Inventing Anna Season 1 Episode 5 Recap – Check Out Time

Vivian talks to Neff and asks her why Anna stayed in 12 George for so long. Neff asks her how Anna’s doing in prison, saying she’s worried about her. She tells Vivian that at first, she and Anna were not friends. She says she needed money for her film, and Anna liked to make it rain.

Flashback: The hotel manager at 12 George, Jeannot, tells the staff, including Neff, that they should keep their guest happy. He reminds them that if the card readers are giving them trouble, they should write the card numbers and run charges at a later time so as not to upset the guests. Neff watches as Anna walks through the door, and she beams with delight when she sees Anna tipping $100s.

Vivan walks into the office and notices that there is something strange. When she gets to her desk, Maud tells her that America Investigated, a TV show, is doing an episode about bad journalism and one of the subjects is her because the kid, Donovan Lamb, gave them an interview. Vivian tells them that she’s fine. She visits Anna and gets grumpy when she bugs her for magazines. Anna notices that she’s a little spacey, so she pries for more information on why Vivian is upset. She refuses to answer any questions and keeps on asking about Vivian. Vivian gets pissed and leaves.

Flashback: Neff hears that Anna is a demanding guest, making her more interested. She bribes the restaurant manager to get Anna the best seat, comps her with an expensive bottle of wine, and prints her business documents. The next day, she receives a $100 tip.

Paul approaches Vivian and tells her that America Investigated wanted a comment from her. He tells her to do a full interview with them so that she can clear up her name, and Vivian ignores him.

Flashback: Neff gets more tips from Anna as she almost became her secretary, getting her everything she wanted, scheduling meetings, and arranging transport.

Neff tells Vivian that she got Anna on the most exclusive lists and had her labeled as a big spender, a major player, and a VVIP.

Flashback: Neff counts her tips from Anna for that week and sees that it’s substantial. Her boyfriend tells her that someone flashes that kind of money to distract people from something, so she shouldn’t trust Anna.

Paul asks Vivian to come to his office and asks her again if she will do the interview. Paul tells her that he never meant for their friendship to end and that if circumstances were better, it should be his wife, Marilyn, giving her a baby shower. He asks her to think about the interview because she never got her to say.

Flashback: Anna is having dinner with David from Fortress and Conrad from Jupiter Group. Conrad shows interest in Anna and touches her as he tries to go up with her to her room. Neff sees that Anna is uneasy, so she bails her out, telling her that she has an urgent call and driving Conrad out of the hotel. Later that night, Neff gets invited into Anna’s room, where they talk. Anna invites Neff to an insane party where she dines with the richest, coolest people.

Todd calls Vivian and asks her what she did to upset Anna. He says he’s got 16 calls from her, so he wants to know what Vivian did to upset her. Vivian tells him that she did not do anything.

Flashback: Anna starts buying Neff stuff and treats her to infrared sauna sessions. Anna introduces her to Rachel, who seems to take advantage of everything Anna offers. Neff goes with Rachel and Anna to the salon and even to the workouts with Kacy. Anna shows the three of them 281 Park and calls it her building. The four of them go to parties and hang out regularly. One night, Neff sleeps in Anna’s room and takes the opportunity to ask Anna why she gives away too much. Anna tells her that it makes her happy. She tells Neff about a time when she had no money and how other girls made her feel. Confused, Neff asks her if her dad doesn’t always have the money. Anna tells her that what she meant was that his dad was so strict about their money.

Vivian asks Jake to watch the promo of America Investigated, and he tells her that it is terrible. Vivian cries in frustration and asks him if she should do the interview. The following day, Maud tells them that something must be wrong with Anna because, at 12 George, Anna was spending her own money carelessly, unlike the previous instances where she was only spending others’ money.

Flashback: Neff sees Charlie and Gaby Rosen in the hotel lobby, telling them that she has been looking after Anna – thinking that they know Anna because 281 Park is their dad Aby Rosen’s property. They tell Neff they don’t know Anna and ask what room she’s in. When Neff tells them it’s 517, they tell her that their dad’s clients go to suite rooms, not a deluxe room like 517. Neff is dumbfounded, so he apologizes to them and says she must have been mistaken. A few moments later, Neff sees Anna having tea. She tells Anna that the Rosen brothers didn’t know her and questions her for staying in a deluxe room. “You know when you have someone do so many favors. You wanna pay them back in silence?” Anna quips. A potential issue in the hotel’s office has just been discovered – someone failed to get a credit card on file when Anna checked in. Jeannot tells Neff to ask Anna for a credit card because she’s the one fraternizing with her. Neff tells him that she’ll do it and assures him that Anna is good for the money.

