She decides to get a drink at the bar. The restaurant is set up so the hostess stand and restrooms are separated from the bar and the dining area by a long tunneled hallway you have to walk through. When she enters the dining area, she immediately bumps into a guy. Now if you already knew the premise of this movie, you might think he's the one sending her the drops (we'll get to that soon if you have no idea what that means, i.e, you have no idea what the plot of this movie is), but I knew it wasn't going to be him because it would be way too obvious. They bumped into each other because they were both looking at their phones. She had just gotten a text from Henry telling her he was on his way. Duh, Henry, you already told her that with your first message!
While at the bar, she chitchats with the bartender, a young woman who's also a single mother. An older guy in a suit asks her if she's Diane and introduces himself as Richard. She tells him she's not Diane and learns he's on a blind date. While they're talking, the piano player interrupts them and starts flirting with Violet. The bartender tells him to knock it off, that she's waiting for her date. When he asks her is she has any songs she likes, she asks him if he knows "Baby Shark" because that's her son's favorite song. Yep, it might be time to get out if the only song you can think of is "Baby Shark."
Diane arrives and it's clear by the look on her facer, she's not thrilled about Richard. Why would she even agree to go on this date? Why would anyone agree to go on a blind date? Richard follows her to their table and when he turns around, Violet gives him a thumbs up sign. While still waiting (I feel like it's been more than ten minutes!), Violet texts her sister to see how things are going. Her date hasn't even started yet and she she's already texting home? But this is mainly used as a plot device because while on her phone, she received a "digiDrop" from someone with the username Lets_Play who wants to share a photo and she can either accept or decline it. She declines it. A digiDrop is like an AirDrop. (I'm guessing they didn't have the rights to use AirDrop.) We'll get a little more information how it works later. I would be a little freaked out if I were her and was receiving an digiDrop from some random person in a restaurant. If there were someone you knew there, wouldn't they just text you (or, come up and say hello)? I would be wondering why someone random person was sending me a pic, and I too, like her, would decline it.
She starts looking at pictures of Henry (who is very good-looking) from the dating profile and I thought for sure he was going to come up and see her looking at pics of him and I would have been so embarrassed for her, but instead she gets another digiDrop that she declines. She looks around the restaurant and literally, almost everybody is on their phones.
Now if you're wondering, is Henry the one sending her the digiDrops, that is something I never considered because the summary on Peacock is about how she's receiving messages from someone that wants her to kill her date, so why would those come from him? (Hope that wasn't a spoiler!)
Their waiter comes to take their order. It is his first day and he just wants to chat about how he's an improv actor and he's writing a sketch for Second City where he plays a hat on top of Allison Janney's head (that is the most random thing!). He is clearly the comic relief of the movie. When he leaves to get their drinks, Violet receives another digDrop. Henry sees the concern on her face and asks if everything is okay and she shows him and tells him somebody keeps sending them. He thinks it's probably just a bunch of dumb kids messing with her because it happens to him all the time on the L train. She doesn't think this is the kind of place where someone would do that, but when they look around they see a bunch of high school kids having dinner before prom and assume it must be one of them.
She places the phone face down on the table and it beeps again and she picks it up just in case it's her sister. This time it and she she's sent a cute photo of her son eating ice cream. As she's holding the phone, another digiDrop appears (this guy is a relentless (and yes, I'm going to presume its a guy!)). So when she gets these drops, there are memes and this one in particular has her name on it. I'm not really into meme culture so none of these meant anything to me. I think there was only one meme I was familiar with and it's probably the one you're thinking of.
This makes her very concerned, but Henry isn't concerned at all. He explains to her (and the audience) how the digiDrop works: erveryone who has the app (wait, it's an app?) can see her name and photo (as well as the names and photos of the other people who have the app. Is it me or does this app seem kinda intrusive? Like, what kind of f***ed up app is this? Why would I want why my name and photo out there for everyone to see? I would never download this (fictional) app. He thinks you have to be within fifty feet to send a digiDrop so he uses his phone to record how far away fifty feet is and discovers the lobby and kitchen are out of range, so it's coming form somebody in the dining room. Thanks, Sherlock!
