‘The City’: Use your weapons wisely

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There’s something to be said for the mistakes of youth. Some can argue that this is really what “The City” is all about: Young girls who are tripping over their own inexperience. In many ways, that’s a winning argument for what the girls’ bedazzled heels step into every episode.

Sure, their work styles are different. Olivia is pretentious, a bit lazy, and wallows in her connections in order to sustain her fashion career. Whitney, on the other hand, is hardworking, conscientious (with a bit of the blond airhead thing thrown in for good measure), and hailing from L.A., she didn’t arrive in NYC with much of a Rolodex to begin with. What they have in common, though, is that they’re forced to use whatever weapons they have in their arsenal to make it through the clumsy professional period called “paying your dues.” Inevitably, they’re going to fail at times. I’m not including Roxy in this theory. I’m not sure she has any weapons.

I’m actually proud of Olivia for stepping up to this week’s “A to Z” challenge. Unlike her last two blunders when she came in disastrously under par, she arrived to that meeting with Erin and Joe bursting with options for the project. I can’t say I enjoyed Joe serving Erin an “I told you so” sandwich, since I find him the managerial equivalent of a helium balloon. Has anyone else noticed that he rarely lets anyone finish a sentence around him? I do have a confession. While I’m entirely in Erin’s corner when it comes to Olivia, I get a sadistic pleasure out of watching Erin squirm in her seat pursed-lipped when Joe is giving Olivia compliments. Is that wrong?
I’m thoroughly confused by Roxy’s influence on Whitney...

Whitney is years ahead of Roxy when it comes to dealing with one Kelly Cutrone (who’s quickly becoming my favorite person in the series) and she should have known better. How uncomfortable was that lunch when Roxy basically forced Whitney and Samantha to set up a meeting with Sunni Spencer of Bergdorf Goodman? Oh, I think I’ve found Roxy’s career weapon – she’s a hypnotist! That’s the only way to explain how she can convince Whitney to go against Kelly’s advice and show her sketches outside People’s Revolution. Of course, the other reason could be that Whitney needs to grow a spine. No, hypnotism must be it, because if Whitney had free choice to choose between listening to Roxy and crossing Kelly, the answer would have been obvious. Right?

My best advice to Whitney: Never look directly into Roxy’s eyes – no good can come of it.

-- Jethro Nededog (follow me on Twitter @TheRealJethro)

Related:
‘The City’: Please don’t try this at work
‘The City’: Whitney Port shows New York what L.A. girls are made of
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