- "I really think that's the most goddamn Davia Moss thing you could've done."
- —Dennis to Davia
That's Me in the Spotlight is the ninth episode and Spring finale of Season 4 of Good Trouble. The episode aired on May 4, 2022.
Synopsis[]
The FCGs give Mariana the ok to date Evan, but she is conflicted. Alice tries to gain the courage to go back on stage. Joaquin gets a tip on his sister’s whereabouts. Isabella’s parents propose a new idea for the baby.
Plot[]
Davia begins her routine as she imagines Dennis on the drums and Luca asking if she still has feelings for him, as she wouldn't care what he thinks if she didn't. She'll always have feelings for him. Joaquin thanks Mariana for helping him. She doesn't want him to give up on his sister. Malika is confronted by Dyonte who wonders if this won't work. Alice calls out for anyone. Davia warns Gael to be careful as Isabella has been sketchy in the past.
Evan meets with the BB girls to explain the merger. He'll buy both Bulk Beauty and Revitalize Beauty to merge them, with the BB four remaining as the board of directors and sole partners. His participation will be hands-off. Mariana thanks him but they want an option to buy him out just in case. He agrees and tells them he's shut down ACT=visim. He should have done it sooner and apologizes for his involvement in the toxic work space. They all thank him, though the BB girls notice the sultry look between Mariana and Evan. He plans to make Jackie "an offer she can't refuse" imitating Godfather, a references that goes over their heads. When he leaves, Claire states that it's obvious they still have feelings for one another. Gina and Rachel chime in with catcalls. Claire tells Mariana that they won't stand in the way of their love if they want to be together.
Malika takes a call from Dyonte as she gets into work. She has plans with Angelica that night but he hopes she can join a protest of his tomorrow in Chesterfield Square for his rest campaign. She agrees to be there - he'll be the good lucking guy with the megaphone. Malika greets Councilwoman Hernandez on her way and thanks her for sponsoring the proposal. Will tells Malika that Hernandez wanted a favor in exchange for sponsoring Malika's proposal, which puts Lucia in a very difficult position. Lucia watches the scene from her office.
Gael washes out his brushes when Isabella visits him. Her parents called as they want to have dinner. She doesn't know if it's good or not as they might have come around. She doesn't want to get too excited but finds herself being excited anyway. He joins her enthusiasm.
Davia is stretching when Desi asks if she's seen Luca. Flashing back, Davia grills Kelly about throwing Luca out. She didn't know he was a friend of Davia's but she doesn't see how that matters as he might not have been dangerous. She can't contact him as he left his phone behind. Now, Luca arrives at the theater. Davia apologizes to Luca and offers her loft as a place to stay. He assures her he's fine but is going to leave after the show. He gives her the money for the costumes so he doesn't need to be in debt to anyone.
Luca changes in the bathroom and looks at bruises on his back, remembering a fight he got into. He borrows some makeup from the counter to cover them.
Davia and Luca rehearse for Desi and the other dancers. When he raises her back up from a dip she envisions Dennis which makes her stumble backwards. Desi gives her a break. Luca, worried, asks if he messes her up but she assures him he didn't. She's starting to get nervous with her Coterie friends coming. He correctly guesses that she's worried about Dennis because of their history. She admits they have fraught history along with her worries of what he's going to think of the show. He assumes she still has feelings and she'll always having feelings but doesn't want to be with him. He wonders why she cares what Dennis thinks then.
Alice finds a lack of food in her cupboard. Sumi emerges and notices she just got up. Alice plans to have food delivered and admits it's been a while since she's left The Coterie. Sumi asks if she's scared to leave but she claims she's not. She's also not going to Davia's show as she's coming down with something.
Mariana texts Evan asking if they can talk about them. She gets an unknown text saying that she has information about Jenna.
Isabella waits for her parents outside of the restaurant and greets them.
Mariana tells Joaquin that Jenna used to work at a stand called Fruit Flint Farm and always talked about getting off the grid and actually moving there. There's another farmers market in two days so they should check it out for themselves. He's hesitant as it's probably a dead end as Jenna might not even want to see her. Mariana understands his lack of inspiration but believes he can't give up looking for his sister. He kisses her but she pushes him back. He apologizes as she's been helpful and kind. She understands but can't imagine what he's going through. He'll never have peace unless he knows what happened to Jenna.
Davia eats when Gael arrives with roses - he plans to tell Isabella how he feels. He sees Davia's mood change and asks if she doesn't approve. She's just cautious because she doesn't trust Isabella. Gael thinks it's because of Isabella's relationship with Dennis, as it's obvious that Davia loves him. She deflects back onto him. He has such a big heart and wants him to be careful as Isabella's been sketchy in the past. He can't rush into a commitment just because there's a baby. He quietly leaves the room to go back upstairs.
