The tension between Nick and Steve really begins to ratchet up in the Hulu Original Welcome to Chippendales Episode 5, “Leeches,” and viewers begin to see the extent of Steve’s emotional immaturity. At this point, he cannot stand for anyone else to get credit for anything relating to Chippendales, and Nick uses this to needle Steve. While we know Steve is the true villain in this tale, it’s hard not to sympathize with him a little when it comes to Nick. Here’s our recap of everything that goes down in Welcome to Chippendales Episode 5, “Leeches.”
[WARNING: This article contains detailed spoilers regarding Welcome to Chippendales Episode 5, “Leeches.”]
An attempt at a fun snowball fight quickly turns nasty in ‘Welcome to Chippendales’ Episode 4
When the episode opens, we see a tailor altering Steve’s tuxedo. He continues to ask the tailor to shorten the sleeves, even though the tailor thinks it’s a mistake. However. we learn it’s because he wants to show off his Rolex. Steve reeks of desperation to look the part of a wealthy club owner, and we learned back in episode 1, he sees Rolexes as a huge status symbol.
When he travels to the New York location of Chippendales, he watches, impressed at everything Nick has put together. This includes the performance on stage, which is Dr. Hunkenstein.
Backstage, Steve compliments Nick, and Nick quickly reminds him that this is the show he nixed in Los Angeles. Steve says he doesn’t remember, but it seems as though he just can’t withstand the blow to his ego. Nick becomes frustrated and walks out back, and Steve follows. Snow falls from the sky, and Steve watches in almost childlike wonder. We get a glimpse of the friendship that Steve and Nick could have if they both weren’t so insistent on being in charge. Nick pelts Steve with a snowball and discovers Steve’s never seen snow. A sweet moment unfolds when Nick shows Steve how to make one and explains the basics of a snowball fight.
However, the moment melts as quickly as the snow. Nick starts relentlessly hurling snowballs at a cowering Steve, who keeps begging him to quit. Finally, Steve explodes and shoves Nick into the wall behind him. He tells Nick he’s a bully and quickly walks away.
Chippendales VIP cards lead to a lawsuit
Steve returns from New York, and we see his and Irene’s lavish new house and a very pregnant Irene. When she asked about the new club in New York, Steve’s response clues her in immediately to his irrational jealousy.
“Everything about it is bigger and better than LA,” he tells her with a whine. Trying to avoid a temper tantrum before it starts, she replies, “You can’t be jealous of your own club.”
We soon learn that someone is suing the club for racially discriminatory profiling. A man claims that Steve uses VIP cards to keep minorities out of the club. Irene, unaware of the VIP cards, asks Steve about them, and he lies to her, saying they don’t exist.
To cover his tracks, Steve immediately goes to the doorman and tells him the cards never existed. The doorman criticizes Steve’s made-up story, angering him before he storms off.
Of course, we know where this is going.
Later in the episode, an exhausted Irene looks for aspirin in Steve’s drawers, where she stumbles upon a stack of the supposedly nonexistent VIP cards. She immediately confronts Steve, shocked and horrified that the accusations in the lawsuit might be accurate. Angrily, Irene tells him she doesn’t know if it’s worse that he lied about the cards or that he actually tried to keep minorities out of the club.
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Steve makes matters worse by claiming that “when people see Black people in his club, they don’t think it’s classy.”
Ladies and gentlemen, we have the makings of a truly terrible person.
Nick gets crowned Mr. Chippendales
Back in NYC, Nick takes Denise to an empty office space where Bradford awaits. He explains he wants this to be the new NYC Chippendales headquarters, but she’s confused about why they need an office away from the club.
However, a call from a Phil Donahue rep quickly tables the conversation when Denise answers the phone to learn Donahue wants the Chippendales on his show. She calls Irene, thrilled. Steve and Irene celebrate with a kiss, and sometime later, the LA dancers, along with Steve and Irene, gather to watch the show. Nick, Bradford, and Denise are waiting in the wings as some of the men perform on stage.
Donahue gives the credit for Chippendales to Nick, calling him “Mr. Chippendales.” Steve fumes as he watches, and we see Ray looking at Steve, upset that Steve’s not getting the credit. Afterward, Steve rant to Irene, convinced Nick purposely asked Donahue to call him Mr. Chippendales.
Nick appears on another news show where the hosts, again, call him Mr. Chippendales, and Steve confronts him over the phone. Nick laughs at Steve, acting as though the idea of him correcting people to keep them from calling him the name is ludicrous. They argue, and Steve says he forbids Nick from going on national television anymore. Nick doubles down and goes on every show he can book.
Back in LA, Ray riles Steve up, telling him to fight fire with fire. He encourages Steve to conduct his own press, but it ends in disaster. He simply doesn’t have the charisma Nick has to charm people through their television sets.
On the ride home, Ray tries to encourage Steve, but he has him pull over when he sees a club offering male stripping. Steve confronts the owner and claims the man ripped off his idea. When Steve tells him he invented Chippendales, the man scoffs because he believes Nick owns the clubs after his appearance on The Merv Griffin Show.
A montage plays in Steve’s head of all the moments people became disappointed in him or laughed at him, and he vows to “burn that place to the ground.” Ray tells him he shouldn’t do that, and Steve says, “You’re right. You’re going to do it.”
Steve manipulates Ray into thinking he owes him a favor after helping Otis with the calendar in the previous episode. He demands Ray prove his loyalty to him. Welcome to Chippendales Episode 5 ends with Steve watching the story about the club burning down on the news. He fixes a drink and sips as he stares coldly at the screen.
Welcome to Chippendales Episodes 1-5 are currently streaming on Hulu.
