Famous In Love Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Some Like It Not
Caralynn Lippo
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It was Paige's 21st birthday on Famous In Love Season 1 Episode 5, and after a rough start, it ended up going pretty damn near perfect for our plucky heroine.
"Some Like It Not" also managed to force me into warming up to Rainer just a bit, which I legitimately didn't think was possible. So there's that.
The latest installment of the Freeform series managed to juggle all of the most important stories nicely, while still forwarding the plot and character development.
Obviously, at the center of it all (as usual) was Paige. Since Famous in Love has seemingly decided on a "This is Paige's problem this week" format, we'll just call this hour "Birthday Problems."
Paige's "Birthday Problems" were numerous. The first was the fact that she apparently never finished that econ paper she'd been complaining about on Famous in Love Season 1 Episode 3.
Inexplicably, rather than going to the professor when she realized she wouldn't be able to finish, Paige just... went ahead and didn't write the paper? Which doesn't make a ton of sense, to be perfectly frank.
For that reason, I had some trouble sympathizing when Paige flounced into the professor's office, babbling about her ~very important acting gig~ and the professor was just like, "No."
Professor: Ms. Townsen, do you really think because you're working on this film that I can grant you special privileges I don't extend to my other students?
Paige: I see your point, but—
Professor: Then you understand that my answer is no. Sorry.
Damn, professor. Short, straightforward, and to the point.
Paige's other issue was the fact that she needed to rehearse her big Locked dance number with Rainer on her birthday (or so she thought). Wyatt bitched her out about backing out of it, essentially scaring her into agreeing to work on her birthday night.
We already knew from his behavior on Famous in Love Season 1 Episode 4 that Wyatt is kind of a bully, so this was pretty convincing. As it turned out, though, it was all a ruse. Well, the fact that Paige can't dance well yet wasn't a ruse, but everything else was.
There was no rehearsal and Paige mistook Rainer planning her surprise birthday party with a professional planner for him flirting with a mystery woman on set. In actuality, Rainer went to great lengths to craft the perfect night for Paige.
It was actually pretty sweet. I still don't particularly care about them, because neither are particularly compelling characters, but I can acknowledge that the party scene was a cute moment for #TeamRaige.
As was Rainer's big declaration, the morning after, that Paige made him want to be a better man (paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it).
Rainer: Forget about my history. Because when I'm with you, I wanna change.
Paige: Really?
Rainer: Really.
Again, this is every sort of romance cliché that I truly hate, but clearly Famous in Love is sticking with it so I need to just deal.
Onwards and upwards to all of the moderately more interesting relationships on the show.
Alexis and Jake bonded during their time in Palm Springs, but the big twist here is that Alexis claimed to actually kinda sorta like Jake. At the very least, she said she believes in his movie and legitimately wants it to succeed.
This is a more interesting turn of events than what I'd anticipated would happen between them – which is that Alexis would simply use and dispose of Jake, not caring about him at all.
In fact, it seems that the opposite is true. Jake ditched Alexis after they managed to sell his script to a studio in order to go to Paige's birthday party. But he went crawling back into her arms after he saw Rainer and Paige making moon-eyes at one another and got all butthurt about it.
I'm liking Jake less and less as time goes on. He put himself in the friendzone and now he's acting like a moron about it. His behavior pretty much makes no sense, so it's hard to sympathize with him about it.
At least Cassie and Paige have become moderately better about putting Jake in his place.
Jake: It's Rainer. He's just trying to get in your pants. That's all.
Paige: Excuse me? Ten minutes ago you were rolling around with Alexis the Blow-up Doll in Palm Springs all weekend. Are you really acting jealous right now?
I'll admit that I laughed at Paige's "Alexis the Blow-Up Doll" crack.
Finally, the rest of the hour revolved primarily around Tangey, Jordan, Nina, and Ida, and the tangled web being woven among them all.
Tangey and Jordan have been building on the chemistry that's been palpable between them since they first shared a scene. As of yet, those two are my favorite Famous in Love couple – they have the most natural chemistry.
Tangey is flat-out in love with Jordan, and he obviously cares for her deeply as well. At the very least, he cares enough to have 1) broken up with Nina for her, 2) convinced her to cut off Ida despite losing access to all her money in the process, and 3) offered to financially support her until the Ida business is straightened out.
Here's the thing. You're Tangey Turner. You're immensely talented, and you've got a great future ahead of you. Do what you do and the riches will come. Forget the money. Consider it a small price to pay for your freedom. It'll be the best dollar you ever spent.
Jordan
Jordan is basically the boyfriend MVP of this show. That was a pretty flawless pep talk.
Unfortunately, Jordan breaking up with Nina didn't go nearly as well as Jordan thought it did.
To his credit, he was honest about his reasons for putting an end to their illicit relationship, telling her about his feelings for Tangey. Alas, Nina is far creepier than I gave her credit for – turns out, she had someone take photos of Tangey and Jordan making out, planning to us them for god-knows-what kind of blackmail material.
As if that wasn't bad enough, she also decided to essentially destroy Jordan's relationship with Tangey (and possibly his career?) by letting Ida in on Jordan's big secret – the fact that his mom (now in jail, thanks to Nina) is actually alive.
Jordan's mom: Who the hell are you?
Ida: I think you have a story to tell. And I'm the one who's gonna help you tell it.
It's hard to tell whether Nina legitimately cared for Jordan and that's why she's doing this (for revenge) or if this is all a larger-scale manipulation to build press and buzz for Locked.
She certainly looked devastated when she overheard Tangey talking to Rainer about the relationship.
Regardless of her feelings about Jordan, there's no denying that she's acting like a total nut at this point. The faster Nina's duplicity comes to light, the better.
Stray thoughts:
- I adore the leggings Bella Thorne was wearing during the dance rehearsal scene.
- Rainer's father is Alan, the jerky and creepy new studio head! Twist! Intrigue! Babydaddy drama!
- Cassie and Set PA Adam hooked up. It was very cute, as was Cassie's little smirk at Jake about it.
- Speaking of Cassie – girlfriend's really the best at inspirational BFF pep talks:
You're gonna go bring some fun clothes, because I don't care how late you rehearse, we're going out. We'll salvage this birthday even if we have to drink warm beer out of a can a minute before midnight.
Cassie
What did you think of "Some Like It Not"? Share your thoughts by commenting below.
Remember that you can watch Famous In Love online anytime here at TV Fanatic to relive the star-studded adventures of Paige Townsen Without the D.
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
