - Have fun, ladies.
Bye, Sam.
Oh, I wish I'd had a third. But Toby said no.
He said I work too much for another child.
Well, we all work.
God, I wish I had a job. It sounds like a vacation.
Seriously. Someone, employ me. Right?
Can I go on maternity leave from motherhood?
And there it was.
The hideous thing that divided the two kinds of women
there were in the world that Rachel lived in.
The working mothers and the stay-at-home mothers.
Rachel knew the truth, which was that the culture
was so condescending to stay-at-home mothers
that we allowed them the fiction that being a mother
was the hardest job in the world.
Well, it wasn't.
Having an actual job and being a mother
is the hardest job in the world.
You don't have to say it. It's obvious.
It was two full-time jobs. It's just math.
Keeping track of your kids from afar is not easier.
Entrusting them to a stranger is not easier.
Nothing makes it easier. That's what Rachel knew.
But you know what she also knew?
That these friends of hers could be gone in a minute.
Hardest job in the world.
Ahh. Cheers to that.
It wasn't an insult. I mean, it was a job offer.
Are you paranoid? What-- What you do is good enough,
but you should always take the meeting. Everyone knows that.
Oh, it's "good enough" to be a doctor?
Why, thank you so much for approving
of the full-time job I've had for 20 years.
God, what planet am I on?
No, I-I'm not saying you should--
You know what? You have no respect for me.
Respect?! Yeah.
He said the base salary's a mill. That's respect.
Oh, you have a nickname for a million dollars, too?
Wow. Congratulations. That is adorable.
No, don't do that to me. You know, I'm sitting here
wondering if we're gonna look back on this
and wonder why we hung on for so long.
Wha-- What are you talking about?
Come on. You can't possibly think this is working.
Toby, do you understand
I don't even have time to get a divorce?
But the truth was, every time he brought up divorce,
she felt the phantom limb of abandonment,
her age-old wound.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. She makes no time for us.
Toby. I'm here. Is this not time for us?
Yeah, so, we used to take these long walks together.
Now I cannot remember a time we took a walk together.
Toby, for all your love of physics,
you can't quite grasp that if we walk to dinner
35 blocks away instead of letting me finish the e-mail
in the cab on the way there,
I will be finishing the e-mail at the table.
The e-mail isn't optional. The e-mail is the entire thing.
I don't know. I think some people would say it could all wait.
What could wait? No. Tell me--
Tell me what I do that could wait.
Anyone who has ever been to just one session
of couples therapy could tell you
that beyond your point of view lies an abyss
with a bubbling cauldron of fire
and that just beyond that abyss
lies your spouse's point of view.
Rachel and Toby tried to fix it.
I will be finishing the e--
Wait while you say hello to your family.
That's all! But the thing wasn't broken.
Yeah. Sorry. Do you see how angry she is?
It was gone.
And then... it was over.
She had spent so much time hyperventilating
and terrified of him leaving, of the actual
one-day-he-wouldn't-be-there of it all,
that she was shocked to find out
that when it finally happened...
...it was... fine.
It was... good.
She started to think that marriage
was a section of your life
that you now see was always meant to end,
like childhood or puberty.
It's just a phase.
But maybe it was also fine
because of one additional mitigating factor.
Months before, while all this was going on...
Well, then. I will bring that to Alejandra.
I have a feeling she will be amenable.
Oh, get me Alejan--
Uh, good, Richard. Uh, thank you.
Yeah. I'll circle back soon.
Hey. Are you looking for a job here?
'Cause we start people in the mailroom.
Okay. I just wanted to thank you, again.
Uh, Josh got cast in a car commercial.
Yeah, I heard! That's great. He's great.
Yeah, it's one of those ones where the kid wakes up on
Christmas and the parents have given him a car or something?
You okay?
No. I'm sorry. Um, it's just, uh--
Things are a little hard now.
Let me take you for a drink.
You look like you could use a friend.
I've got a ton of calls to return.
One drink. You're getting there.
Cut to the part where you're there.
So they cut to the part where they were there.
Oh, God, it's good.
Fuck, that's good. That's good.
It was supposed to be temporary--
quick nooners at hotels.
But then Toby left for his new place,
and now she could see him anytime she wanted
when the kids were with Toby.
And once or twice when the kids were asleep.
Sam loved that she worked.
Sam wanted to hear about her deals, about the drama at work.
And Jeff told Reyna, "No, you can do it.
I just can't hear you doing it."
I'm only happy when I'm with you.
Um, I mean, how do we figure that part out?
