In episode 7 of Your Friends and Neighbors, after recovering from the hit-and-run incident orchestrated by Christian, Coop found himself being thoroughly investigated by Detective Lin for the murder of Paul. Lin’s associate, police officer Hernandez, made a breakthrough as he matched the traces of blood found in the ammonia used to clean up the crime scene with that of Coop’s blood, and they were identical. That, compounded with the nanny cam footage of Coop tucking in Samantha’s son, was enough for Lin to obtain a search warrant and turn Coop’s house upside down for some shred of evidence that tied him to Paul’s death. Conveniently enough, they found the murder weapon in Coop’s car, and he was promptly arrested at Paul’s memorial service. Before being detained, though, Coop blackmailed Kat into being his lawyer in the hopes that she’d be able to prove that he was innocent. In the eighth episode of Your Friends and Neighbors, we largely see Coop drinking and snorting his sorrows while everything around him unravels. So, let’s talk about it.
Spoiler Alert
Coop Gets Bailed Out
The opening of episode 8 of Your Friends and Neighbors features Grace, Gretchen, Julie, Maggie, and Suzanne theorizing and speculating about all the things that must’ve happened that led to Coop supposedly killing Paul. I like this scene, because it seems like a distillation of every “ending explained” and “sequel theories” article that we do over here. Also, it’s a good way of recapping everything that has happened so far and how much the people of Westmont Village know about the events that have transpired in the lives of the protagonists. Once that’s over, the scene shifts to the courtroom for Coop’s bail hearing. In the audience, the only two recognizable faces are those of Samantha and Lin; Coop’s family is nowhere to be seen. The judge sets the trial date a month from now, and Kat informs Coop that they’ll make some sort of out-of-court settlement to cement Coop’s freedom. But Coop is adamant about proving that he is innocent—he hasn’t killed Paul, but he is guilty of breaking and entering into multiple houses—because if he settles, then it’ll essentially mean that he is admitting that he did kill Paul.
Kat says that due to the presence of the gun in his car, it’ll be a tad too difficult to prove that Coop had nothing to do with Paul’s death, but she’ll do her best. And since Coop isn’t exactly paying Kat for now, he has to make do with that. On that note, Coop is bailed out by Ron, Coop’s father, who also comes to the police station to pick him up because his car has been sent to the impound. Coop isn’t really happy about the fact that his dad has emptied his entire retirement fund to help his son, and he promises to pay him back as soon as possible. On Coop’s request, Ron drops him at Mel’s house, and Mel obviously tells Coop to stay away from his family because he has just been accused of murder. That’s reasonable. Of course, from Coop’s perspective, he thinks that nothing has changed overnight, especially since he had just spent some quality time with his family over at Princeton. However, the truth of the matter is that a lot has changed because of the crime he has been accused of, and he has to come to terms with that.
Coop’s Money Is Gone
Coop goes back to his home and finds Ali cleaning the mess that’s been left by the police. When Ali mentions the word “basement,” Coop runs over to the spot behind the washing machine where he was stashing the money he’d made by stealing expensive items and sees that it’s all gone. So, he rushes over to Lu’s place, and the prediction that was made by the show at the end of the second episode comes to pass as Coop acts as aggressively as Donnie, not realizing how much he has devolved as a person. But just because Coop has helped Lu make a lot of profit, she doesn’t point a gun at him, and instead invites him over to her office to have a little chat. The major takeaway from their conversation is that Lu hasn’t taken the cash, and neither has Christian. After Coop’s altercation with Christian, the latter wanted his “pound of flesh.” If Coop had picked up the call while he was at Princeton, maybe Lu would’ve brokered some kind of a deal that wouldn’t have involved anyone getting hurt. Since Coop ignored Lu’s calls, she had no option but to send Christian in his direction and teach him a lesson about messing with the wrong people. And Lu has cut her ties with Coop because, after the murder accusation, he has too much heat on him, and if Lu is spotted doing business with him, the fuzz will shut down her whole operation.
Speaking of Coop’s money, it seems like Elena has stolen it in order to pay off Felix and get him off Chivo’s back. Felix is satisfied with the payment, but he isn’t willing to loosen his grip on Chivo yet. So, Elena shows him his place and tells him to stay away from her family for the foreseeable future. By the way, I am assuming that Elena has stolen Coop’s money, because of the way this scene comes right after the scene where Coop is searching for his cash. I haven’t seen Elena break into Coop’s house and actually take the money. I know that, even though she was concerned for Coop when Lin came to Nick’s house to inquire about Coop, she thinks that he owes him after the debacle that happened at Christian’s art gallery. I might be totally wrong, and Elena has paid off Felix with her own money. However, it’s also possible that she has taken what she was owed and helped Chivo out.
Mel and Samantha Have a Fight
While visiting the local cafe, Nick and Mel feel everyone there silently judging them, not just for going out as a couple after Mel cheated on Coop, but also because Mel is the ex-wife of an alleged murderer now. When Nick spots Samantha in the crowd, he subtly tries to get Mel to leave the cafe because he knows that this isn’t going to end well. His prediction turns out to be correct as Mel and Samantha trade verbal blows and then physical blows because Mel is angry at Samantha for lying to her about being in a relationship with Coop. During all this, the information that Mel has recently slept with Coop also comes out, which angers Nick enough to leave Mel and drive away, leaving Mel to fend for herself, that too in front of a roomful of people where she has just created a massive scene. Since this is all recorded, it spreads throughout Westmont Village like wildfire, reaching Tori and Hunter within seconds.
