In episode 6 of Your Friends and Neighbors, while Lin looked into Paul’s murder in Westmont Village, Coop, Mel, Tori, and Hunter traveled all the way to New Jersey to commence Tori’s admission process into Princeton University. Tori mingled with the students. Hunter was too young to think about college yet, but he showed interest in the university’s music department. Coop and Mel revisited old memories and even got cozy with each other. I mean, they got so cozy that Coop silently decided to win back Mel. The Coopers were finally together and happy after what seemed like a long time. But that was marred by Christian, who sent his henchmen to beat up Coop, that too in front of Mel, Tori, Hunter, Barney, Grace, Avery, and Lily, right after they had finished having dinner together at a restaurant. Barney rushed out to help Coop but was run over by a car, which knocked him out cold. Episode 7 of Your Friends and Neighbors sheds light on what happens to Coop and Barney after that incident. So, let’s talk about it.
Spoiler Alert
Coop Doesn’t Cooperate With Lin
Episode 7 of Your Friends and Neighbors opens with a bizarre dream sequence followed by Coop waking up in the hospital surrounded by his family, with the exception of Ali. Detective Lin shows up to interview Coop, thereby prompting everyone to leave the room so that the two can have a chat about the events that led to the “mugging.” Now, we know what the connection is between the art theft and Christian sending men to attack him, as well as the fact that Coop has nothing to do with Paul’s death, but he was at the crime scene because he was at Samantha’s house to steal some stuff after the art deal with Christian went awry. Lin doesn’t know all that, but she points out that Coop’s presence in Westmont Village, after being fired from Bailey, has spiked up the town’s crime rate, and that’s something worth looking into. In addition to that, Lin tells Coop that she recognizes the fact that he is a man on a downward spiral for reasons that he doesn’t want to reveal to her. Being a cop who has worked in the Bronx, Lin can foresee what’s going to happen to Coop. That’s why she wants him to come clean before it’s too late. Coop obviously doesn’t want to get a cop involved and politely requests that Lin seek the exit door.
Once Lin has left, Mel comes to interrogate Coop about why he got attacked so violently, but he doesn’t want to talk to her about that topic either. So, Mel chooses to take his leave and offers to give him a ride back home once he has been discharged from the hospital. Coop rejects that as well, probably thinking that he has put her through enough chaos already, and assures her that Ali will come to pick him up. Right when Mel is about to leave, Coop wonders if, after leaving Princeton, he should’ve taken Mel, Tori, and Hunter to a different place altogether, where they could’ve had a fresh start, instead of returning to Westmont Village. Since that’s a pipedream and something that can’t happen in this lifetime, Mel simply tells Coop to rest up and get well soon. While exiting the hospital himself, Coop takes a peek into Barney’s room—who is very much alive and recovering with Grace by his side—but chooses not to talk to him. Maybe Coop is ashamed that his actions have led to Barney’s injury, or maybe he doesn’t want to ruin this moment, where Grace is probably taking care of Barney for the first time in their marriage. Anyway, later on in the episode, when Coop does decide to meet Barney, the latter is not in the mood to talk to him because he knows that Coop is not being honest about everything that’s going on in his life.
Hernandez Makes A Breakthrough
Lin and Hernandez go over the details of the investigation so far and come to the conclusion that Samantha was right about everything that she had said, but there’s something odd about the fact that Paul fired a gun before getting shot himself, but the victim of that gunshot and the casings are missing. Hernandez asks if Lin thinks Coop is the guilty party here. Lin is of the opinion that Coop doesn’t have anything to do with Paul’s murder (which is correct), but he is definitely guilty of some other crime (which is correct as well). The thing here is that, even though Coop didn’t kill Paul, he has been breaking into various houses and stealing expensive items. If Lin gets even one clue that points to the fact that Coop was in Samantha’s house, he’ll be arrested. Coop will be able to prove that he is innocent of that crime, but how is he going to convince anyone that he isn’t the thief who has been terrorizing the whole town in the dark of the night? Speaking of clues, while combing through Samantha’s house, Lin finds a nanny cam that has footage of Coop tucking in Samantha’s son.
