The Five-Star Weekend

Although she can barely afford the splurge, Tatum has her hair blown out before going to Hollis’s house. She recalls her hairdresser’s experience with breast cancer a few years prior and the supportive nature of the Nantucket permanent residents. Tatum and Kyle attempted to return the call to the hospital the previous evening, but Tatum’s doctor was out of the office for the weekend. Tatum must wait until Monday to learn if she has cancer.

Tatum returns from the salon to find Jack Finigan, Hollis’s former boyfriend, drinking beer with Kyle. She grabs a bottle of wine to present to Hollis as a hostess gift and then asks Kyle to drive her to Squam. Jack jumps at the opportunity to ride with Kyle and Tatum. Tatum feels certain that Jack’s visit isn’t a coincidence, and she wonders about his intentions for the weekend.

Brooke runs into Electra as both women exit the ferry, and Electra insists the women grab a drink together. Cornered, Brooke feels as though it would be rude to decline. Electra warms to Brooke as if they are close friends, though Brooke observes a lingering dislike for Electra. Electra shares that her son is at a drug rehabilitation facility and her daughter is following a band around the country. After two glasses of wine, Brooke shares the details of Hollis’s five-star weekend, showing her the itinerary. Electra makes belittling comments about the suggestions for wardrobe color coordination.

Brooke feels defensive of Hollis and decides she must flee Electra quickly. She mentions Matthew, commenting on how the weekend gives Hollis a positive focal point. Electra hints that Matthew wasn’t faithful to Hollis and that they weren’t as happy as others believed. Brooke pays for the wine and stands to leave, but not before Electra invites Brooke to a football-watching party in the fall.

Dru-Ann posts a retaliatory comment on Twitter in self-defense just as she arrives at Hollis’s house. J.B. attempts to call her a few minutes later, but Dru-Ann silences her phone. Hollis greets Dru-Ann, and the women cry as they embrace. Hollis feels an unbreakable bond with her closest friend from college. Dru-Ann immediately asks for a drink.

Brooke arrives next, and Hollis realizes she isn’t as excited to see her as she was Dru-Ann. Dru-Ann excuses herself to unpack while Hollis offers Brooke a drink. Brook tells Hollis she’s already had two glasses of wine but doesn’t mention Electra. She explains that the past few days have been horrible, but she will wait to fill in Hollis on another day. Hollis leads Brooke to her guestroom, and Brooke admires the immaculate design and decoration of Hollis’s Nantucket house.

Caroline waits for Tatum to arrive before filming anything. Knowing Dru-Ann faces media scrutiny, Caroline anticipates creating a more dramatic documentary this weekend. She heads outside to film Tatum’s arrival, instead capturing Hollis’s surprise at seeing Jack. Caroline’s anger flares while witnessing her mother encounter a close male friend from the past, and she stops recording. Later, she regrets not capturing the shot, knowing Isaac would have wanted her to focus on the conflict behind the content.

Hollis feels taken aback at the sight of Jack. She recalls happy memories from her teen years with Jack. She asks if they can meet later to catch up and feels his male presence intrudes on her girls’ weekend. He agrees and turns to leave, running into Dru-Ann on his way out. Dru-Ann remembers when she and Hollis were freshmen at UNC and Jack drove down to surprise Hollis. Although they had broken up, Jack begged Hollis to reconsider. Hollis insisted they end their relationship; still, Hollis struggled to move on, and Dru-Ann supported her through an emotionally difficult period. Dru-Ann ushers the men away, declaring the start to the five-star weekend.

Thinking about the day Matthew died, Gigi drinks a Bloody Mary at her connecting airport. She found out while randomly browsing Hungry With Hollis, seeing Hollis’s message on Corkboard. Gigi remembers how lonely she felt with her grief since she couldn’t discuss Matthew freely with her friends and family. She realized Hollis was poised to understand and relate to her own grief. Gigi sent Hollis her cell phone number in a private message, and the women grew close.

Gigi second-guesses her decision to attend the five-star weekend and intentionally misses her connecting flight to Nantucket. She approaches the ticketing desk to see if any remaining flights to Nantucket have open seats. A late evening flight has exactly one seat remaining, and Gigi decides to claim it.

Obvious tension builds between Dru-Ann and Tatum as the women drink wine and eat appetizers. Brooke frets about her hostess gift, a candle, being too cheap and cliché. Hollis worries that Gigi will cancel at the last minute. Brooke talks excessively while Caroline films the blank, distracted expressions of Hollis, Dru-Ann, and Tatum. Tatum excuses herself to use the bathroom. She admires the pristine white decor of the powder room while realizing how quickly Orion would leave marks and stains. Thinking of her grandson, she finds Orion’s rubber snake in her purse and hides it in the guest house where Dru-Ann will sleep.

Tatum meets Hollis on the back porch to assist her with grilling. Tatum shares a cigarette with Hollis, telling her Jack is obviously still in love with Hollis. Brooke watches Hollis and Tatum laugh outside while Dru-Ann checks on Caroline, and Brooke feels somewhat abandoned by the others. She’s resentful that Hollis prefers Tatum and Dru-Ann’s company over Brooke’s, even though Brooke was the only close friend present and supportive after Matthew died.

Meanwhile, Caroline confides in Dru-Ann about how upset she feels that her mother is hosting an elaborate party soon after Matthew’s death. Dru-Ann defends Hollis, attempting to verbalize Hollis’s harrowing experience of losing Matthew in a way that won’t hurt Caroline. Caroline, seeing Hollis’s five-star weekend only as an opportunity for superficial content creation for Hollis’s website, dismisses Dru-Ann’s perspective. Caroline turns the conversion on Dru-Ann, suggesting she quickly and publicly apologize to Posey before ending her career. Dru-Ann attempts to tell Caroline the story in context, but Caroline refuses to listen.

