The polar vortex hit New York City and forced Katy, Josie, Pepper, and Jorge into the confines of their tiny little apartment on the bodega where things escalated pretty quickly.

Despite the frigid temps outside, the drama between the friends (and the broken radiator) brought the heat.

And while it wasn’t fun to see all that tension escalate between the roomies, it allowed the series to dig into some real conflict for the first time. It’s a tiny apartment, which meant that no one could escape when things got awkward… and boy, it did.

The conflicts also offered a glimpse into each character’s history as we got to know them a little bit more.

Katy and Jorge go back the furthest with Katy being there for Jorge when he came out to his parents and they turned their backs on him. Similarly, Jorge was there when Katy’s mother died.

The two understand each other in a way no one else can, which is why Jorge’s decision to use Katy’s sewing machine was so triggering.

He knew how much it meant to her and disregarded that so he could make himself a dress when she told him her focus was creating the best dress for Gloria.

Pepper: You American’s are so dramatic. Do you know what we call a polar vortex in England? January.

However, Katy’s reaction was also representative of the loss she was feeling. It’s unclear how long it has been since her mom passed away, but it’s been a few years and yet, she never fully grieved her mother.

Her reaction to the sewing machine was less about the object being broken and more about the fact that she felt like she was losing memories of her mother piece-by-piece.

She needed to get brutally honest about what was bothering her and realized that it was time to let go. The realization was painful, but it didn’t mean she would forget her mother or stop loving her, but she was finally ready to take that next step in her life that had been held back by her grief.

The broken machine also led Katy to another realization — she doesn’t know her mother as well as she thought she did.

She brought in the broken sewing machine and learned that it was a Lacy’s exclusive given only to the seamstresses. Eventually, she saw an engraving from “L.L,” an employer of Lacy’s that gave her mother the machine. Who is this person?

When you let go of the past, you begin to see more clearly, and Katy was able to become more confident in her designs with the help of her friends.

Despite not having a sewing machine, Katy was able to use the special fabric from her mother’s box to create the perfect dress for Gloria with the help of her friends.

Genuine friendships are a hard thing to come by these days — maybe even harder than finding a well-paying job in New York — but in that department, Katy exceeds.

She has a team of people around her who love and support her enough that they’ll spend the whole night helping her sew and make her dreams come true.

Credit: Katy Keene/ The CW

Gloria decided against wearing the dress to the gala (of course, she did) but it still earned Katy a recommendation letter. While Gloria was initially painted as a villain, she’s softened lately and seems to be truly fond of Katy. It would be interesting to dig into her background and learn more about why she is the way that she is.

After Jorge apologized and gave Katy some life advice, she returned the favor and encouraged him to come out to his mother about being a drag queen.

Her advice was solid as she reminded him that while her mother couldn’t see her excel in her career, his mother was still around and could see him as Ginger Lopez.

Ginger’s coming out was beautiful as his mother was proud and supportive and said: “you remind me of me at your age.”

They agreed to continue keeping it a secret from Jorge’s father because, as we all know, he’s not ready at all.

The small apartment also saw conflict between Pepper and Josie as the latter was mad that someone leaked a story about the Cabot step-siblings dating.

Josie’s assumption that it was Pepper was valid since she only told her three besties and Pepper did work at the Daily Mail. Not to mention Pepper’s a gossip columnist and Josie caught her in a pretty big lie when she called the Palace Hotel and found out Pepper had been banned.

Pepper, however, promised it wasn’t her and even pulled a few strings to find out the source of the leak: Tuxedo C Sebastian, Xandra’s alias.

When Alexander showed Josie the magazine cover, I immediately knew it was Xandra. That kind of stunt had her name written all over it as she likely wanted to make everyone believe it was Josie so she could watch her take the fall.

Xandra’s just that petty and jealous girl who wants to put others down, but what she fails to realize is that Josie is the girl who will keep getting right back up.

Pepper tried to keep her reality a secret but as Josie began asking secrets, she was forced to come clean.

Despite knowing Josie the least amount of time, Piper entrusted her with the truth — her father was a magnate in Hong Kong who cut her off — and by the end of the hour, the two were closer than they’d ever been.

Josie confronted Alex the next day about the deal his father made her about funding his EP’s. It was clear she wanted to take the deal but not feel like she was being used or not appreciated for her talents.

It was a little convincing that everyone said there was a price to getting what you wanted. Having the price be Alex, something she already wanted, wasn’t a bad thing, but she should’ve come clean to him about the arrangement in that case.

When she told him about the deal his father offered, she conveniently left out the part that included him.

It’s evident that the half-truth is going to come back to bite her. Somehow, someway, Xandra will learn about the deal and tell Alex about it in order to come between them.

Other Polar Vortex Thoughts

• I’m from Chicago where we’re all too familiar with the polar vortex and let me tell you there’s a reason they were all cold when they stepped outside: none of them were wearing polar vortex-appropriate clothing. Katy had on a dress and blazer at one point in -25 degree weather. That’s ridiculous and not realistic at all.
• Alex got his girl a whole recording studio to herself. He’s smitten.
• I’m not a fan of musical numbers (looking at you, Riverdale) but Katy Keene makes it work. This foursome is unstoppable.
• “You are such a Marci” is my new favorite insult.
• Jorge getting Katy his abuelitas sewing machine was so sweet.

What did you think of tonight’s Katy Keene?

Will she get into fashion school? What secrets will she learn about her mother?