So...ok...some thoughts. After this episode (which I found to be the most unbearably painful of the series to date), I'm not sure if we're supposed to take this "girl group" seriously.

At the end of the last episode I got the impression that we were supposed to see their friend group as something that could potentially work. Valencia read Roxane Gay and was becoming three-dimensional; Heather's character was also fleshed out a little more; and I was excited to see the development of friendships that were looking like they could be built on a fresh foundation (kidnapping aside), even though the women are all so different. Rebecca's over-the-top shtick last week was Lean In/wage gap/fight the patriarchy-style feminism. While still in caricature mode, it seemed to lead to some growth on Valencia's part.

This week, however, the writers totally flipped the switch and decided to have Rebecca do a 180 and go with the "basic bitches"/Girlsquad/rosé-drinking stereotypes of female friendship. I know this part of the season is all about her trying on new identities and I realize that they needed to create a scene to counter the Rebecca/Paula relationship to move that plot along, but it seemed to negate last week's earnest ending of the women appearing to authentically bond.

Now their developing friend group just seems like a joke and another example of Rebecca floundering, and I thought it kind of cheapened the character development from last week.

Any thoughts?