While the waiter is going on about the specials, Violet receives a message from this Lets_Play character, but this time he wants to send a message, not a photo. And this time she accepts it. So why is she accepting messages, but not photos? Perhaps if he had started with a message in the first place, he wouldn't have to send her 15 unanswered digiDrops! The message tells her to check her home security cameras, which she does and she sees a masked man with a gun in her kitchen looking at the camera. She scrolls through the other cameras and sees her sister reading a book to Toby in his bedroom. I've never seen someone with so many security cameras; she must have ten around the house! Something tells me when her son gets older, he's going to ask his mother to take away the camera in his room! I get that this is done for the plot of the movie, but that seems like an extreme breach of your child's privacy, but since he's only five, we'll let it slide for now.
Needless to say, she looks visibly upset and Henry asks her if she's okay and before she can say anything, she gets another message from Lets_Play which says, "Keep your mouth shut."
Okay, the first time she received the message, it appeared as "Lets_Play sent you a message" and she could either click accept or decline, like she did with the photos. But with the "Keep your moth shut" message, she can can read it on the screen and didn't have to accept it. Maybe since she accepted the first message, she now has unlocked all incoming messages from him? IDK? And yes, this is the stupid stuff I ponder about.
I watched this scene about three or four times to try to make sense of how this app worked (I don't know why I was so obsessed with figuring out how a stupid fictional app worked!) and while the waiter is talking about the specials you're so focused on Violet who is focused on her phone that you're probably not really supposed to be listening to the waiter, like she is, but after watching this four times, I caught it the fourth time and what he said made me laugh. He's telling them about the "lemon oyster soup" and I laughed when he says, "it sounds weird...and it is! But it's good!"
Violet tells Henry she needs to call home and gets up. While she's walking away from the table, she has dialed 911, but before she connects the call, she gets a message saying her phone has been cloned and "I can see everything." This mystery person tells her if she calls the cops, leaves the restaurant, or tells anyone, then her son will die. At that moment she runs into the same guy from earlier before and I'm more convinced than ever that he is a red herring. He is just too obvious.
She goes into the bathroom where some of the high schools girls are putting on makeup. Before she can say anything to them, she gets a warning text not to tell them anything. She asks one for eyeliner and tries to write "Call 911" on her palm, but the girl is confused because the writing is all smudged and she thinks it says "Cal". She gets another warning text. After the girls leave, Violet discovers there was a small camera behind a decorative vase. When she comes back to the table, she tells Henry she's emotional because she hasn't been out "like this" since her son was born. She notices a small camera at the end of the table, much similar to the one she found in the bathroom. Whoever's doing this has sure gone to a lot of trouble!
She makes up a story, telling Henry that her son can't find his stuffed animal and acts like she just realized where it is. She starts texting, pretending it's to her sister, but she texts her new friend, asking, "Who are you?" and he tells her he could be anyone. Helpful, but of course he's not going to reveal himself to her.
Violet tells Henry she would like to move tables because heights make her nervous. The waiter secures them a different table and as they're following him, she gets a couple messages: "Do not switch tables", followed by "Toby's dead in one minute if you don't go back." Of course she insists their old table was fine and she wants to go back. She says they they came for the view and she's going to get over her fear. The waiter is a little annoyed, but tries his best to remain polite.
Once they're settled back at their original table, the hostess comes over to make sure everything is okay with the table and reminds Henry that he specifically reserved this one. He says he didn't so we know the person behind this called the restaurant and used his name.
The mystery digiDropper sends Violet his first demand: "Get the SD card from this camera." He doesn't even offer her a few hints of how she can do this; he just expects her to figure it out on her own. While Henry is ordering (I swear they already ordered in a previous scene?), Violet discreetly slips off her watch (please, what kind of thirty year old still wears a watch in this day and age?) and puts it in her purse (which is under the table). After their waiter leaves, she "realizes" her watch is missing and says it must have fallen off because of a faulty clasp. She knows for sure she had it on when she entered the restaurant because the hostess had complimented it. She asks Henry if he would mind asking the hostess if anyone has seen it or brought it to her. While Henry is doing that (and remember, he has to walk through the tunnel to get to the hostess stand), she gets the SD card from his camera. I gotta be honest, I would have no idea how to do that. I would have to Google "How to retrieve SD card from a camera" and I would 100% get caught because I would be taking too long to do it. It gets pretty tight, but she manages to get it before he gets back.
