'Work in Progress' Episode 7 promo shows Abby about to confess to Chris about knowing his deadname
Episode 6 of Showtime’s queer comedy ‘Work in Progress’ was an emotionally-heavy episode. The episode titled ‘15, 14 (pt. 1)’ saw Abby (Abby McEnany) navigate around the idea of her father remarrying.
It was also an episode where she accidentally broke her promise to her trans boyfriend Chris (Theo Germaine) about never asking him about his deadname. She saw the deadname on a bottle of his prescription pills.
A deadname is the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses upon transitioning. Much like proper pronouns, a deadname (or the distancing from it) is a very important part of non-binary identity.
Abby, after this, experienced a panic attack that triggered her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Even though she decided to come clean to Chris about her indiscretion, she was unable to. Consequently, she did not manage to sleep, lying awake all night in a panic, wondering how Chris would react to her actions, given this was his one and only rule for the relationship.
So, what will happen next? Episode seven is titled ‘14 (pt. 2), 12, 11, 10’, keeping in theme with the titles of all previous episodes. The numbers are a reference to the 180 almonds which Abby chose to consume (one a day), at the end of which she would decide if her life was worth living at all.
According to the official description of the episode on the Showtime website, “Having ignored the advice of her friends, Abby finally confesses the truth to Chris after a painting puts her in a trance.” The promo video for episode seven sees a panicky Abby contemplating coming clean to Chris.
She’s so jumpy that a phone call from Chris sends her over the edge, making her scream in fright. We see Abby talking about her conundrum with actor Julia Sweeny, who per Abby had ruined her youth with her androgynous SNL character Pat.
Julia asks Abby, “If you were Chris, would you want you to tell you?” to which Abby responds, “He’s having a better day not knowing. So, I don’t think he’d wanna know… I’m not gonna tell him.”
Her best friend Campbell (Celeste Pechous) on the other hand, as in episode 6, still advocates honesty. She shouts at Abby, “Tell your boyfriend the truth!”
Finally, at an art gallery, the moment of truth arrives, when a happy Chris notices how distressed Abby is and asks her what was wrong. All that is left to be seen is how Chris reacts to Abby’s confession.
‘Work In Progress’ airs every Sunday at 11 pm/10 c only on Showtime.