Hunter’s spirits (and maybe other things as well) are lifted by Morgan as she takes him to first base. Meanwhile, Tori breaks up with Jake because he thinks that Coop might just be guilty of murdering Paul because he acted violently when he saw Jake with Tori, naked. I absolutely love the fact that, while walking out on Jake, Tori sounds exactly like Coop, as she highlights the fact that Jake should be ashamed of himself for dating a high schooler and follows it up with a punch to his groin. Ali’s “love life” also hits a roadblock as she decides to go to Bruce’s house to check why he hasn’t been returning her calls, as if it wasn’t obvious already that Bruce has just used and thrown her away. I didn’t really understand the point of this whole subplot. I am assuming that Ali had spent a lot of time getting over Bruce, and then to undo all that so frivolously seems so odd to me. I am no expert on mental health or relationships, but yeah, Ali’s arc confuses the hell out of me.
Nick, Barney, and Coop Go For A Party
Nick has essentially broken up with Mel. Barney can’t tolerate Grace’s presence. And Coop is, well, Coop. So, they decide to bury their differences and go for a night of merriment. I was expecting something to go wrong during this whole segment, because that has been the pattern with this show, but the boys party as smoothly as you’d expect men in their 50s to party while being high on booze and cocaine. I am pretty sure that the whole scene of Jon Hamm absolutely tearing up the dance floor and vibing hard is going to be clipped and spread all across the internet. Maybe it won’t go viral right now, but five years later, some obscure page on social media is going to post it with some melancholic, emo caption, and people are going to relate to it.
After leaving the club, Nick, Barney, and Coop find themselves at a golf course. While Nick is passed out, Barney asks Coop a bunch of questions. They sort of allow themselves to be vulnerable and talk about the uniquely absurd situation both of them are in. However, just when Coop is about to confide in Barney about him breaking into people’s houses and stealing stuff to stay afloat or maintain the image that his opulent lifestyle hasn’t been diminished after being fired by Bailey, Barney blacks out. I’m not sure if Barney heard that part of Coop’s confession because, if he did, he is probably going to remember it at a pivotal part of Coop’s trial—I’ve seen enough movies and shows to anticipate these kinds of twists—and unknowingly (or knowingly) tank his chances of going free. For now, it seems like Nick, Coop, and Barney’s old sense of camaraderie has been reestablished, with Nick even offering to give Coop a ride into the city in his car whenever he needs it. Well, isn’t that sweet? I mean, Nick did punch Coop in the nose, before they went out to party, for sleeping with Mel. But I suppose both of them have come to the realization that it’s pointless to fight over someone like Mel.
Mel Is Fired
Coop reaches home and has a heart-to-heart with Hunter. He apologizes to his son for putting his family through such tough times. Meanwhile, Hunter tells him that he has a girlfriend now. Barney finds himself in Grace’s presence in his home, who questions her husband for, knowingly or unknowingly, taking the money that Coop has been earning through illegal means. And then Barney seemingly promises Grace to put an end to that and work honestly. I don’t know how that’s going to play out, since the Chois’ bills have been turned into an insurmountable mountain by Grace. I don’t want to rant about the high horse that Grace is sitting on, judging Barney, because this is apparently normal in societies like Westmont Village.
After that, Mel is fired from her job, which is so satisfying to watch, because she has been doing some of the most unhinged stuff throughout the show while facing no repercussions. I mean, it’s surprising that it took a video of her punching another woman to get the boot. Are people not drawing the line at adultery anymore? I mean, if somebody told me to send my child to someone like Mel—a person who had cheated on her husband, taken his home and kids away from him, and was also taking his money—I would’ve unfriended the person recommending her to me and criticized the employer giving her money for a job that she was clearly not qualified to do. I love the fact that Mel tried “therapy speak” on her boss and it backfired on her.
Coop Will Probably Go To Jail
The ending of Your Friends and Neighbors episode 8 is a little scattershot and doesn’t really leave things on the high that the penultimate episode of a season needs to in order to generate hype for the finale. We see that Coop is still trying to get Kat to fight for his innocence instead of settling for a plea deal. Kat knows that Coop is withholding information from her, and hence, she asks him to tell her the complete truth. Coop is unsure what’s going to happen if he reveals that he has been breaking and entering into houses—I mean, that’s how he learned about Kat’s adulterous behavior, and he also stole a bottle of uber-expensive alcohol from her house—even though it’ll clarify that he wasn’t at Samantha’s home to kill Paul. So, he chooses to keep lying about the actual crime that he has been committing, thereby leaving Kat no other option but to opt for a plea deal, see Coop go to jail, and be released by the time Hunter will graduate from school.
Frustrated with this situation, Coop goes home, where Mel is waiting for him. Mel is shocked to see him in Nick’s car, and she is even more shocked to learn that Hunter came to meet him even though she didn’t want him to. She does express some relief after knowing that Coop isn’t a murderer, because one of the reasons why she punched Samantha was because the latter cast doubt on Coop’s character. The episode concludes with a montage of everything that has happened so far in the show, but I’m kind of miffed that we didn’t get any development on whether or not Samantha has killed Paul and then framed Coop, which would explain why she was so adamant about peddling the theory that Coop is a killer. Anyway, that’s all for now. Let’s see what the finale has in store for us next week.
