In the previous episode of American Gigolo, we were left at a thematic turning point. On top of the movement that occurred in the plot pertaining to Michelle’s son, Conor, we experienced an even more significant shift in the mood of our protagonist. Still allowing himself to be haunted by the troubles of his past and his lost love for Michelle, Julian had been moody, at best. Finally, by the end of “Rapture,” some of that moodiness transformed into messiness — maybe not great for Julian, but better for television viewers. In the fourth episode, we might have expected to see just how coke-using Julian rolls, with plenty of commotion along the way. Instead, we got a surprisingly measured version of Julian who once again plays it safe. But increasingly, it seems that it doesn’t actually matter how Julian behaves, at all. No matter what he does, the mess will follow. At least this time we finally got a good sex scene out of it.
As mentioned, the previous episode ends with Julian about to have a big drunken, cocaine-fueled night out with Lorenzo and Isabelle. We expect drama! Mayhem! Bad decisions! Instead, after Isabelle finagles a gig for Julian with a random hot woman at the bar for $5,000 to $10,000 depending on the circumstances, Julian decides to just call it a night. It remains fair that Julian wouldn’t want to get back into the biz — even though he said he did in the first episode and seems ready to rock and roll in the last — considering his last gig netted him 15 years in prison and the trauma of seeing a brutally murdered woman right next to him. As a little flashback in the beginning of the episode also reveals, that escorting job was actually supposed to be his final one before he and Michelle ran away together. Obviously, those plans got jumbled.
In any case, as Julian is walking back to his apartment, he encounters that sweet pup from episode two again. The dog runs off, and in the distance we hear the thump of a car and a wail from the dog. Julian quickly carries the dog to a vet, waits up all night, and is told the dog should probably be put down. The dog’s actual owner is houseless and can’t afford the vet bills. Uh-oh, looks like Julian could put $5,000 to$10,000 to pretty good use. So he gives that lady from the bar a call and now we have gigolo Julian back, not thanks to the coke but thanks to a dog. If ever there was a way to drive home the point that Julian is a good guy and we’re supposed to like him, it’s this.
Julian meets up with his paid date, Anne, who founded a video chat dating app. Earlier in the episode, Isabelle says that the reason women continue to hire escorts at all is because they don’t trust the apps, but they do trust her. It seems that even a woman who works in the dating app biz agrees. Anne’s in town for her high-school reunion, but bails on it at the last minute. Instead the two end up at a dive bar, where Anne decides what she really needs is to be fucked in the bathroom. And much unlike the sex scene between Isabelle and Julian in the first episode, this one is finally kind of hot. Anne clearly has a great time, but notably, it looks like Julian does as well. Here he is clearly gifted at what he does and genuinely enjoys bringing women pleasure. It is actually quite rare and refreshing to see paid sex portrayed this way in television, and particularly so in the context of Julian’s trauma. Let this man have a good time!
This fun is short-lived, as a drunken drive home led by Anne almost results in a crash and is followed by an emotional breakdown where she reveals that in college she was responsible for the drunk-driving death of a boyfriend. While it’s tiresome that Julian can’t just have a good night out with nothing bad happening, it also addresses a crucial point about sex work: for many in the field, the actual sex is only a minor part. Sex workers are often asked to fulfill the role of therapist, whether they’re qualified to do so or not. Julian, wisened by his past, is somewhat adept at this. Still, as this event is resolved and Anne pays Julian, deciding to go to her high school reunion alone, Julian concedes that “mostly you pay me so I leave.” Regardless, some of those initial questions about why it is people have sex, and moreover pay to have sex, are starting to be more fully addressed. And by the way, Julian does give the money to the vet to pay for the dog’s surgery, though we don’t yet know the results.
This episode also rounds out Detective Sunday’s character, giving her much more screen time than she’s had before. She visits Isabelle, who serves her a glass of water absolutely loaded with fruit salad. “That’s fucking amazing water, no doubt about it,” Sunday says. She asks Isabelle about taking over her the Queen’s business, but Isabelle claims everything she does is legal. Later, back at the precinct, Sunday ruminates over a diagram she’s drawn trying to connect Julian, the original murder, and that of the Queen. Another detective says it looks like Julian probably killed the Queen as retaliation for going away for the original murder, but Sunday just doesn’t buy it. The other detective jokes that Sunday would have been better as a social worker, looking into Julian’s mother to figure out why he is the way he is. That’s exactly what Sunday does next, driving out to the desert to talk to Julian’s mom. There, Julian’s mom says she thought Julian was basically getting sent away to a private school where he could excel and get away from the molestation of his neighbor, and Sunday says that her own mother “lost a son” 15 years ago, too.
This latter point is something that Sunday herself is still coping with. Apparently it’s the anniversary of her brother’s death, and she calls up an ex. Sunday’s romantic life is another arena giving her trouble. Too committed to her work, stubborn, and interested in doing things alone, she’s never been able to be the partner she wants to be. This doesn’t stop her, however, from accepting a date with the cute receptionist at her gym.
Brewing underneath all of this is the continued problem of Conor and the dead teacher at the motel. Michelle confides in her husband’s henchman who actually killed the teacher that she’s learned from Sunday that a picture of her and Julian was found at the scene. The henchman tells her that the only way to clear her son is to pin it on Julian, and tell the police that he’d always been violent. While she almost goes to the police to do this, she ultimately backs out. Unfortunately, the henchman decides to spin this narrative to the police himself. Meanwhile, as the episode closes, Michelle appears at Julian’s door. Just as Sunday said earlier in the episode, it seems as though all the trouble in the world ends up at the feet of Julian Kay. Surely, that will only continue.
Hustlin’
• Enough with the wistful vignettes of Julian and Michelle early in their relationship. We get it! You miss her!
• Is Julian just over the idea that Isabelle and the Queen had something to do with him going to prison? That seems to be the trajectory of the show in the pilot, but it’s essentially been dropped. Isabelle and Julian moreover continue to have a confusing relationship. They basically seemed to hate each other initially, and now they’re … sort of friends? Isabelle is maybe in love with Julian? I don’t know.
• We don’t see Conor or young Julian in this episode, but it has been confirmed to me by Vulture TV critic Roxana Hadadi that they are one in the same actor.