She gets a text for her to go to the restroom. She tells Henry that she's going to look for her watch there. When she gets to the ladies' room, she gets another message telling her to smash the card and flush it down the toilet, which she does.
She thinks this is all she has to do (HA!), but she she gets another message to open the towel dispenser and when she does, she finds a vial of what is presumably poison and is told to "pour it in Henry's drink and that will be "quick. (Spoiler alert...it won't be that quick!)
When the hostess stand is empty, she goes behind the counter to use those computers. Now I've never been a hostess at a restaurant, but I didn't think you can get online on those computers. Don't they just have a program set up to take reservations and times and table numbers, like I doubt you can search the web for a domestic abuse hotline like she does. She enters the chat and starts typing about how her son is being held hostage. Before she can push enter, she gets a message telling her she better not send it. Before
They both agree on tequila (Hey! I had a shot of tequila a couple months ago!) and she insists on going to the bar to get them. While she's getting up to leave, her foot catches on her purse and her watch spills out. You would think this would mean the end of the date, but it doesn't. If anything, it will almost bring them closer together. Also, I don't know why she just didn't "find" her watch when she went to the restroom to "look" for it. I suppose she was just too distracted to think about that since she had just been told to kill her date.
While ordering the tequila, the bartender she had talked to earlier asks if she's okay because she seem "kind of on edge" (that's an understatement!), but Violet tells her it's just "first date jitters". She takes the vial out which seems like a stupid thing to do. You're in a crowded room and taking out a vial. Surely she's not going to pour it in the drink right there! That would make her look totally sus. But before she can do anything, she gets a text telling her to "do it at the table." Ha, even the deranged psycho knows that's a stupid move. Plus, I guess he needs to see her do it, but if he's texting her to do it at the table, doesn't that mean he saw her take the vial out? I don't know...there's a lot of things about this movie that don't make much sense as you already can tell. Violet is about to take the drinks back to the table and when the bartender asks if she wants some limes, she hesitates for a minute before saying, "No thanks." Aren't limes a necessity when taking a tequila shot? But she has a plan!
Back at the table, Henry hands her the watch and she tries to play dumb (girl, please!) asking him where he found it and he tells her it spilled out of her purse. You would think this would be a dealbreaker, but it isn't. He tells her that she's distracted and he knows something's happening because she keeps looking around and texting. Yeah, even the bartender across the room knows something is going on with her. She's making it pretty obvious. This is when they have a heart to heart conversation and he tells her he messaged her because she seemed like a genuine person. As a viewer, you like these two together and you hope that she doesn't actually kill him, even though her son's life is in danger if she doesn't. Plus them having a connection is just going to make it all the more difficult for her to kill him.
Of course she deliberately forgot the limes so she could ask him to grab them. While he's gone, she takes out the vial and allegedly pours the liquid in his drink. I say allegedly because how the scene is set up, the camera tilts up so you can't really see the drink in the shot. She sees the red herring guy sitting at a table and glares at him.
Henry returns to the table with the limes and they toast to hope. Violet watches him as he brings the drink closer to his lips, then right before he takes a sip, she spills her glass of wine, getting all over his shirt. As he goes to clean up, she gets a message: "That wasn't smart."
Okay, I'm about to go into spoiler territory so if you don't want to know who's been sending her the drops, don't read any further. Spoilers ahoy!
The bartender comes over and tells her she's been acting skittish all night and thinks Violet doesn't feel safe with her date and offers to help her get out of there. Violet tells her that's not the case here. The subject turns to Richard, the guy with the blind date that left in a huff, and the bartender tells Violet she doesn't blame his date for leaving because "he's been staring at you all night." Aha! Violet walks over to him with the two tequila shots. She offers him a drink, telling him she thought he could use it. He calls her by her name and says, "One drink is my limit for the night." She says she doesn't remember telling him her name and knowing he's been caught, he snarls, "Sit." My question: did he call her by her name on purpose?
