The previous episode left off with the shocking cliffhanger of The Protagonist being tackled into her pool by a mystery person, and Vladimir episode 3 quickly reveals that it's Sid. Drunkenly, she assumed she was one of John's students he had been sleeping with and hadn't been able to contact her mom since The Protagonist was ignoring her calls. Sid's going through it after breaking up with Alexis and sleeping with a man.
After running into the college's president and wife while at a bar with a 28-year-old date, John's hearing officially gets moved back up. On campus, The Protagonist spots Vladimir and Cynthia having an innocently intimate moment and feels a certain type of way. She drops into one of Cynthia's classrooms and attempts to set something up for them to become friends. She plans a weekend pool date.
The Protagonist's busy day continues with her running into Vladimir in a teacher's lounge area, and their close proximity leads to her having even more fantasies, including Vlad putting his fingers in her mouth. She relays the invitation for Cynthia and their daughter to come over to swim, and he seems a little disappointed he's not invited. To say she's stressing over this gathering is an understatement.
What happened to Cynthia in Vladimir on Netflix?
In class teaching the book Rebecca, there are clear parallels between that story and The Protagonist's current situation with Vladimir and Cynthia. After class, The Protagonist snoops in the teacher mail cubbies, and while taking a picture of Cynthia's address, she ends up taking the entire envelope before almost getting caught. During lunch with Sid, she reveals that she cheated on Alexis and quit her lawyer job. When Sid asks, The Protagonist lies that she didn't know any of the students John slept with.
As it turns out, she knew Lila pretty well. She visits her at the bakery to apologize for their altercation and clear the air between them. Before The Protagonist rushes to her waxing appointment, Lila apologizes about what happened with John, The Protagonist accepting the apology and saying Lila is "taking responsibility for her actions" hurts Lila's feelings for obvious reasons. After her waxing appointment, The Protagonist delivers as basket of towels and honey to Cynthia. Once again, she makes the exchange slightly awkward.
The next day, The Protagonist stressfully prepares the food for the pool day, and she's later surprised to discover Vladimir brings Phee for the occasion. Cynthia has a migraine and can't attend. This isn't great news for The Protagonist trying to get over her infatuation with Vladimir, especially not when he's swimming shirtless. In the evening, The Protagonist and Vlad have drinks and talk, and he reveals that after Cynthia's suicide attempt, he raised Phee with a nanny while she was in the hospital.
He also shares that Cynthia doesn't have a migraine. They had a fight, but he doesn't share about what. The honesty of the conversation, and Vlad saying "choose your hard," once again inspires another fantasy. She sees Vladimir and Phee off, and they part with The Protagonist grazing his arm with her hand in a rather suggestive manner. When she shuts the door, John playfully asks if she's in love before she grabs his groin and pulls him into a kiss and a whole lot more. Well, that's a twist!