Sure, the footage does nothing to hint at Coop’s involvement in Paul’s murder, but it shows that both Coop and Samantha have been lying about their relationship. Also, it puts the idea in Lin’s head that maybe Coop could’ve killed Paul, that too after fighting him at Nick’s party, because he was the only thing standing between him and a lovely future with Samantha. By the way, later on in the episode, when Lin shows that video to Samantha, she leaves the police station in a huff. Since Lin and Hernandez don’t get any answers from Samantha—because she is probably unwilling to speak on the topic without consulting her lawyer—Hernandez is forced to go dumpster diving at Coop’s house for some more clues. He thinks that he is going to make a simple entry and exit with a bloodied Princeton University pamphlet, but that’s interrupted by Ali and Bruce’s newly rekindled love story, which goes to show that Ali’s therapy isn’t really working and she hasn’t moved on. The following day, we learn that Hernandez has run a test on the blood on that pamphlet with the traces of blood in the ammonia in the crime scene, and it has turned out to be a perfect match, which gets Lin really excited. I don’t know how scientifically or forensically accurate that is, but if you, the reader, have any idea about the veracity of what Hernandez is talking about, please, let me know through the comments section below.
Elena Learns About Chivo’s Debt
Through a conversation with Chivo and Felix, Elena learns that she is not the only one in her family who has been partaking in theft. Chivo has been doing jobs for Felix, and he fumbled the bag (a literal bag of drugs) during one such operation, which cost Felix a whopping $150,000. So, Felix has interrupted Elena and Chivo’s conversation to give a reminder about what he is owed. Of course, Felix doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to objectify Elena, but she holds her ground and tells him that he’ll get his money in due time. The thing about this whole conversation that stuck out to me was the setting: a White Castle restaurant. I follow a lot of food-vlogging channels and professional chefs, and I have never seen any praise for White Castle. I know this is product placement, but it’s one thing to casually have a scene in a White Castle outlet and a completely different thing to include a line in the dialogue about the quality of their food. I won’t claim that my taste buds are as good as my analysis of entertainment. So, feel free to let me know if the hype for White Castle (which probably reached its peak with Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) is deserved or not.
Getting back to the plot, Elena meets Hector to ask him why he hasn’t been returning her calls. It’s a bit of a no-brainer: Hector helped Coop and Elena break into so many houses in Westmont Village. Now, there’s a dead guy in Westmont Village. A society that doesn’t think twice before blaming the immigrant domestic worker if something gets stolen, what is it going to do when a dead guy shows up? Are they going to look at their own people, or are they going to point fingers at those people with even a sliver of a criminal past? Hector considers himself lucky that he is still being called to upgrade the alarm systems, and he doesn’t want to risk his professional life by so much as being seen with two people who he knows have been committing crimes. Elena tries to put Hector on the back foot by reminding him about Chivo’s debt, but Hector simply tells her to mind her own business instead of messing with things that don’t require her interference. This does put Elena in a massive fix. She needs to steal not just to achieve whatever lofty dreams she has, but also to bail out Chivo. Without Hector’s help, that won’t be possible. Also, after Paul’s murder, stepping foot into the backyards of any of the houses in Westmont Village will be tougher than any operation in the Mission: Impossible films. So, what is Elena going to do? Well, I have a feeling that she is going to re-establish contact with Christian and get the money that she’s owed, even if it means that she has to make some compromises.
