Doppelbanger

**Doppelbanger** is the sixth episode of the second season and the sixteenth overall episode of *The Sex Lives of College Girls*.

## Short Summary

Bela seizes an opportunity when a late-night comic visits campus. Kimberly attempts to prove she hasn't been "med-zoned" by Jackson. Whitney fights to contribute to a group assignment. Leighton pursues a junior... who reminds her of herself.

## Full Summary

Bela comes in excited because Dan O'Connell is coming to Essex and she gets to be his official student liaison. Bela is surprised that the others have heard of Dan and are excited as well because she's used to them not knowing anything about pop culture. They all defend their pop culture knowledge. Kimberly asks what exactly she'll be doing and when she explains, they say it sounds like she'll be an unpaid assistant. She knows that, but it's a step to becoming an unpaid intern on his show, which is the dream. When Kimberly's phone rings, Bela grabs it and reads out a text from Jackson checking on her. Whitney thinks they're going to end up hooking up, but Kimberly isn't so sure because she's worried he just sees her clinically after taking care of her. Leighton realizes she's been med-zoned. Women think it's hot to take care of men, but men don't think it's hot to take care of women. Whitney thinks if Jackson was into her once, he can be again. Jackson comes in with a package of pads. Kimberly denies that they're hers, but they have her name on them. She takes them from him and he leaves. Whitney changes her mind and says they're done.

Professor Harpin explains the lab they'll be doing. They're working in groups of three and he tells them to find their names on the wall to see what group they're in. Whitney sees that she's with Bela and Andrew. Andrew comes up behind her and is upset at the groupings. Whitney is offended that he's saying that in front of her. He asks where Bela is and Whitney says Bela has a thing and won't be in class or the lab, but she's excited for it. Andrew says he'll do it all himself. He'd rather do that than risk them messing up. Whitney says she's been preparing and she's going to do a good job on the lab, but he doesn't believe her. He says she can design the cover page for the report.

Willow is walking with some friends when Leighton comes up and hugs her. Willow is confused for a moment because they don't really know each other. Leighton is offended when Willow thinks she's Kimberly, but lets it go because she needs Willow to identify the girl she saw. She took a picture from a distance and shows it to Willow. Willow tells her that's Tatum. She realizes Leighton's in her doppelbanger stage, wanting to date someone who looks like her, and says they've all been through it. Leighton asks if Willow can introduce her to Tatum. Willow agrees to do it if Leighton buys her a jacket.

Roger has called a staff meeting and tells Kimberly, Canaan, and Lila that he's been fired. The administration realized they could pay a student much less to do his job. He's managed Sips for 30 years. He says he's starting a Venmo to raise money for a goodbye gift for himself because he has no savings. They all say goodbye to him with coffee-related puns.

Bela is on the phone with Eric as she waits for Dan at the airport, telling him how nervous she is to meet him. Bela's excited to use the drive back to campus to talk to him. Eric tells her just to be herself and not force things. Dan approaches and Bela introduces herself.

Bela tries to talk to Dan on the drive, but doesn't know he's on the phone.

Lila charms Prof. Dobson as she serves him his drink. Kimberly watches this and tells Lila she should apply for the manager position. Lila is offended that Kimberly thinks she would want that job. She leaves to go for a break.

Kimberly tells her roommates what happened with Lila and says she doesn't know what she did wrong. Leighton says she basically told Lila to apply for a job she wouldn't want to do herself. Whitney tells the table about Andrew icing her out of the lab. Leighton doesn't see the problem with just letting him do it. She'd love to have someone do her science homework for her. Whitney genuinely likes the class, which they find shocking. Whitney reminds Leighton that she's a math nerd, but Leighton denies that. Bela gets a text from Dan and quickly finishes her food so she can go attend to him. She tells them she has a plan to get his attention on her work. She races away to help him.

Leighton and Willow play tennis. Leighton cheers when she wins. Willow says she knows she agreed to lose to Leighton, but Leighton doesn't have to be so annoying about it. Leighton wonders if Tatum saw her win and realize she hasn't looked at her at all. Leighton admires how indifferent she is. Leighton sees Tatum and her opponent taking a water break and says it's their chance. Willow chats with Kate, who asks what they're up to tonight. Leighton says she might go to the Dan O'Connell show, since her friend helped set it up. Tatum says she's not really into campus-sponsored events. Leighton pretends she's not into them either. Tatum and Kate get back to their game. Leighton is embarrassed at her failure, but gives Willow her credit card to buy her jacket.

