The Devil Wore Anna

 is the second episode of Inventing Anna.

Short Summary
From a yacht off Ibiza to a suite at Paris Fashion Week, Anna's glamorous lifestyle comes into focus as her former friends dish out details to Vivian.

Full Summary
Anna tells Vivian that running her own company suited her. She loved having people twice her age working for her. Vivian asks how she was able to do that. Anna says she can see talent in people. She doesn't have to like them to work with them. Vivian's like that, too. Vivian says she has friends. Anna does, as well. Vivian's meeting with one of Anna's friends: Val. Anna says she hardly knew Val. Vivian asks if there's someone better, who knew her better. Anna says she was always who she is.

Val

Val poses women at a photoshoot. As a photographer takes pictures, he talks to Vivian about how he knows fashion. He meets a lot of wannabes in his line of work. Anna wasn't like that. She was the real deal. It's in the details. He uses Vivian's outfit to explain what he means.

He and Anna met at a fashion show. He slowly got closer to her over several shows. Anna knew all the things to say and do. She ordered the right food and wine. She was cold and unapproachable. She was mean. Which made Val desperate to be her friend. That's how Anna works. That's why Chase was obsessed with her from day one. Vivian didn't know about Chase, Anna's boyfriend.

Chase Sikorski stands on a stage giving a TEDx talk about sleep, his company Wake, and harnessing the power of the subconscious. Anna watches from the audience.

Barry asks who Chase is, but Maud says Val's more important. He loves Anna, so something serious must have gone down because he erased every public memory of her. Vivian realizes the two of them and Lou are helping research her story. She says she doesn't need help, but they show her The Anna Delvey Timeline. 2011, Anna Sorokin left Germany to attend a fashion program in London. She left it immediately to go to Paris. 2013, Anna, now calling herself Anna Delvey, interns at Purple magazine. From there, she traveled to the US for a vacation in Montauk with co-workers. She didn't go home with everyone else when it was over and on August 13, she arrived in Manhattan. She met Val a few days later. He deleted all his photos of her, but putting their feeds side by side reveals that they were in the same places at the same time. On August 26, Chase posted a picture of a chess set. The very first thing Anna posted to her account was a chess set. A week later, Chase and Anna were hooking up. From that point on, their accounts synced up, traveling all over.

Val says they lived in hotels for a while. Chase paid for everything. He had money coming into the business and Anna's trust fund wasn't coming until age 25. Before that, they also stayed with Val. Really Nora, because Val stays with Nora. Vivian realizes he means Nora Radford. He explains that Nora loves him and wants him around. She's his best friend and very, very rich. Anna and Val spent time together, getting facials, while Chase and Anna had their fun together.

Val gets a drink from the fridge. They tease each other about their hookups. Val questions her being with Chase, who grew up in Ohio. Anna likes that he's normal and doesn't seem interested in her money. He pays for everything.

Lou wonders why Anna chose New York of all places, the hardest place to start a business. Maud wonders if she came for Chase. Vivian hasn't been able to find Chase. His Instagram went dark in 2016. Lou finds a picture from September 2014, taken in Ibiza. It's Anna, Chase, and another woman. Vivian and Maud recognize the woman as Talia Mallay.

Vivian goes to Paul and tells him Anna spent time with Talia Mallay. Talia's agreed to speak to her, so he needs to authorize travel to the Hamptons. He refuses, but she says she's not asking for a lot. She just needs a little help from him to get there. He says he offered her the Wall Street story, a big story that would offer her redemption. It's the best he can do for her. She says she shouldn't have to beg to get one tiny expense covered. Paul says okay.

Rachel meets Neff outside. Things are tense between them. Neff says Anna's not taking the plea, so she'll be in Rikers for months. She wants to work out a schedule with Rachel so at least once a week, one of them visits. Rachel thinks she's kidding, but Neff says she isn't. Rachel says she won't be visiting Anna in prison. Neff thinks she's doing this because suddenly Anna can't pay her way anymore. Rachel says Anna didn't pay her way. Neff points out that Rachel's entire outfit was purchased by Anna. Rachel says at least they were friends. Neff was Anna's paid bitch. Anna bought her time. Neff dares her to keep talking about the purchase of a Black woman. Rachel turns and runs away.