Malika tells Angelica that she might get fired as Lucia is upset she went behind her back to get the votes. If Lucia does know about her and Angelica she just kicked the hornet's nest. Angelica wonders if Malika even wants the job since Lucia keeps trying to undermine her. There's too many women who need the center and services, as this will be the fastest way to get that. She also doesn't want Dyonte judging her, something Angelica points out shouldn't be happening. She adds that Malika should apologize but Malika needs to think of something to save her job.
Isabella has dinner with her parents. Bianca didn't like the way they handled things, and considering Isabella has decided to keep the baby, they needed to talk in-person. They're going to buy her a condo anywhere she wants, within reason. She thanks them profusely. He believes she shouldn't throw money away on rent. She should always have a roof over her head. She thanks him but Bianca pulls her hand away as there's a condition. They've thought a lot about it and, since it's too late for an abortion, they want her to give the baby up for adoption. She refuses to give up her baby. Bianca presses that it's a lifetime commitment that Isabella is completely unprepared for, especially alone. Isabella isn't alone as she and Gael are co-parenting. Marc points out that Gael is a starving artist she had a one-night stand with, as he's not going to take care of her or stick around. There's no guarantee he'll stay, or what will happen when he starts a family with someone he loves, and she can't think of herself but the baby - what's best for it. Isabella knows she's what's best for her and is keeping her. If that's what she insists on doing then they don't plan to be involved in the baby's life, she'll be financially cut-off, and if Isabella gets overwhelmed they won't step-in to help. She understands and leaves to their surprise as she's not having dinner.
Gael sits on his bed looking at the roses. Isabella comes in looking upset. He asks about dinner and she admits they want her to give the baby up for adoption. Gael gets angry and she reveals they think she'll be a bad mom and that he'll leave her when he meets someone else. She feels like an idiot for thinking they would love her or support her when they never have or will. He calls them the idiots that she doesn't need. He won't leave her and gives her the roses. She questions the gesture. He realizes when he thought they'd lose the babe that she didn't want to lose him either. He's happy to know her through all of this. He think he's in love with her. He doesn't want to put her on the spot. She loves him too. She kisses him and they continue to kiss.
Malika arrives at Lucia's office. She apologizes for not asking Lucia before going to the other members for sponsorships. She was trying to impress Lucia and is learning a lot about politics, but will ask permission before making moves herself. She adds that Angelica is seeing someone, her, she just didn't know what how to react on the spot. She wants to be up front with her. Lucia thanks her as she appreciates the gesture. Will enters after Malika leaves. Lucia tells him to forget finding cause to fire Malika as it could look like retaliation. He wonders if that's why she told Lucia, to save her job. Lucia believes that with Will calling it well played then struggles to find his footing again.
Dyonte asks Malika to come to the protest, but she learns it's in Hernandez's district. She claims she can't go after all.
Sumi asks Alice how she's doing, so Alice lies about being sick. Alice is tagged on a post where people flood her comments with positive responses to her. She flashes back to the heckler and his racist comment and attack. She begins to have a panic attack and rushes to the kitchen calling for anyone, but they're all gone.
Davia prepares to go on the stage. Luca asks how she's doing so she admits her nerves. He reminds her why she got into the show and not to give that way. She shouldn't dance for anyone else but herself.
Dennis accepts a drink as he sits with Isabella and Gael. Sumi tells Malika that Alice has a fever, just as Alice arrives, claiming it was a false alarm. Sumi watches her, skeptical. The curtain rises as the show begins with Davia in a cage on a hoop. She dances inside the cage seductively. By her next fashion change, she's with Luca approaching from opposite sides of the stage to join in the middle. Dennis watches the scene unfold.
The third fashion change brings another dance with the girls using giant fans made out of feathers, while Luca dances around and with them. The song ends and the whole crowd cheers.
Alice compliments Davia for being amazing and brae. Davia admits he almost quit as the dancing pictures she posted made her want to hide and give up. Alice asks why she didn't, with Davia realizing that the fear is crippling when she doesn't face it.
Alice leaves to get a drink and Sumi joins her. She asks why she changed her mind. Alice saw a video of the heckler and everyone commented on how brave she was as a female comic to stand up to him. She doesn't feel brave. She's scared to leave the house or be alone. She should have said something about what happened. Sumi assures her it's not too late.
