S01.E05: Leeches

[Scarlett45]

Quote

While Nick takes the Big Apple by storm, Steve is back in LA staring down a discrimination lawsuit. Jealousy flares when Nick becomes a media darling -- and the face of the brand.

Air Date: December 13, 2022

[AntFTW]

Steve is a small insecure man.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Ohh Steve, nice try but you don’t have Nick’s charisma and eloquency!

🤣🤣🤣

[chocolatine]

It's always sad to watch people destroy everything they've worked so hard for because they can't get out of their own way. Steve could have had a great life with Irene and their child, watching the money roll in while people like Nick and Denise did most of the work, but he was too much of an egomaniac and control freak to be able to do that.

It was great to see Irene call him out on his racism, but I doubt that actually changed how he felt. He'll just try to hide it better from her from now on.

Having Ray burn the competing club down was not just criminal but also a bad business move. If he wants Chippendale's to have a high-end clientele and air of exclusivity, having copycats would reinforce that. It would be similar to luxury brands like Hermes making limited quantities of the Birkin bags only for the most illustrious clients, while everyone else has to contend themselves with knock-offs. 

[AntFTW]

28 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

It's always sad to watch people destroy everything they've worked so hard for because they can't get out of their own way. Steve could have had a great life with Irene and their child, watching the money roll in while people like Nick and Denise did most of the work, but he was too much of an egomaniac and control freak to be able to do that.

If I never had to meet with a client and just watch the money roll in, that would be my dream. I have an extroverted job but I'm a natural introvert. If I were Steve, I'd happily be the owner and let Nick be the face and get all the attention.

30 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

It was great to see Irene call him out on his racism, but I doubt that actually changed how he felt. He'll just try to hide it better from her from now on.

The "I'm not a racist, I'm just perpetuating it" is never a great argument.

I find it a bit contradictory that he has this perception of what women want, and that is this straight-haired, in-shape, blonde, blue-eyed white guy. He has a perception that what people want in public, in private, and in general is whiteness. However, Steve's perception somehow doesn't apply to himself.

"People wouldn't want Otis in the privacy of their home because he's black, but the privacy that I -a brown-skinned immigrant from India- created in this club is okay."

"Other customers wouldn't want black people in the club, but they don't mind that I'm here."

"If it's okay for the white guy, Nick, to flaunt the success of Chippendales all over the media then it's okay if I do it. No one will be turned off by my brown skin."

I'm having a hard time understanding how someone could reconcile those thoughts that the world wants whiteness, but I'm not white and it also wants me.

46 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Having Ray burn the competing club down was not just criminal but also a bad business move. If he wants Chippendale's to have a high-end clientele and air of exclusivity, having copycats would reinforce that. It would be similar to luxury brands like Hermes making limited quantities of the Birkin bags only for the most illustrious clients, while everyone else has to contend themselves with knock-offs. 

He had just seen the New York club. He could have brought some of those ideas back to LA. Instead of creating a more upscale place that he has the blueprint for, he chooses to sabotage another club.

[EdnasEdibles]

Watching Steve do that interview was too much like real life. I work in PR and if I had a nickel for every c-suite leader who thinks they should do all of the media when they're quite frankly just bad at it, I could retire. 

Steve is self-loathing and obnoxious and needs to just let Nick be the media darling for the Chippendales. Nick is kind of an asshole as well, like how hard would it truly be to be like "Well, Steve Banerjee started the Chippendales and it was all his brainchild and creation but he wanted to take it to the next level, he hired me on and bam! Here we are today!" But Steve is such a dick to Nick that I can understand why he gives him no credit at all. They're both just poking the bear though and they need to get out of their own way. Steve, let Nick do what Nick does best and sit back to collect the money. Nick, quit being an asshole, it was Steve's idea and you could throw him a little bit of attention to make him happy and the happier he is, the more he's likely to get out of your way. 

I'm at the point where I truly don't know what Steve's wife sees in him. He's impossible. 

