Platonic – Season 1 Episode 8 “San Diego” Recap & Review

San Diego

Episode 8 of Platonic begins at the Greaves household. Sylvia has just come back home from her monumental humiliation. It is arguably one of the most intense workplace debacles in recent television history. As she heads towards Charlie to tell him all, Simon shows Sylvia the presentation he made in class about who his hero is in life. Sylvia features among the women he shows on his screen because she has started working again. Overwhelmed, she doesn’t say anything to Charlie. Not just that, but Sylvia also pretends to go to work, dressed in her suit, for three straight days.

In reality, she visits Will at his bar to wait out the time. He pushes her constantly to tell her husband the truth. And three days later, she finally breaks. Charlie takes it surprisingly well, although he is in disbelief due to the bizarre reasons behind her firing. He also professes to so the logic of “both the sides,” something that annoys Sylvia. The next day, Katie reveals to her that she is going with Andy to San Diego on a business trip to meet Johnny Rev. This is in continuation of the discussions to license their beer for his QSR chain. Sylvia convinces Will to go as well (and she with him), although he has previously decided to skip it.

Charlie browses through his gallery and finds photos of Sylvia with Will at the bar from Thursday, the day before she told him the truth. He has a panic attack thinking about what else she might be hiding from him.

In San Diego, Andy and Reggie are surprised to see Will show up. Although they don’t want him to come to the meeting, excluding him doesn’t work out. They meet with Jenna, the lead of Johnny 66’s food and chemistry division. Will has concerns about its taste as Johnny himself walks in. Sylvia has a fangirl moment and gets a quick photo. Although Rev is sceptical when Will points out the bland taste, he agrees with him after taking a sip. He is impressed by Will’s honesty and invites the group for supper at his house.

Back at the office, Charlie and his colleagues have gathered in his office. They want to get down to the crux of the matter and ascertain if Sylvia is cheating on Charlie. Everything is circumstantial right now but the fact that the lizard in their house belonged to Will gets everyone’s attention.

The group reaches Rev’s $78 million mansion and is taken aback by the monstrosity of his wealth. In conversation, Jenna proposes that Rev should poach Will from the bar to work for Johnny 66’s new liquor and beer division. Sylvia and Rev are left alone in his garage and he comes on a little too strongly at her.

Rev turns bitter and Sylvia tells the group about what happened. Rev defends himself by saying that Sylvia came to a different city with a guy who is not her husband, indicating to him that she was “up for grabs.” Will wants to abandon the dinner but Sylvia insists she can handle it. All of a sudden, Andy gets down on one knee and proposes to Katie. She says yes and they etch the moment in their memories with a passionate kiss.

At the dinner table, Johnny has not been able to let go of what happened in the garage. He insults Sylvia and implies that she is promiscuous. Will doesn’t like that and defends her. But things escalate quickly as Johnny and Will get embroiled in a physical confrontation. Johnny kicks them out of his house and the deal is pretty much over –  for now!  Sylvia gets back home and finds Charlie waiting in the shadows of the living room, caressing Jessica the lizard and saying, “Or should I call it Gandalf?”

The Episode Review

If we hadn’t seen everything already, episode 8 of Platonic fulfils that void. Fighting a cutthroat, predatory millionaire in his own house when arguably the deal of your life is at the table: that takes guts!

Will has elevated himself to the echelons of the most loyal of friends on television with this display of friendship. The episode rambled at a different pace and cadence. In both situations – Charlie’s office and San Diego – we saw our characters in a different light than before.

Platonic’s thematic epicentre – can two adults of a different sex can really “just be friends” – surfaced as the highlight in this episode. The conventional, layman’s perspective dominated the proceedings but the reality was for all of us to see. What does the future hold in the upcoming episodes for Charlie and Sylvia? Is there a remote chance that the deal goes through without Will’s involvement? The wait couldn’t be more exciting!