This post contains spoilers from Your Friends and Neighbors season 1 episode 5 from this point forward.
Coop, Coop, Coop... Trouble seems to always follow our guy, even when he's attempting to have a nice time with his family. Your Friends and Neighbors season 1 episode 6 once again gives Coop a false sense of calm before the constant threat of danger literally chases him down and beats him up. Another life is on the line at the end of episode 6, but we sure didn't expect that when the episode began, especially not after learning Paul was killed with three bullets.
Last week's episode revealed that Sam's ex-husband Paul was dead, the body Coop discovered in the series' opening flash-forward. Thankfully, Coop successfully left the scene, but the morning after, Sam's maid arrives for work and calls the police when she finds Paul in a pool of blood. Detective Rebecca Lin (Sandrine Holt) gets right on the case and pieces together the puzzle that is this wealthy neighborhood. She realizes that someone attempted to clean up the crime scene.
Detective Lin speaks with the none-the-wiser neighbors, a distraught Sam, a cool-headed but somewhat sketchy Coop, and a clueless Nick. It doesn't help that Lin learns Coop and Paul fought at Nick's party. She doesn't particularly buy Coop's alibi about clubbing in Manhattan, but she's also curious about the two guns in Sam's home, one belonging to Paul, the other belonging to Sam (which she insists has never been used). Elena attempts to alert Coop, but he doesn't pick up.
Coop and Mel revel in their past love
While their small town reels in the shock of Paul's murder, Coop hits the road with Mel, Tori, and Hunter to Princeton, where Tori will be getting her college tour. The trip seems to start okay, but that's until Tori pushes back against Coop again for "leaving" their family. He makes her realize that there are two sides to the equation, that the way she treats him with anger and contempt hurts him more than she'll ever know. Still, he lobbed a low blow at her over her boyfriend Jake.
Once at Princeton, Tori decides to join some girls she's met for a tour separate from the group. Coop pulls some strings and gets Hunter the opportunity to work in a recording studio. Free of their kids, Coop and Mel hit their old pub haunt and have a beer... and then lots of shots. It's an exact manifestation of Nick's concerns about the former couple being back in the place where they first fell for each other. They take it one step further by having sex. Now Coop wants to run away with his family.
Please tell me I'm not the only one hoping for Coop and Mel to eventually get back together. The past few episodes, I have really grown fond of their connection and episode 6 gives us the chance to see them in love for the first time. For now, it's just a fantasy. Reality crashes in when Coop confesses the truth about being fired. Mel isn't mad at him, which seems like a positive step. But the family feels bonded more than ever, even Tori, who hooked up with a college guy and admits Coop was right.
Barney might be dead after trying to save Coop
Riding their newfound strength as a family until the end of the night, Coop and Mel return home and stop at a restaurant in town for dinner with Barney and his family. It's in this moment where everyone's all smiles and having a peaceful evening unencumbered by any drama that, as a viewer, you start waiting for the other shoe to drop. The rain begins pouring down, which feels like another warning that something terrible is about to happen to ruin the moment.
Coop runs out in the rain to retrieve an umbrella from the trunk of Mel's car. While digging through the trunk, two men sneak up on Coop and begin attacking him. He falls to the ground and they kick him every which way. He's getting roughed up pretty badly. From inside the restaurant, Barney notices the attack and instructs Mel and Grace to call 9-1-1 before rushing out to help Coop. As he's running out to help his friend, Barney gets plowed over by a car and lies lifelessly in the street.
Mel and Grace run out of the restaurant to check on Coop and Barney. While Mel asks Coop if he's okay, all he's concerned about is Barney, who appears very dead (but is probably just unconscious). Coop notices Christian, the erratic art dealer, in the car before it drives off. This situation will not look good for Coop to Detective Lin, who was already skeptical of his bruised knuckles. Now an attack? Yikes! Let's hope Barney pulls through and this attack wasn't connected to Paul's murder.
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