Privileged – All About Defining Yourself

Well, despite having the election on the brain last night and watching much more CNN than can be healthy in one evening, I did manage to watch Privileged as well, just before catching some much needed zzzzz’s. My sleep deprivation was well worth it though as I got to witness history in the making along with a very satisfying hour of tv goodness. It seems that the Privileged writers had politics on the brain too, as noted by all of the voting references present in tonight’s episode. We had Sage wearing an awesome “Rock the Vote” shirt (combining glitter and civic responsibility is always a good idea), various cast members were rocking the “I Voted” sticker and Megan noted that she and her dad had taken a trip to the voting booth together. Kudos Privileged!

Now, on to an important issue first raised by GMMR on her site earlier today: how hot did Charlie look in this episode?? Lol, okay, maybe that’s not so important to everyone but I think that fans of Privileged were definitely pleased to have Michael Cassidy to gaze at for an hour last night. Tonight’s episode was all about defining yourself, and there was definitely a lot of self-discovery going on. We had Sage and Rose coming to terms with what they wanted for their futures and more importantly, the idea what they want isn’t necessarily the same thing. Then there was Charlie finally coming to grips with a part of why he’s been avoiding Megan so much lately and realizing that he had to make some changes in his own life. Finally, we had Megan entering a defining period in her career as a writer only to have it all fall apart in the end. Let’s break it down, shall we?

Sage and Rose
The twins scored a meeting with a big time publicist who had seen photos of the girls and was interested in taking them on as clients. The publicist was played by a personal favourite, Kathy Najimi, and I was so thrilled to see her! Here’s hoping she’ll be around some more in future episodes. The meeting clashed with a history test for Rose who showed a lot of maturity by passing on the huge opportunity in order to focus on her grades. She’s thinking big picture and for her the biggest thing in that picture is getting into Duke, her parent’s alma mater. Sage was also thinking big picture, but it was a totally different one than Rose’s. Sage wants to be famous and does not have the desire to attend Duke that Rose does. For her school is what she’s doing while she’s waiting for her life to start. At first it seems to be a good compromise that Sage attend the meeting alone, but she soon realizes that the publicist is only interested in hiring the girls as a package deal because they’ll be easier to market as a brand.

The girls have it out over what’s more important and come to realize that they both want drastically different things out of life, which scares them because they had always planned on going through life together. Rose had a nice little heart to heart with Charlie about the whole thing (“you’re like the oldest person I know who doesn’t work for me” – ouch!), and we learned that he and Megan had gone through something similar when she went off to Yale without her best friend. We also learned that she and Charlie had once broken into a zoo – very un-Megan-like, but hey – they were young and needed the money. This conversation turns out to be just as valuable for Charlie as it is for Rose, but more on that later. Ultimately the girls decide to sign with the publicist together but only accept jobs that don’t cause them to miss any major school events, like exams or the prom. Will this turn out to be an ideal compromise or will it spell disaster for their academic futures? Only time will tell.

Charlie
Charlie goes on date number three with Mandy (fyi – I couldn’t figure out where I recognized Mandy from and a quick trip to IMDB made me remember the show “Windfall” which I had watched and completely forgotten about) and realizes that he needs to end things because of his feelings for Megan. Mandy proves to be the most understanding girl in the world (or maybe she just really wanted that Mississippi mud pie) when she sticks around to help him work out his issues with Megan. She proposes that he’s holding onto his unspoken love as a way of making life easy for himself – no commitments, no real relationships to deal with.

Charlie goes to talk with Megan (yay – the silent treatment is over!) and tells her that he’s been doing some thinking. I for one was thrown that he wasn’t there to confess his love, but rather to say that he had decided to go back to school and finish his degree. He’s sick of the easy but unremarkable life he’s been living and he wants to better himself and his future. Charlie has decided to grow up and move on, and for now anyway that includes moving on from his feelings. At episode’s end, he catches up with Mandy again and this time things end much differently, with the pair sharing quite the kiss on the beach. Now, is it just me or would anyone else be a little reticent to make out with a guy who just confessed to a six year crush on his best friend? That Mandy sure is understanding! However I think that putting Megan and Charlie squarely in the “friends” camp will open things up in Megan’s life for a romance with a certain neighbour who proved to be a big comfort to our favourite tutor last night…

Megan
Megan has been writing a book, or at least the beginnings of one, that chronicles the magnificent rise of Laurel Limoges and her cosmetics company. She’s decided that Laurel makes the perfect subject for a biography but she wants to put a proposal together before approaching her boss with her idea. Smart plan; too bad Sage ruined it (or tried to) by emailing everything to Laurel who was out of town on business. I thought that I would hate Sage’s character for doing this after making me like her so much last week, but I can see that it was an act of desperation to try to take down the person she thought was causing Rose to pull away from her. Now that she sees that Duke is important to Rose with or without Megan’s influence, I think that her attempts to take Megan out will probably die down.

Anyhoo, Laurel is actually surprisingly into the idea of the biography and quickly commandeers the writing process by hiring a big shot consultant to advise on the project. Not only that, but she wants to keep the personal side of her life in the background as much as possible, which Megan can’t understand as it gives the rest of the story some much-needed context. Megan is devastated that her first big project is being hijacked and so she goes digging for more information that she can add to the book herself, hoping that she can impress Laurel and keep creative control. She soon discovers why Laurel was so reluctant to talk about her family though – she happens across some information that proves that Sage and Rose’s mother was born from an affair that Laurel had while her husband was fighting in Vietnam. She confesses all to Laurel and says that she understands if Laurel wants to fire her. The Ice Queen is crafty though and knows she can’t let Megan go now that she’s holding all of the cards and explains to Megan that she’ll be staying on…and keeping her secret. The material for the book is put away, and Megan is now back at square one with her career aspirations. Only now she has a big secret that she can’t share with anyone.

So…how do we feel about Charlie moving on from Megan, and who thinks that this turn of events is permanent? Doubtful. However, the Will lovers out there must be excited because it sure seems like we’re being set up for some Will-Megan time. He was a great friend to her in the ep, and I’m cool with the idea of them together….for now. What would you guys like to see happen in Rose and Sage’s world? I think we may be in for some Lindsay/Paris/Britney-esque craziness – what else could be the result of pairing beautiful wealthy young girls with their own publicist? Leave your comments down below!

— posted by Nicole

Nicole is a lawyer by day and will be GMMR’s resident Supernatural and Privileged expert this year. She lives just outside of Toronto, and as such, you’ll have to forgive Canadian spellings and maybe the occasional “eh” when they pop up in her reviews. Nicole is still in mourning over the loss of Arrested Development and desperately hoping that the movie happens soon. While she’s a lover of music and movies, television is near and dear to her heart and she’s really excited to be a part of the GMMR team!