The episode opens with Karen and Jimmy waking up from spending the night together to find Karen’s dad waiting downstairs. Jimmy has to quickly sneak out of a window so that her dad doesn’t see him, but he catches a glimpse of a guy going down the fire escape. Ivy ignores a call from her mom while walking with Sam. Julia is trying to write an apology email to Scott, and asks Tom for advice. Ivy comes in and finds out that her mom, Lee, is playing her mom in the musical. Lee says she won’t accept the role if Ivy doesn’t approve of it. Ivy gives it a very unenthusiastic seal of approval.
Over at Hit List, Karen is singing through a song. Scott and Derek enter, and Derek stops her. Karen’s dad is present to watch Karen sing. There’s a fundraiser tonight, and Scott decides to add Ana’s number to the performance list, along with Karen’s. Ana starts to rehearse her number while Karen talks with her dad, who can’t understand why Karen left Bombshell for this, but he trusts her judgement. For now… Kyle gets a call from Jimmy who sounds super happy, until he runs into some shady dude, and quickly runs away. Uh oh.
Tom talks to Ivy for a second, and it’s clear that Ivy is pissed at Tom. Ivy and Lee get ready to rehearse their number. We cut back to Hit List with Karen and Derek talking about Karen’s dad being disapproving. Jimmy finally shows up. Ivy and Lee are rehearsing the scene, and Lee’s acting isn’t quite up to par. It’s kind of painful. Tom has to stop the scene and talk to the two of them about how they need to handle the scene differently. Eileen gets a call from Richard, and tells him tomorrow is probably better, but asks him out to dinner. He asks if it’s a date. They flirt a bit. How quickly Eileen has moved on from Nick. Karen and Jimmy are talking when the shady dude from earlier shows up. Jimmy quits the conversation, and walks over to the shady dude and pulls him out of the rehearsal space.
Jimmy and the shady guy talk outside. Jimmy owes him some money. Some threats are made. Jimmy is trying to get the money together. Karen’s dad, Roger, talks to Derek outside. Derek invites him to the fundraiser, but Roger is thinking about leaving. Roger seems to think Derek was the guy on the fire escape, since he didn’t see a face. Back at Bombshell, Lee questions Sam about his relationship with Tom. Eileen asks Julia if she wants to go to the fundraiser for Hit List, since she has another ticket. Lee and Ivy go back to rehearsing the scene, and it’s still terrible. Tom tries to pull some real emotion out of them. Ivy and Lee throw barbs at each other. Ivy brings up a story where Lee told her that a girl opposite her in a school production of Into The Woods was better than her, and that Ivy is just going to have to work harder. Ivy tells Lee that she always shows up just to remind her of how she’s not good enough. Ivy walks off. This combo isn’t going to work out.
At the fundraiser, Karen sings her solo. She sounds oddly autotuned. Jimmy plays piano for her. Roger blames Derek still, and directly references the sneaking out the window to a very confused Derek, before walking away. Scott and Julia talk, she continues to apologize. Eileen and Richard talk, and they’re at the same table. Kyle tells Ana about Richard being in the audience, and how big this is. Karen is trying to find Jimmy, but can’t find him. Ana performs her number in front of everyone, with her dancers. They do some aerial work, and it’s fantastic. Really cool stuff. Jimmy decides to try and steal stuff from coats while Ana is singing. Derek catches Jimmy in the act. Jimmy tells Derek his story, about how he owes a guy 8,000 dollars. Derek tells Jimmy he should have just come to him. Jimmy is surprised that Derek would want to help him.
Richard loved the show. He meets Ana, and really loves her. He can’t wait to see more from her. Kyle has to lie and say that Ana has a number in the second act, that doesn’t exist. Jimmy doesn’t seem happy about this. Richard and Eileen seem to be hitting it off, so he asks her if it’s OK to pass off the Bombshell article to someone else. Lee and Ivy talk. Lee tells Ivy that the show needs her name, and she’s doing this to help Ivy. She says that people will come and watch them together on stage. Ivy says that the show may need her, but after they open, she won’t ever need her again. Roger and Karen argue about Hit List, again. He’s clearly disappointed, and thinks she made a mistake. He leaves.
Lee and Ivy do a scene together. It’s much better now that they’ve been honest to each other. Of course, the song is about how many mistakes Marilyn’s mother made, and how she’d fix it all if she could. It parallels their actual relationship. It’s a great moment for the two of them, as Lee is saying she’s sorry through song. Julia cries, and Ivy seems genuinely affected by the number. Derek gives Jimmy the money so he can settle his debt. Roger apologizes to Karen for reacting badly the other night. Roger apologizes to Derek, and now Derek knows that Jimmy and Karen are together. Scott and Julia have coffee. Scott asks her for advice on how to make Ana a bigger role in Hit List. He asks her to look over the book. Tom and Ivy talk about Lee. Ivy tells Tom that they aren’t friends anymore, she simply works for him. She’s still not happy about Lee. Jimmy pays off the dealer, and the dealer says “Collins. It’s Collins now?” Uh oh. Jimmy’s got more secrets.
