Check Out Time

 is the fifth episode of Inventing Anna.

Short Summary
A past blunder throws Vivian off balance while delving into Anna's stay at a swanky hotel, where she befriended -- and lavishly tipped -- concierge Neff.

Full Summary
Neff arrives for work at 12 George and prepares for her day. She overhears two maids in the locker room talking about the carpet being replaced in an entire room because an occupant spilled something. She walks through the laundry services and then the kitchen. The pastry chef asks if she wants to see what $15,000 worth of cock cakes looks like as he puts finishing touches on one. She gets on the service elevator, followed by Charlie and Gaby Rosen. A bellhop on the elevator tells them it's for employees only, but Neff stops him and offers to send up breakfast for Charlie and Gaby. Once they're gone, Neff tells them they're the owner's sons, so they can go wherever they want.

Neff

Neff tells Vivian that Anna stayed for three or four months. Vivian wonders why she stayed so long, but Neff doesn't know. Jeannot Thomas interrupts their conversation to tell Neff her lunch break ended ten minutes ago. She says she's still eating and union rules say he can't talk to her while she's eating her lunch. She'll let him know when she's off break. She tells Vivian to continue. Vivian asks if Anna ever said anything about her past. Neff stops Vivian's recording and says she agreed to talk about Anna at the hotel. That's it. She's loyal to Anna. Neff asks how Anna is doing. She hasn't been to visit, which she says is because of her job. Vivian says she's doing okay considering the circumstances. Neff is worried about her because they're friends, but it didn't start that way. At the start, she needed money to finance her film and Anna came with money.

Jeannot tells the staff they're nearly at occupancy. Engineering says the cardio machines are fixed, but they're still working on the steam room. Jeannot wants it done before noon. Jeannot asks what the concierges have for their VIPs. Kelly starts to talk, but Neff interrupts her, explaining what she has planned. Jeannot says if the card readers are giving trouble, don't upset the guests. Take the card information down and run it later. He dismisses the meeting. As Neff walks past him, he says Kelly is new and learning. Neff says she's leaving money on the table because she's scared of the guests.

At the desk, a guest says he needs a bigger television in his room so he can watch his dailies. Neff says she'll speak with management and when the guest says she looks familiar, she tells him they went to film school together. He wishes her luck and tips her a dollar. Neff watches Anna walk in, followed by Nico, who is handling her bags. Nico signals to Neff that Anna is generous with her money. Neff then signals that same message to Carlos, a junior manager, who takes her checking Anna in at the desk. While that's happening, Neff approaches Nico and asks for Anna's name and he tells her that as well as telling her she's tipping $100 bills.

Neff walks into Jennot's office and tells him one just walked through the door. She writes Anna's name on his board.

Vivian passes Fatima as she gets off the elevator and is thrown off when Fatima stares at her. As she walks into the offices, almost everyone else stares at her as well. She gets to her desk and asks Lou, Barry, and Maud if she missed breaking news. Maud tells her America Investigated released their promo and Donovan Lamb, the kid from her story, is going to be on the show. He gave an interview for their show about bad journalism. Vivian insists that she's fine, but doesn't want to see the promo.

While at the Rikers bus stop, Vivian looks at her phone, where she has pulled up the promo. As she hovers over the play button, her media liaison pulls up and she gets in the car.

Vivian starts her recording and tells Anna she only has a few questions today. Anna asks about the magazines, but Vivian forgot to bring them. She'll bring them next time. Anna asks what's wrong with Vivian, but Vivian denies that anything is wrong. She blames being pregnant and tired for forgetting the magazines. Vivian says she knows Anna left Billy's place and moved into the 12 George, where she stayed longer than she'd stayed anywhere before. Anna thinks Vivian is mad at her, though Vivian denies it. Vivian notes that Anna deposited the $200,000 from CNB right before moving into the 12 George, so she had the money, but never stayed anywhere that long before. She asks what was different, but Anna's still focused on Vivian's mood and questions why. Vivian asks again why she stayed so long. Anna tells Vivian to entertain her, because prison is boring. Vivian calls for the guard and leaves.

Carlos complains to Neff about Anna, who is very picky and keeps making them change things. She tips well, but she's a pain in the ass. She always needs something. Neff asks what she needs.

Neff goes to Greg, the restaurant captain, and tells him Anna has to have a great table, the best one. He says it's saved on Thursdays for the CEO of Goldman, but Neff offers him Orchestra seats to any Broadway shows he wants for the rest of the year and he agrees.