Vivian comes into Todd's office and asks what they have on Talia Mallay. Todd asks why she's there. Vivian wants them to work together. Todd's not sure how she convinced Anna to give her an exclusive, but it doesn't involve his defense. Vivian says she could help round out his defense, but Todd isn't interested. Vivian tries to get more information from him, but he tells her to leave. Once she's gone, Todd asks Alexi what they have on Talia Mallay. Alexi doesn't think they have anything, but goes to check. He gets the one box of discovery, far less than what McCaw said there would be.

Vivian and Jack marvel at the houses as they pass. They're accustomed to such opulence. Vivian's jaw drops as they pull onto Talia's property.

Jack asks if he can pick her up in an hour. She says she's at the mercy of a mogul, so she says she'll call him when she's done. Talia comes out and greets her.

Inside, other people are mingling around. Vivian didn't realize she had company, but Talia says there's always a few people around. She loves to entertain. Talia offers her one of the kaftans from her new line. Vivian declines.

Vivian, now wearing a kaftan, wanders around Talia's place. Talia's cooking at the stove, something Vivian says smells amazing. Talia says she never cooked anything until she was 25. The kitchen at her house growing up was fully staffed. Her first boyfriend had to teach her to fry an egg. She was embarrassed not to be able to take care of herself or those she loves. She was embarrassed by the money, so she made her own. She offers Vivian a bite of her dish to try.

Talia and Vivian settle in on the couch to start the interview. Talia asks if Anna is running Rikers yet. She wouldn't put anything past Anna. They went on a vacation together once and ate out a few times. Talia appreciates a woman who isn't trying to impress. Anna was that and had great taste in art.

Anna wanders around an art gallery. She stops at a painting and looks at it. Talia sees her watching and talks to her about the painting, which Talia thinks is beautiful. Anna says the only thing in the gallery worth anything is her and leads Talia over to a picture of Cindy Sherman. She explains why she likes the picture so much, how it changed the art world. Talia assumes she works for the gallery, but Anna clarifies that she doesn't work. Her father buys whatever she tells him to and someday, it will all come to her. Talia tells her earning it is better than inheriting it.

Talia says she bought the photograph. She liked Anna and Anna became part of her circle, until she showed up in Ibiza. Talia was there with some friends when Anna and Chase texted to say they were in town. But things were strange from the start.

Anna is scrolling through Instagram when Chase tells her to stop on a picture Talia posted of a yacht. Anna says it's Henrick Knight's yacht. Chase says Henrick Knight is big in tech. Chase has seen him speak and wants him to invest in Wake. He tells her to text Talia and say they're in Ibiza. After a moment, she does so. Talia replies immediately and tells her to come for dinner on Henrick's yacht. Chase says to tell her they're busy tonight, but will come by tomorrow. Talia says that's fine. Chase says they better book tickets. Anna says her father isn't happy with her right now, so she can't. Chase says he'll pay for it. Val then comes down the stairs. He's on his way to Paris to do four shows in three days while they lounge in his life.

Anna and Chase are ferried out to the yacht. Anna takes and posts a selfie. When they arrive on the yacht, Talia greets them warmly as Chase and Hen introduce themselves. Hen gives Chase a tour of the yacht while Talia introduces Anna to Bryce and Steve Lagos. Bryce thinks she's seen Anna at Soho House, but Anna says she never goes there. Bryce offers to have Steve hook Anna up, but Anna would rather start her own club and reject their members. Talia says she should. Bryce and Talia like Anna's dress. Anna offers to take her to where she bought it, on her, but Talia says that's not necessary while Bryce says Steve gets off on buying her stuff. They toast together.

Todd catches up with McCaw and Lane and asks if they're playing dirty. When she says she doesn't know what he's talking about, he tells her about the limited discovery. McCaw says she doesn't play dirty. She's obeyed the law and will continue to do so. He wants what she has by the end of the week, but she won't waive her responsibility to act with due diligence.

Outside 12 George, Kacy runs up to meet Neff. Neff offers Kacy coffee as Kacy starts stretching after her run. Kacy asks if it's about visiting Anna. Rachel called her crying. Neff's upset because Rachel won't visit Anna. Anna's in prison and she's not prepared for that. She needs something to look forward to. Rachel's acting like Anna's some stranger. Kacy tells Neff to take a deep breath and then tells her Rachel has her reasons for not visiting Anna. Neff asks if Kacy wants to do every other week with her. Kacy says she's setting boundaries when it comes to Anna. She'll support Neff, but won't visit Anna. Neff is appalled, but Kacy says the person in prison isn't the person they knew. The person they knew doesn't exist. The person in prison is someone who was pretending to be her. Kacy asks Neff if she really wants to go there and find out that the person she thought she knew was just a made-up character.

