Another Tuesday, another episode of Hotel Babylon. The theme of this week’s episode is “don’t take anything at face value”, and the episode lives up to that premise.
Eddie Palmer (Steven Pinder) is a guy that hosts a chat show in the north of England; he’s come to London to try and take the show national, and he’s staying at the Babylon while that goes on. He sweet talks Tony into getting him a hooker. Tony would prefer using one of his own contacts, but Palmer insists on using his own… which leads to Tony escorting Mei (Sophie Wu) to Palmer’s room. Unfortunately, Mei was kidnapped back in China and forced to move to the UK as a sex slave… oh, and she’s only 15! After Tony hears Mei’s story, he finds Palmer in the lobby and punches him, causing his immediate dismissal:
Tony, being a “good guy”, isn’t going to let the matter slide, however. He changes into street clothes and keeps a watch over Mei. Eventually, her pimp tracks them down and demands £10,000 for her passport. Tony finds all the cash he’s hidden in the hotel and calls in favors from other concierges… but he only manages to come up with £5,000. Will he be able to get the rest of the money in time? And why is he scrambling to pay off a gangster instead of calling the police? Will he be able to get his job back? Does he even want his job back?
Meanwhile, James has come up with an awesome new menu. He’s spent untold hours on the menu, making it as perfect as can be. It’s helped the restaurant soar in popularity, so much so that he has to hire new wait staff. He even develops a bit of a crush on Chloe, one of the new staff, too. Everything, it seems, is coming up James at the moment.
However, he’s also lorded his restaurant’s popularity over Gino, who’s more than a bit jealous of James’ success. When the general manager of The Burlington is spotted talking to Gino, suspicions fly… especially after The Burlington rolls out a new menu that’s suspiciously similar to the Babylon’s. Everyone suspects Gino, but Gino adamantly denies selling out the Babylon to The Burlington. Gino even comes up with a plan to prove his innocence: when the Burlington’s GM was talking to him, Gino offered him some nuts… which he declined, saying that he’s allergic. Jack invites the Burlington GM to have dinner with him to discuss the matter of the stolen menu, and Gino has James drench the salads in a hazelnut vinagrette. Chloe is the waitress, and she nervously serves the two their salads… but just as the GM is about to take a bite of the salad, Chloe begs the GM not to eat the salad. How would a random waitress know that the GM of a completing restaurant is allergic to nuts? She wouldn’t, of course.
Comic relief for this episode is provided once again by Anna and Ben. Magician Dan Black (David Schneider) is staying in the hotel as he plans his biggest trick ever: disappearing from Trafalgar Square. Ben seems to enjoy the little tricks that Dan plays on them at the front desk, but Anna knows that magic is just an illusion, and she becomes obsessed with finding out Dan’s secrets… so much so that she has Ben break in to Dan’s room… but will Dan get the last laugh? I’ll end the suspense: yes, he does.
Just for tradition (and giggles), here’s this week’s “required” picture of Anna (Emma Pierson):
All in all, a decent episode for a show on its last legs. I’m still not sure why Tony and Emily would scrape up £10,000 to pay off a gangster, especially when both of them were given free reign to come up with the money. The gangster stayed in the room with Mei and Emily as Tony roamed the hotel and called up his buddies at other hotels. Why the hell didn’t he just call the cops? I’m sure that Tony and\or Jack could have worked out some kind of “deal” with the police that would have kept “HOTEL BABYLON SITE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING ARREST” headlines out of the papers. I mean, £10,000 is around $20,000. Tony provided half that money… that shouldn’t be a huge problem for Tony, because we know that he makes mad (untaxed) money… but still. Giving up $10,000 to a total stranger? Even if she’s in dire need? And Emily… selling her most cherished ring at a fraction of its value, just to help a stranger out? Look, I’d like to think that I’d help a stranger too… I just don’t know if I’d give her pimp $10,000 and buy her a ticket back to China and give her some pocket money on top of that… not when 911 calls are free.
Next week’s episode looks as silly as ever: there’s some kind of hostage situation, and the Babylon’s staff are tasked with freeing them (again, why not call the police?). Anna is apparently the one to crawl through the air vents in this episode, and she just happens to be wearing a tight white wifebeater under her dress shirt… of course. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’d watch a ten-hour miniseries of Emma Pierson mopping her kitchen floor! I just think it’s funny that the BBC showed her in the wifebeater like, 10 times in the previews for the next episode, especially the shot where she rips open her dress shirt. Why not just freeze-frame the shots, so the folks at Mr Skin can capture it easily? Why not have a little siren and the words with “NICE RICK ALERT!” flashing on the screen when Anna opens her shirt? Again, it’s not like I mind looking at Emma Pierson, but damn… could you at least try to be a bit more subtle, Auntie?