[iMonrey]

It was fun seeing the recreations of 80s TV staples like Phil Donahue, Sally Jessie Raphael, etc. But it seems odd, if not unlikely, that none of those shows would have done the research or fact checking to learn that Steve was actually the owner of Chippendales, not Nick. Then again I'm not sure how much of this was factually accurate.

And yes, Steve should just be happy with the business and the money, but I think the show is doing a good job explaining why he's that way, given his background, his family, the time he's living in, etc. He didn't burn down that club because they were copying him, he did it because that guy disrespected him. Nobody seems to respect him. Part of that might be his fault but not all of it is.

[HunterHunted]

On 12/15/2022 at 12:58 PM, iMonrey said:

It was fun seeing the recreations of 80s TV staples like Phil Donahue, Sally Jessie Raphael, etc. But it seems odd, if not unlikely, that none of those shows would have done the research or fact checking to learn that Steve was actually the owner of Chippendales, not Nick. Then again I'm not sure how much of this was factually accurate.

This is accurate. I've seen both of the documentary series. There is footage and Nick really was that brazen. The shows didn't investigate or research Chippendales because they weren't doing an expose of it. Those episodes were mostly about titillation. The one area where Steve was great at marketing, was that he constantly created media ready conflicts. He'd call nearby churches to get them to protest and then call the news. He might call feminist groups too. So by the time the talk shows covered Chippendales, the shows basically copied panelists from the news stories he'd invented. The documentaries also talked about how some of those groups would have audience tickets if they hadn't been included as part of the panel. People at Chippendales thought Steve or maybe Nick was tipping them off.

Another issue was that the New York club was twice the size of the LA club and celebrities openly visited the NY club.

On 12/15/2022 at 12:58 PM, iMonrey said:

He didn't burn down that club because they were copying him, he did it because that guy disrespected him.

He burned down multiple clubs.

On 12/13/2022 at 11:32 PM, chocolatine said:

It was great to see Irene call him out on his racism, but I doubt that actually changed how he felt. He'll just try to hide it better from her from now on.

Spoiler

He burned himself soooooo badly in real life. He excluded the law clerk of a federal judge. The resulting class action lawsuit nearly bankrupted the business.

Steve has big time bought into respectability politics. He thinks because he wears a suit, owns a business, and is brown, but not Black that he'll be seen as better than basic Black people.

Edited December 17, 2022 by HunterHunted

[Scarlett45]

On 12/17/2022 at 1:12 PM, HunterHunted said:

Steve has big time bought into respectability politics. He thinks because he wears a suit, owns a business, and is brown, but not Black that he'll be seen as better than basic Black people.

No one wants to be “on the bottom” of the social hierarchy, and as a person of color that was an immigrant, Steve could see that persons of ADOS heritage (American descendants of slavery) were on the bottom of the racial hierarchy in America. Steve was not disgusted by racism, just when it affected him. 

On 12/13/2022 at 11:21 PM, AntFTW said:

I find it a bit contradictory that he has this perception of what women want, and that is this straight-haired, in-shape, blonde, blue-eyed white guy. He has a perception that what people want in public, in private, and in general is whiteness. However, Steve's perception somehow doesn't apply to himself.

I think Steve feels it applies to himself- that people would prefer whiteness to him, but he ASPIRES to be a part of white society. He wants to be as close as possible. Yes Steve knows that he will never “be white”(obviously) but he has a white wife, a bunch of white employees, a product white people like, if he can’t be white, he can at least be the exception in a white space. If the space is truly diverse or multi-cultural to him it’s “less than”. I have seen this myself in the Black community where some people only want to be the token Black person in the situation. 

[rollacoaster]

Just finishing up this episode. 

Steve is not portrayed in this series as super likeable or charming, but after this episode, I do feel for him. How horrible must it be for him to create something then have a white man come in and claim credit and have the world believe it? 