Anna asks Alan what is taking so long and says she doesn't want to lose her building. Alan says she's done everything she can do. Now they just have to wait. The sommelier brings over a wine from Neff for Anna.

Neff prints off paperwork for Anna and looks through it briefly. Jeannot says she comped a $400 bottle wine and it's going to come out of her check. Neff tells him it'll pay off.

Alan tells Anna to focus on securing the lease because he knows she'll pay the retainer. Neff brings the documents to Anna and asks if she likes the wine. Anna brushes her off and continues talking to Alan.

A guest tells Neff she wants reservations to see the High Line. Neff says she doesn't need one as it's a public park. The guest insists she wants one because she doesn't want to wait. Neff tries again to tell her she doesn't need one, but the guest demands one, so Neff says she'll call Park Services. Anna comes up to the desk and tips Neff for getting her into Le Coucou.

Paul tells Vivian American Investigated reached out to him for a comment from Vivian. He convinced them to give her a full interview instead and asks her to consider it. She'll be able to clarify what really happened. They have a good reputation and will give her a fair shake. Paul pulled strings to get it for her. She tells him she has to work and walks away.

There's a line at the desk. The next guest says she wants to go to Governor's Island. Anna skips the line to come right up to Neff. Neff tells her she'll have to wait and starts explaining how to get to Governor's Island. Anna then starts putting $100 bills down on the desk until Neff calls for another concierge and turns to help Anna.

Anna presents her business plan.

Neff schedules things for Anna. When she goes to leave for a meet, Nico steps up immediately to help her with her bag. Anna asks Neff to schedule some other things for her.

Neff tells Vivian she was setting up Anna, getting her in all the right databases to get all the tables and invites she wanted.

Neff makes calls and gets Anna on everyone's radar, saying she's a VIP German heiress. Meanwhile, Anna takes advantage of all the connections Neff is able to make for her.

Neff counts up her tips. She says Anna is her age and running her world. Neff is inspired by her. Graham doesn't hear her say that because he's reading tweets about Fyre Festival. He finds it hilarious how everyone was duped. Neff doesn't want to read the tweets because she's counting her Anna money. Graham wonders why she's flashing money like that. He doesn't trust Anna, but Neff says her tips will pay for Neff's first film.

Paul asks Vivian if they can talk.

In Paul's office, he checks in with her and asks about doing the interview. She says she has no thoughts on it and stands up to leave. He says when they were a team, they were killer. He thinks a lot about how much fun they used to have. He used to love coming to work. He never meant for it to end like this. He knows she never got her say. If she does the interview, she can be heard in her own words and explain what happened. He wants her to think about it. She says okay.

David tells Conrad Lewis that Anna is coming to Fortress and he won't change her mind. David excuses himself, telling Anna not to sign anything. As soon as he's gone, Conrad tries to persuade Anna to transfer her trust fund to Jupiter Group. She's waiting to get things settled with ADF first. He wants to focus on her future, which isn't in Jupiter. He says he's there for her and tries to hold her hand, which she pulls away.

Anna escorts David and Conrad to the door. David's car comes, so he leaves. However, Conrad follows Anna back through the lobby, saying he cancelled his car. He asks her to let him come up to her room. She tries to brush him off, but he won't take the hint. Then Neff, seeing this interaction, tells Anna she has an urgent call from her mother. Anna says she has to take it because it could be serious. He shouldn't wait because it could take a while. While Anna takes the call, Neff shows Conrad to the front, where she says Nico will be happy to assist him with a ride.

Neff is shocked at how relentless Conrad was despite Anna's obvious lack of interest. Anna knows Conrad wouldn't have done it if she were a man. Neff says the film industry is the same way. Anna knew she was a creative. She has a vibe. Neff says she's getting money together for a feature. Anna knows she'll do it. Anna asks Neff to come to a party with her.

At Vivian's apartment, Vivian asks if Neff went. Neff says you can get fired for fraternizing with guests. Despite this, Neff went. It was next-level.

Anna introduces Neff to everyone at the table. Martin Shkreli is there, saying guys like him don't do time. He asks who was planning to hit Fyre Festival. Gavin heard that it made Burning Man look like luxury. He hasn't gotten his refund. Anna says Billy tries so hard, but doesn't have what it takes. Martin suddenly tells everyone to check something out and plays music on his phone.

Neff tells Vivian it was the Carter V Album. He'd bought the masters because he wanted to hear it. That's when she realized who Martin was. The evening was sick and she was there. When the bill came, they all threw their cards in the middle and Anna picked one out to pay.