Well...
let's game-plan this and break down the practicalities.
I've been thinking I might want to open an L.A. office.
Fendant has an L.A. office.
I love it when you talk like an agent.
I love it. I love everything you have going on in your head.
I just... love you.
Sam accepted her. He was impressed with her.
She began to wonder if she didn't have to choose
between love and acceptance.
I think it's time.
Okay.
Oh.
Oh, God!
It's so gross!
Okay. It's time to go to bed.
Come on!
No, I let you stay up this late.
Mwah!
She realized that some people are miserable after a divorce.
Not Rachel. She was free.
She could do whatever the hell she wanted.
Well, not everything.
Trust me-- if Rachel could have moved to L.A.
without having to talk to Toby about it, she would have.
Every conversation was a terror with him.
Hey. Is now a good time?
Uh, sure. Yeah. Are the kids okay?
Yeah, they're fine. How's your new place?
What is it, Rachel?
Honestly, your whole thing is that we're supposed to have
great co-parenting communication
and be captains of this divorce team together, but every time
I say something nice to you, you have a meltdown.
Yeah, I would not call this a meltdown, okay?
So, I've been thinking.
The Presidentrix! movie is about to go.
The agency is doing really great.
Yeah. Yeah. Congratulations.
Um, I'm thinking I want to start an L.A. office,
expand my business.
Sure. Great. Congratulations.
It would mean that I'd have to go, set up shop,
and-- and be there a while.
Yeah, okay. Well, Hannah goes to camp in two weeks.
And Solly-- I don't know.
Maybe you want to take him for a week or two?
Well, I'm thinking of doing it for longer than the summer.
Um, maybe I would have to be there longer,
like, uh...
move there for a while.
I'd keep my place here,
and I'd still come back all the time.
And what? Like, leave the kids?
No, no. I...
I would take the kids.
Are you fucking kidding me?! You are not taking the kids anywhere. I will--
I will literally-- Rachel, I will sue you before you--
No, I'm-- I'm saying I need a change.
Oh. Oh, you need a change? Okay.
No, no. Please don't make this ugly.
You know what? Go to California. Seriously.
But you are not taking the kids, okay?
Honestly, t-they wouldn't even notice if you were gone.
It was the meanest thing anyone had ever said to her.
And he had said some mean things.
I have great news.
Just got a last-minute spot at Everglade for the weekend.
You there?
Hi. Uh, yeah.
So, I'm telling Miriam I'm getting super into yoga.
We can finally do a weekend.
Uh, right. Um, I'm--
I'm in the middle of Alejandra's deal.
We're-- We're trying to close.
Did you know the cellphone had been invented? Come on.
Cut to the part where you're there.
Great. Be outside at 6:00.
There's a silent mindfulness nature walk at 10:00
that you're just in time for.
Can we just cut to the massage part?
Rach, you want a facial?
Sure. Cool.
- I can facilitate that. - Thank you.
Hey, you okay?
Yeah. Work stuff.
Why don't you get an early massage?
Let's wash it all off, okay?
Hey. I brought something for us.
Edibles.
It's the good stuff. Medical.
Mm!
Very romantic.
Yeah. I-- I can't do that stuff.
They gave me this thing when I had Hannah
that made me hallucinate all night,
and now I just... stay away.
Mm-kay.
Let's begin. Deep breath.
Here's the thing about consciousness-raising
and awareness.
Let's start. Deep breath.
You should avoid it.
Let's start. Deep breath.
I'm sorry. I just-- I just have to sit up for a second.
I have an idea for you.
Try closing your eyes.
I-I can't close my eyes.
Now breathe.
You breath keeps getting caught in the same place.
What does that mean?
It means you have to clear out the pipes a little.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Now... scream.
Trust me.
Haaaa!
Don't worry. No one can hear you.
HAAA!
You're getting it.
HAAAAAA!
What if I told you that inside you are tiny particles
and attached to that
are all the worry and the anxiety you have,
all your problems, and that if you gather them
and push them out of your body, they won't be there anymore?
And so she screamed.
One of her screams was for Hannah,
who had Rachel's disease of the desire for love and acceptance.
One of them was for Solly, who thought he was allowed
to be himself in this world
and didn't realize there would be consequences to it,
no matter what Mr. Rogers said.
She screamed for her mother, who was, perhaps,
her last chance at being a normal person.
She screamed for Toby,
who promised that he would never leave
and spent their years together
threatening to leave her...
and then finally did.
She screamed for the family she worked her whole life to get...
but then only had so briefly.
This place is so fucking weird.
What is it with you?
