This episode begins with Joy, our latest suspect, narrating the story. This is several days later now. Charles comes to the door to speak with Oliver and Mabel, both of whom are concerned for him. She’s breaking glass for a structure in her fish tank, and Charles hasn’t yet confronted her about her lipstick being found at the scene of the crime. Oliver has a date with Loretta this evening and he’s concerned about being dashing. Mabel, on the other hand, claims she has a lead that she and Tobert will be staking out, but by the cocktail dress she’s wearing, everyone figures it’s more of a date than anything.

When the trio split up, Charles heads back into his apartment to confront Joy. As he explains his suspicions, she avoids all his concerns but still mentions that she doesn’t tolerate bullies. She gets a little irritated with him, especially because they are supposed to go wedding cake tasting. A visitor arrives, and it’s Jane Lynch as Sazz, Charles’s stunt double from his Brazzos days. Joy sees this as a blessing and passive-aggressively leaves to taste the cakes alone. Sazz begins to act as Charles’s therapist, though he slips in there that she is still dating Jan, Charles’s ex and the killer from season 1. He admits he might be dating another killer with Joy, though Sazz dismisses it quickly. She comes up with a little game for them to play so they can get down to the meaning of his feelings. She quizzes Charles on his relationship with Joy, and she comes to the conclusion that it isn’t Joy he’s afraid of but that he’s self-conscious and afraid of happiness. He claims he no longer fears Joy.

Oliver has now arrived at Loretta’s for their date. While I assumed dinner meant he was taking her out, she is instead cooking for him, though quite unsuccessfully. He is certainly taken aback by the size of her tiny apartment. He even pulls the bed down thinking it’s a closet. This is a huge difference from his gorgeous home at the Arconia. The date gets a little more awkward whenever Oliver, who barely eats solid food, tries to eat the broiled pork chop and has a tooth come out. They laugh and make the best of it, and he whistles through the gap. This is also when Loretta drops out of nowhere that Ben is a “f***ing pig,” the exact same words that were written in lipstick on Ben’s mirror. He subtly interrogates her, though she quickly dismisses him. She tells him she knows where to fix his tooth, and they leave.

Mabel shows up for her stakeout with Tobert, only for it to be made clear to her that it is really just a date. His lead is soft at best. Jonathan, Howard’s boyfriend, is singing at the cabaret restaurant. They bicker back and forth with each other, and Tobert is ridiculously charming. He asks her questions to get to know her, and they order drinks. Mabel orders a Mezcal to drink and talks about Charles and Oliver being her besties. He admits his job makes it down to put down roots, but he wants to.

On the boat, Loretta pulls out an ancient purple doobie for them to smoke, and Oliver is excited. It turns out she was roommates with someone that Oliver made that doobie for in 1978, and they have been running in the same circles for quite some time. For years she’s seen opportunities fly by her through unfortunate luck. They end up having a cute moment on the boat, and this is when Oliver coaxes her explanation about Ben out of her. He learns they had an argument 30 minutes before the show where she claims Ben didn’t want to share the stage with a nobody, and she called him a pig. This is also where Loretta drops that his brother didn’t like Ben, which has been a suspicion of mine from the beginning.

Back with Mabel and Tobert, Jonathan finishes his set, and she sees him hug a man in a cap and exchange an envelope. Despite her telling him to stay still, Tobert gets up to look. He crashes into a waiter, and everything on the tray breaks. They try to not be seen, but despite their efforts, Jonathan catches them looking. Tobert admits he recognizes the man in the cap as Ben’s private doctor.

Finally, when Joy arrives with additional cakes for Charles to try, she admits that Howard pulled her backstage to help with Ben’s cosmetic emergency, and her lipstick fell out of her pocket. In a bombshell reveal, Charles admits he was the one who punched Ben after messing with Loretta, validating her story. He then puts his foot in his mouth and admits that he accidentally proposed to her. She doesn’t take this lightly and calls it off. While Charles’s relationship has fallen apart, Oliver and Mabel both have a great night. However, Oliver’s night is spoiled whenever he finds a scrapbook stashed in Loretta’s apartment which shows her obsession with Ben. This is great because I wasn’t ready to let her go as a suspect. We have now made it halfway through the season!