Neff tells Graham about the dinner and Martin buying the album. It was one of the best nights of her life. Neff tells him she's been saving her tips and almost has the whole budget for her film. She says he just doesn't know Anna like she does. Anna talks to her.

Vivian takes a call from Todd, who asks her what's going on with her and Anna. Anna said she went to Rikers, hurt Anna's feelings, then left. That's what he's gleaned from all the calls he got from her. She's upset and when she's upset, Todd's phone rings. Todd wants to stop the assault. Vivian says she didn't hurt Anna's feelings and hangs up. Neff approaches and they leave together.

Neff is walking down the street when Anna gets her attention from inside a store. She asks Neff opinion on a dress. She wants to buy it for Neff. She tells Neff to come inside.

Rachel joins Neff and Anna in the infrared sauna. Anna introduces Rachel to Neff, saying Rachel works for Vanity Fair. Anna tells Neff they should put saunas in at the hotel.

Neff tells Vivian she doesn't know how Rachel knew Anna. Rachel was already around when Anna moved in to the hotel. Rachel was around when things were fun. It wasn't like her and Anna. Rachel took and took and took. She's not sure Anna noticed. If she did, she liked it.

Anna gets her hair done. She tells the hairstylist to do Rachel's too and put it on her bill.

Neff tells Vivian that Kacy has some spiritual stuff going. Her workouts are killer.

Kacy coaches Rachel, Neff, and Anna through their workout. Neff and Rachel are working much harder than Anna. They finish. Neff is dying, but Rachel thought it was pretty easy, saying if you keep your body in shape, it's not that hard. Kacy tells Rachel to be kind. Rachel apologizes and Neff says they're cool.

Neff tells Vivian that Kacy trains famous people for movies, which is why Anna went to her. Neff never questioned where the money was coming from because Anna had a whole building.

Anna takes Kacy, Rachel, and Neff to see 281 Park Avenue. They're in awe of it. She invites them inside with her.

Vivian and Neff look up at 281 Park Avenue. Neff says Anna is a visionary. She could have made ADF a reality. She says 12 George has infrared saunas on every floor now, because of Anna. They're making a fortune on it. Anna was just waiting on financing and ADF would be real. Neff is still convinced Anna is rich. Neff saw the paperwork. How could she know everything if she didn't come from money.

Neff, Anna, Rachel, and Kacy party at a club together. After several drinks, the party continues at the pool, where Anna jumps in fully clothed.

Kacy, Anna, Neff, and Rachel enjoy the sauna. Anna pulls out another bottle and some glasses.

At a club, Anna agrees it's more fun to hang out with them than men. She calls them to get in a selfie with her. Rachel is distracted by her phone and has to be asked twice.

Anna and Neff lie drunk in Anna's bed. Neff asks why Anna gives away so much. Anna says it makes her happy. Neff says she doesn't have to buy anyone. Anna loves making and spending money and wants to share what she has. As a child, she didn't have anything and these girls made her feel bad. There's not point to money if you don't do things with it. Neff asks if her dad didn't always have money. Anna says he did, but he was strict and wouldn't let her spend it. He wanted her to make her own money. Neff says her parents must be proud. Anna asks about Neff's parents. Neff says it's just her and her mom. They've always been close. She came to New York to figure out who she was without her mother. She wants to be a director. Anna tells her to do it, but Neff says she needs money. It takes time. Anna says if it's important enough, we do the things we need to do. Neff doesn't have the security Anna has.

Jack is watching something on a tablet when Vivian asks if he ever had a dinner and didn't look at the bill. He says he hasn't. Vivian asks if he's done, but he wants to watch it twice. She asks if he's heart of Martin Shkreli. He's the guy who totally disrespected the Wu Tang Clan. Jack continues watching. He finishes and Vivian tells him to be brutally honest. Jack says it's not all about her. She's one of many stories, but unlike other stories where people declined to be interview, hers has the victim telling his story. Vivian says he's not a victim. He's a liar. Jack says it doesn't play like that. Vivian says it's really bad. She asks him if she should do the interview or not. He doesn't know either.

Vivian is going through Anna's timeline while Maud, Lou, and Barry watch her. She appreciates their concern, but insists she's fine. Maud says she doesn't want to care. She didn't even want Vivian in Scriberia, but she's there and now Maud cares. Lou says he and Maud already filed their stories, so their time is hers. Barry can't help because he has a big one to write. Trump is threatening democracy. Maud says he does that every ten minutes. He'll do it again tomorrow. Vivian tries to decline their help, but they persist and start taking out documents to decipher. Anna was spending thousands of dollars per day. Maud thinks something had to be wrong with her because it was someone else's money before, but this was her money. She's either confident ADF will be a thing or it's her last hurrah before the fall. Neff thought Anna was a woman on the rise and she was taking Neff along for the ride. Things were good. Until they weren't.

