Loot (2x5) ⁞⁞ Episode Spotlight

Episode 5 of the second season of the AppleTV+ comedy series Loot featured a subplot for leading man Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster), the best friend and loyal assistant of leading lady Molly (Maya Rudolph). The episode began with the duo arriving at her foundation where a major gift was waiting for her birthday, which set Nicholas off, as he reminded the team that Molly was not celebrating her birthday. The others informed them that they were not responsible for the surprise, which had been sent by her ex-husband. This ultimately set her off on a mission to sell her megayacht. Meanwhile, back at the office, the self-obsessed and snarky Nicholas voiced his annoyance when foundation manager Sofia (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) forced him into joining the team on the streets to collect signatures of support from the community for a housing development that the foundation was working on. Looking to make things more interesting, the group split into groups by gender for a little competition. Nicholas joined Howard (Ron Funches) and it wasn't long before they encountered trouble, as a visit to a bookstore caused them to cross paths with Andy (Nick Lehmann), an ex-boyfriend of Nicholas. He lashed out at Nicholas for ghosting him. Nicholas attempted to keep focused on getting the signature, but Andy was uninterested in anything he had to say, disappointing Howard as they were tossed out. 

Their next stop in a juice bar revealed more conflict as they were faced with the owner, Devon (Gabriel Sousa), who was also furious over his romantic past with Nicholas, who was caught off-guard again by the confrontation. Howard began to sense a pattern when Nicholas stopped him from going into the next business upon seeing an employee in the window giving him the finger as well. Howard forced Nicholas to have a frank discussion about his treatment of past men he's been involved with and how his behavior really hurt them. At first Nicholas claimed no responsibility for men being obsessed with him, but Howard's pressing of the issue forced him to admit he may have wronged some men from his past. They returned to the bookstore and Nicholas made a long-winded apology to Andy, explaining his own emotional issues he was dealing with in the past. This got Andy to forgive him and provide what would become their only signature of the day. The guys returned to the office with the team and after spending a day with the good-natured Arthur, Molly decided to celebrate her birthday with the team after all. This led Nicholas to spring into action, revealing he had a back-up birthday plan, just in case. He announced they would all be hopping on Molly's get to attend a Mariah Carey concert, exciting them all.