'Katy Keene' Episode 9 Review: Impeccable overcast stitches and a pussycat swap topple egotistic patriarchy
Spoilers for 'Katy Keene' Season 1 Episode 9 'Chapter Nine: Wishin' and a Hopin'
If there were ever an episode on this wish-upon-a-star series that gave women their deserving yet unprecedented power, 'Chapter Nine: Wishin' and a Hopin' was definitely it. Katy Keene (Lucy Hale) masters a confidence reboot with Gloria Grandbilt (Katherine LaNasa) by her side and Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) finds her mature self in rebooting her highschool band, 'Josie and the Pussycats.' Of course, there is still some wild drama happening with Pepper Smith (Julia Chan) and Jorge/Ginger Lopez (Jonny Beauchamp), which was jarring despite having less screen time.
Katy, the designer diva with inherited skills from her seamstress mother struggles to find her confidence while on an apprenticeship with the incorrigible Guy LaMontagne (Luke Cook). Working in an abandoned atelier, Guy has to present five dresses to Gloria in order to gain funding but instead chooses to use Katy for tea fetching and as a punching bag.
Some tears, a few needle pricks and a confidence boost from Gloria later, Katy manages to master the skill of an overcast stitch in a little bit over 24 hours, impressing the cold-hearted Guy. Also, if you caught the preview for the next episode, we could be expecting a kiss. Why does Katy always insist on mixing business with pleasure even though it has not worked for her in the past? Needless to say, Katy's confidence in her ability to train and perfect her skills in being a designer was a good switch in narrative compared to her never-ending romantic drama.
On the singer dream front, our Josie was told by the demeaning Mr Alexander Cabot that a reboot of her high school band 'Josie and the Pussycats' was much needed and might be just the thing that could kickstart Cabot records.
Unfortunately, he thought models and not singers would do the job. If you know Josie from 'Riverdale', you know her passion for music is what ended the band at Riverdale High, but leaving that in the past, she hoped to have her new self represented with her new band. With Raj documenting the process of this reformation, we see Cabot leave his money and trust fund behind to be a manager to one of the most talented artists New York has ever seen. Not to mention, the two new members of the band — Cricket (Azriel Crews) and Trula Twyst (Emily Rafala) — have incredible voices and bada** attitudes. Turns out the pussycat swap that happened behind Cabot's back toppled the egotistic patriarchy afterall.
Now, as for Jorge and Pepper, boy were those some juicy scenes.
Jorge meets with his ex-boyfriend Buzz Brown (Eric Freeman) and while he has his hunk of a boyfriend Bernardo (Ryan Faucett) with him, his mind often wanders off thinking about Buzz. With a little advice from Pepper, we have a threesome, only for Jorge to realize that Buzz and Bernardo were about to get too close. Pepper, on the other hand, seems to have gotten into an intense online feud with Hannah Melvey (Tedra Millan). Towards the end of the episode, we find that the woman trying to expose Pepper is Pepper's... wait for it... wife! Pepper has broken more than a few hearts, but this might be the one that might cost her, her entire reputation.
This episode was definitely one of the few that dove deeper into character arcs, taking away a bit of the unrealistic magic that it always seems to possess. The struggles in relationships, the pressure of unwavering confidence and the need to go up the career ladder without handouts were highlighted with a sense of 'real' life stories. We thoroughly enjoyed this episode more than those from the past, and hope that these characters continue to be more humanized as it's not always hearts and rainbows. Sometimes life's about affairs and mugshots too.
'Katy Keene' airs Thursdays at 8 pm EST on The CW.