Sure, both Steve and Nick are egotistical dicks. But, truly, I can understand why Steve behaves as he does. He is awkward, status obsessed, and a not particularly imaginative person who, as an immigrant and non-white man doesn't quite grasp the nuances of the culture he desperately wants to be a part of. And we see him repeatedly getting shit on by white men who don't respect or take him seriously. He is vulnerable to weasels like Ray because the outward trappings of wealth don't earn him the respect he feels he deserves. 

And Nick understands the game he is playing. He understands what he can get way with as a white man. He also navigates with ease the world that Steve longs to be part of. 

The snowball fight was an interesting moment between them. Steve's childlike wonder while interacting with the snow and Nick guiding him in making his first snowball was touching. Steve was open to learn and Nick was kind in teaching him until the moment soured. 

I really like Irene. She is smart and has a lot of heart. 

And, honestly, I like Nick and Denise as a pair. They work well together.  

[paramitch]

On 12/14/2022 at 7:32 AM, EdnasEdibles said:

Watching Steve do that interview was too much like real life. I work in PR and if I had a nickel for every c-suite leader who thinks they should do all of the media when they're quite frankly just bad at it, I could retire. 

Steve is self-loathing and obnoxious and needs to just let Nick be the media darling for the Chippendales. Nick is kind of an asshole as well, like how hard would it truly be to be like "Well, Steve Banerjee started the Chippendales and it was all his brainchild and creation but he wanted to take it to the next level, he hired me on and bam! Here we are today!" But Steve is such a dick to Nick that I can understand why he gives him no credit at all. They're both just poking the bear though and they need to get out of their own way. Steve, let Nick do what Nick does best and sit back to collect the money. Nick, quit being an asshole, it was Steve's idea and you could throw him a little bit of attention to make him happy and the happier he is, the more he's likely to get out of your way. 

I feel your pain. I've been an indie publicist for 25 years, and this was so painful. 

I'm also frustrated with the battle of egos between Nick and Steve, since as you note, there was a solution for both if they just stopped acting like egotistical toddlers. Steve is worst, though. 

On 12/15/2022 at 9:58 AM, iMonrey said:

He didn't burn down that club because they were copying him, he did it because that guy disrespected him. Nobody seems to respect him. Part of that might be his fault but not all of it is.

I disagree. He had already decided the competitor had insulted him too far to be borne, just by competing. It was clear to me that he would have burned them down regardless.

On 12/17/2022 at 11:12 AM, HunterHunted said:

Steve has big time bought into respectability politics. He thinks because he wears a suit, owns a business, and is brown, but not Black that he'll be seen as better than basic Black people.

I agree with this take. Steve suffers from racism directed at him, but he (as with too many others) still uses racism to suit his own needs and seems staggeringly clueless about it. Like Otis -- I fumed at how he treated Otis, beginning to end.

On 12/18/2022 at 4:22 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I think Steve feels it applies to himself- that people would prefer whiteness to him, but he ASPIRES to be a part of white society. He wants to be as close as possible. Yes Steve knows that he will never “be white”(obviously) but he has a white wife, a bunch of white employees, a product white people like, if he can’t be white, he can at least be the exception in a white space. If the space is truly diverse or multi-cultural to him it’s “less than”. I have seen this myself in the Black community where some people only want to be the token Black person in the situation. 

This is a perfect summation of Steve. 

On 12/22/2022 at 4:01 PM, rollacoaster said:

And Nick understands the game he is playing. He understands what he can get way with as a white man. He also navigates with ease the world that Steve longs to be part of. 

The snowball fight was an interesting moment between them. Steve's childlike wonder while interacting with the snow and Nick guiding him in making his first snowball was touching. Steve was open to learn and Nick was kind in teaching him until the moment soured. 

Great post.

To answer, I would note that Nick has also had to navigate the world as a minority, as a gay man who often had to hide himself and his identity to get boy (and who was penalized when he didn't).

I loved the snowball fight moment. And it was such a well-written moment. I was so touched by Steve's reaction to the snow, and loved how Nick was so kind about it.

But the moment he proposed the snowball fight, I cringed -- there was too much anger there on both sides, and it absolutely tanked them both. Great scene (and very well-acted).