It's a Love Story

Jane sits under her desk to calm down before her meeting. She writes “the word ‘please’” under the surface. She can’t stop thinking about her humiliating Janey Jakes role on Pop Rocks and can’t help feeling like a teenage girl. Meanwhile, her former Pop Rocks co-stars Jack and Hailey Soul have made lives and careers for themselves.

Jane calms down and heads to Nathan’s office with her assistant Mandy. Dan and his assistant Rodney join them. Although Nathan says he likes the script, he insists that Jane and Dan transform it into a more commercial film. Jane blurts out that she’s remained close with Jack since Pop Rocks and can convince him to write a song for True Story. She hasn’t talked to Jack in years but is desperate to make the film work. Nathan agrees that a song from Jack would sell the film.

Back in her office, Jane reflects on the True Story meeting. She doubts she’ll be able to work with Jack but hopes True Story will come to fruition. She remembers her time with Pop Rocks, too. Although it was a difficult experience, she’d been proud to help her mother financially. She tries summoning this feeling now.

That evening, Jane meets up with her mom for their weekly night at the movies. Although glad to see her, Jane feels annoyed when her mom mentions her boyfriend Gary. Her mom has consistently moved between romantic partners since Jane’s dad’s death when she was five.

After the movie, Jane and her mom return to Jane’s mom’s house for takeout and self-care. While doing each other’s makeup, Jane tells her mom about True Story and Jack Quinlan. Her mom assures her everything will work out, but Jane is skeptical. Her mom has always believed in happily ever after and has romanticized stories like The Notebook since Jane was little.

Before work the next morning, Jane catches Clem up on the events of the day prior. Clem is surprised to hear that Jane promised Nathan a Jack Quinlan song, but she encourages Jane. She also suggests that it might be helpful to communicate with Dan more directly about the movie.

Jane calls Dan, and they make plans to meet up that afternoon to discuss True Story.

Jane reports to Santa Monica Pier to meet Dan. She’s surprised to see Dan hanging out with a group of children and touched when she witnesses Dan comforting a young boy, Louis, when his dad is late to pick him up. After Louis leaves, Dan explains that he runs a pop-up art camp for kids on the beach in his free time. On their way to get food, Dan goes on to explain his artistic aspirations.

Over food, Jane and Dan discuss True Story. Jane is surprised that she and Dan agree on how it should be produced.

The next morning, Nathan’s assistant emails Jane to follow up about Jack Quinlan’s involvement in True Story. Feeling desperate, Jane texts Hailey for Jack’s contact info. Hailey admits she isn’t in touch with Jack anymore either, but she suggests Jane call Jack’s manager, Lyle Anderson.

Jane procrastinates calling Lyle. All day, her mind races over the events of her past. When she was on Pop Rocks, the team discovered that Jane had a better singing voice than Hailey, who was the female lead in the show. Because Jane was the geeky side character, they used her voice for Hailey’s song, while Jack did the vocals for the male lead, Will. When Jane and Jack sang together, Jane felt suddenly beautiful and talented. She thought she and Jack had a connection, too, and told him she loved him. Jack was disgusted and insulted Jane for sharing her feelings. He also insisted that everyone on set hated her. Jane felt ashamed.

Now, Jane calls Lyle and leaves a message about True Story. When he calls back, Lyle insists Jack has no interest in doing the song.

A panicked Jane hides in her closet with a stash of chocolate and calls Dan. She explains that she exaggerated her connection to Jack and needs help. She also reveals that she was a child star and explains how difficult it’s been to establish herself in the industry as an adult.

Dan apologizes for hurting her some months prior when she tried making Star Crossed with Clearwater; Dan hadn’t approved of the project and convinced Nathan not to buy the script. He then explains that his friend is on Jack’s production team and told him that Jack will be doing a show in Dan’s hometown of Oak Shore in the coming week. Dan suggests that he and Jane visit Long Island together, track down Jack, and convince him to work with them.

Jane makes arrangements to leave for Long Island, informing her mother and Clem of her plans. Clem reminds her to be herself when she sees Jack and not to use her clothing as a mask.

On the flight to New York, Jane reflects on the start of her and Dan’s relationship, four months prior. One day, Jane and Mandy were at lunch at a café when they saw Dan almost get hit by a car across the street. They raced to see if he was okay and discovered he hadn’t seen the car because he was trying to photograph a hawk.

Jane and Dan talked jokingly and exchanged numbers so Dan could send her the hawk photograph. While texting in the following days, they made plans to go on a date. Then, on the morning of their scheduled date, Jane and Dan ended up appearing in Nathan’s office to discuss Jane’s new film Star Crossed. Jane was furious when Dan disparaged the project and convinced Nathan not to buy the script. They got into an argument about romance stories, The Notebook, and the meaning of love. Tensions rose, and Dan insulted Jane, accusing her of being mentally unstable. When the meeting ended, the two canceled their date. Until True Story, they hadn’t spoken.