Samantha seems suspicious
Samantha and Mel are seen at the hotel where the former is staying on account of her house currently being a crime scene, going over the paperwork that Samantha needs to do in order to get her hands on Paul’s life insurance money. They talk about Coop’s physical health, and Mel expresses some concern about something that Coop is going through, which is leading to all these mishaps that are happening in his life. I mean, Mel is being genuine here, and she actually cares about Coop; that’ll certainly be a first. So far, all that she has done is exploit him and his finances. Coop has allowed himself to be exploited as well; there’s no doubt about that. But if this “mugging” has motivated both of them to be honest with each other, then I guess we can call it a necessary evil. However, what’s up with Samantha in this scene? I find it pretty interesting that she has the perfect excuse to not show any sadness about Paul’s death and not be questioned about it. Everyone knows that she and Paul weren’t on great terms. So, nobody really expects her to grieve. Hence, she doesn’t have to put up this charade of being heartbroken about Paul’s untimely passing.
That said, the fact that Paul and Samantha were at odds with each other, that Samantha was the sole beneficiary of Paul’s life insurance money, and that she isn’t showing even a hint of grief makes her the prime suspect, right? If the genders were reversed, and Samantha was dead instead of Paul, I’m pretty sure the cops would’ve at least taken him into police custody. So, why hasn’t that happened yet? I don’t know. The scene shifts to the memorial service, which is attended by every resident of Westmont Village. While all this is going on, Lin pays a visit to Coop’s house, armed with a warrant to search the premises. That interrupts Ali’s freaky time with Bruce and brings her to the realization that Bruce sees her only as a friend-with-benefits and nothing else (even though the writing was kind of on the wall). Despite having a mental breakdown due to Bruce’s betrayal and the fact that there are over a dozen cops turning Coop’s house upside down, Ali manages to inform Coop that his game is up and the police are coming for him.
Samantha probably framed Coop
So, two very pivotal things happen at the end of Your Friends and Neighbors, episode 7. Firstly, during a lengthy conversation between Coop and his guy friends, the topic of Paul’s murder lowering the price of the house that Samantha was in is brought up. Secondly, the gun that was used to shoot Paul is found in Coop’s car. Subsequently, Coop is arrested by Lin and her team. He does manage to blackmail Kat Resnick into representing him legally because he had seen her cheating on her husband with a teenager. And Kat does show up to defend him at the detention facility, but even she is flabbergasted when Lin plops the murder weapon on the table before them. Coop is promptly sent to a holding cell, where he takes a nap, hoping that Kat is going to find a way to set him free. Or it’s possible that he doesn’t want to be set free because, outside, there’s a world of trouble waiting for him; meanwhile, inside (in a jail cell), he can start fresh while atoning for all the sins he has committed. I am sure we’ll learn more about Coop’s headspace in the next episode, but what I’m really looking forward to seeing is the truth behind the link between Paul’s murder, the price of the house that Samantha is in, and the sudden emergence of the murder weapon in Coop’s car.
Here’s my theory. Samantha wanted sole ownership of the house, which was something that Paul wasn’t agreeing to. So, Samantha either killed him or had him killed by someone else and let the body stay there for the police to find. Samantha knew that she’d get the money from Paul’s life insurance. If the price of the house went down because it was a murder house, Samantha could use a fraction of that insurance money to get complete ownership. That’s like killing two birds with one stone. That doesn’t explain the murder weapon, though, right? This might sound like a stretch, but I have a feeling that Samantha is having an affair with someone, and that someone not only helped her kill Paul but also removed the murder weapon and put it in Coop’s car. The only three people who were near Coop’s car in his absence were Hernandez, Ali, and Bruce. Bruce and Ali were too busy. Meanwhile, Hernandez has been experimenting a lot with his looks and his perfumes. Therefore, my money is on him. Yeah, I think he wasn’t there just for a dumpster-diving session. He actually put the gun in Coop’s car to frame him. Also, it might seem like framing Coop was a last-minute decision after the nanny cam footage emerged. That said, I have a feeling that the placement of that nanny cam was intentional too. That’d mean that Samantha and Hernandez have been planning this for a long time, and they’ve finally struck the final nail in Coop’s proverbial coffin. With all that said, those are just my thoughts on Your Friends and Neighbors episode 7. What are your opinions on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.
