Atlanta Loop has partnered with Dad’s Garage to provide recaps of their latest show: SCANDAL. This improvised soap opera takes place in a fancy hotel with a seedy male strip club in the bottom. Every week the improvisers at Dad’s Garage will make up the drama, the laughs, and the SCANDAL on stage at their theatre; and we’ll be publishing the recaps. Imagine Soap Opera Digest meets Atlanta Loop, and you get the idea. Subscribers to Atlanta Loop/Decaturish will have access to a limited number of free tickets each week. To purchase tickets for the next show, click here.
Act One
This week’s episode begins in the lobby of the Quadruple Tree Hotel, where Bergeron gets a visit from his mother Vivian. Right off the bat, he has to admit that he no longer owns the hotel and has become the proprietor of Danglerzzz instead. Not only does he not mind the downgrade, he actually enjoys it.
Not far away in the lounge, Shedebra and Princess Isabel enjoy cocktails over gossip–Isabel has fallen for Stripbot, but doesn’t realize he’s actually an android. Shedebra divulges that she’s smitten with Misty, but her feelings are unrequited.
Upstairs in his fancy suite, Peyton stops by to suggest that the two performers create a festival together. After musing that he and Peyton are in need of a career refresh, Ja Rule suggests they throw a big party at the hotel instead.
Downstairs in Danglerzzz, Herb returns after a long absence and meets Stripbot for the first time. Their introductions are interrupted by a bandaged little girl looking for her grandfather. It’s Herb’s granddaughter, Courtney Patterson. Herb began working at Danglerzzz after raccoons took her face off to raise money for a transplant and never told his family. To make matters worse, he is summoned to the stage to perform with Courtney standing right there.
In the darkness of the back alley Shedebra is getting an earful from Vivian over Bergeron’s current predicament. Shedebra was supposed to take over the hotel and kill him, not let him lower himself to running an adult entertainment club and falling for a common waitress. Suddenly, Bergeron himself emerges from the dumpster and reveals he’s heard everything. He accuses Vivian of coming to rub it in his face that if he doesn’t marry by midnight the eve before his 40th birthday, he loses his stake in the $1 million dollar family estate.
Meanwhile, Peyton pulls Stripbot aside in the Danglerzzz bar to talk about the shindig they’re planning with Ja Rule and tries alcohol for the first time. Turns out Peyton is a bit of a lightweight and begins to bawl on the floor, begging Stripbot for assistance. Just then, Isabel finds them in a rather compromising position and storms off in a rage.
Herb and Peyton aren’t the only ones in tears. Courtney sits alone in the lobby trying to understand what happened to Herb. Ja Rule steps in and agrees to help remove her bandages so she can reveal her new face to the world for the first time.
Act Two
Isabel and Stripbot argue over what Isabel thought she saw happen when Peyton and Stripbot were drunk. Isabel is particularly concerned because she must return to her home country, and this is the big goodbye. Since all the cards are already on the table, Stripbot confesses that he isn’t a human, he’s an android. Isabel is upset at first, but then very intrigued.
Up in Bergeron’s room, Shedebra and Bergeron debate whether or not they should marry each other in order to secure the Vandershite estate, nevermind the fact they’re frenemies at best. Bergeron feels like he’s finally created something for himself, and is ready to forfeit his inheritance.
Herb finally faces Courtney and her new face in the hotel lounge and asks her for her forgiveness. Courtney is torn between wanting Herb to be happy and wanting a grandfather with a more traditional occupation. They reconcile.
Over in the lounge, Peyton and Ja Rule are polishing up their act when Vivian pops in to hire Ja Rule for the doomed wedding, which causes Peyton to feel jealous.
Courtney heads upstairs to pay Isabel a visit to ask for tips on making her new face more attractive. Isabel generously offers her clothes, jewelry, and advises that she use some soap.
Inside the Danglerzzz locker room, Shedebra corners Herb (a former soldier and POW) for thoughts about killing people. Herb has a much less laissez faire attitude towards taking someone’s life, but recommends using a brick.
Isabel comes down to the lobby to check out and finds Bergeron moping at the desk about losing his inheritance. Isabel has resolved to return to her home country to rule as an unmarried queen and urges him to take life by the horns and stand up to Vivian.
Back in Danglerzzz, Bergeron and Shedebra plot to get married to ensure his inheritance. Herb offers to walk Shedebra down the aisle, while Ja Rule presides over the wedding. Upon sealing their marriage with a kiss, Stripbot’s head explodes.
What will happen to the Quadruple Tree Hotel and Danglerzzz? Is this the end of an era, or the beginning of a new and beautiful story? Only two more weeks left to resolve this drama!