Hen pops open a bottle of champagne and toasts in Russian. He asks Anna to translate it, but she pretends not to know what it means. Hen did a year in Moscow in college and only remembers the toasts. Anna and Chase share a kiss.

Bryce doesn't understand how Talia works. She just wants to party and let Steve pay for everything. Nearby, Chase talks to Hen about Wake. Hen is dubious. He doesn't think dream data is valuable. Steve also doesn't believe it's worth anything. Talia sees this conversation taking place and says Chase needs to chill because they're on vacation. She intervenes, asking Hen to dance. She tells Chase that's enough shop talk. Anna interjects and says he reminds her of when she told her father to invest in Facebook. She wonders if it's because he's older, that he has to be more sure of things. Anna can relate. She tries to outrun the question of what she'll do with her life. Talia tells her to stop as she's a guest, Talia's guest, but Hen says it's fine. He admits he thinks more about death these days. She shows him the value of having the data Chase is collecting. Hen admits she's good. He wants to hire her, but she made a pledge not to work for others. Anna shows Hen the kickstarter for Wake and he contributes $100,000.

Anna and Chase celebrate the investment. Chase wants Anna to be his partner. She says she'll consider it.

As Anna and Chase play around the yacht, Talia tells Vivian that it was lovely to watch Anna blossom. She blew them away. She was mad about Chase and he was the same about her. Then she got a strange call from Hen.

Talia calls Anna and asks where she is. Anna says they're on the boat. Talia is horrified. Everyone else left five days ago and Hen just got a call from his crew that she was still there. Talia thought that was impossible because what guest of a guest would stay on someone else's boat. Talia tells her to get off the boat. She's horrified that Anna did this. Anna brushes off Talia's concern, but Talia just tells her again to get off the boat.

Talia says they had all gotten off the boat together and said goodbye. She doesn't know how Anna and Chase got back on the yacht. The cost of keeping the crew for an extra week is about the same as a luxury vehicle. Talia thinks Anna knows better. This must have been Chase's idea. Anna was just so infatuated, she went along with it. She and Talia never spoke again. That's the end of their story. Vivian realizes it's dark out. She says she'll call her husband. Talia invites her to stay, saying she has plenty of room and it's too late to drive back. She offers Vivian use of her guest cottage, where Anna stayed a few times. She even put the Sherman photograph in there, so Vivian can soak up the vibes.

Vivian looks at the Sherman photograph. She then goes into the bathroom and finds Jack on the floor, which is heated. They both love it. And the air smells like sage, but they can't find the source. He shows her a cabinet that has lots of luxury items. They decide to use it all and then have sex.

In the morning, Jack says he slept so well he could swim home. Vivian doesn't want to move. She wonders how many rooms like that Anna had been in.

Jack and Vivian take one last look at Talia's place before leaving.

Vivian goes to see Val and asks if he saw them in Paris right after they left Ibiza. He asks her what happened in Ibiza. He asks if she knows. All he knows is when he met up with them in Paris, everything was different. It was Fashion Week. He was styling three shows and they were in a suite at the Hotel Gulacsy. He was working and they were partying. Seams were showing.

Anna and Chase argue backstage at the show. Val watches as they argue over Wake and money. Anna doesn't want in on Wake, but doesn't know what she wants to do yet. Val intervenes when Chase calls Anna a psycho. Chase tells Val Anna's all his and walks away. Val leads Anna away, saying they'll drink champagne and watch movies.

Val answers a call from Chase and asks where he is. Chase asks if Val is with Anna. He wants Val to check her passport. Val refuses. Chase thinks Anna is lying to him about things, including her money. Val tells him to come and talk to Anna.

Vivian asks if Val asked Anna about her name, but he says he had no reason to. The only questionable behavior at that point was Chase's. Vivian realizes that at some point, that changed.

