‘Platonic’ Episode 4 Recap & Ending, Explained: Does Sylvia Call Kirk Friedkin?

Let’s be blunt. Sylvia ate up her boss’s speech. And Will is sad that his ex-wife is happy with another guy. And be it for better or worse, each of them has at least some influence over the other’s actions. Let’s see how their platonic relationship moves forward and how it influences how they live their lives because it definitely does. On a personal note, I am thankful that they met because they needed each other more than anyone else, probably ever.

Spoilers Ahead


The Job

After a failed attempt at sleeping with a woman [Peyton] who doesn’t hate him but is probably more interested in her favorite show, Will returns to his previous mentality, i.e., brooding over his ex-wife Audrey. He has been trying really hard to get over her, but it isn’t working because he cannot give up stalking her on social media. On the other hand, we have Sylvia, who is at a divorce party for her friend Christine. Sylvie’s close friend Katie is also with her, and while Katie is freaking out because she has no idea what she’s going to say, Sylvie seems to have prepared a small speech. But like any regular bestie, Katie calmly uses Sylvie’s speech, and Sylvie is left with nothing. And it’s completely normal because we know that’s how close they are. If anything, it’s just funny, although the occasion doesn’t call for it. But what’s worse is that Sylvie ends up saying how her parent’s divorce was a disaster for her mother, one she never recovered from. That’s exactly what Christine wasn’t supposed to hear.

The party was organized to help her shield her from thoughts that Sylvie casually dropped. Back at his office, Charlie mentions to his friend Stewart how stressed he is because of the stunt his wife pulled. It’s only natural for him to feel so, and Charlie gives him the safest solution he knows, i.e., to chill and get her a job, but not to her face. All he should do is give her the lawyer’s card and let her decide for herself. Charlie agrees and hands Sylvie Kirk Friedkin’s card the same night. Unfortunately, and it seems that Charlie expected it, Sylvie finds his actions charitable. What follows is almost a song from a Disney movie with to-and-fro verses between Charlie and Sylvia and the chorus being Simon’s “What’s a charity case?” Even Simon can see how weird his mother is acting, as can we and even Sylvia herself. Maybe she is a charity case, or maybe she isn’t. But a job would do her well, right? But then, what about the children? She assures Charlie that she will make the call. And she does make a call the next day, but it’s not the call.


Divorce Party

Sylvia is at Will’s place, helping him ridicule Audrey’s social media posts. Because that is what good friends do: help each other mock someone else whom either one of them dislikes. Seeing how Will is occupied with Audrey and her pictures, she decides to throw him a divorce party, but one where they will celebrate the future and not address the past and how to come out of it. Before leaving for the party, Sylvia has a short exchange of words with Charlie about the call she didn’t make. Charlie doesn’t want to sound too harsh, so he lets it go without much questioning. But we also see him a bit bothered at how Will decided not to go for the house, although the decision lies in the hands of Sylvie and himself. Anyway, that’s for another time, as Sylvie has a divorce party to attend.

At the party, everything’s going well until Andy reveals that he has brought cocaine that they intend to snort at a strip club. This comes after another failed attempt to set Will up with another woman at the restaurant. Sylvia isn’t interested at all and wants out. What hits hard is when she tells him how she pretended to go to the strip club when she was 20 because at that time, it was considered cool. We all did something that was considered cool because we wanted to be cool, no matter how much we were against it. But we cannot afford that in middle age. And the only reason Will can is that he doesn’t have the responsibilities that a man his age usually has family-wise. We know that he is divorced, but does he really need to go to a strip club to get his mind off his ex-wife? No. It is nice to hear him admit that all he really wants is her company for the night, strip club or not. He doesn’t want to be seen as a divorced man at a strip club, and the only way to not feel that way is to have Sylvie. But the definition of fun for her has changed. She finds happiness in seeing her kids happy, and she finds it rewarding to see loved ones happy. Will feels that she has become someone whose definition of fun is basically “not fun,” and though she doesn’t disagree when Will addresses it as pathetic, she does it more out of the fatigue that comes with maintaining a job and a family. Even then, we agree with Sylvia’s words. She has a family, which means she has responsibilities, and it only makes sense for Will to feel like a loser listening to her words because, at his age, one is supposed to have a family and loved ones to go back home to. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have anyone to turn to. So he agrees not to go to a strip club. And Sylvia agrees to take drugs.


Does Sylvie Make The Call?

Sylvie, Will, and the others are halfway through their snorting session when Sylvie finds out that the drug contains cocaine as well as ketamine (used to tranquilize horses). She freaks out as she has no idea what the end result will be, and neither do we nor the boys. Will knows better than to continue, so he decides to help her out with some Gatorade. But before she can even leave the restaurant, the coke-ket cocktail hits. By the time they reach a store to get her some water, she has absolutely no control over herself.

After successfully breaking multiple bottles of wine, Sylvie is carefully brought by Will to his home. The other guys go to the strip club. It’s almost 2 when she opens her eyes and comes to her senses. That’s when Will finally apologizes to her for forcing her to do what he wanted and thanks her for doing something that finally made him stop thinking about his ex-wife, even if for a few hours. It isn’t a big deal for her. Maybe she even needed it, too, to get out of the trance of living a middle-aged life. She rather opens up to Will about her job thing and how she thinks she is such a loser that she cannot even call the guy [Kirk Friedkin] that her husband set her up for an interview with. It’s never too much to see these two opening up to each other, no holds barred. Sylvie finally musters up the courage to call Kirk, only to hang up on him after realizing that it’s two past midnight. Kirk apparently calls her twice, but she doesn’t pick up out of fear of what he might say. He leaves two voicemails. Episode 4 ends with Will texting Peyton again, and she agrees to see him again. Perhaps this is his way of trying to be an adult. And it’s good. However, Sylvie goes to bed at almost 4 in the morning beside Charlie, who is still awake. The expression on his face shows what seems to be a concern. Is he worried that she is spending too much time with Will? Or is he worried about her job? Or is he worried about what she is doing with her life of late?

While Will seems to be on the verge of starting a new relationship, Sylvia might just have to do the needful to make sure that she doesn’t break Charlie’s heart. He cares for her and vice versa, but she should understand that it’s not charity that he’s doing; all that he wants is to make her feel better. But then he needs to have a proper conversation with her. Only time will tell if his plan works.


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Shubhabrata Dutta
Shubhabrata Dutta
Shubhabrata’s greatest regret is the fact that he won’t be able to watch every movie and show ever made. And when he isn’t watching a movie or a show, he is busy thinking about them and how they are made; all while taking care of his hobbies. These include the usual suspects i.e. songs, long walks, books and PC games.

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