‘Loot’s Taylor Swift Episode Shows A Day In The Life Of A Secret Swiftie

Loot‘s spectacular soundtracks may not feature a single Taylor Swift song, but Season 2 of the Apple TV+ comedy dedicates an entire episode to the 34-year-old singer and her adoring fans, the Swifties.

One of several storylines in Season 2, Episode 3, “Vengeance Falls,” explores Howard’s (Ron Funches) growing suspicion that Sofia (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) is a — gasp — secret Swiftie.

Despite Sofia’s repeated denial, Howard’s evidence seems ironclad, and as the episode progresses, Loot unveils a delightful ode to Swift, stressing the gravity of her sensational star power and accomplished career by referencing song titles, records, concerts, and more.

With Swift’s stardom hovering at new heights in 2024, the episode feels incredibly timely and intentional, but co-creator Alan Yang revealed the Swiftie scenes have — to quote “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” — been a long time coming.

“That episode was conceived and written two years ago, which is just crazy. Because in the ensuing months and years Taylor Swift has only grown in popularity. She did the Eras tour, she started dating Travis Kelce, she’s at the Super Bowl. She just became the world’s most famous person,” Yang told Decider during a Zoom interview.

So who do we have to thank for the this iconic Loot era? Writer and proud Swiftie April Korto Quioh, who pitched the idea. “She loves Taylor Swift, so she was supplying a lot of this information and the weird clues and stuff that we are clueless about,” Yang explained. “So we’re very happy with how that episode turned out.”

The Swiftie investigation starts with a notification, simultaneously blasted to Howard, Ainsely (Stephanie Styles), and Sofia’s phones during a team meeting. Howard and Ainsely delight in news that Taylor Swift 2023 concert tickets are available for Verified Fan Club members, and as Sofia throws up a seemingly celebratory fist pump, Howard starts to wonder if she got the same alert. Instead, Sofia defensively claims she received news that a typhoon is about to hit Burma (now known as Myanmar), saying she was simply fist pumping “in solidarity.” Suuuure, Sofia.

After the meeting, Howard shares his theory with his colleagues, explaining that Sofia also gave them July 12 off, the same day Taylor is playing California’s SoFi Stadium. (In reality, she performed at SoFi in August, which would have been an iconic detail for Loot to nail. But alas!) The group acknowledges Taylor Swift is so famous that not only does Arthur know who she is, but he loves her songs about “not letting the haters get you down,” so they can’t understand why Sofia would hide her love for the certified star.

Howard sets out to crack the mystery, showing up to work wearing a “SWIFTIE EST. 1989” shirt and apologizing to Sofia for dropping the ball on his presentation. “I feel terrible about it, and I really hope we can just shake it off,” he says. “I don’t want there to be any bad blood between us.” After Sofia survives his tests, he spells it out for her, only to hear, “I don’t listen to Taylor Swift. I listen to podcasts about systemic racism and urban decay.” Even after Howard says they can put on Red and see how many songs they can make it through without crying (his record is 2.25), Sofia tells him to get back to work. With a final Swift reference, he says, “You need to calm down.”

At their next meeting, Howard steps up to present his Space For Everyone slideshow only to unveil an elaborate project titled “Proof Sofia is a Swiftie.” He calls attention to the five personal days Sofia over eight years, each lining up with a Tay-specific event — from her 2015 Petco Park performance to her 2017 social media blackout to Reputation‘s drop. (In a delightful twist, four of the five dates — aside from the aforementioned SoFi Stadium — check out.)

Sofia wastes no time shutting Howard down and sharing that she’s taking July 12 off because her great aunt Lucia is having heart surgery. Naturally, Howard feels horrible, so he heads to her house later that night to apologize. When Sofia leaves the room for a moment, he investigates her records and finds “a collectible green vinyl pressing” of Taylor Swift’s ninth studio album evermore, hidden in a Marvin Gaye record sleeve. Success.

“You’re right. I am a Swiftie,” Sofia reluctantly admits. “But people would judge me. I’m a 32-year-old Afro-Latina trying to be taken seriously. People are always looking to question my authority…you and I know that’s the truth. Do you think I like hiding these? Do you think I like creating a fake end of year playlist? And slappin’ jazz on it?” Howard “Swiftie Swears” to keep her secret and the two put on Midnights for a night of discussing The Karma Theory, bringing the delightful storyline to a close.

In real life, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is a self-proclaimed Midnights fan, but admits Sofia is much more of a Swiftie than she’ll ever be. “I do listen to Taylor Swift a good amount, and I think she’s a fantastic songwriter,” Rodriguez told Decider over Zoom. “I love to make sure that people get to understand her and can really see what it’s like in a day in the life of a true Swiftie.”

As for co-creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, while they love the idea of Sofia hiding Swift records in jazz and Kendrick Lamar sleeves, they’re just happy they had “other people to help pick up the ball” and fill their Swift blindspots.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hubbard laughed over Zoom. “Just tell me what to type in the script and I’ll do it because it’s Taylor Swift. But I’m so glad we got to [do the episode].”

What other hilarious hijinks will Season 2 have in store? New episodes of Loot premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.