Wow, Lipstick Jungle [1] gets intense this week. There's another death — our second in three episodes! — and a hearty dose of workplace drama. Even Victory's storylines, which are usually the comic relief, get heavy. There's a lot going on, and a lot set up for the future, so to talk about it, just .

• When I occasionally complained last year that I wanted the show to be more focused on the women's work and how they got there, this is basically what I meant. This episode really shows how these characters' personal lives can have serious repercussions in their professional lives — and vice versa — whether it's Nico's hesitancy with Kirby or Victory's pressure to date the "right" kind of man.
• And obviously nobody feels bigger repercussions than Wendy after Noah's death. I'm still surprised this storyline came up so fast, especially since we just met Noah and it seemed obvious that something big and tragic would happen — but that doesn't mean it's not working for me. Because, ultimately, it's not about Noah. It's about Wendy's compulsive need to meddle with everything and everyone around her, which we've seen since the show started. At first, I thought it was a problem that Wendy was so nice, but now her niceness is getting her into trouble in all kinds of major ways.
• Major like "no longer head of a major studio" major. I mean, yikes. That shot of her standing on the street, clearly baffled by everything happening around her, is quite the cliffhanger.



• Wendy and Nico both have drama with Gordon in this episode, and since Nico still has her job — for now — hers is admittedly more minor. But I see the two of them facing off in all kinds of ways in the upcoming episodes (probably with that squirrelly Mike character in the middle). To Gordon's credit, though, a "demented chic" fashion layout does sound heinous.
• Nico's bigger problem is that she doesn't know how to handle Kirby in her professional life — considering that he, you know, sued for sexual harassment [2] and it wasn't exactly a secret. He wants to go out (and not to weird clothing-switching clubs) and not be some sort of stashed-away dirty laundry. It'll be interesting to see how he emerges.
• Victory's store is coming together, but that's about the only thing, since she gets two big relationship shockers this episode: first, her publicist is trying to control her dates, and second, Rodrigo has a daughter. (And third, Joe Bennett is going to great lengths to make her jealous — but that's just not working, as Victory tells him in no uncertain terms to " stop playing these little games and move on with your life.")
• At least Victory got one light moment (someone had to this week!), draping her shirt over Joe's security camera so she and Rodrigo could do their nasty in peace (but not without giving Joe one last look at what he was missing).

Are you surprised the Noah fallout came so fast and so hard? Does Gordon have a point, or are you squarely on Wendy and Nico's side in their various disputes? And was anyone else happy to see Joe's sassy assistant back (and railing against dressing rooms that only have curtains — sing it, sister)?

Photos courtesy of NBC [3]