For a show about an unlicensed private detective, this third episode sure had little to do with unlicensed private detectiving. But I liked it. It was my favorite episode of the bunch, in fact, precisely because it did away with trying to get Jonathan into case mode and focused largely on character development. With a few tweaks to the story, this could have been the pilot. Should have been.
Because amidst all the flurry of Jonathan trying to launch his detective business, I forget that he's a tortured writer—it's one thing to have him tell us that he is, and it's another to actually watch him pursue that writing and deal with the excitement that comes with a possible game-changing opportunity. And tonight, that opportunity is the chance to edit a screenplay by silver fox Jim Jarmusch, who makes a guest appearance. Jarmusch knows fellow fox George, is a fan of Jonathan's first novel, and arranges a meeting at a fancy church loft party for writer-types. I haven't been too wild about this show's glorification of the publishing lifestyle; it's like the Entourage of a very specific New York niche, with George as a Johnny Drama type. But at least this particular party (for a film society) served a purpose other than showing George as a social dynamo: George introduces Jonathan to Jarmusch, who hands off a screenplay and asks him to call tomorrow; then, because he was talking to Jarmusch, a girl takes an interest in Jonathan and takes him back to her father's place.
Though she initially tells Jonathan she's a senior at NYU, she's actually in high school. A junior (who badly needs a date to prom, btw). With an extremely controlling, angry therapist father prone to storming in on her. Jonathan escapes out the bathroom window and avoids being recognized, but drops the screenplay behind the couch in the process. And because Jonathan has proven himself to be a sad victim to fate, he's forced to leave the scene completely and hatch a scheme to get the screenplay back another day.