Lisa checks into a sleep clinic, Danny babysits a dog, and a bombshell is dropped about someone’s relationship that I never saw coming on Still Up Season 1 Episode 4.
We’ll start at the sleep clinic since it is the title of this installment.
Lisa checks herself in, and you can feel the wave of relief that rolls off Veggie. Living with someone who is up all night all the time can’t be much fun.
Although Lisa’s inability to take the sleep study seriously is comical, it actually hurts to know that Veggie is out there hoping that this will bring them both some relief.
Little does he know that Lisa can’t even put her phone away for one night.
This makes me wonder, does Lisa really want to find a cure for her insomnia? In some ways, her insomnia gives her an excuse to live a whole other life after Veggie and Poppy have gone to sleep.
And that life is with Danny.
It might be Veggie dropping her off and telling her how much he’ll miss her tonight, but Danny is her first phone call. This has become a trend we’re seeing play out during Still Up Season 1.
Danny: So you’re there. Let’s see your room. What’s it like?
Lisa: Can you imagine Buzz Lightyear’s coffin?
Permalink: Can you imagine Buzz Lightyear’s coffin?
Added: September 25, 2023
And Danny is no better. He knows Lisa is in this sleep study for the night, yet he can’t stop himself from calling her when things go wrong with Daisy.
But that’s part of the charm of Still Up because Danny and Lisa aren’t bad people. They are each charming, funny, and sometimes sweet, but they’re also in a dysfunctional relationship that keeps them both up all night.
And for Danny, it helps keep him stuck at home.
Of course, that’s not necessarily Lisa’s fault. As we saw in Still Up Season 1 Episode 3, Danny has Adam bringing him any food or supplies that he can’t otherwise have delivered. He can video conference with his doctors, at least until they cut him off for harassing them.
And he gets to chat with his best friend every night, almost as though she was in the room with him.
That’s what makes Danny’s interview with Rolling Stone Magazine such a big step for him. If he got the job, he’d have to move to Los Angeles.
Lisa is floored when she hears that. It has her checking on the time difference between LA and London, which is eight hours.
Would the move mean the end of their friendship? No. They video chat now, so what’s the difference?
But there is one. That eight hours means that they would no longer be up all night together, and there’s an intimacy in exclusively talking to one other person while the rest of the world sleeps.
Lisa clearly feels that even if she doesn’t put it into words.
But what has pushed Danny into taking such a huge step? He hasn’t left his flat in three years, but he’s suddenly considering not only walking outside but flying all the way to Los Angeles.
The answer is Chloe.
I had actually wondered if Chloe had died because Danny spoke about her in that idealized way people tend to do when remembering someone who has passed on.
That’s not how an emotionally healthy individual speaks about the person who cheated on them!
But Danny is a far cry from emotionally healthy, given that he hasn’t set foot outside of his apartment in three years. Daisy, the dog’s, anxiety issues are nothing compared to Danny’s.
And that’s where the bombshell gets dropped in this Still Up quote.
Lisa: You are so incredible. You are incapable of saying a bad word about her. I mean, honestly, if someone had cheated behind my back with three people, I would so not be defending them the way you are.
Danny: I’m sorry, what did you say? Did you say three people?
Permalink: I’m sorry, what did you say? Did you say three people?
Added: September 25, 2023
So, Danny knew Chloe cheated on him with Milo, yet he still considered their breakup to be both of their faults.
What he didn’t know was that she’d cheated on him multiple times with multiple men. But Lisa did.
Even worse, Lisa found out on a What’s App group chat.
This is a triple blow for Danny. First, Chloe’s cheating was far worse than he believed. Second, his best friend knew and never told him. And third, many more people knew and were talking about it behind his back.
No wonder the guy doesn’t want to leave home.
But is that why Lisa let this secret come out? Was her slip of the tongue more of a Freudian slip?
Because, let’s face it, this stopped Danny from pursuing the job with Rolling Stone and, therefore, leaving Lisa.
I’m not even saying Lisa was thinking about it in those terms, but subconsciously, her words blew up Danny’s plans to chase after Chloe and may have made sure he stood right where he is, which is talking to Lisa every night.
Knowing that Danny is emotionally distraught, Lisa sneaks out of her room to find her confiscated phone, all but ensuring she’ll get kicked out of the sleep study.
Yes, Clyde, the angry sleepwalker, helped that along, but Lisa was well on the way there already.
Speaking of Clyde, one of the movies he said he had was The Abyss. This is a strange aside, but did he mean James Cameron’s The Abyss from 1989? Is that available in the UK? Because I can’t find it, at least not legally, here in the US, and it’s one of my favorite films! But back to Lisa and Danny.
Even if Clyde hadn’t dragged Lisa out the side door, it’s not like she even tried to sleep during her time at the clinic, so what was the point?
So what will Lisa tell Veggie when she wanders home at 4 a.m.? How will Danny deal with Chloe’s betrayal?
Check back next week for my Still Up Season 1 Episode 5 review. Until then, hit that SHOW COMMENTS button to let us know what you think of Still Up.
