PRIVILEGED: All About Insecurities

It’s pretty late in the day for those of you on the East Coast, and I’m sorry I’m just now getting around to posting Nicole’s review of last night’s episode of PRIVILEGED.  As I mentioned, today I spent the day on the set of the show and got to spend some time watching them film some scenes and did some chit chatting with JoAnna Garcia (Megan), Ashley Newbrough (Sage) and Brian Hallisay (Will).  It was a blast and I can’t wait to share all the details with you soon, but for now enjoy Nicole’s take on last night’s episode.  With no TiVo here at the hotel I wasn’t able to see it, but I was filled in today (thanks Robin) and I can’t wait to watch it.

One last thing before we get to last night’s ep….everyone I spoke with today made mention of the importance of fan support.  So for those of you spreading the word of PRIVILEGED…keep on with the keep on – it’s appreciated.

Ok, enough from me…over to Nicole.

What a great episode! I loved Privileged last night – this, despite the fact that the hour was entirely Charlie-free. Each of the storylines were pretty Megan-centric, but we got some very nice glimpses into the lives of some of the other characters – particularly Will, Sage and Rose. We also seem to have witnessed a bit of a truce between Ice Queen Laurel and Megan.

At the end of last week’s episode Laurel told Megan she would have to prove her honor to the family, and this week she more than did that when her college roommate Karen showed up and handed her an opportunity to sell out her new employers. There was also a glimpse into the future careers of Rose and Sage and the current career of Will (who knew he had one!?!?). Onto the breakdown:

Megan and Karen
Karen (played by Sarah Drew of EVERWOOD and MAD MEN) is Megan’s Yale roommate who popped in for a visit.  The two girls hadn’t seen each other in a while and Megan’s ecstatic to have a friend staying with her that she can commiserate with.

Karen is also in a low-glamour job with a tyrannical boss, so the girls have a lot of common ground that they can bitch about. However, shortly into her trip Karen gets a call from her boss promoting her to assistant editor. How could this be more of a blow to Megan’s ego? This call comes in while Laurel is chewing her out for the girls’ unimpressive showing at school. I think we’ve all been on one side or the other of that awkward situation when two friends with similar goals end up in much different places on the ladder of success. Megan’s finding it a bit difficult to see Karen climbing the ladder while she feels like a glorified babysitter whose charges won’t listen to her and whose boss has no respect for her.

Karen goes from a coffee-fetching assistant to having lengthy telephone conversations with author Michael Chabon, and she wants to see Megan get on the same path. First she offers Megan her old job, which Megan turns down because her current position is too important to her. Then, she proposes that Megan write an expose on her time in the Palm Beach mansion for the publication she works for. This idea has a little more longevity, however Megan ultimately decides that she can’t do it out of respect for the family and her job. Here we see where the girls seem to have grown apart – Karen feels that the ends justify the means when it comes to getting ahead, and Megan just isn’t willing to sell out her life and those that are a part of it in order to further her career. You really see how dedicated she’s become to Rose and Sage and their respective futures, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when the girls repeatedly blow her off, putting their career before study sessions…

Megan, Rose and Sage
The twins have finals approaching and Megan is on a mission to step up the studying in an attempt to get their grades up from the first progress report of the year. Unfortunately for her, the girls, along with their new publicist Patty, have got plans for their big debut, which will serve as the first step to making them famous. This appears to be the career goal in and of itself – to be famous. I suppose in today’s Hills and Paris Hilton-obsessed world it is inevitable that young girls would feel the desire to be famous for no particular reason. This makes me sad, but because this is Privileged I have faith that a lesson will ultimately be learned (but not in a 7th Heaven, knock you over the head kind of way).

Rather than studying the twins have to prepare for a big red carpet debut at a hot club, along with a duet performance with Sage on guitar (she learned from Eric Clapton) and Rose on vocals. Wow – they performed Fever (great song!!) and Lucy Hale (Rose) knocked it out of the park!! How incredible was that voice of hers? Patty the Publicist now has eyes only for Rose, leaving Sage to pout in their dust as they walk away to discuss strategy. Being that this career path has been Sage’s baby all along, I felt for her when she saw her sister (unintentionally) taking the spotlight. Things are remedied later however when we learn that Rose is not so good at the interview/self-promotion game and Sage steps up to banter casually with Perez Hilton. Luckily Patty sees this too so I’m pretty sure that the duo will remain a duo for now. Things aren’t all fabulous though because the girls’ English lit final presents itself and Rose has yet to finish reading “A Farewell To Arms” (while Sage blew through it with no problems). When last we see her she is sitting in the exam about to burst into tears at her lack of preparedness. Uh oh – it looks like the career is already starting to be a problem for Rose.

On now to what’s going to have lots of people talking…

Megan and Will
Will has a job! He’s a gopher and lackey for a famous sports photographer who is also apparently a major douchebag. Megan asked Will if she and Karen could go for a ride on his families elephants and do other really impressive rich-people things, but instead Will invites Megan and Karen to come to a tennis game that he’s photographing. His boss will be there, and the whole thing is kind of his first big break in the sports photography world. By coincidence, Megan and Karen are sitting right behind the boss and he overhears them talking about Will. Megan and he begin talking and before she knows it she has unwittingly outed Will as a billionaire to the boss, who apparently had no idea. Megan apologizes to Will, but he’s pretty pissed that she managed to work his families’ money into an introductory conversation.

Will and his boss meet up at a coffee shop and it appears that his boss has no qualms with the money; he just didn’t understand why Will lied. Will, you see, did not want the dynamic of boss/employee to be ruined by the fact that Will could buy and sell the guy with the spare change in his couch. At first things seem to be going over very well, and then the guy becomes obsessed and starts wanting to know how much Will is worth. Consider the dynamic ruined. But have no fear, because Will goes to see Megan and it appears she’s forgiven. She thinks he’s been fired, but he actually quit the job and he seems okay with it. While Megan starts psyching herself up for resume writing and interview preparation to help Will out, he moves ever closer until it’s obvious that it’s time for her to stop talking. I have to say…as a Charlie fan, I was not expecting to be moved by the kiss, but damn! It was pretty freakin’ hot. Those two have some good chemistry. All the more reason that I’m fine with them being together…for now.

Next week: the return of Lilly. Yay (she said sarcastically). But I hear there is a jail cell involved, so this could be a good thing. As always, share your thoughts below in the comments.

Will Rose’s studies take back seat to her budding career?  Any Team Charlie fans moving to Team Will after that hot kiss?  Are the Baker girls really ready for Perez…is anyone?

— 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!