Luca compliments Davia for killing it and she returns the sentiment. She danced for herself which was because of him. She doesn't want him to leave town but he might not have a choice. He was harassed by a guy who wants Luca to pay to beg on his street, despite Luca not having any money to spare. They begin to fight as the man beats Luca up, throwing him to the ground before kicking him. He takes money from Luca's bag then leaves. Luca realizes the man dropped his wallet and steals it, along with the cash. He throws the wallet in the dumpster but stops. He counters out over a hundred dollars which he gives to a homeless family. Luca doesn't think he can stay in town anymore, with Davia offering her loft until they can figure something out.
Alice walks on-stage to perform. Sumi records her. Alice can't perform as she begins to see the heckler everywhere. She starts her stand-up despite the nerves. She talks about go viral for standing up against her heckler on-stage, only to be assaulted after the show by him. She felt scared and ashamed but didn't tell anyone as she was afraid of being trouble. She then thought why he wasn't ashamed, but she can't do that if she's silent. The crowd supports her.
Malika returns to her loft to find Dyonte waiting for her. He's upset she couldn't come to the protest. She explains it was in Councilwoman Hernandez's district. Hernandez a sponsor for Malika's proposal so she can't show up to a protest there. He believes it's optics and politics. She adds this is about her building a women's center. They trade in activism all the time, but he argues that they don't their integrity and support for each other. She's done nothing but support his rest campaign while he's only questioned her choices. She doesn't like her integrity being questioned, either. He reasons it's the integrity of politics he's questioning, not her. He wishes she got the DPN job so she would have to choose sides. She chose this position and this job because she did get the DPN job. Imani offered her the job first but she turned it down. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he doesn't see at that way, only as her treating him like a child with a fragile ego. He doesn't think this will work. She thinks he leans too heavily on the women in his life - Tanya supported him while he was an intern while she wrote his grant. Five minutes after breaking up with Tanya he asks her to be his primary. She feels unsupported especially since his solution is to break up. He wonders if he does rely to heavily on women as he might need to be alone for a while. She agrees with his decision so he leaves.
Mariana waits for Evan to text her back so she texts him again about her last text. Evan is in a car when he reads her newest text. He remembers being in the Coterie elevator and visiting Mariana. He sees Joaquin kiss Mariana, so he leaves immediately after. Jackie asks how serious he is about buying Revitalize. Mariana sees he reads her text.
Davia and Dennis return to The Coterie and stand outside her door. She asks for his opinion on the show. The exchange sultry looks. He thinks it's the most goddamn Davia Moss thing she could have done.
Mariana and Joaquin go to the farmer's market to ask about Flint Farm's booth, learning they haven't had a booth in a year. The vendor hasn't seen Jenna either. Joaquin is giving up hope but Mariana wants him to continue. He appreciates her helpfulness but thinks they should go to the police. He looks up to see Jenna across the market. He runs to her but the woman isn't her. He looks around wildly for her and spots her walking away. He hurries after her and sees her get in a van. She tells the man to drive and he speeds off. Joaquin watches just as Mariana joins him. He knows that was Jenna.
Isabella lays in bed with Gael as her phone rings. She flashes back to leaving the restaurant. Her parents negative statements haunt her. She sees their car and gets a pole that she uses to smash their windshield until it's shattered completely. She then smashes out the rest of their windows. Now, Isabella ignores the call from her father.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Cierra Ramirez as Mariana Adams Foster
- Zuri Adele as Malika Williams
- Sherry Cola as Alice Kwan
- Bryan Craig as Joaquin Peréz
- Emma Hunton as Davia Moss
- Tommy Martinez as Gael Martinez
- Josh Pence as Dennis Cooper
- Priscilla Quintana as Isabella Tavez
Guest Starring[]
- Booboo Stewart as Luca
- T.J. Linnard as Evan Speck
- Kara Wang as Sumi Liu
- Marcus Emanuel Mitchell as Dyonte Davis
- Maiara Walsh as Jenna Peréz
- Malayla Rivera Drew as Lucia Morales
- Philip Anthony-Rodriguez as Marc Tavez
- Priscilla Garita as Bianca Tavez
- Rachel Rosenbloom as Gina Spero
- Seri DeYoung as Claire Badgley
- Maisie Klompus as Rachel Boyle
- Anastasia Leddick as Kelly Campbell
Co-Starring[]
- April Schutte as Desi
- Natasha Estrada as Poppie
- Maitie Garcia as Counilwoman Hernandez
- Jason Jack Beeber as Emcee
- Chris Patrickson as Heckler
- Jesse Saler as Ivan
- Chiara Maya as Vendor
- Lauren Rintoul as Guitar Busker
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode closed with a message to protect AAPI communities, and a link to "stopaapihate.org" where you can report anti-AAPI incidents or learn more about how to help.
- This episode title originates from the lyric "that's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" in the song "Losing My Religion", by R.E.M.
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Behind the Scenes[]
