The penultimate episode of Katy Keene unmasked Pepper Smith’s origin story and showed her as a good friend with conning tendencies. 

Pepper’s character is complex in that she does bad things but with good intentions. Under all the lying and manipulating, Pepper has a good heart. 

What Pepper was doing is obviously very wrong, but it’s hard to fault her for a few reasons. 

For starters, she’s been investing everything into the Pepper Plant not only for herself but for her friends. 

At the opening party, Pepper made it clear that she’s always valued Katy, Jorge, and Josie’s friendship and included them in her dreams. 

She also never had a sense of identity so she was forced to make it up and be whoever she thought she needed to be to succeed. There’s no denying that the allure of an “industry” woman who had all these connections and could do anything is what drew everyone to Pepper and made them trust her. 

Alex Cabot drills that point home when he tells Josie he went back to his father because the only way to make it in this town is if you had money. 

Credit: The CW/ Katy Keene

Pepper didn’t have money, she didn’t have the opportunities and thus, she created them. Josie hustles at a donut shop, Jorge resorted to gogo dancing and the occasional private dance, and Katy works two jobs to make ends meet, and in a way, Pepper’s conning is her hustle. 

It’s not right, but by understanding where she came from, we begin to understand why she did what she did and what she was trying to accomplish.

Pepper simply got in way too deep. She reached the point in her conning where she was playing catch-up; trying to untangle the mess she created dug into a deeper hole. 

It started when Josie confronted her about getting Alex Cabot’s investment back. Pepper didn’t have the money, but she figured she’d “borrow” a $200,000 luxury bag from Lacy’s, sell it on the black market and settle the score. 

That triggered a domino effect with Katy realizing that Pepper was responsible and thus, she needed to re-purchase a bag at wholesale to salvage her friendship and Katy’s job. And she also found a way to settle the score with Jorge by paying off the Lopez’s bank mortgage. 

Pepper didn’t give anyone much of a reason to trust her, but she never broke her promise of wanting to pay everyone back and investing in their futures.

Unfortunately, by putting her friendship first, it meant that she didn’t have Alex Cabot’s money and instead of being patient and waiting to see if Pepper could guarantee him a return on investment, he ran back to his father, which may have seemed like the right idea at the time, but only made things worse. 

We’ve all learned by now that involving a Cabot always makes things worse. Alex’s decision says a lot about him, and I’m starting to think his father plays a huge role in his drinking. 

I can no longer ship Josie and Alex because he’s a man-child. Josie has to be in her mid-20s at this point. She’s an independent woman, a talented woman, and a hard-working woman who needs someone equally as driven to succeed. 

Alex is not only holding her back, but he’s also brought nothing but drama into her life. He’s an unnecessary distraction.

My guess is that Pepper was arrested because Mr. Cabot tipped the FBI off even after Alex told her they now own the Pepper Plant. Otherwise, it has something to do with the Palace Hotel. Maybe all of this will get us to a point where she finds more about her birth parents. 

Money woes were aplenty, but this is New York City, so that’s not surprising. 

Jorge tried to pay his parents back for the subsidized rent so that they wouldn’t lose the building but even with his money and Pepper’s donation, it wasn’t enough.

Credit: The CW/ Katy Keene

Jorge found out the building was being sold around the same time Katy found out that Lacy’s was being sold off. 

Talk about bad timing. 

Most of Katy’s identity is wrapped up in some way in Lacy’s right along with her opportunity to learn more about her father. 

If there’s one thing we know about Jorge and Katy is that they won’t go down without a fight. 

It wasn’t just Pepper that was stealing from and lying to Katy, Guy was also becoming problematic, though, initially the relationship seemed like a dream. 

Katy and Guy were both floating on cloud nine together until she realized that he stole and created one of her sketches without consulting her. 

When she confronted him, Guy explained that that’s just how fashion works, but they always say to trust your gut, and finding all those sketchbooks of previously apprentices filled with designs that he’s using didn’t sit well. 

It seems Guy is a fake who built his on the backs of talented women. 

If that’s how “fashion” works then Guy wouldn’t be hiding it in a sealed-off closet that’s off-limits to anyone but him. 

He’s preying on the newbies who have talent who don’t know any better, but clearly, Katy is a firecracker that will not be taken advantage of. 

Seeing all of her designs showcased at the Pepper Plant was a visual reminder of how talented she is; these are her designs and ideas. 

And even if this is the way fashion is, it doesn’t mean it’s right or that it needs to be accepted. If Guy was truly someone to look up to in the industry, he would give credit where credit is due or even do a collaboration line. 

There’s also a big difference between Katy offering up her designs or some improvements and Guy flat-out stealing them. If he wanted the dress for his collection, why wasn’t he just honest with her about it?

The episode sets up the conflict nicely for the season finale. Can you believe we’re already here?

How will Pepper move on after her dream night turned into a nightmare? 

Will Jorge save his childhood building? Will Katy save Lacy’s? And will she expose Guy or find a way to forgive him?

Sound-off in the comments below!