The Girlfriend Experience - Retention

*** / ****

Retention is a roller coaster episode for Christine. So she has sex with her friend, Avery, as A Friend ends and towards the beginning of Retention she ditches Christine and takes possessions on the way out. Nice friend, eh? In just a few months, Avery has moved on after Jacqueline (the “infrastructure” for call girls) cleaned her bank account. Word of warning to Christine right there: Christine does confront Jacqueline about not returning Avery’s calls, usurping the clients that brought her money. Avery even mentions to Christine that a client obsessed with her has went silent. Christine takes what happened to Avery (and ultimately her when Avery cleans *her* out), learning from her pitfalls, and decides to quit Jacqueline, but doing so will include securing her current clients’ good will, influencing them to remain with her if she goes out on her own. When Christine receives photographs at work obviously as blackmail from Jacqueline (going against what she said about photographing her face), this sets her in overdrive. After Avery leaves her, Christine certainly gives Jacqueline a final goodbye by confronting her at a restaurant, dumping food on her, and bidding adieu with a right proper screw you. It doesn’t stop there, though. A lot happens in 24 minutes, so the show is an edit machine.

Currently Christine juggles her own civilian life with what was supposed to be a sidebar in her alter ego, Chelsea. It is a lucrative “investment”, too. Jacqueline is no fool, and she understands the kind of money Chelsea can bring in. But Christine has to somehow abandon Jacqueline before what happened to Avery ruins her. The path of Chelsea, meeting clients with certain desires and needs from her during their “sessions” (hookups?), could very well wreck Christine as her law school work is suffering and the lateness at her internship might just paint her as unreliable a hire long-term.

But the episode also reminds us that there’s more to this story than just what Chelsea commits to with her clients. Just a few months before Retention, Christine was committed to law school and her efforts in impressing at the firm, Kirkland and Allen. Kirkland and Allen is trying to hold onto a client, but the firm is losing one of their best attorneys (looking to be a success elsewhere) who is taking XHP (the client) with him. This client is fed up with Kirkland and Allen’s seemingly endless series of mistrials, costing them a lot because of the fees from the firm “protecting them”.

David Tellis (Paul Sparks) is tasked with trying to hold onto XHP and seeks help from Erin Roberts (Mary Lynn Rajskub) in negotiation with their representative. Erin sees fit to offer their services much cheaper, a kind of means to ingratiate Kirkland and Allen to them in exchange for remaining with the firm. You can sure see David sweating this, as Erin is all chill, saying all the right things even if it demands that their firm must give a little in order to maintain XHP’s services. David could really benefit from the firm successfully keeping this client. So it is in his best interest for he and Erin to finesse the rough patch with XHP.

Christine, meanwhile, must somehow avoid anymore shenanigans involving nude and provocative photos arriving at the firm and showing up late due to her night life activities (which are gradually intruding on the day) as Chelsea. Chelsea has developed quite a dependable and devoted client list. Kevin Yung (Oscar Hsu) just meets her and is so enamored and awestruck he speaks of coming into town more (despite being married and very nervous) often just because Chelsea is so beautiful and enchanting. Neil Akers (Dmitry Chepovetsky) talks about his damned partnership and its agonies while Chelsea eases him into a calm, later sliding in the fact she’s thinking of leaving Jacqueline (“Just tell me where to send the money”). Neil is fine with whatever she decides, requesting her to take of the clothes. And older client, Michael Cilic (Nicholas Campbell; The Dead Zone (1983)), is willing to work with her because they have developed a comfortable rapport, asking her to snuggle up (and not to worry). So it does appear as if Chelsea will avoid what “Ashley” (Avery’s alter ego) couldn’t: through sweet talk, presenting a listening sounding board, and seductive influence, Christine has cultivated a trust and binding with her clients that might just diffuse Jacqueline’s efforts to undermine her success with them.

And Chelsea’s sexual services—also along with her looks—appear to be quite influential. When she is riding Martin for another session—on top, all soft and quietly breathy (that bit of eyes closed, head tilted back a bit, swaying her body in this rhythm of approval that certainly indicates to the client she’s enjoying him), Chelsea knows how to properly stroke the egos and offer an arresting presentation that continues to yield her financial results. This whole GFE service is to understand the clients, make them happy, and earn a steady income through it. Chelsea is a GFE rising star, so Christine must try and balance it with law school and her internship. Not an easy task, that’s for sure.