I don't know. I'm just-- I don't know.
I can't seem to calm down.
Here. Take an Ambien.
Isn't that a prescription?
Still a doctor's wife.
Phar-ma-ceuticals.
Sam liked to take Ambien before they had sex. God knows why.
Rachel thought about taking one,
but she'd read these stories about people
who do crazy things in their sleep when they take it.
Fuck.
What, you're leaving?
I don't get that much time to myself, you know?
I was hoping this would be... fun?
You were supposed to be fun.
I was supposed to be fun? You know what I mean.
It's not supposed to be this much work.
I don't think this is good anymore.
You should pack.
But we were supposed to be here for-- for another two days.
I don't want to leave yet.
Rachel was left unsure of what had just happened.
Had there been a progression that she'd missed?
All she thought is, "There goes another one."
And then it hit her-- Holy shit!
She was divorced. The bottom had fallen out.
There was no net. She was alone.
She was alone, again, when she had taken such measures
to make sure she'd never be alone again.
It must be that she was unlovable--
an illegitimate kind of person.
There were so many people in the world--
dumb ones, ugly ones, bad ones even--
and there were people who loved them.
Why not her?
She couldn't be loved by her grandmother.
She couldn't be loved by Toby for being herself.
She couldn't be loved by Sam for being herself.
Who she was was unacceptable.
"Sutton called and was asking for clarification
on the final deal point. And Toby called.
He's saying you have to pick up the kids."
"Just one fucking weekend, Simone."
Can you look at this script?
Marsha says we should circle back when we have more.
Did you hit the final deal points?
- Final deal points? - Where are you?
- Where are you?
It's time to get the ball rolling on Alison's deal.
- Hey. - Hey, give me a call back
because you said alternate, not understudy.
- Alternate, not understudy. - Can you circle back?
- Alejandra... - Alejandra called again.
Hey. Are you getting these?
Circle back.
Time was a flat circle back.
Well, she couldn't go to sleep while her phone was nearby.
It was alive. She could feel it beating.
Mrs. Rothberg?
I'm not Mrs. Rothberg.
We were wondering when you'd be checking out.
Oh, I want another massage and then do more screaming.
Right. But your reservation.
We have a large group coming.
Well, can I have a late checkout?
Sure.
Just get me a car home, okay? And send me a new phone.
No, Simone! It's just one weekend.
Let me be, please.
Mrs. Fleishman. Long time, no see.
She was home. Finally.
Sleep.
Maybe she was hungry.
She'd only eaten vegetarian bullshit for the past few days.
Maybe if she had some iron in her she'd be able to sleep.
She'd had a roommate in college who used to diet all the time,
but when she gave up on her diets,
which was basically every week, she'd order beef lo mein.
You've never seen someone so happy while eating.
Uh, yeah, hi. C-Can I get an order of...
I'll have the beef lo mein.
Hello, Mrs. Fleishman.
Lo mein is gross.
Why would you eat spaghetti from a Chinese place?
What she needed was exercise.
Exercise always tired her out.
Wait. What was she doing in the bedroom?
She'd had a roommate in college who used to diet all the time,
but when she gave up on her diets,
which was basically every week, she'd order beef lo mein.
You've never seen someone so happy while eating.
Um, are you still delivering?
Yeah, I-I'll have a beef lo mein.
Delivered to 813 East 84th Street.
Apartment 7A.
Hello, Mrs. Fleishman.
Disgusting. If you want pasta, you go to Tony's.
She had this idea that maybe it was
that her clothes were too tight.
She never wore sweatpants anymore.
They reminded her of her postpartum breakdown.
But either Toby or Sam had left some behind,
and she thought maybe the sweatpants
were what healed her last time.
She thought of those women who wore sweatpants all day
and slept in the park because they had nothing to do.
Maybe she could be one of them.
But, man, she was hungry.
Rachel thought about her college roommate
who had an eating disorder and who would,
once a week, order beef lo mein
because that's the food you eat when you've just given up.
Can I get an order of beef lo mein?
813 East 84th Street. Apartment 7A.
Mrs. Fleishman. Thank you.
It was totally gross!
Why would you eat spaghetti from a Chinese place?
Maybe she could get, like, a supplement or something.
A hamburger. Um, no onions. Uh, no cheese.
Um, do, uh-- do you have pickles?
Do you-- Do you still have that fusilli?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That-- One-- One of those.
Oh, you want two?
Yeah, no. Make that two.
Go away! I don't want it!
Toby?
Oh. Hannah. God, you scared me.
I know. I was at the office.