Okay, so I left some information out when Violet and the audience are first introduced to Richard when he first asks Violet if she's Diane, his blind date. He tells her that his date didn't have social media and thus he didn't know what she looked like. I can maybe believe this if his date is around his age, which is probably mid 60s. But why would he think his date is a woman in his thirties? Of course, he knew all along who Violet was and that probably should have been my first clue that this guy was sus.
Once she's seated, he tells her to pick a shot and drink it and she does. This guy isn't even going to try to pretend he's not the one sending her the drops. He tells her he picked this table to watch her from because "it's the only one in the blind spot of the camera."
So why has Richard gone through all this trouble to threaten Violet's son and sister, to place cameras all around the restaurant (how did he even do that without being noticed?), to call the restaurant as Henry and reserve that special table (well, that was the easiest task he had to do), to poison the piano player and somehow sneak back into the kitchen and place the twenty dollar bill under her food (how DID he do that?)...why has he done all of that just for the hassle to have Violet kill her date?
Well, turns out Richard works for the mayor who's corrupt and Henry had some information on his camera that could hurt the mayor if it ever got out in public (I don't remember what it was...some scandal), hence why Richard had Violet destroy the SIM card. Henry had received a call from the FBI asking him to meet them tonight and hand over the SIM card. But if it's already been destroyed....why does he want Violet to kill him? That seems a bit extreme. I understand he's an informant for the FBI, but if he doesn't have any evidence, how is he going to help? Maybe I missed something.
When she tells him she's going to tell the police about the drops, he reminds her that they're untraceable and there's no way one can detect who they came from. He tells her he chose her because she killed her husband. But she didn't. The real story is that he shot himself. But, honestly, would anyone blame her if she did kill him? He had just beaten her and at one point, threatened their baby with the gun. If she did shoot him, I would call it self defense.
His waiter comes by with his panna cotta which he raves about. He tells her that the camera above her table recorded her spike the shot with "Sertraline laced with a little fentanyl" and that he chose that because he knows she prescribes Sertraline sometimes to her patients so it would look like it came from her. He boasts about how he's playing chess and that he's two steps ahead of her. In fact, she's not even in the same league as he is because, according to him, she's playing a totally different game. She's playing Yahtzee. It was at this moment, that I knew she was going to somehow poison his dessert. I knew this because 1) he was making such a big fuss over the dessert and how beautiful and delicious it look, and b) he kept bragging about how he was "winning".
Richard tells Violet the only way to save her son is to have Henry drink the shot and that it will be her "last chance." When Henry walks over to him, Richard tells him that he and Violet are "old pals." Violet gives Henry the shot and Richard is looking at him gleefully as he watches him drink it. Violet asks him to give her a few more minutes and once he's out of earshot, she tells Richard to call the intruder at her house and call off the hit since she did what he asked her to. He calls the guy and tells him, "It's done." He doesn't quite tell him to leave. The guy replies that he'll wait for confirmation. Isn't "it's done" the confirmation? Richard tells Violet he's going to eat his dessert while he waits for Henry to "keel over."
As he's eating his dessert, she tells him about the time she went out to dinner with her late husband and he was eating panna cotta and she would "pretend everything was fine" like "tonight when I pretended to poison that shot." He looks very alarmed as he looks down at his half-eaten dessert. We get a flashback from two minutes ago when she poisons his dessert because he's looking gleefully and intently at Henry. Like, dude. C'mon. What an idiot.
She uses Henry's car to race to her house and is able to stop the masked man from killing her son. Way earlier in the movie, when she was still at home and getting ready for her date, a guy had knocked on her window and asked her where her meter was, telling her he was here to check it. I had totally forgotten about him and when the intruder's masks comes off, we find out it was the so-called meter man.
We get a cute scene of Violet visiting Henry at the hospital and they agree to go on a second date after having a laugh over their "hard core first date." Just think of the story they can tell their grandchildren about their first date!
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