Neff greets Gaby and Charlie, asking if there's anything she can do for them. They say they have meetings going on upstairs. She tells them she's been looking after Anna, too, but they don't know who Anna is. They question the logic of their dad putting one of his clients in a deluxe instead of a suite.

Neff finds Anna, who is hungover. Neff asks about the brothers not recognizing her name, but Anna doesn't think it's odd. She also questions why Anna's not staying in a suite. Anna subtly asks for Neff's silence on the matter.

Neff erases a name from the VIP board. She sees Jeannot hovering over the computer and asks what's wrong. He says they never got a credit card on file when Anna checked in. Carlos reminds Jeannot that if the card readers weren't working, they weren't supposed to bother the guests. But Jeannot didn't say not to get a card number at all. They need a card. Jeannot knows Neff has been fraternizing with her and tells her to find Anna and get a card. Neff says she'll do it.

Anna says banks are the worst and everything is taking so long. Her loan should have bene approved weeks ago. Neff says they have to cover their bases. Neff asks Anna about the credit card and Anna says she'll take care of it later. The waiter comes to the table and tells Anna her card has been declined. Anna says it's a European card and gives him a different one. Anna's going to need a vacation once this is all over. The waiter says that card didn't go through either. Anna says it must be their system and tells him to run it again. Neff uses her phone to transfer money from her film fund to pay for the dinner. Anna says she'll Venmo Neff the money tonight.

Graham tells Neff he knew Anna wasn't right. Anna had an excuse, but Graham thinks it's bullshit. She's a hustler. She has Neff wrapped around her finger. Neff's been conned. She's supposed to be using this to make her movie, but now she's out of pocket. It's time to open her eyes.

Anna is talking about ADF at the desk. Neff tells her they still need her card. Anna says she'll get it later and says she's going shopping. Housekeeping is in her room so she can't do it now. She insults the housekeeping staff and Neff tells her not to do that.

Neff goes to Greg and asks if everything's okay with Anna, if she's paying. Greg says she pays the dinner checks. Then he says Anna's credit card got hacked. She's been signing the dinner bills to her room for the last few weeks because of that. He offers Neff a copy of the charges. It's long.

Neff calls Charlie Rosen and asks about Anna. He says he checked with his dad and his dad has never heard of her. A bunch of people toured 281 Park Avenue. Then she searches for Anna in the computer and finds that she owes almost $34,000.

Toni greets Neff as she enters the store, but Neff ignores her and goes to confront Anna. She put Anna on every list, but her cards don't work. She owes the hotel over $30,000. Anna says she's being crazy. Neff tells her to leave her out of it if she's hustling. She has her own things going on and can't go down with Anna. She tells her to handle her business.

Jack comes home and says he had a great day and made some progress on a sculpture. He notices something's different with Vivian and she says it's her hair. He likes it if she likes it. She denies that it's about Donovan Lamb. Jack says he didn't marry her for her looks. She's going over her notes. She thinks Anna must have been terrified. She was spending the money she had while waiting for the funding to come through for ADF. She had to believe it would happen or she would have stopped spending. She doesn't know if it was totally a scam. Anna really believed. And Neff believed in Anna.

Neff sees Anna arguing with Jeannot, trying to get him to let her into the room. He says he can't let her in until she pays her bill. Anna begs Neff for help, but Jeannot tells Neff without payment, she can't get a key card. Anna begs Neff for her help, but Neff can't help her.

Fatima says Paul asked her to get an answer from Vivian for America Investigated. Vivian refuses to give an answer and leaves the way she came.

Vivian goes to see Todd, who is dealing with more stuff McCaw sent over. Anna's a lot. Vivian asks who visits Anna. Todd says it's just the two of them. She tells Todd Anna wanted to know who hurt her feelings. It feels dangerous to tell Anna anything, but Anna knew her feelings were hurt. Todd knows about the upcoming story because his wife watches the show. Vivian says it'll follow her forever. She doesn't get job offers anymore. But that's not it. Paul was her editor, but they were also friends. And now that's gone. One year, after their annual shared vacation, Paul asked Vivian to do a story, really a list of things to love about New York. She almost refused because she'd just gotten an amazing on-air job. So she did it. Number 12 was Donovan Lamb, who made $80 million on the stock market before he could drive. She verified this and talked to his friends and parents. She saw bank statements, but she had a funny feeling. She told Paul about it, but he said to write it up and he'd check on it later. He was a friend, but he posted the list as she'd written it, but with a sexy headline, which got the story picked up. It would have been fine except the kid never had any money. Which he told the Post in an exclusive where he accused her of pressuring him to lie. When Landon asked about it, she told the truth and thought Paul would, too, but Paul got promoted while she got fired from her new job before it even started. Then all her work friends ghosted her. No one had any faith in her. She's a bad journalist now. Then the promo dropped and so she was mean to Anna. Todd tells her he likes her hair. She thanks him. He says he made a cheap, humiliating commercial and invites her to watch it with him.

