One of Us Is Dead

Three weeks before the murder

Olivia Petrov visits the salon for a hair appointment before her husband Dean returns home that evening. As they chat, she compliments Jenny on her skill as a stylist, but her compliments come with hidden insults, a mode of discourse Jenny has privately termed “kinsults,” a portmanteau of “kind words” and “insults.” Olivia was Jenny’s first high-society client and recommended the salon to her circle of friends.

Olivia says that she no longer associates with her old friend, Shannon Madison, whose husband left her for a younger woman. She and Karen Richardson will be having lunch with the new wife, Crystal Madison, that day, and she hints that Shannon’s continued membership at Jenny’s salon could hurt the business.

Karen comes in for her spray-tanning appointment. While there, she asks Olivia about the emergency meeting she has called for the Buckhead Women’s Foundation, to be held at the cafe before lunch.

While Jenny gives her a tan, Karen worries about how her friend Shannon will react to Crystal’s inclusion in their circle.

Olivia has called the meeting of the foundation board to discuss removing Shannon as the chairwoman. She claims that the decision springs from Shannon’s absence from two consecutive meetings without a valid explanation. Karen advocates for making an exception in light of Shannon’s recent divorce.

Determined to oust her former friend, Olivia has coached Tina and Sophie ahead of time. Karen unsuccessfully opposes the motion. However, Olivia suggests that Shannon be allowed to keep her position until after the upcoming gala event.

Karen rushes from the meeting, her emotions raw after being blindsided by Olivia. Moving from the cafe’s private room to the main dining area, she finds Crystal already waiting.

Karen finds Crystal beautiful, anxious, polite, and more likeable than she’d hoped. The two talk about Karen’s work—she runs her own luxury real estate firm—and about her young son. Karen asks whether Crystal wants children, and Crystal says she doesn’t, at least not anytime soon. Karen notices that Crystal is drinking beer, a surprising choice that makes her seem authentic and approachable, as most women in Karen’s circle would never be seen drinking anything other than vodka-based cocktails, sparkling wine, or blended vegetable juices. Olivia arrives characteristically late, and, after introducing herself, asks Crystal how she and Bryce became a couple—a sensitive subject, given that Bryce was married to Shannon at the time. Crystal reveals that she met and fell in love with Bryce without knowing he was already married. She expresses genuine remorse for the pain she has caused Shannon.

Olivia wants to cut Shannon out of her life entirely, claiming that Shannon treated her poorly when she moved to town five years ago. Karen refuses to disavow her friend, and Crystal insists that such a gesture isn’t necessary. Olivia storms out, and Karen mentally speculates that insecurity lies behind her animosity. Replaced by a younger wife, Shannon represents Olivia’s own vulnerability as a society wife. In Olivia’s absence, Karen and Crystal joke about Buckhead’s vicious social politics and do shots of tequila.

Crystal heads to her husband’s campaign office after lunch, bringing him a sandwich. She’s in a good mood after bonding with Karen. Waiting for her husband to get off the phone, she remembers their courtship. While Bryce Madison was her ticket out of Texas, she also fell hard for the man. Bryce asks her about her impressions of Karen and Olivia, emphasizing that he expects her to befriend them in order to advance his political career. She is reluctant to instrumentalize her friendship in this way, and she voices reservations about Olivia’s character. She and Bryce have sex on the desk in his office, and Bryce then reiterates his demand, to which she acquiesces. He suggests that she join the Women’s Committee, and he gets her a membership at Glow, bypassing its waiting list.

Olivia has sex with Mark Richardson, Karen’s husband (though the character is not yet named in this section). She dominates him and whips him, stopping at the use of safewords she has assigned to him, phrases that insult Karen and Shannon and that predict Olivia’s future dominance. He pays her an “allowance” of over 2,000 dollars, and she strews the money over the bed and commands him to have sex with her on top of it. After he leaves, she thinks about the soothing power of money. As a child, her family was extremely wealthy but lost it all when the illegal gains were seized. The experience made her ambitious, and she thinks, “I’d rather be dead than poor, and the easiest way to stay rich is to stay powerful” (43).

Jenny opens Glow Salon and is shortly joined by Keisha, her best friend and employee. Keisha suggests that Jenny consider dating again and emphasizes the importance of life-work balance. Shannon has an appointment that day, and Jenny and Keisha must finesse the day’s schedule to avoid any awkward run-ins.

When Shannon enters the salon, the receptionist calls her Ms. Block, using her maiden name, but Shannon replies, “It’s Mrs. Madison,” revealing that she is still using her ex-husband’s name despite their divorce. Shannon gets “the works”—every treatment and service the salon has to offer—and drinks complimentary champagne.

After hours of beauty services and alcohol, Shannon opens up to Jenny and Keisha about her divorce and her ongoing hope for reconciliation despite Bryce’s remarriage. Despite their advice to move forward, Shannon believes that Bryce will eventually return to her.

Then Crystal enters the salon. Jenny tries to ask her to return later, but Shannon overhears and insists on meeting her. Drunk, Shannon trips, embarrassing herself. As the two women sit, attended by Jenny and Keisha, Shannon needles Crystal, who stands up for herself.

