A Wolf in Chic Clothing is the fourth episode of Inventing Anna.
Short Summary[]
Vivian investigates how Anna persuaded powerful Manhattan lawyer Alan Reed to help her secure millions in funding for her ambitious business venture.
Full Summary[]
Anna, Gabriel Calatrava, Richard Lavin, Richie Notar, and Jaffe stand on the corner while Anna tells them everything she knows about 281 Park.
Inside, she tells them what she wants for the building. It's meant to be the most exclusive. As they walk through, the others give their feedback. She wants three restaurants inside and a German bakery.
After the tour, Richard says they've had other interested parties. She insists she must have it, so they estimate she'll need $40 million to finance it.
Vivian tells Maud, Lou, and Barry that Anna created a business plan and built a team to make it happen. While she talks, Vivian has to stop to stretch out her back. She tells them Aby Rosen owns 281 Park. She could have any building she wants, but she picks on owned by the biggest, richest real estate mogul in Manhattan. Lou is starting to like her because of it. Maud reminds them all that VIP is better. Vivian says at this point, all she had to do was secure the financing. When Barry says no one would give her $40 million, Vivian nudges a box by her foot. Vivian can't get any of them to talk, but she has the paperwork indicating they were working on giving her the money. They start to look at the paperwork and wonder how she did it and who would believe she was good for the money.
Alan Reed
Vivian sits down next to Alan Reed on a gallery bench. He's looking at once of his favorite paintings. Vivian mentions Anna to him, making him panic. Vivian introduces herself and says she could be talking to the people around, but she went to him out of respect instead. No one has to know they spoke. She just wants to hear his side and learn why he helped Anna. Alan says no and leaves.
Alan enters the Varsity Club. He's told that court 1 is waiting for him. Once he's gone, the attendant explains that they reserve court 1 for VIPs and Alan Reed always gets it.
In court 1, Alan plays squash with a friend, John Ellis, who says he wants to connect Alan with a German heiress opening an exclusive club. If it comes to anything, they'll split credit on it. Alan says they'll see.
Anna comes downstairs as Billy McFarland talks on the phone about his plan for a musical festival. Ja Rule is partnering with him on it. Once he hangs up, he admits that he hates investors. Anna would rather hold on to her equity. Billy asks her to put money into his festival. She says no and says last night was out of control. He says it was a party and she's not even supposed to be living there. A man jumps up off the couch and vomits in the sink. Billy proclaims him a lightweight.
At 6:15 AM, Alan's alarm goes off and he gets up, leaving his wife, Sherry, in bed. He gets ready for his day and eats breakfast while reading the paper. He says goodbye to his wife and leaves for work. On his way, he FaceTimes with his daughter, Julia. She tells him she quit her kitchen internship, saying it was sexist. She tells him she needs a break, but her credit card is maxed out for the money. He says it's okay, but they need to talk about what she's doing next. She brushes him off and hangs up.
Anna enters a bank tower and listens to other people's conversations.
Anna is led into Alan's office. She tells him about ADF and explains how it's different from what's already there. She shows him her business plan and explains how ADF is different from other clubs. He asks her several questions about her plan. She defends herself and says New York is where she belongs. Her biggest problem is that her trust is in Germany and she needs money in the US to get started. Alan says she has no business experience or capital. It'll be difficult to get support from a bank. He can't help her. She insists that he can do it, but his answer is firm.
Anna tells Vivian that it's an old boys' club. People look at her and make assumptions. But she kept working to get the money. Anna says there's plenty of money, but genius is rare. And she doesn't lose.
Anna meets Alan as he arrives at work. She has answers to all of his questions. He says the answer is still no and this isn't the way to do business.
Vivian talks Winter Lau, whom Anna approached for a $40 million loan. Vivian asks if it's odd that she would do that when she said her trust fund had $60 million in it. Winter explains that rich people don't want to risk their own money, so they go to banks to protect their capital. If it goes well, both parties make money. And Anna's money was in Germany. She needed money in the US to get things going. Still, most people turned down her loan application. No one took her seriously. She didn't look the part. So she started to change things, dressing differently and making connections to help her.
