In a world of pretentious politicians and carefully fabricated lies, The Girls on the Bus tells us the story of the reality about elections in the United States. As the four journalists, Sadie, Grace, Kimberlyn, and Lola try to make a name for themselves, they deal with the ups and downs of the world of journalism. All of these women hail from different backgrounds and uphold different political philosophies. Even though their styles of journalism differ from each other, they strike up an unlikely friendship in this world that doesn’t uphold sincerity.
In the previous episode, the introduction of Felicity Walker to the Iowa campaign left everyone speechless. With Grace Green’s scoop on Caroline Bennett about her sex scandal, Felicity comes in like a savior. Considering Felicity’s feminist stance depicted in the third episode, it is more clear why Caroline chose Felicity. Felicity was an extremely respected politician, and Caroline needed someone like her to draw the focus away from the news about her personal life. However, when Kimberlyn discloses more disturbing details about Caroline’s past, the governor ends up quitting the campaign. Instead, it is revealed that Felicity herself has entered the election campaign once again.
Caroline’s reentry, however, has been the biggest shock for Sadie. It was indeed Senator Walker, because of whom Sadie ended up quitting political journalism and also ended up becoming a meme. Walker, on the other hand, blames Sadie’s biased journalism for her defeat and despises her for it. Meanwhile, Sadie unexpectedly received a burner phone in her hotel room.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Sadie’s Dilemma In This Episode?
In this episode, the campaign trail takes Sadie and her friends to Vegas. With Felicity Walker having entered the race, Sadie wishes to capitalise on the opportunity. She wants to interview Felicity, but the senator wilfully ignores Sadie. This behavior from Felicity angers her. Meanwhile, Sadie receives a message in her voicemail from the ‘Hot White Guy’ regarding an interview that he wanted. Seeing Felicity’s demeanor, despite trying hard to land herself an interview, Sadie decides to go for the interview with the White Hot Guy instead. The Hot White Guy is a former actor and has no political experience, which is why he wants Sadie to do an article on him. He wants the world to know that he’s capable of running for this position. Being a slightly left-leaning representative, Hot White Guy’s political agenda focuses on empowering union workers. However, other than the fact that Sadie finds him unusually attractive, there is absolutely nothing stimulating about him for Sadie.
What Happens With Lola?
Lola’s biggest dilemma, as usual, is that she’s trying to prove her worth as a journalist. In reality, she did generate her fame through Tiktok. The journalistic world views her as an influencer rather than someone in their own league. Moreover, Lola lacks the basic knowledge of even the jargon used by political journalists, which often tends to make her misunderstand situations. In a rather embarrassing instance, she mistakes the term ‘pool’ for swimming pool and ends up showing up in a swimsuit, believing she is going to a swimming pool. Sadie feels bad for her and tries to help her, but ends up getting busy with her own schedule. However, Lola then runs into Josie, an organizer, who sees her struggling and decides to help her with the jargon. Striking an unusual bond with Josie, Lola ends up sleeping with her as well.
Later on, Lola lands herself an interview with Felicity Walker. Initially, Malcolm, now Walker’s Press Secretary, turns her down; however, he himself agrees to let Lola interview his boss if, in exchange, she also asks the questions Sadie wanted to ask.
Moreover, Lola’s presence in the pool lets her capture Felicity when she burns her bra in a kitchen in protest when a male chef makes misogynistic statements about her. This video goes viral, proving the point that Lola doesn’t need elitist education or expensive tools to become a journalist.
Why Are Grace And Kimberlyn Struggling In Their Personal Lives?
The election year is one of the busiest for everyone involved in the campaign, including journalists. Especially for the four main characters of the series on the campaign trail, this time of the year is particularly busy for them. Throughout the episode, Grace’s daughter is trying to contact her. Her daughter already needs some special attention considering she’s going through a tough time in college, but Grace’s work schedule has her particularly busy. Grace and her daughter haven’t been able to connect at all since she joined this campaign.
As for Kimberlyn, she recently got engaged but had to immediately leave for the campaign trail. Her boyfriend, Eric, wants her attention on the wedding preparations, but Kimberlyn is simply unavailable. Even Eric’s mother has been spamming Kimberlyn with messages and even emails, but Kimberlyn is unable to attend to anything. However, to Kimberlyn’s relief, Eric pays her a surprise visit at her hotel room. The discussion about their wedding eventually comes up, but Kimberlyn expresses her annoyance at the fact that she hardly has the time to prepare for her wedding. However, Eric, being an understanding partner, tries to give up on the elaborate wedding plans, going for an impromptu Vegas wedding, but Kimberlyn discourages his thoughts, clarifying that she wants to be married the way Eric wants it.
What Happens To The Geriatric?
Grace is asked by her friend, John, to write a portraiture of his boss, ‘the Geriatric,’ an old candidate who seems too frail to be running for president. After Caroline’s exit from the election campaign, the Geriatric becomes the frontrunner. But, although Grace respects the old man for everything he has done for the country till now, she doubts that he is healthy enough to run a campaign. Moreover, portraitures are not Grace’s style, as she is the ‘Scoop Queen.’ At the same time, Kimberlyn is trying to toss dirt on the old man. Adhering to the cheap political philosophy of her media house, Liberty Direct News, she even makes fun of the Geriatric’s age.
Grace’s meeting with the Geriatric goes well, but she can’t help but notice that his hands are trembling, suggesting weakness or even an illness. John, however, trying to dispel the rumors about his boss’s failing health, proposes that the Geriatric run a 5K marathon. The plan, however, takes a dark turn as the geriatric patient actually had a coronary blockage. In a tragic turn of events, the Geriatric passes away.
What Is The Deal With The Burner Phone?
In the previous episode, Sadie found a burner phone addressed to her outside her hotel room in Iowa. Throughout this episode, Sadie is seen trying to figure out the secret behind the phone, but to no avail. However, her boss, Bruce, receives an anonymous tip for Sadie; the sender claims to possess some serious dirt on Walker. This intensifies Sadie’s hunt for the secrets that Felicity’s been hiding again, reaching a dead end, but after the Geriatric dies, Sadie receives a call on the burner phone. The caller expresses that he wishes to talk, since Walker is actually a contender in the political race now.
What Can We Expect In The Next Episode?
With the anonymous whistleblower trying to reveal the dirt on Felicity, things will change for Sadie as well. We might see Sadie go through the process of finding evidence against Felicity. Now that Walker is a formidable contender in the election, Grace and Kimberlyn would also target her for their own work. In fact, Grace has already found out about Sadie’s burner phone, and in this cut-throat journalistic world, it is possible that she might try to steal this opportunity from Sadie.