I have to tell you something.
Can you listen? I have to tell you something.
I'm busy! I'll circle back.
No, no, no. No. You have to hear it from me.
I didn't stand a chance. I never stood a chance.
Do you hear me?
I have to circle back on that!
Can you tell Solly?
I left word. You're not listening!
No, honey. The joke is that the eyes are open.
I find the patient interface particularly rewarding.
Mom, we're late! You have to get us!
I can't move, Hannah.
Mom. Mom, please!
I can't move.
I love you! I love you! Y-Y-You know.
You know that I love you. But they're coming.
They're coming for me, and I can't even move!
I'm in L.A. I'm in L.A.
C-Come see if-- if you can find me, okay?
We'll-- We'll order room service.
She had to get out of there.
Ahem!
Rachel Fleishman. Asleep in the park.
As I live and breathe!
We're going to Soul. Are you coming?
Oh, um...
I forgot to tell you.
Um, I'm waiting on a call, so I can't.
- Ohh. - Oh, it's okay.
Ohh. You work too hard.
Are you o-okay?
Sure. Yeah.
Uh, just...
taking some me-time.
- Proud of you. - Ohh.
- Yes! - You go, girl.
Yeah, that's good.
Did something come for me?
From my assistant? I ordered a new phone.
And, uh, I've been without a phone all weekend.
She delivered, uh, something for you a few weeks ago.
What do you mean?
What--
Wait. Sorry. She--
She delivered it on-- on Sunday?
It's Thursday.
It's Thursday?
But it wasn't just Thursday.
It wasn't even the next Thursday.
It had been weeks.
Oh, shit.
She found herself in front of Toby's apartment,
but she was afraid to go in.
Not because she was scared of him yelling at her,
which she was, but because she knew
that whatever it was he said, he would be right.
And she could not bear further information right then
about what a piece of shit she was.
She couldn't figure out how much time had passed.
She had so much apologizing to do.
So she did the first thing that seemed manageable.
Rachel. Hi.
I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to see my favorite.
Uh, I come-- I come bearing gifts.
I'll... get Alex.
Alex!
Rachel.
It's me.
Oh, I, um-- I brought you something.
Uh, so-- so, I-I think--
I think we have all our-- our deal points done.
They're still being a little--
Rachel, what are you talking about?
I haven't heard from you in three weeks.
Wow. Do you--
Do you ever get déjà vu?
Rachel, are you okay? It's 7:00 a.m.
Uh, no. I-I-I had to go out of town.
It was a-- It was a family emergency.
Simone said you were in meetings.
I called you.
My lawyer called and said you weren't returning.
I called Matt.
Wait. My Matt?
My Matt.
I went back to Alfooz.
You disappeared!
I couldn't let it fall apart.
I worked too hard to let it fall apart.
No, no, no, of course. No, y-you did the right thing.
Absolutely.
Uh, let me-- let me know
if Matt needs any help with the transition.
Rachel-- Wait. Is it-- Is the deal done?
Did he handle it?
Yeah, he got it. All of it.
It's fine now.
Rachel, are you--
I-I'm-- I'm fine. Yeah. I mean...
No, it's been a-- it's been a rough week,
but, you know, it's-- it's fine.
I am so p--
I'm so proud of what you achieved.
I'm very sorry I let you down.
Rachel had discovered her.
She'd believed in her when Matt was still calling her
a diversity hire for TV rooms behind her back.
See? Unacceptable.
And then I realized I was hungry
and if I saw them when I was hungry
I was gonna have to leave to get something to eat,
so I-I went looking for carbs and I got a bagel
and then-- and then I saw you.
Are you sure I-I can't get you anything?
Her story was all over the place.
There were several days she just couldn't account for.
And half of it didn't add up.
I don't really remember putting newspaper on the windows.
I think you need some help, Rachel.
Come on.
I'd spent the whole summer listening to Toby's story,
seeing it through his eyes alone.
I'd forgotten an essential truth of reporting,
which is that you should always wonder,
when you're hearing someone's version of things,
what the other person in the story--
the one who wasn't there-- would say if he were.
I'd forgotten that lesson, which I had learned
on every story I ever did.
It was that there are no real villains in life,
not really.
There are no real heroes, either.
Everyone is great and everyone is terrible
and everyone is flawed,
and there are no exceptions to that.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Just try to sleep. Okay?
I'll sit here with you.
And I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.
You know, I always liked you.
I just thought you didn't like me.
Hey. I'm sorry about before.
I hope you're not mad.
It's just that I've been going through a lot lately.