After the ending of episode 3, which found The Protagonist pursuing a sexual encounter with her husband, Vladimir episode 4 opens with her and John having sex. But she thought of Vlad the entire time, lest we forget that she's still totally enamored by him. Besides, The Protagonist and John clearly think of their sexual encounters as transactional at this point, and he teases her about her NRE, "new relationship energy," with Vlad.
She finds Vlad's swimming trunks on the floor and gives them a sniff before turning to us and promising to return them. Later that evening, she catches Lila outside attempting to leave a letter, which John tries to read to no avail. The next morning, The Protagonist looks over the letter with Sid, and Lila's accusing The Protagonist of retaliatory behavior against her. She has to prove she didn't prevent a scholarship opportunity, and although she tells Sid she can, our faith in The Protagonist is dwindling at this point.
During lunch with a colleague, she asks about any records regarding the scholarship voting process. She searches boxes in a storage closet for them and gets briefly interrupted by Vladimir. Striking out on tracking down the records, The Protagonist comes home to the added stress that her relationship with Lila is the only loose thread in John's case. And to think, she's getting onto Sid for having a beer before 5 p.m.
Later that evening, The Protagonist and John share a quiet moment alone that once again leads to sex fueled by visions of Vladimir. The next day, The Protagonist sneaks into John's old office, which is now occupied by David, in search of the file she needs on Lila. She appears to find what she's looking for and heads up to Vlad's office for no real reason at all. When he suggests that he's not in a rush to pursue tenure and get "stuck" at this school, she appears to be slightly offended at the insinuation.
When Sid looks over the file, she finds that The Protagonist ended up being the deciding vote against Lila, and while that doesn't mean it was retaliation, the other side could certainly make a case. Sid insists that The Protagonist needs to apologize to Lila and return the file as that's the best path forward. Cynthia catches The Protagonist putting the file back in David's office at 5 a.m., and it's awkward for both of them.
The Protagonist receives a steamy selfie from Vladimir
While apologizing for bailing on the pool day, Cynthia shares that her Vlad with was over him telling the hiring committee about her suicide attempt. The Protagonist already knew, and Cynthia worries that students might have found out, too. They continue talking, and The Protagonist asks for her perspective on Lila's file. Cynthia believes that The Protagonist scored Lila fairly, and not getting the scholarship shouldn't have forced her to drop out of school. Together, they decide to burn the file. In a weird way, The Protagonist finally becomes friends with Cynthia.
The Protagonist's relieved when Vlad comes to the staff meeting and credits her for pushing him to not squander his opportunity at the college. He also compliments her novel. She can barely concentrate during the meeting, staring at him and daydreaming herself into pleasure. Vlad offers to lead a subcommittee, and when pressing the staff for volunteers, The Protagonist throws her hat in the ring... so does Flo.
Before leaving for the subcommittee meeting later that night (without underwear on), Vlad texts to cancel since he has to stay home with Phee. Cynthia and John meet up at a bar, and Vlad later sends The Protagonist a selfie of him in a tank top and reading her novel. He responds to her messages asking how he likes to read with "slowly... closely... with great attention to detail" and a smiling emoji with hands spread open. She briefly fantasizes about those words in a different context. But was he flirting?