'Partners' Season 1, Episode 4: 'The Key' Recap

Ali is excitedly showing Joe the place she wants to have their rehearsal dinner. He asks if she really wants his opinion, and she says yes—but it doesn’t matter because she loves it. Thus he loves it. Louis comes in and Ali leaves, but before she goes she shows Louis the place. He asks if she really wants his opinion and she says yes. He says no, and she says she’ll keep looking.

Louis has brought with him a cooler full of vodka and meat to keep at Joe’s place, because to “get the points” he is pretending to go alone with Wyatt’s sober and vegan lifestyle.

The next morning, Louis lets himself into Joe’s apartment while Ali is standing around in her bra, so he can make his morning sausage. Ali wants him to leave, she asks why he doesn’t ring the doorbell. He says because he has a key, does she ring the doorbell? She says yes… because she doesn’t have a key. Oops.

At work, Joe isn’t too happy that Louis has stirred things up. He wants the engagement to go at a certain pace, but now Ali is demanding a key. He told her he’d think about it. Louis asks why it’s such a big deal—they’re engaged anyway. Joe says he read in an article that couples who live together are 38% more likely to get divorced.

“Don’t listen to some stupid article, just listen to your heart. And me.”

Later, Ali comes into the apartment, apologizing. She recognizes that he wants to go at a certain pace and that’s okay. But Joe presents her with a keychain, and tells her they’re going to play “Hot or Cold” for her key. She tells him the disgusting story of her sister’s man who did this same game, but had the key in his underwear, and her sister walked out immediately. As she dashes into another room Joe quickly shakes the key down his pant leg and hides it in the couch. She finds it—“oh, kinda warm.”

 “That’s love.”

He says what does he have to do to get her to move in with him? She says to keep doing what he’s doing… oh, and to get the key back from Louis.

Back at Louis’, Louis is pretending to enjoy Wyatt’s vegan meal, which even the dog won’t help him eat.

“I’ve seen you eat an entire owl, and this is where you draw the line.”

However it does get him out of plans to watch a cruise vacation video with Lance and Fernando. Wyatt tells him he doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to— he does so much for him, he’s completely selfless.

Louis agrees that he’s very “selflish.” Wyatt calls to cancel.

When Louis finds out about Ali getting the key, he wants the credit. He’s therefore pretty surprised when Joe asks for the key back. Louis refuses—it’s practically his apartment, and it’s where he keeps his meat. Joe tries to sweet talk him, but Louis won’t give in.

He’s not pleased when he goes to check his meat cooler and the key won’t work. Ali taunts him from behind the door—which also has a chain. She wants him to ring the bell like a guest but Louis refuses to be the “g-word.”

He pretends to take the high road with Joe at work, but he’s hurt. Joe tells him “we” changed the locks, and Louis is annoyed that he and Ali are the new “we.” Joe tells him it was his decision to change them.

Louis is hurt, but says no to cancelling their dinner. As he and Wyatt are getting ready to go into the apartment, he warns Wyatt not to let him be mean to him, but poor Wyatt doesn’t understand how not to do that. Louis wants to be “the better couple.” They’re invited inside, and hug.

“I never feel less tall or more Jewish when I’m hugging you hello,” says Joe to Wyatt.

Louis pretends Joe with a box of everything Joe’s ever given him. Awkwardly, Ali and Wyatt go to walk the dog.

“We have to make sure we keep her away from owls.”

Louis tells Joe that Joe took his key back from him and he never wants to feel like that again, so there’s everything. Joe finds their solemn swear to be best friends forever they wrote as children and signed in blood. He tells him it still stands. Louis says that he hates that things are changing, but Joe reminds him change is necessary, even good, and they make up more or less as Joe promises they'll be friends forever.

Wyatt, it turns out as they’re having dinner, knows about it behind vodka and meat. He wanted to build the points—because now they’re going on a cruise with Lance and Fernando.