Anna looks at herself in the mirror after dyeing her hair.
Alan is surprised to find Anna waiting in his office. She tells him she's being rejected because of how she looks. If she were a man with the right clothes and accent, she wouldn't be facing so much trouble. She wonders what kind of trouble his own daughter will face. He lets her pitch her business plan. She says her business is handled by Peter Hennecke, who can get him whatever information he needs. Alan explains all the things he needs and Anna says she'll get Peter to call today so they can get started. Anna invites him to a party, saying her advisors will be there. He says he can't, but it's his way to see that ADF will work.
Anna is preparing for her party when Alan arrives. Reggie Walsh arrives next and Alan is impressed they know each other.
Anna mingles around her party, which is full of art people of all types. Alan talks to Kehinde and Sade about tattoos. They want to paint him. Michael Xufu Huang encourages him to go for it. David Morrison introduces Anna to Yakub Matthews from City National Bank, Ron Wheaton, CEO of a private jet service, and Kevin, who works for Martin Shkreli.
Anna calls attention to her and thanks everyone for their support. As they toast, David tells Alan that Anna is special and it could big a big deal for them. Alan agrees.
Alan talks to Peter on the phone, getting information about Anna's trust. Peter offers to send all the paperwork over immediately. After the call, Alan looks at a question on Anna's application asking if she has sufficient means to pay for services.
Lou, Maud, and Barry are shocked that Alan checked yes on Anna's application. Vivian's also shocked because Anna had no assets. She was crashing on Billy's couch. They're shocked that someone with so much experience fell for Anna's con.
Alan's alarm goes off at 6:15 and he gets up, again leaving his wife in bed. He's looking for a particular shirt, but Sherry says she donated it. He reminisces about their youth, but Sherry says he hated that time.
Jack wakes up to Vivian pacing in their room. The baby kicks her when she lies down. Jack gets up and tries to help her get more comfortable. Vivian wonders if Alan and Anna were having an affair. It would make more sense if they were, but Vivian has found no evidence of anything. Anna didn't date anyone after Chase. Vivian calls Peter Hennecke, but gets no answer. He never answers. Jack asks if Vivian's sure they weren't having an affair.
Winter laughs at the thought of Alan having an affair. Alan doesn't color outside the lines. Vivian wonders how Anna conned him then. Winter explains how it could have happened, how Alan wanted to catch the big fish and didn't take the time to see it was a scam. Every thing she did for ADF was billable hours, which for him was probably $2,000 each.
Alan bills 155 hours to Anna's account.
The real mystery is how Anna was able to get so much service without a retainer.
Vivian comes into Todd's office. She's there because she couldn't want anymore and needed to pee. She sits down and stretches. She tells Todd that Anna never paid Alan a dime. He won't comment on that. Todd sees that Vivian is in pain, but she says she's fine. Todd says it may have been the possibility that drew Alan in.
Anna's impatient to get started. Alan says he believes it will happen. Alan and Anna talk about Alan's daughter, who isn't really doing anything and gets upset when they ask what she wants to do. They opened every door for her. Anna says her dad cut her off once. She was mad, but it made her finally stand on her own feet and take care of herself. Now she knows no matter what, she'll be fine. She takes Alan to a painting she says is the one.
Alan has the painting hung in his office.
The next morning, when Alan wakes up, he kisses his wife before going to get ready, which startles her.
At the office, Alan talks on the phone to Peter. He needs to send more paperwork over and the retainer. He says the wire transfer may take a few days, but it will be sent. After the call, Alan leans back and looks at the painting.
A driver drops Alan and Sherry off. Sherry's nervous about their surroundings, but Alan tells her it's okay and leads her into a pawn shop. They walk through the shop and into a hidden restaurant, where Julia is waiting for them.
Julia talks to her parents about a retreat she wants to go on. Then she comments on her dad's new glasses, which Anna picked out. Alan and Sherry ask her what's next and offer her a connection. When she turns it down, they ask what she wants to do. She says she's on her own path. They don't want to upset her, but they're worried. Julia says she's doing her best, but they say she has to do better. If she can't commit to something, they won't be supporting her anymore. People work at their passions and she has to do something. She's shocked that they're cutting her off.
