Not Suitable for Work Episode 1, 2, and 3 Recap: Next-Door Neighbors

‘Not Suitable for Work’ is a sitcom, centering around a group of 20-somethings who all live in the same apartment complex in Manhattan. Josh, Kel, and Davis are a trio of roommates with a strong friendship and distinct ambitions in life. Across the hall lives their long-time neighbor, Abby, who is currently working as an assistant to a celebrity stylist and dreams of making her own name in the industry. When her best friend from Boston, AJ, freshly steps into the workforce after landing a job at a prestigious finance firm in New York, Abby inevitably gains a new roommate. However, as AJ finds on her first day at the building, she has a certain history with one of her new next-door neighbors, Josh, who doesn’t seem to remember her in the slightest. SPOILERS AHEAD!

AJ Moves to Manhattan, New York

Davis is a hopeless romantic who has a habit of coming on too strong, leading all his short-lived hook-ups to eventually bounce. Josh is in a stable relationship with his girlfriend, Viv, but his intense focus on landing a job at The West Dryden Show creates some friction. On the other hand, Kel, a reluctant med student, runs himself ragged by trying to juggle his academics with pursuing his real passion: acting. One morning, a sharp knock raps at the trio’s apartment with a newcomer on the other side. AJ is a newcomer in the city who is looking for her roommate’s apartment.

Although Josh helps her out, their conflicting personalities clash easily, resulting in an early feud. Little does he know there’s a deeper reason behind AJ’s contempt for him. As she tells Abby, her best friend and now roommate, their next-door neighbor is the same guy who ghosted her after they hooked up at Penn University. Worse yet, he seems to have no recollection of meeting her. However, the incident happened years ago, and AJ has moved on from it a long time ago. Moreover, between moving out of Boston and finally starting her new job as a customer and research analyst, she has more than enough on her plate.

Similarly, Abby, who works for a celebrity stylist, also finds herself constantly on the move. Their current client is Austin Blanchett, Cate Blanchett’s brother. When her boss, Vanessa, ends up with a medical emergency, Abby has to style the actor all on her own. Although she’s eager not to mess up the job, she also doesn’t let Vanessa’s profit-focused instructions stop her from introducing her own ideas and forming a rapport with the client. The only problem is that their connection quickly goes from purely professional to veering on the side of flirty. Nonetheless, if Abby can agree on one thing with her boss, it’s to never mix business with pleasure.

Josh Becomes a Nepotism Hire and a Snitch

Josh has been vying for a spot at The Wes Dryden Show, which he deems to be the pinnacle of journalistic integrity, for a long time. However, his first interview for the PA position doesn’t go so well. This is because, unlike other candidates, his application instantly goes to the top of the pile, securing him a direct interview with top brass Paula. As it turns out, even though Josh had wanted to go through the normal portals, his last name, Teitelbaum, is hard to go unnoticed. Even though he’s the network CEO’s son, Paula ultimately rejects his application, insisting there are more qualified candidates for the job. In turn, when Josh is leaving the building and coincidentally bumps into Wes Dryden, he decides to casually mention his last name, knowing it might override Paula’s decision.

At the end of the day, Josh secures the spot. The following night, an accidental fire from Abby and AJ’s apartment triggers the fire alarm, sending all the residents to the streets. During this time, the stylist reveals a crucial piece of information to her roommate. The lease on the apartment isn’t actually under her name. Instead, it’s under her ex-boyfriend’s name, who has moved away to become a musician. Abby has continued lying to the super, Antoine, so that she wouldn’t lose the place. Unfortunately for them, Josh overhears this conversation. Recently, he has come up with the plan to move into the unit with his girlfriend, Viv. For the same reason, he ends up revealing Abby’s secret to Antoine. However, his relationship crashes and burns the next day, leaving him heartbroken and with no need for a new apartment.

Kel Drops Out of Med School and Lands a Job as a Substitute Teacher

The only reason Kel Washington is in med school is that his mother would kill him if he weren’t. Initially, he tries to juggle her expectations with his ambitions by balancing school and acting auditions. Nonetheless, if his sleep deprivation is anything to go by, this isn’t a sustainable model. Consequently, he ends up quitting med school to pursue acting full-time. His plan is to tell his mother later, once he has secured an acting gig or two. Therefore, it makes for an awkward lunch with his plastic surgeon sister, Naya, when their mother ends up joining them. Still, he keeps up the lie. Afterward, Kel also has to start thinking about an alternative job so that he can have a source of income.

