Hollywood Hills daytime parties can be surprisingly unsettling. While any networking event is a bit of a stressful scene, being stuck at one of these parties in the hills with bad cell service feels incredibly isolated – like you’re completely cut off from the world.
Maia, Charlie, Tallulah, and Alani have likely been to parties similar to the one thrown by online personality Quen Blackwell (playing herself) at Elijah Wood’s house—it’s a bit unusual, but go with it. However, Quen specifically inviting Tallulah after her popular video about Paulena changes everything. This isn’t just a casual hangout; everyone there, including the group, is hoping to gain something from the party—or offer something to Quen in return.
Maia hopes Tallulah will make a good impression on Quen, even if it’s just enough to catch the attention of Quen’s huge following. Maia would also like to become friends with Quen and her team, but that possibility quickly fades. As soon as Quen sees Tallulah has potential, she pulls her aside and subtly undermines Maia, questioning her abilities as a manager. She asks Tallulah, with the intention of making her doubt Maia, if Maia secured her recent video opportunity and whether Tallulah is pursuing a career based on her own efforts or just relying on Maia’s connections.
Tallulah is at a loss for words. While she’s gained some attention online, and is currently holding a Balenciaga bag, it hasn’t translated into real-life achievements. As Adessa interacts with her, Tallulah suddenly realizes Quen isn’t the friend she thought she was. Quen is a tough, experienced online personality who’s pushing her harder than even her manager, and Tallulah suspects this meeting was planned for a specific reason.
I remembered a comment from last week’s recap that really struck me: someone said the recap – and the show itself – felt like it was missing something. At first, I was a little annoyed, but honestly, they had a point. I’ve been entertained by I Love LA, but it mostly just scratches the surface of Los Angeles influencer culture. It hasn’t really given me a reason to get invested, and watching Tallulah struggle in this scene showed me why. Aside from Maia possibly wanting to be a great manager, none of the characters seem to be striving for anything. They just exist, which might be realistic for this particular LA scene, but interesting personalities and good vibes aren’t enough. Their lack of clear goals creates a lack of compelling storylines.
It might sound strange, but it’s actually a good sign that Tallulah is scared when Quen asks her what she truly wants. It’s clear she hasn’t thought about it, and this could be the push she needs to start figuring things out. Even if she doesn’t, the story would be better if she gave the question a little more thought.
This week, Tallulah is completely lost when it comes to understanding all of that. Instead of figuring things out, she simply follows Quen inside and into a fully equipped video studio to film content for their social media channels. It might seem natural and off-the-cuff online, but a lot of planning goes into it. Tallulah enjoys the benefits of being online but dislikes putting in the effort, so she can’t grasp how much work goes into creating Quen’s online image, nor could she imagine doing the same to build her own following.
After many attempts and outfit changes, she’s plunged into a full-blown identity crisis. Things get even worse when she discovers Quen’s operation – a room full of iPhones constantly clicking, reminiscent of the movie Hackers. Quen notices her shock but dismisses it, saying Tallulah isn’t taking things seriously enough. She warns Tallulah that if she pauses for even a moment, she’ll be forgotten. Overwhelmed, Tallulah runs away, desperate to escape. But to get back to safety, she needs to find her friends, which turns out to be much harder than she expected.
Still upset about Quen’s dismissive rejection, Maia reluctantly joins Alani on her latest mission: to find and flirt with Elijah Wood, the only celebrity who makes Alani anxious. Maia doesn’t hesitate to break Quen’s rule about staying downstairs – Alani has never respected boundaries anyway. In fact, Alani claims celebrities have the most amazing upper floors. Maia points out that’s where some problematic things happened with Diddy, but Alani doesn’t seem concerned.
They went upstairs and found Wood, all by himself, watching The Simpsons in his pajamas. He didn’t seem bothered at all by the interruption – he actually looked happy to be reminded that other people were around. He was thrilled at the idea of others joining him in watching his favorite cartoons on YouTube.
Similar to shows like Entourage, I Love LA gives celebrities the chance to play exaggerated, quirky versions of themselves, and Elijah Wood does just that. However, the show relies on too many running gags with this oddball portrayal of him. He’s portrayed as agreeable, a bit clueless, a worrywart, and forgetful, needing a detailed mental system to remember things. He also has a strong fondness for Shrek and bathrobes, and gets annoyed when women misread his intentions (as Maia and Alani do). While it’s enjoyable to see Wood step outside his usual image, the character doesn’t quite come together in a way that maximizes the comedic potential.
Maia and Alani quickly rushed downstairs, eager to escape before Wood’s outburst got worse. Seeing Tallulah, who was clearly shaken, brought them a huge sense of relief, reminding them that their friendship was still the most important thing, even at a fancy party like this.
Just Circling Back …
Charlie, played by Jordan Firstman, spends much of this episode doing his own thing. He tries to flirt with Lukas, who quickly clarifies he’s not gay, but Catholic, and then insists on a long drive for more ice. Charlie is annoyed at first, but then learns Lukas is a popular TikTok star with over 4 million followers, an upcoming show in Vegas, and might be able to offer Charlie’s unemployed friend a job. Hopefully, Lukas will become a regular character on I Love LA soon, though that doesn’t happen in this episode.
Okay, I’m still annoyed Dylan’s barely in this episode, honestly. But, I gotta admit, the show gave us a surprisingly good detail about his character: he’s… weirdly okay with Maia exploring things with Elijah Wood’s character, as long as Alani takes the lead physically. It’s a strange thing to focus on, but it feels really true to who Dylan is, you know?
Exciting news about the cast! Comedian Caitlin Reilly, known as “Girl Who’s Going to Be Okay,” will play Quen’s overly enthusiastic manager, who has a habit of using hashtags in everything she says.
It’s likely many people Alani’s age primarily remember Robert De Niro from Shark Tale, and while that makes sense, it’s still a little disappointing!
I’m concerned about my privacy and don’t want my address public. I have a feeling someone might start stalking me, and I’m worried about that.
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2025-11-24 07:55