After receiving a seemingly flirtatious emoji from Vlad in the previous episode, Vladimir episode 5 opens with The Protagonist asking Sid for clarity on what the emoji means. She gets no closer to understanding what Vlad meant, leaving her hopefully spiraling. But her confusion and daydreaming is interrupted by David letting her know that he's aware she snooped in his office.
When she arrives at David's office, he's having a meeting with Vlad and Cynthia, leading to another daydream of Vlad grabbing her and getting intimate. Once the couple leaves, David tells The Protagonist that she needs to return the file. She denies taking it, and her problems continue when she runs into Edwina. She lies and says she sent her recommendation letter, but she missed the deadline and can't manage to persuade the admissions office to make an exception.
The Protagonist pops her head into Vlad's office to set up a meeting for their subcommittee with Florence. They set a date, leading to another flirty text exchange about how she likes her coffee. Heart reactions and the mere mention of the word "hot" inspires more writing in The Protagonist's legal pad. Back at home, she admits to Sid that she burned Lila's file, a major problem in their case.
While in the parking lot of the grocery store, John grabs The Protagonist's butt, which a group of nearby bystanders, likely students, take note of. Not a good look for either of them. The Protagonist brings David a plant and uses their past affair, which also involved them being in love, as a guilt trip cover-up for burning the file. She asks if he can cover for her, but he won't help her out on this one.
The Protagonist gets suspended from teaching in Vladimir episode 5
The Protagonist and Sid sit down to talk with Lila, but The Protagonist's form of an apology isn't accepted and turns the conversation into a tense territory. Sid pulls up Lila's blog posts, which feature sexually explicit fictional storytelling that could be used against her in the hearing. The meeting with the subcommittee doesn't end much better when The Protagonist and Florence clash.
Vlad disagrees with both of them and calls them inappropriate when they tangle over John's allegations. As usual, her day gets worse during a conversation with Edwina and Cynthia about the forgotten recommendation letter, which Cynthia ended up writing. Realizing that she's been distracted by her obsession with Vlad, The Protagonists deletes their text messages.
While teaching a passage on The House of Mirth, she's surprised when Vlad pops up in the back of the class to answer her questions about the subtly steamy scene. She breaks into a daydream of Vladimir masturbating in the bathroom after his erotic answers. However, one of her students rejects her sexual reading of the scene, and she tells him that they all "have a body." He's confused.
After class, Vlad and The Protagonist walk together on campus and he asks to plan a lunch to discuss her book since he's almost finished. He proposes their lunch for the same day as John's hearing, but rather than cancel on him, she agrees. When Vlad walks away, she tells us that if he looks back at her, he loves her. Wouldn't you know, he looks back and waves. Unfortunately, complaints about The Protagonist roll in, and David and Florence inform her that she's been suspended from teaching.