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A show — Bette is taking in Shirin Neshat's "Women of Allah" series. Bette has just turned down the proffered champagne or whatever it was — could this be a sign of restored health, perhaps? She looks confident, gorgeous — and, in keeping with that vampire theme, a bit like Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger. But much, much better. That is, until Helena shows up again. Bette is standing in front of this piece when Helena starts blabbing about a fundraiser dude who's coming to town to rescue the C.A.C.

Bette gives Helena a fake smile and leaves. She goes — in a new convertible, presumably, although we don't really know what happened after the crash — directly to Franklin's house and confronts him about the fundraising thing. She says that hiring the fundraiser puts Franklin in breach of contract, but Franklin says that Bette's contract doesn't prohibit hiring consultants. And anyway, it's nighttime (well, how late can it be? why is Franklin already in his robe while other people are at art shows?) and Bette should talk to him in the morning.

So she goes, back to that new or repaired convertible, and who's she gonna call? Yep: Tina. So now it's clear that she's still relying on Tina for emotional support. Tina is friendly, and willing to listen — that is, until Bette starts to bark about Helena:

Bette: "And then I went to [Franklin's] house unannounced and went off on him in his driveway."
Tina: "Oh, no no no. You didn't."
Bette: "Yeah, I did. And you know who's responsible for this? Your buddy Helena Peabody. The woman is a fucking dragon and she's making my life a living hell."
Tina: [silence]
Bette: "Oh, please tell me you're not sleeping with her, Tina."
Tina: "Bette —"
Bette: "Are you sleeping with her? Are you fucking sleeping with her?!"
Tina: "That's none of your fucking business."
Bette: "Don't do it, Tina. That woman will eat you alive. She is a vampire."
Tina: "Yeah. And a dragon."
Bette: "That's right. She is a monster. However you wanna categorize it, she likes to fuck with people for sport —"
Tina: "Bette. Look, you were in distress, and you needed someone to talk to, and I'm willing to listen. But I'm not gonna do this with you."
Bette: "Do what? What are we doing?"
Tina: "You're trying to control me, and you can't. Look, I'm not gonna talk to you about Helen Peabody."
Bette: "Oh, please—"
Tina: [click.]

Well. Boundaries. We need boundaries.

Masters of comic timing — Tonya and Dana are getting ready to go to the tournament. Tonya's all hyper and chipper as usual, and Dana's jumping out of her skin because she's nervous about breaking up with Tonya and is also thinking about hot Alice sex every other second. While Tonya calls "Anna Kournikova and Martina's people," Dana's phone rings — yep, it's Alice, and Dana's not very good at covering. Give these two some props: Dana's tics and twitches and outsize gestures could not be funnier, and Tonya's feigned concern and perky cleavage are the prototype of the lesbian Stepford wife.

I think I forgot to say that I applaud Alice for refusing to be the back-door woman. That said, if Bette wants to show up at my house without calling, and if Alice wants to sneak in my back door, they are both more than welcome. Anytime. Is now good?

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