As Val and Anna go to their hotel room, the manager stops them and says they haven't received the transfer. The bank hasn't been given instructions. She has to provide another credit card. He's run all her cards, so she says there must be a problem with the system. Val says just to call her father and get another card. He needs his pills and to lie down. Anna tries to pull Val along with her to leave, but a security guard stops her. Val asks for the pills from his bag, but they're holding their possessions until payment is received. Val wants to call Chase, but Anna stops him from doing that or calling Nora. The manager says he just needs a working credit card. Anna walks away and starts crying. She tells Val her father has cut her off. She struggles to speak.

Anna and Val sleep curled into each other while Chase pays the bill at the desk and apologizes for the trouble. Once Chase is done, Val goes to retrieve his things. He gets his pills out of his bag and takes one. Then he opens a pocket on Anna's bag and looks at her passport.

Vivian asks why Chase paid, if Anna was broke. Val doesn't believe she was broke. He'd never seen someone so fierce turn so fragile so quickly.

Anna and Chase make out at the table. Val joins them and Chase gives Anna his card so she can go shopping. Chase says he and Anna had a long talk and she's committed to building Wake with him. Chase says he's still covering Anna's expenses, but soon, either through Wake or her trust fund, they'll be an unstoppable power couple. Val says he did what Chase asked and her last name is Sorokin. It's Russian. The passport is German, but she was born outside Moscow. He's sure there's a logical explanation. Maybe her family escaped, but there's something seriously broken inside Anna and they have to find a way to help her. Chase excuses himself, to Val's horror. Chase says they'll talk later about how to help Anna.

Val says he met up with them less than an hour later.

Chase and Anna walk past Val outside the hotel. Chase says he's upset that Val went through Anna's bag. Val says Chase is joking, that Chase asked him to do it, but Chase won't admit to that. Anna is disappointed in him. Val starts yelling and security tells him to leave. Val says Chase is using her and asks Anna to go with him, but she sides with Chase.

Vivian says that must have been traumatic, but nothing in his world lasts more than a season. Vivian doesn't understand why Anna would turn on him like that. Val asks Vivian to stop following him because he has work to do. She asks for a contact for Chase, but he doesn't even respond to that. Val goes to walk away, but then turns to ask what color they have her in. He's satisfied when Vivian says she's wearing gray.

Todd and Alexi watch was a truck carrying their discovery backs up. Todd knows they're screwed. The driver opens the back to reveal that it's packed full of boxes.

Neff gets on the bus to Rikers. Upon arrival, she goes through security and stores her belongings in a locker. The guard calls for Sorokin, but Neff doesn't answer at first.

Vivian sits down across from Anna, who asks where she's been. Vivian says they need to talk about Chase. She wonders if Chase is the reason why Anna's in trouble or if Anna is the reason why she can't find Chase anywhere.

Anna reads a magazine in her cell.

Anna carries several bags down the street. She stops at a building and looks up at it.

Back at the gallery, Anna looks at the Sherman photograph.

Anna sees herself in the reflection of the glass.

Anna tells Chase they have to leave or they'll be late. He confronts her about her name. She says she changed her name because there are many Anna Sorokina, but only one Anna Delvey. He wonders who Anna really is. He continues to push even when she tries to walk away. She tells him she's building a home in New York for artists, an exclusive club. She'll be the gatekeeper. She has to do it so people like her will have a place they belong. She asks if he's going to stand in the way of that or help her. Chase wants to help her do it. She can't have people questioning her background as she does it. Chase insists that they won't. He did because of her passport. He didn't read it, but Val did.

Anna sits in her cell alone.

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

 * Rebecca Henderson as ADA Catherine McCaw
 * Kate Burton as Nora Radford
 * Joshua Malina as Henrick Knight
 * Tim Guinee as Paul Hudson
 * James Cusati-Moyer as Val Boron
 * Saamer Usmani as Chase Sikorski
 * Marika Dominczyk as Talia Mallay
 * Kaydx as Lane

Co-Starring

 * Kyle Beltran as Alexi
 * Angeline Appel as Bryce
 * Angus Benfield as Steve Lagos
 * Miche Braden as Glitter Shadow Officer
 * Benjamin Thys as Manager
 * Beth Bradley as Canine Officer
 * Miranda Dinnetz as Model 1
 * Logan Avidan as Model 2
 * Donnya Spry as Rosie Officer
 * Jean-Francois Ogoubiyi as Security Guard
 * Kris A. Jeffrey as Boat Driver