This lands him at St Cresswell School, a prestigious all-girls school that is always looking for substitute teachers. Unfortunately for him, instead of biochem or something of his expertise, he gets stuck as the new English teacher. Unsurprisingly, he tanks on his first day, when he’s faced with overachieving teenage girls and Jane Austen novels that he has never read. For his second day, his initial plan is to watch the movie adaptations and continue faking hsi wya through the job. However, he ends up finding help from the most unexpected of places. Abby, the girl of his dreams who isn’t really interested in him right now, helps him realize that the only way to beat the students is to actually master the Austen syllabus.

Abby Pulls Some Strings and Avoids Eviction

After Josh snitches on Abby, a gesture of kindness from AJ compels him to regret his actions. As a result, he tries to pull back his complaint from the super. Nonetheless, by then it’s too late, and the girls receive an eviction notice. Off-the-bat, the duo is furious with Josh and, by extension, his roommates, and expects them to fix the mess. Yet, eventually, the burden to save her and her friend’s skin inevitably falls on Abby. During a mutually beneficial chat with Kel, the stylist learns about Antoine’s art shows that he periodically puts up in an empty theater. This gives her an idea to save her apartment. After her first meeting with Austin, she has managed to strike up a friendship with him despite their obvious mutual attraction.

Although Abby still wants to maintain this professional boundary, she also isn’t opposed to asking the actor for a small favor. She asks Austin to tweet about Antoine’s show, which inevitably brings some much-needed traction to the event. In the end, the super agrees to let her keep the lease if she agrees to get him similar shoutouts from celebrities periodically. On the other hand, AJ deals with a crisis at work. As it would turn out, her intimidating boss, Bill Gibson, is the same guy she picked a fight with at a coffee cart on her first day in New York. For the time being, he fails to recognize her, giving her the opportunity to prove her worth. However, while working on an important project, she messes up big time. In turn, her team, which includes Davis, comes together to solve her mistake. In the end, she learns something new about teamwork, her lesser qualities, and realizes she needs to properly thank her neighbor/co-worker.

Davis Mistakes a Dinner Invite For a Date

In order to thank Davis for his part in averting AJ’s first professional crisis, she invites him for a home-cooked dinner. While her intentions are purely platonic, he misinterprets the invitation as a first date. Crucially, unlike Kel, he has no idea that Josh hooked up with AJ back in their college days. Meanwhile, the latter ends up extending a panicked invite to this same dinner to her boss, Bill, on whom she has developed a slight crush. As a result, she scrambles at the last minute to modify the menu and begs Abby to invite more of her friends. Therefore, by the time Davis knocks on her door, the dinner has effectively turned into a bigger affair.

Yet, as all of Abby’s contacts fall through, the guest list ends up only including the two girls, Davis and Kel. Eventually, they get a full house when Josh shows up with a box of wine to reimburse AJ for her stolen order. His arrival manages to collide with the exact time that Davis learns about his best friend and his crush’s connection in college. Worse yet, AJ simultaneously finds out that the PA had nicknamed her The Philadelphia Thirst Monster after the encounter. After much conflict and friction, the details of the hook-up, or precisely the mess that followed in the aftermath, are revealed. As it turns out, AJ had made an insensitive comment about Josh’s performance, which compelled him to leave before sunrise and ghost her entirely.

However, this comment was only made by AJ because their hook-up at Penn University was actually her first time. Josh, of course, had no idea about this piece of information. The confrontation ends with Davis taking a dive, his shellfish allergies and reckless EpiPen usage finally catching up to him. As the boys end up in the ER, the finance analyst decides he needs to play the long game and try to be friends with AJ before forcing any romance. He also makes sure that his friend truly has no feelings for her. The following night, Josh and AJ end up on their balconies at the same time, and the former makes a confession of his own. Their hook-up had also been his first time. Lastly, Bill, who ended up never showing up at the dinner, arrives outside AJ’s apartment. Ultimately, he realizes he’s being foolish and decides to drive away without coming up.