The next morning, when Alan's alarm goes off, Sherry shuts it off while Alan goes down on her.
Billy asks Anna if she closed the deal and she says almost. He's excited for her. He talks to her about Fyre Festival. She's not impressed by his plans.
Vivian is going to the bathroom when Maud comes in and tells her Anna stole a jet. While Vivian washes her hands, Barry comes in and joins the conversation, followed by Lou. Maud explains that they have witness statements from Blade. Anna chartered a $35,000 private plane to Omaha and never paid. They're pressing charges, saying she scammed them. They're not sure how she did it and wonder what's in Omaha.
David tells Anna that her loan application has passed the first stage. They just need to move on to due diligence and wrap it up. They toast and he offers her tickets to Berkshire Hathaway.
Vivian says she went to Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway conference. She has it in her notes. Barry likes Anna, but they wonder how she stole a plane.
Anna looks at Ron Wheaton's Blade business card. She remembers being introduced to him and then emails him, asking for a plane to get to Omaha.
At a bar, Ron gets Anna's email on the iPhone he's beta testing and forwards it to his team, asking them to make arrangements for her.
Mark Borstone tells Alison Dubbons that Anna didn't supply a credit card. Alison says they can't let anyone fly without payment, but he doesn't want to tell the CEO they didn't help his friend. They see that she's arrived and rush outside.
Gavin Peterson and Yakub Matthews thank Anna for letting them tag along. As they board the plane, Alison and Mark stop Anna, saying she hasn't paid. She says the wire transfer has been sent and boards anyway. Alison and Mark debate over who has to call Ron.
Vivian talks to Ron about Anna stealing one of his planes. He thought she would be good for the money based on where she was going and told his team to let her fly. She had all the right connections. Vivian couldn't do the same thing because she doesn't look or act the part the way Anna did.
Alan and John finish a game of squash. John comments on him playing well. Alan thanks him for the recommendation and says Anna is a star. John admits that he barely knows Anna. He met her once at a party. Alan brags about the continued revenue she'll provide for him. They step back onto the court for another game. John wants a cut.
Yakub and Gavin are enjoying the flight. Anna says private is so much more convenient when you fly as much as she does. They buckle up for the landing. Gavin wants to blow off the conference because the real VIPs are there for the party anyway. Ever year, Warren Buffet throws a secret party. Anna likes the sound of it.
Todd tells Vivian she's attaching criminal intent to Anna's plane trip, but Anna was just waiting for the money to come through. Omaha was a pre-celebration. It wouldn't be his idea of fun, but he's not Anna. Vivian tries to stretch out her back while Todd explains that everyone believed she had the money. She just needed one more thing for the deal to close. Todd gets up and applies pressure to Vivian's hips, which relieves her pain.
Gavin and Yakub show their passes and get into the party. Anna's pass gets rejected, as it's just for the conference. She tells them she'll meet them inside. While she's trying to fix it, she gets a call from David saying that her application is with the underwriters. They just need a deposit of $100,000 to proceed. Anna says she'll have Peter wire it right away.
Anna calls Alan in a panic, worried that she's going to lose 281 Park. He assures her she won't. She doesn't have any money in the US. Alan tells her to park Fortress for now. City National Bank will come through with the loan and she'll be able to secure the lease. Anna offers Alan a spot on her board at ADF. He tells her to leave everything to him.
Anna flies home alone.
Anna goes to see Reggie. She wants to know what's holding things up, as they got all the paperwork they needed. Reggie says some of the documents were too vague and they declined to proceed with her application.
Anna is angry with Alan because he said Reggie would come through for her and he didn't. She's upset because she doesn't have other options to get the building she wants. They want her to fail. She asks him what to do next. She doesn't want her father to think she's useless. Alan tells her to trust him and he'll handle it. He'll talk to Reggie. She says he's the only one she can trust.
Alan asks Peter for assurance that the money will come in. Peter says he can and the transfer has already gone through.