Olivia barges in with a nail emergency and expresses surprise that Shannon’s membership hasn’t been canceled. She tells Jenny not to forget that she owes everything to Olivia. While initially willing to squeeze Olivia in, Jenny informs her that she’ll have to make an appointment.

Present

Jenny tells Detective Sanford that the incident at the salon was a point of no return. He asks her about the tension within the group, and she thinks “tension” is an understatement given that one of them ended up dead. Asked who she thinks did it, she replies that it could have been any one of them. They all had personal drama happening under the surface. He then asks if she knew about the affair, and she asks which one.

After closing a deal, Karen goes for a jog through Buckhead. She runs into Olivia coming from the salon. Furious, Olivia says that she got into a huge fight with Shannon and Jenny took her side. She expects an apology from Jenny.

Karen returns home to discover her exhausted husband sleeping on the couch. Mark wakes and kisses her, and she worries that he’ll want sex. She sees the red marks on the back of his calves but doesn’t realize they were left by Olivia.

Shannon meets Karen for a drink to get her perspective on the encounter at the salon. She trusts Karen to be honest, though she admits to herself that she may choose to ignore the honesty. Karen confesses that she never liked Bryce and talks about the growing distance in her own marriage. The two women then discuss the gala Shannon has planned. Shannon hopes it goes well because she’s not sure she can survive its failure. Bryce is receiving an award at the gala, and Shannon still intends to introduce him.

Getting ready for the gala several days later, Olivia hopes it will be a disaster for Shannon. Still not talking to Jenny, she does her makeup and hair herself and is frustrated with the lackluster results. Her husband, Dean Petrov, suggests that Olivia is the one who should apologize for causing a scene in Jenny’s establishment. Though Olivia doesn’t agree, she calls Jenny and has her swing by to do her hair and makeup. She privately determines that the women of Buckhead will eventually follow her leadership out of fear if not love.

On the way to the gala in a limo with Bryce, Crystal feels nervous because this is their first big event as a couple. Bryce asks why she isn’t carrying her expensive gold bag, and Crystal says she left it at the salon. Crystal knows the women in Buckhead have labeled her a “gold digger” and “home-wrecker.” Bryce vows to set people straight that night, which makes her still more uneasy as this is Shannon’s big event.

Mark and Karen arrive, and Karen admires Shannon’s decor. While Mark heads to the bar, she socializes. She overhears a snide remark about Shannon and defends her friend.

Karen joins Keisha, Jenny, and Crystal. She has been busy with work and health appointments. Her doctor checked her hormone levels and found them perfectly healthy, so she’s started seeing a therapist about her lack of sexual desire. Olivia makes a grand entrance. She apologizes to all for her behavior at the salon, but she laces her comments with passive-aggressive remarks.

Spotting Shannon, Karen beckons her over despite the potential awkwardness. Everyone expresses their admiration for the event except Olivia. Karen grabs drinks with Keisha at the bar.

Olivia makes nice with Shannon, plying her with strong drinks. When another woman, Bethany, offers a faux-sympathetic remark, Olivia defends Shannon and reminds Bethany that her own husband is currently with his mistress.

Moments before Shannon needs to introduce Bryce, Olivia reveals that the board has voted for Shannon to step down as chairwoman. Bryce approaches his shaken ex-wife and hints that if all goes well, they might be able to work things out. Feeling still more of her life slipping away, Shannon latches onto the possibility as she takes the stage.

Crystal pities the obviously inebriated Shannon. Olivia tries to stir up trouble, but Dean forcibly grabs her arm and tells her to stop. Olivia rubs her arm and snaps at him before walking off. Worried by the display, Crystal reflects that she knows firsthand that toxic relationships can be deadly, an allusion to her abusive ex-boyfriend.

At the podium, Shannon rambles about her loving marriage with Bryce and their “temporary separation.” She announces that she and Bryce are getting back together, inviting him to kiss her then and there. He sidesteps, and she falls down. Bryce laughs, notes that she’s had too much to drink, and leads the crowd in a brief version of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never (Ever) Getting Back Together.” As Crystal watches, she wonders at Bryce’s cruelty to a woman he once loved and asks herself what he is capable of doing to her someday.

On the way home from the gala, Karen tries to console Shannon, who tells her about Bryce’s deception. Shannon also confronts her about her position on the Women’s Committee, and Karen admits that the group voted to remove Shannon as chairwoman. They reach her apartment, and Shannon walks away, refusing Karen’s attempts to explain.

Cleaning up the salon, Jenny hears a crash. She has yet to set the alarm for the night, and two men are trashing her business. She grabs a candleholder and creeps up behind one, hitting him over the head. The other attacks her and pins her to the ground.

Crystal goes for a long walk to clear her head and pick up her purse from the salon. As she nears, she sees a large man dressed in black holding her bag. He runs away, but she spies a blotchy tattoo on his calf. Crystal takes out her pistol as she cautiously enters Glow and discovers the attack. She fires a warning shot. The man flees while Jenny gasps for air.

Present

Detective Sanford asks about the attack and whether Jenny thinks it was random. She replies that she doesn’t think anything in Buckhead is random.