Gigi finally arrives, and Brooke greets her in the kitchen. Brooke feels grateful for the opportunity to meet Gigi first, though she is self-conscious about speaking too much while introducing herself. Brooke feels crushed when Hollis and Tatum enter the kitchen; she hoped to have a few moments alone with Gigi. All women privately admire Gigi’s glamorous, chic appearance. Henrietta smells Gigi and then growls and snaps at her; Hollis immediately reprimands her and says the dog’s behavior is highly unusual. Gigi thinks Henrietta must somehow know about her betrayal. Tatum gives Dru-Ann the silent treatment while Hollis shows Gigi to her room. Caroline feels left out again when learning Tatum and Dru-Ann already know each other from Hollis’s wedding. 

Caroline films the five women eating a delicious swordfish dinner with decadent side dishes and dainty chocolate desserts. Tatum loves the food, silently promising to learn to cook like Hollis if she doesn’t have cancer. She’s preoccupied with the worry of not knowing her diagnosis. Brooke obsesses about calories while she tries to eat as little as possible without appearing rude.

The group politely asks Gigi introductory questions while getting to know her. Hollis catches Gigi in a lie about her mother: When Gigi tells the group that her mother is an American country girl from Georgia, Hollis recalls Gigi telling her about her mother’s Cantonese recipes. Gigi quickly lies again to cover the truth about her parents. She changes the conversation to discuss her training and career as a pilot. The group asks about Gigi’s romantic history, but Gigi only vaguely references a recently ended romance before declaring herself a “hot girl” by being single. Tatum silently thinks she cannot relate to Gigi as she loves Kyle immensely and hopes they live long enough to see their 60th anniversary. Brooke comments about wanting to get rid of Charlie, and Dru-Ann asks her to clarify, but Brooke feels like talking about Charlie’s repeated assaults on co-workers will ruin the group’s conversation.

Knowing she has few female friends, Gigi feels out of place as the women discuss their lives. She’s used to flight attendants discussing their sex lives, and she asks the group about faking orgasms. Caroline believes Gigi will make for a great subject in her documentary. Tatum jumps to Kyle’s defense, describing very directly how he pleasures her. Dru-Ann confesses to faking orgasms to “move things along” (142), and Hollis admits to doing the same, much to Caroline’s disgust. Brooke explains she hasn’t had an orgasm with either Charlie or any other man; she also reveals that Charlie has no idea she is faking. Dru-Ann registers her growing affection for Brooke and insists the women take shots.

Hollis leaves the table to prepare the peach cobbler. She overhears Caroline’s comment about appearances mattering more to Hollis than anything else in her life. Tatum sees Hollis’s hurt at that comment and affectionately invites her back to the table. Later, Caroline captures a tense moment between Dru-Ann and Tatum, interrupted by Gigi. 

Caroline meets Dylan at Cru, a local bar and restaurant, and he serves her a glass of champagne. Feeling sophisticated, Caroline wishes Isaac could see her. She thinks about Isaac and struggles to control the urge to call or text him. Dylan drives Caroline back to his house for one final drink. He asks about Matthew’s death, and Caroline cries. She thinks about Matthew’s last few moments and wonders if he felt scared. She tells Dylan about the traumatic experience of receiving Hollis’s phone call informing her of the accident. Dylan kisses Caroline, and Caroline accepts Dylan’s offer to sleep on the couch.

The following morning, Jack offers to drive Caroline home. Caroline uses the opportunity to find out more about the man her mother obviously loves—something she finds disrespectful to Matthew. Surprised to learn Hollis and Jack dated for five years, Caroline asks what Hollis was like in high school. Jack tells Caroline how close Hollis and Tatum were, both competitive athletes on the softball team. Hollis, Tatum, Jack, and Kyle were close, often double dating. Jack talks about Hollis’s close relationship with her father, Tom, who taught her to hunt, fish, and harvest oysters. Caroline feels like Jack is describing an entirely different person than the Hollis she knows. Jack admits that he loves Hollis and always has, which surprises and disturbs Caroline.

The hired yoga instructor for the morning, Avalon Boon, arrives at Hollis’s house to find a beautifully laid breakfast without people in sight. Earlier that morning, Hollis woke up very hungover and prepared breakfast. Although desperately wanting to sleep in, she drove to Nantucket’s most popular bakery to retrieve morning buns. She felt compelled to make sure her five-star weekend lives up to the expectations she set for herself. However, after preparing breakfast, she retreated to her room for a nap.

Tatum wakes up missing Kyle. She can’t remember being away from him overnight in the last 30 years. She texts Kyle and realizes the previous evening was more fun than expected. Kyle tells Tatum he and Jack went out to the newer bars and clubs the previous evening, and Tatum immediately feels jealous. She worries Kyle will move on to someone else if she has cancer and dies. Tatum accepts Kyle’s invitation to breakfast with him and Jack, knowing she won’t want to participate in the scheduled yoga.

Dru-Ann wakes feeling something coiled around her leg and panics when she sees a snake, though she quickly realizes it is rubber. Still under fire for her comments about Posey, Dru-Ann listens to a voicemail from J.B. demanding Dru-Ann issue an apology today or risk termination. Dru-Ann resolves not to issue the apology.

Brooke ignores Avalon’s calls to see if anyone is home and spends the morning in bed masturbating. Gigi sneaks out early in the morning for a walk and cries alone on the beach. Eventually, Avalon leaves, taking a morning bun with her on the way out.

Later that day, Dru-Ann tells the others about the snake in her bed. Tatum suggests that someone is sending Dru-Ann a message, and Dru-Ann immediately knows Tatum is responsible for the snake.