This post contains spoilers from Your Friends and Neighbors season 1 episode 4 from this point forward.
If there's one thing Coop's going to do in Your Friends and Neighbors, it's cut it way too close past the point of comfort, and he does it once again to the highest extreme possible. The ending of episode 3 raised our blood pressure enough as Coop was caught attempting to swipe Nick's championship ring. A mystery person held Coop at gunpoint, but we didn't knew who it was.
Well, as it turns out, my prediction in my episode 3 recap was correct: Nick's housekeeper Elena (Aimee Carrero) pointed the gun at Coop. Shockingly, she was also in Nick's empty house secretly making use of his bathtub. They negotiate for a while before coming to an agreement, which sees Elena join Coop's operation as a literal partner in crime.
He's already in over his head, and now his robbery scheme has a second party he has to worry about. Worse, Elena pulls in her cousin Hector, who they will pay $5k a pop for security codes. Coop can only agree, but it's just another decision that happens in his life that he doesn't have a say in, like his divorce or losing his job or even the current state of his job, which just got a new development.
Coop's stressful and suspenseful run from the cops
Even though Barney pressures Coop to get back into the workforce (he's not thrilled about getting paid in curious bags of cash), Coop's in no rush to get back out there. Not when he can lift pricey watches from his neighbors and sell them to Lu. His work woes get worse when Liv drops by to warn him that Massey, his lawyer (though without a contract), might be in Bailey's pocket. That's not good if Coop's hoping to actually figure out a way out of this mess.
While that's on a low boil, Coop and Elena begin their partnership, with Elena acting as the getaway driver and also the brains of the operation. As a housekeeper, she's heard the gossip from all of the other housekeepers and nannies on the block and knows information that helps their enterprise. Things run smoothly until the night of Mel's party when Coop tries to snag a Birkin from a neighbor. He passes the first alarm without a problem, but there's a second they didn't expect.
Once he picks up the purse, the alarm in the closet goes off and all hell breaks loose. The code from Hector doesn't work for this alarm, and it's full panic mode since the cops have been alerted. Through their earpieces, Elena talks Coop through trying to leave without being caught, but he loses his earpiece and tangles with an vicious dog. The cops spot him, but he's able to run for his life right into the car the second Elena pulls up. Yeah, I was sweating watching this sequence.
Thankfully, Coop doesn't get caught (it feels weird to be rooting for him, but here we are!) and only suffers a small cut on his leg from the dog bite. They also didn't get the purse. Coop had to surrender it to the dog. But with a bruised ego, Elena tends to his wound and insists the chatter about the cops will pass. They'll be okay. She's much less stressed about the situation, even with big stakes on the line for her, too. She wants to raise money to bring her parents to the US from the Dominican Republic.
The rest of the episode is a much needed comedown from the excitement of Coop's latest brush with criminal activity. He attends Mel's birthday party, a lavish affair that Nick threw even though Mel didn't want it. Throughout the series, we have seen that there's something weighing Mel down. Ending her marriage and starting a new relationship didn't solve her problems. As she explains to Coop on the trampoline during her party, she was always mad at him, but she's still angry even with him gone.
Out of all the luxurious gifts her wealthy friends bought her, at the end of the night, Mel opts to open the random brown paper bag Coop brought her. It's full of sour candy, and she eats one likely just to feel something as she cries. It's a heavy end to an otherwise thrilling episode. Mel's existential crisis is captivating and well-executed by Amanda Peet. As a viewer, I'm mad that she cheated on Coop, but there's still a part of me rooting for her — and, to be honest, rooting for them to get back together.
Your Friends and Neighbors drops new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.