Later that night, Anna and Neff are dining in a restaurant when the waiter tells them that Anna’s card has declined. Anna gives him another card, but a few moments later, he returns and tells her that the second card isn’t working either. Anna is starting to make a scene when Neff butts in and tells her that she will pay for their meal. Anna refuses to let her do it at first but gives in when Neff insists. She then badmouths the place, saying that they are never going back there because the food is gross. When Neff comes home, her boyfriend tells her that she should wake up because Anna is not an heiress but a hustler and that Neff is too wrapped up around her finger. The next day, Neff tells Anna that she needs her credit card for the hotel room, but Anna tells her that it is in her room and that housekeeping is in there. She even calls housekeeping ladies broke bitches, so Neff calls her out. Anna leaves, and Neff goes to the restaurant to check if Anna has been paying for her meals. She then discovers that Anna has been billing her meals to her room.

Neff does more research and calls Charlie Rosen to verify if Anna is indeed his father’s client. Charlie tells her that he had asked his father about Anna and that his father had never heard of her. Neff then checks Anna’s invoices and sees she has already racked up $33K. Neff barges into the store where Anna is shopping. She confronts Anna and tells her it’s her name on the line because she has put Anna on every VIP list, but no one has ever heard of her. She says that Aby Rosen has never heard of her, even when she’s claiming to lease a building from him. She even goes on about Anna’s cards not working. She tells Anna to handle her business because she is not going down with her.

At home, Vivian tells Jake that Anna might not be a total scam and that it is possible that she believes that ADF will be realized, which is why she acted the way she did. She says that Anna must have been terrified of her pot of money getting smaller and smaller while waiting for the funds for ADF to arrive.

Flashback: Jeannot locks up Anna’s belonging in her room until she pays her bill. Anna asks for help from Neff, but Neff tells her she cannot help.

Vivian gets into her office building. The assistant sees her and asks her for an update about the interview with America Investigated. She does not give her an answer. Instead, she decides to leave and visit Todd. Todd tells her that his wife watches America Investigated. She tells the story: Paul and his wife, Marilyn, and Vivian and his husband, Jake, were good friends. Paul asks her to do a story, a list – 30 Ways To Love NY. She didn’t even want to do it because she had just gotten her dream on-air job with Bloomberg, but since Paul was a friend, she decided to do it. Number 12 was Donovan Lamb, a kid who made 80 million on the stock market before he could drive. She does her due diligence, talks to his parents and friends, and even looks at bank statements, but she feels like something is off, so she tells Paul. Paul tells her that she should write and that he’ll check the facts later.

However, when the article gets published, Paul ran it just like Vivian did without making any edits. The article gets picked up by lots of outlets, only for them to find out that the kid never actually had any money. Donovan then gives an interview to the Post, saying that Vivian pressured him to lie for the story. Landon, their boss, asks Paul and her what happened, so she tells the truth, and she thinks that Paul does too. But then, Paul got promoted, and she got fired from her job at Bloomberg before it even started. Everyone she knew ghosted her, and nobody had faith in her. When the promo for America Investigated drops, Paul tries to make up with her, so she wants to drink, but she’s pregnant, so she can’t, so she was mean to Anna the previous day, which is why Anna got upset. Todd tells her okay, and to make her even better; he shows her a shitty commercial he made for himself.

Flashback: Jeannot tells Neff that Anna paid for everything. Neff goes after her as she checks out of the hotel. She catches up with Anna outside the hotel, already in her car. Anna opens her window and gives Neff the money she owes her for dinner. Neff apologizes for how she acted, and Anna tells her that she should get away from that hotel because she is better than that place. She asks Neff to go with her somewhere fun. Neff tells her that she can’t come because she has no more days off.

At the Manhattan office, Vivian finishes Neff’s interview by saying that Anna stayed so long in 12 George because of her and that she was the only person Anna ever paid in full. They were about to leave when Vivian noticed that Paul was still in his office. She asks Neff to go ahead. She goes to Paul’s office and tells him she is not doing the interview. She tells him that if he wants to set the record straight, he should be the one to appear in the show so he can tell everyone how he messed up and threw Vivian under the bus so he could save himself.

Neff visits Anna at Rikers. They catch up and talk like how they used to.

Our Thoughts

Whew, at least now we know what Vivian was trying to redeem herself from by doing the Anna story. What she has been through was not easy, so now we understand why she is hellbent on making sure that she gets it right this time. We couldn’t blame her for being that obsessed. We also know now why Neff sees Anna as the real deal – she was one when she was with Neff, and we thought her narrative would fail towards the end of her stay in 12 George, but she still manages to finish strong. So yes, if Neff is loyal to Anna, we cannot blame her either; she had a different Anna. This episode tells us that we can be other persons to different people, and if you have Anna’s stamina and thirst for fame, it can be easy.