Reggie tells Alan that he didn't have a choice. They couldn't account for the origin of her wealth. He asks if Alan is sure. Alan assures him that the money is there. He also tells Reggie that David at Fortress is already doing due diligence and will approve. ADF has big names attached. Reggie wants to make things right.
Reggie tells Anna they'll open an account for her at City National Bank and extend overdraft facility of $200,000 immediately. She could withdraw it right away. They value her business and he wants to mend their relationship. She's glad to hear that and signs the required paperwork.
Maud calls the others to her desk and tells them Anna bought a virtual SIM card, which allowed her to run a phone number for a different country.
Vivian goes to Alan and asks if he knew about Peter Hennecke. Peter was actually Anna using a virtual SIM card and a voice distorting app on her phone. Peter Hennecke was never real.
Alan remembers checking a box that said Anna had the funds to pay for services and defending her to Reggie.
Vivian asks Anna about posing as Peter to trick Alan. Anna won't answer directly and just says her dad always expected her to fail because he only wanted sons. All men underestimate women. Alan's not in any danger of losing anything. Every day, men do worse things than what she's allegedly done and there's no fallout for them. Alan will probably get promoted.
Vivian talks Jack through helping her as Todd did. A Trump State of the Union is playing on the television, but Jack takes the remote before Vivian can turn it up. He asks if they're going to get sued by Ellis Reed. They can't afford bail money. Vivian says Alan was just a patsy. Anna used him. He basically got promoted after what happened despite allowing his firm to be defrauded. She looks at the television and says there are zero consequences for these men.
Alan arrives at the club and gets court 12 instead of 1. He walks sadly to his court.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Anna Chlumsky as Vivian Kent
- Julia Garner as Anna Delvey
- Arian Moayed as Todd Spodek
- Katie Lowes as Rachel DeLoache Williams (credit only)
- Alexis Floyd as Neff Davis (credit only)
- 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 (credit only)
Guest Stars[]
- Anthony Edwards as Alan Reed
- Tracy Pollan as Sherry Reed
- Gabriel Sloyer as Gabriel Calatrava
- K.K. Moggie as Winter Lau
- India Ennenga as Julia Reed
- Ben Rappaport as Billy McFarland
- James Waterston as John Ellis
Co-Starring[]
- Chris Cafero as David Morrison
- Mary Jo Mecca as Housekeeper
- Michael Zegarski as Attendant
- Jason Schuchman as Lavin
- Austin Ku as Michael Xufu Huang
- Nicholas Calhoun as Reggie Walsh
- Amelia Hammer Harris as Sade
- Esco Jouléy as Kehinde
- Niraj Arjan as Gavin Peterson
- Usama Siddiquee as Ron Wheaton
- Richie Herschenfeld as Richie Notar
- Lawrence Ballard as Jaffe
- Winslow Bright as Jenny Whitley
- Alex Bartner as Mark
- Desi Domo as Alison
- Justin Ariola as Security Guard
- Max Chernin as Hipster
- Nikka Graff Lanzarone as Blaine
- Alex Weisman as Alan's Assistant
- Nick Ong as Admin
- Nurit Monacelli as Lawyer
- Cristala Inez Carter as Female Suit
- Ben Beckley as Male Suit
- Tony Neil Butler as Squash Attendant
- Migs Govea as Yakub Matthews
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Talk About It" | Jungle |
|
| "Milk It" | Rony Rex feat. Carla Monroe |
|
| "Focus" | Jaded feat. Mama Haze |
|
| "100 Miles and Running" | Logic |
|
| "" |
| |
| "Unstatus Quo" | Duckwrth |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
|
A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Inventing Anna | |||||
| #01 | "Life of a VIP" | #04 | "A Wolf in Chic Clothing" | #07 | "Cash on Delivery" |
| #02 | "The Devil Wore Anna" | #05 | "Check Out Time" | #08 | "Too Rich for Her Blood" |
| #03 | "Two Birds, One Throne" | #06 | "Friends in Low Places" | #09 | "Dangerously Close" |