Deconstructing the RZP: Tay takes one for the team

Season 2: Episode 6

In this episode of "Rach is the worst boss ever," Rach somehow miraculously overcomes her debilitating vertigo to get her team all in a tizzy because EVERYONE IS GOING TO PARIS FOR FASHION WEEK - YIPPEE! To be honest, this is a great perk. I mean, to go to Paris fashion week, to sit in the shows, to stay at the Four Seasons and to get (spoiler alert) an exclusive invite to see Coco Chanel's residence, um, yeah? Where do I sign up? (Note: I'm just assuming that RZ Inc. pays for her team to go to Paris. She wouldn't make her assistants pay for that themselves, right? Especially when she can take a business deduction for it.) Anyway, there are cheers all around and everything is happy in RZ land and even Tay cracks a smile and talks about how it will be a life changing experience. But then...

In a not at all manufactured plot twist, Rach discovered that she has three jobs that need someone to stay back in LA while the rest of the team goes to Paris. How she did not know this day before, when she told her whole team that they would be going to Paris, is beyond me. And, this was just the beginning of the poor handling of the situation. Because then Rach decides that she doesn't want to dictate who should stay back, though she clearly thinks that Brad should volunteer to do so. So instead of being all, "Brad, you have to stay back because you have less seniority than Taylor," she just sends them both an email that says one of them has to stay back and to work it out between themselves.

This of course does not work out well, and neither Brad nor Tay volunteer to stay back. So then Tay has a talk with Rach, who continues with the passive agressiveness and tells her not to worry, she thinks Brad will eventually "Do the right thing" and volunteer to stay. Which of course Tay passes on Brad. Who had absolutely no intention to "do the right thing" and offer to stay. So Brad gets upset that Rach and Tay would go behind his back (I guess) and flips the script on them both by claiming that he's being "tested" and threatens to walk out. Finally, after making a bad situation worse, Rach just gives up and leaves the mess for Taylor to deal with. Not wanting to the the "bitch" (which...why? She's already the bitch, she should have continued to be the bitch, IN PARIS), Tay makes the executive decision that Brad can go to Paris and she (Tay) will stay back. Of course, Brad leaps at the chance, and talks to Rach who doesn't tell him to his face that he should be the one to stay, so guess what Tay? I guess you're not going to Paris after all. After writing this all out, I think that Brad and Tay should have gone to Paris and left Rach at home because clearly this her situation was her fault.

In the next episode, Rach and Brad (and the entire rest of the team) frolic in Paris while Tay grumps around in LA. But, what else is new?