Whitney brings coffee and donuts to the lab. Andrew asks why she's there because he told her not to come. They argue over it. He says the lab is important to him because he wants to go to medical school and be a doctor, unlike her. She defends herself, but knocks coffee over the paperwork Andrew has in front of him.

Lila brings Kimberly an apology latte. Kimberly apologizes and says she just wanted Lila to be a boss. Lila thinks she'd be good at the job, but the interview makes her nervous. Kimberly encourages her to try it anyway. She offers to do a mock interview with Lila to get her ready.

Bela tells Dan she's sorry the room was cold, but now they'll keep it at a steady 75. Bela takes the opportunity to tell Dan he's an inspiration to her. He says he was like her in college. He once met Conan O'Brien dripping with sweat. He asks for her help providing some campus gossip he can use to write a joke. She tells him she'd love to work on his show and he asks her to send him her resume. The stage manager tells Dan it's time for him to go on.

Dan starts his set with the joke Bela helped him write and thanks her for her help.

Kimberly helps Lila rehearse answers to possible interview questions. Lila struggles with coming up with appropriate answers. Finally, Kimberly gets her to give a genuine answer to why she wants the job.

Bela brags to Eric about Dan. Then she says she has to bring him a beer. Eric steps in and does it himself over her objection. Eric tells Dan he's a huge fan. Dan tells them they should both work on submission packets for the show. Eric has one ready, while Bela doesn't. Dan puts his number in Eric's phone, saying he likes his attitude. Bela is upset with Eric sniping her opportunity.

Andrew is stressed out and blames Whitney for delaying them. Whitney realizes he made a mistake in the work. He blames her distracting him, but he made the mistake before she got there. She makes him admit to having made a mistake. He thanks her for catching it. When he takes off his sweater, she notices his arms are muscular and is distracted.

Leighton spots Tatum at the party, but wants to avoid her because she's still embarrassed about their previous interaction. Lila says she talked to Tatum for a while thinking she was Leighton. Kimberly encourages her to go say hi, but Leighton doesn't want to. Kimberly thinks she's exaggerating, but then Tatum gives them a look and rolls her eyes, and Kimberly realizes she's right.

Leighton runs into Tatum, who asks how the comedy show was. Leighton says there was nothing cool about it, but she loved it anyway and it was fun to be around other excited people. She can be as judgmental as she wants, but there's no way she as judgmental as Leighton. Leighton takes a dig at Tatum's boots and Tatum tells Leighton to put her number in her phone.

Kimberly sees Jackson and points him out to Lila. She tells Lila her plight and Lila encourages her to change the narrative there. Kimberly goes to Jackson and tells him she's not fragile. She says she's up for anything.

Jackson pushes Kimberly against the wall. They move to his bed.

Andrew notices Whitney looking at his arms. He says it's okay if she looks. They've finished their lab, so he's leaving.

Lila comes in and tells Canaan and Kimberly she got the job. She still said some inappropriate things, but she got the earnest answers out first. She immediately becomes much stricter about the rules and orders them to get back to work. She gets a bonus if she keeps profits up. Canaan says he misses Roger.

Leighton asks Bela how her packet is going. She's never seen Bela pull an all-nighter before. Bela is frustrated and feels that Eric has benefitted from the patriarchy and it has given him a leg up on her. She's worried that Eric's packet will be so much better than hers. Leighton gives her a little pep talk to hype her up. She tells Bela to take every opportunity to make sure Dan remembers her.

Bela goes to Dan's room. He's ready to leave, but she pushes him back into the room and kisses him.

## Cast

### Starring

* Pauline Chalamet as Kimberly Finkle
* Amrit Kaur as Bela Malhotra
* Reneé Rapp as Leighton Murray
* Alyah Chanelle Scott as Whitney Chase
* Christopher Meyer as Canaan Greene
* Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Lila Flores
* Renika Williams as Willow
* Mekki Leeper as Eric Miller
* Mitchell Slaggert as Jackson

### Guest Starring

* John Reynolds as Dan O'Connell
* Gracie Dzienny as Tatum
* Charlie Hall as Andrew Fuller
* Gedde Watanabe as Professor Harpin
* Stephen Guarino as Roger

### Co-Starring

* Jack Landron as Prof. Dobson
* Remy Ortiz as Stage Manager
* Cait Madry as Willow's Friend