The Sniders enter the club and find that it is empty. Somen is impressed by Paul, who claims to know his role model, Hugh Hefner (the founder of Playboy magazine).
When Paul claims business expertise and celebrity connections, Somen offers him a 25 percent stake in the club to help him get it off the ground. Paul accepts, but the club remains dormant. ..
Somen eventually realizes that Paul was lying to him. He doesn’t know Hefner; he barely has connections at all. He was paranoid that Dorothy would leave him, so he tricked Somen into giving him a stake in the company so he could impress Dorothy.
Somen reduces his stake to 5 percent, and they continue to brainstorm ways to help the club. When their ideas continue to fail, they take a break with Dorothy at a gay club–which gives Somen an idea: a strip club for women. It would be the first in Los Angeles.
Paul initially dislikes the idea of hiring male strippers, but Dorothy explains to him that women can get horny too. This leads to an increase in business for Chippendales, which Somen has renamed in honor of the success. ..
The club garners the interest of choreographer Nick de Noia’s interest. For a price, he claims he can turn their strip show into something truly worth watching. Somen puts him to work.
Nick’s presence stokes Paul’s jealousy. He pulls Dorothy away as she watches him train the employees and brings her to a fancy lunch establishment. ..
Director Peter Bogdanovich approaches Dorothy to ask her to audition for a role in his new movie. Dorothy is excited to share the news with her friend Paul, who suggests that Peter only asked her because he wants to sleep with her. When Paul yells at Dorothy in front of everyone, she leaves. ..
Paul returns to Chippendales, yelling about Dorothy’s “betrayal” and disrupting Nick’s rehearsals. Nick then tells him he’s fired. Frankly, he’s a creepy MC and the club doesn’t need him. Somen backs him up, having given the choreographer full privileges.
Paul’s choreography is a hit with the customers, but not with Nick. He grabs Dorothy and drags her out of Chippendales while she’s enjoying the show.
After the show, Somen pays Nick and thanks him for his service to the club. Nick pauses, as if waiting for Somen to request that he stay on, but the owner simply sends him on his way. ..
That night, Somen leaves a voice message for Paul, who will never receive it. Paul and Dorothy lie unmoving and covered in blood in their shared room. A shotgun can be seen on the floor, presumably used by Paul to end both of their lives.
The Episode Review
The show has a lot going for it, but one of the most important things is the cast. Kumail Nanjiani (Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens and The White Lotus’ Murray Bartlett; both are utterly transformed) is a perfect fit for the lead role of Chippendales. He brings an interesting and unique perspective to the role, and his chemistry with his co-stars is electric. The show also features a strong supporting cast, led by Sarah Paulson (The West Wing’s Jenna Elfman) and Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent’s Tracee Ellis Ross). They all add their own unique flavor to the show, and together they make for an amazing team.
Somen is a compelling protagonist, even if the premiere drifts away from its initial tight focus on his character. His success in the business/entertainment in the industry is a tough ladder to climb, given the discrimination and obstacles he’s had to face, in addition to the expectation for him to assimilate.
The series’ approach to commentary on the industry is surface-level, but it promises to be endlessly entertaining.
