‘UnREAL’ Recap: Secret and Lies

(Photos: Bettina Strauss/Lifetime)

Warning: This recap for the “Fugitive” episode of UnREAL contains spoilers.

The battle for Rachel’s heart, soul, and mind is front and center this week on UnREAL, but does anybody truly care for her without an agenda? Coleman claims to love her, but he also wants to use her to make a news splash. Quinn has been her surrogate mother, but uses her as a lump of clay to mold in her own image.

And then there’s Rachel’s actual mother, who turns out to be the worst human being of all time.

Our hearts are breaking for Rachel, who is so clearly damaged and brittle (the deep, dark reason behind it so tragic) but has almost no one to count on. All she has is herself. Can she stand up, stay strong, and stop getting used?

Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode, including our live tweets:

Kid fears

It’s been a week since the shooting, and Quinn gives the crew a pep talk. All the footage from the shooting has been suppressed, and they’ve still got a show to film. Jay and Madison wonder about Rachel’s whereabouts, which Quinn glosses over.

Coleman wants to pull Rachel out of the institution, but Quinn thinks Rachel might need the time to recover from the shooting. Then, she chastises him for acting like he knows her. He’s worked at Everlasting for two months. He’s a baby. And now, he doesn’t have a job, since the network execs gave control back to Quinn.

He goes to his office, where he finds Yael snooping on his computer. She ‘fesses up to what we suspected last week: She’s a reporter working on a story from behind-the-scenes of reality TV. And she very persuasively implores him to help her.

Booth shows up on set, wondering why Quinn hasn’t returned his calls in the last week. She claims to be busy, but really, she’s just dodging him after their serious talk about having kids. She’s just not sure she wants to. The show is her kid. Rachel is her kid.

Speaking of Rachel, she wakes up in the hospital to find Coleman there. He pleads with her to leave, but then her mom shows up. Rachel’s mom thinks she’s too ill to go anywhere, but Rachel snaps out of it and decides to go “home” with Coleman. Home meaning the set.

Meanwhile, Darius has disappeared from the hospital, where he had back surgery after the shooting. He’s gone in search of Ruby! When he finds her, he begs her to give him a second chance. But she rebuffs him, because he humiliated her on national television. Now, in private, he wants to be with her? Nuh uh.

Jay shows up, thanks to a call from Ruby, and works on Darius to get him to return to Everlasting. At first, Darius outright refuses, but then Jay makes a good pitch: Marry Tiffany and become the first black owner of a football team. It’s everything he ever wanted.

Fault in our stars

Rachel returns to set with Coleman, and he sets her up in his office. But wait, what is that video camera doing there? He admits he wants to tape her talking about the shooting, because that story should be told. Convinced, Rachel starts talking. And then she starts talking about Mary (the contestant who committed suicide last season). And she tearfully takes blame for the whole thing.

The remaining four contestants — Tiffany, Yael, Chantal, and Jamison — are competing for an overnight date. Also, this week, the girls will vote which of them leaves. Chet assures Tiffany she’s safe, while Quinn does the same with Chantal.

Chet and Quinn argue about Tiffany vs. Chantal, but Quinn knows the best outcome for the show, ratings-wise: Darius picks Tiffany. He quietly reaches out to Quinn, but she warns him to stop. They are done. D-O-N-E.

Rachel’s mom shows up on set, dragging a doctor behind her and demanding to see Rachel. They find her making the tape in Coleman’s office, and Rachel is disturbed to see them all there. Quinn yells at Coleman for doing this, not for Rachel’s sake, but for his own.

The doctor tries to shrink Rachel and offers to talk, and Rachel, eyes brimming with tears, agrees. Yes, they can talk. There’s a big issue in her past she’d love to talk about. Rachel’s mom looks alarmed and sends the doc away. Whoa, what on Earth happened between them?

Chet consoles Tiffany, who is packing. He still wants to make a deal with her father, and suggests that maybe Tiffany could be the first female suitor because she’s beautiful, smart, yada yada. She kisses him.

My way or the highway

After dismissing her mother, Rachel finds Coleman to confess the deep, dark secret from her past. And it’s bad. It’s really bad. She was raped by her mother’s patient when she was 12 — and her mother forced her to keep the secret, to save her practice.

Coleman is horrified, of course, and Rachel tells him she will understand if he wants to run, “if I’m too broken.” He doesn’t want to run, though. He tells Rachel he’s here to stay.

The elimination ceremony begins to film, and as expected, the other girls vote out Tiffany. But Darius shows up and declares that Tiffany isn’t going anywhere. Also, he’s not going on the overnight date with Chantal.

Instead, he boots out Jamison after confirming she’s the cop, then decides to take Tiffany on the date. Chantal is outraged, Tiffany is ecstatic, and the crew is shocked. Darius looks into the camera and announces that they’re doing things his way now. Later, he tells Quinn that he doesn’t want to see Rachel’s face ever again and that Jay can be his producer. Jay is pleased as punch when Quinn wryly asks if he’s ready to be her No. 2.

As Darius and Tiffany start their hot date, Booth awaits Quinn outside. She decides she’s in — she’ll give the whole kids thing a shot. But what if it’s too late? What if she can’t have any? He assures her that they’ll figure it out.

Back in Coleman’s office, Rachel is fast asleep, but he’s not. He gets up and goes out to find Yael. He tells her he’s uncovered some more info, and asks what else she’s come up with. Oh, Coleman, we always knew you were no good.

UnREAL airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.