Neff lies awake at night. Graham asks her about it and she says she's worried about Anna and now she can't make her movie because she lost all that money. Graham tells her it's all just excuses. He finished his novel yesterday, but she never even asked about it. People make movies on their phones now. She could do that, but she doesn't believe in herself enough. He agrees with Anna on one thing. If she wants something, she has to do something about it. She needs to go after what she wants.

Neff goes to see Jeannot, who is celebrating because Anna paid her bill in full, by wire transfer. Neff is horrified by how she treated Anna and celebrates Anna being legit.

Anna gets in her waiting car. Neff goes to her and Anna hands her the money she owes. Neff apologizes, but Anna just says she's better than this place. She invites Neff to go on a trip with her. Neff doesn't have any more days off and needs her job. Anna tells her life is for living, then says goodbye.

Vivian realizes that Anna stayed at the hotel for so long because of Neff. She's the only person Anna paid back in full. She stayed there because she had Neff. Neff says after a while, she wasn't with Anna for the tips. She was there because she liked Anna. And now she misses her. Neff goes to leave, but Vivian says she has something to do first.

Vivian goes to Paul and tells him she won't do the interview. If he wants to set the record straight, he needs to go on and explain how he screwed up and then threw her under the bus. He says he never meant to do that, but she knows he did. They were friends. She believed in him, but he made a choice to hurt her for personal gain. He's not innocent. She walks out.

Neff goes to see Anna at Rikers. Anna smiles when she sees Neff and says she wasn't expecting her. There aren't any saunas at Rikers. Neff says she's still at 12 George, but she's been shooting her film on the weekends. Anna asks Neff to tell her everything. Neff says it's on her phone, but it looks pretty good. She's been filming some at the hotel. They continue talking.

Main Cast

 * Anna Chlumsky as Vivian Kent
 * Julia Garner as Anna Delvey
 * Arian Moayed as Todd Spodek
 * Katie Lowes as Rachel DeLoache Williams
 * Alexis Floyd as Neff Davis
 * Anders Holm as Jack Mercer
 * Anna Deavere Smith as Maud Lewis
 * Jeff Perry as Lou Shaw
 * Terry Kinney as Barry Klein
 * and Laverne Cox as Kacy Duke

Guest Stars

 * Anthony Edwards as Alan Reed
 * Tim Guinee as Paul Hudson
 * Andre Ward as Jeannot Thomas
 * Quincy Dunn-Baker as Conrad Lewis

Co-Starring

 * Sam Edgerly as Charlie Rosen
 * Dana Steingold as Kelly (Concierge)
 * Gage Banister as Gaby Rosen
 * Shevy Gutierrez as Bellhop
 * Ronald Emile as Graham
 * Olivia Khoshatefeh as Fatima Shadid
 * Chris Cafero as David Morrison
 * Freddie Lee Bennett as Greg (Restaurant Captain)
 * Will Stephen as Martin Shkreli
 * Alicia Benavides as Older Chambermaid
 * Michael W. Harley as Pastry Chef
 * Galia Barkol as Restaurant Manager
 * Daniella De Jesus as Chambermaid
 * Kyle Beltran as Alexi
 * Lili Bordán as Toni
 * Niraj Arjan as Gavin Peterson
 * Daniel Burns as Waiter
 * Maryann Towne as Laundry Master
 * Jordan Alexander as Carlos (Junior Manager)
 * Jessica Borne as Manager
 * Alexander Neher as Donovan Lamb
 * Alicia Harding as Guest
 * Diego Lopez as Engineering
 * Jac Bernhard as Hipster Guest
 * Daniel Harry as Snobby Guest
 * Isaiah Aldridge as Nico (Bellhop)
 * Fabrizio Brienza as Sommelier
 * Roy Flores as Laundry Assistant
 * Brett Wyman as Finance Guy #1
 * Jack Alberts as Finance Guy #2
 * T.L. Flint as Guard