Written by Robert Siegel
Directed by Matt Shakman
Irene (to Steve/Nick/Denise): "This is it. This is the team."
Well, this didn't waste time in getting things to move alone. Following the brutal deaths of Paul and Dorothy at the end of the first episode, this one added two new players into the mix and both of them didn't waste time in making their impacts on both Steve and Nick.
First of all, there was accountant Irene (Annaleigh Ashford) who Steve tried to chat up with. At first it seemed like Irene wasn't interested in him, only for her to then reveal her money saving ways for Steve's business and the two of them to bond over things such as Wonder Woman and wanting to make Chippendales into a more profitable business.
It's hard not to watch Irene's scenes with Steve and not see why he fell in love with her instantly. The two of them certainly paired up rather quickly to the point where merchandise was being sold, gents could come in after the show and both Steve and Irene had desks facing each other. Yup, we got our central love here but seeing as this episode was called Four Geniuses, where were the other two?
Well, there was Nick who played coy with Steve at first before accepting a full time choreography gig, including the hiring and firing. Out with most of the dancers from the first episode and in with largely new ones, with a particular emphasis on the rather gorgeous and ambitious Otis (Quentin Plair). Nick didn't seem to like the fact that Otis had aspirations beyond dancing though.
The last genius in the mix then would be Denise (Juliette Lewis). At first she seemed to be an overzealous fangirl constantly getting into Nick's personal space. Then when she actually managed to get Nick's attention, she revealed she was a costume design who proved her worth pretty fast with the breakaway pants for the dancers. Naturally Nick wanted to hire her on the spot but it wasn't until Irene pointed out the merits of an in house designer that Steve agreed to Denise's addition to the team.
Speaking of the team, while Irene and Denise showed a bit of sisterly solidarity, tensions were already brewing between Steve and Nick. Going by the trailer for the rest of the season, they are clearly going to get worse and worse the more their joint venture takes off beyond one nightclub.
- We got a rather nice title sequence with both Annaleigh Ashford and Juliette Lewis's names added to the opening credits.
- Steve drinks a lot of cola as does Irene while we also saw Nick divorcing his wife and copping up with one of her lawyers at the start of the episode. Otis didn't like being kissed by the customers (he has a wife and kids) while his co-workers were doing a lot more than that.
- Standout music: Blondie's Call Me, which was also used in American Horror Story: NYC last month.
- Chronology: From where the first episode left off.
Four Geniuses did a great job in setting up the status quo for the season and it certainly moved things along too. The pacing for this episode alone felt much quicker. Both Annaleigh Ashford and Juliette Lewis are great additions to the series.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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