Hot Tub Club

"Hot Tub Club" is the second episode of the third season of GLOW. It is the twenty-second episode of the series overall. It was released via Netflix on August 9, 2019.

Synopsis
On a day off, Sam teaches Ruth how to gamble, Bash struggle to take care of an ailing Rhonda, and Arthie and Yolanda face an intimate dilemma.

Plot
Debbie is on an airplane, being served by a flight attendant named Brenda. She gives the attendant a gift box to store with a Teddy Ruxpin, which being a baby she doesn't think her son will truly appreciate, but she's already given him everything in the hotel gift shop, so why not an expensive toy. She tells Brenda that her son is ten months old, and she says that her own child is three, so she can barely remember ten months. Brenda gives her an ornamental pair of flight attendant wings to give to her kid as the plane prepares to take off.

Elsewhere, Bash is making passionate love with Rhonda. Arthie is also getting on with Yolanda. Cherry has just taken her temperature and found it to be normal, but Keith tells her "just because you're not ovulating doesn't mean we can't have sex." So, they do.

Sam discovers Melrose and some of the other girls returning from a busy night of gambling. He tells them to pace themselves, but Melrose promises she's going to get them kicked out of every casino in town before they leave. Sam sits down with Ruth at a table near the casino buffet. She asks him if she thinks the show's entrance spots are working okay, and he asks her why she's working. She says that it's just performance reports for the show, which she does after every one. He reminds her that it's a day off, saying that this just sad. She asks what he's doing with his day off, and he says that he's going to smoke a few cigarettes. He closes her notebook, tells a bellhop to take up to Ruth's room, and tells Ruth they're going out for a stroll.

Bash and Rhonda start to take off in car, when suddenly Rhonda gets sick. She asks for a moment, gets out of the car, and sits down, saying she needs some fresh air. Bash points out that the car is a convertible. She says she needs to lie down, and Bash says the car seats recline, before agreeing that bed is probably better. With vomit in the car, they entrust it to Yolanda, who promises to get it cleaned, but really wants a car to go to a hair salon.

Ruth asks Sam how his screenplay is coming along and he says that he has three pages. He comments that they can't talk about his work just because he took her away from hers. She asks to read it, but he says that nobody reads his work until it's done. They reach a blackjack table. He suggests that she play; that he can't because just one hand and he's behind the looking glass. She says that she doesn't understand why anyone gambles, and he replies that it's fun and she should have some. He puts down some of his money, insisting that she play. He gives her a basic explanation of the rules. She is dealt a twelve, a bad hand, but the dealer has one too, so she should stay, as Sam explains. Dealer busts, meaning that she won. Sam asks for two Bloody Marys and tells Ruth to "let it ride."

Bash gives Rhonda a pregnancy test, saying he thought she was just hungover at first. She says she's had an IUD since she was seventeen, meaning she can't get pregnant. She just has a migraine, which she gets sometimes. She says if she lies still, the lights go off and nobody talks, it'll go away on its own. Bash seems a bit confused as to what to do, but leaves the room, without turning off the lights. "Bash?" Rhonda wonders.

Arthie enters the hair salon, where Yolanda is already busy getting the full works. They talk guy trouble, Arthie saying her boyfriend is getting weird, that they've been waiting weeks for free time, but he seems to want to be by himself. Yolanda eventually gets so disgusted with the conversation that she leaves, saying she doesn't need a haircut or a boyfriend.

Bash grouses to Carmen about the situation with Rhonda, annoying Carmen, who thought that maybe he wanted to hang out and catch up. He suggests they watch something on television together, before suggesting that Carmen go do something to help Rhonda. Carmen wonders how it's not his problem that Rhonda is ill, but he says he's "bad at this," asking her to help him out. She says she's surprised he even knows where her room is. She says she's tired, abandoned by her friends, and she'd like to go back to sleep, so she can wake up in five hours and do it all over again. Bash leaves.

Ruth is really getting into things at the blackjack table, having amassed a hug amount of chips. She says she's going to put it all in, but Sam advises against it, as she's way up and she has to leave a winner. She's surprised that they've been there two hours, and Sam points out that's why they don't have clocks at casinos. He advises her to cash out, saying that the money is hers. She says she's starving, and he says he's eating if she's buying.

They have a steak dinner and plenty of booze. She says she could use some air and they wave to some mob guys at another table. She says she thought the mob left Vegas; he suggests they change the subject before she gets them killed. They toast to her victory. She asks if he's been to the library at UNLV, where she got a temporary card. He calls it a "nerd's eye view of Vegas." He tells her that he's been enjoying himself, that he's even been hitting the hot tub every night. They both try to guess the time and he gets it right, her saying that she needs to buy a watch. He gives her his for the time being, saying it's a loan, and they'll go to a pawn shop later.

Arthie meets up with Yolanda, sporting a totally new hairstyle, stunning her. Arthie is surprised she even cares, seeing as she broke up with her. Yolanda replies that it was just a fight, where people say mean things they don't mean. She doesn't want to break up with her, just let her touch her. She asks if she really wants her, but Arthie replies that she's not sexy like her. Yolanda replies that she is sexy and beautiful, that she wants to pin her to the bed. "So pin me," Arthie replies. She does, and they start getting it on...

Rhonda is still in bed when Bash returns. She asks where he was, and he says that he thought she wanted to be alone. She says that she wanted to be alone with him. He replies that in his family, when anyone got sick, they were quarantined. She replies that migraines aren't contagious, and that in her family, they comforted each other. He massages her, suggesting they talk family, but she tells him to be quiet. He says he'll be very, very quiet, that she won't even know he's there. He finally shuts up, and the two share a quiet moment.

Debbie is back on the plane, heading back to Vegas after seeing her child. She talks with Brenda again, then asks her seat-mate if he has kids and if anyone ever asks him about them. He says he has three boys, but usually nobody asks him anything because he's not much of a talker. She gives Debbie back the ornamental wings, saying that the job is just too dangerous. Back in Vegas, she receives a call from Mark. She is immediately worried, but Mark tells her it's just that Randy walked for the first time, not long after she left. "He wanted until I left?" whines debbie, and Mark points out "He's a baby, not Michigan J. Frog." He says he wishes she'd been there. Debbie cries at having missed this moment, but tells him to buy a camcorder.

Ruth joins Sam in the hot tub. He asks what she's doing and she says that it sounded like a good idea when he mentioned it at dinner. He comments that he's trying his best to keep things on the line, or at least near it, but she's making it impossible. He tells her he's in love with her, and that he can be a grown-up about it, but it's hard when she tells him it's the best day and then gets into a hot tub with him. She says she'll leave, but he doesn't want her to. He wants her to stop being an idiot and they should give it a shot, that he thinks she wants to. She says he doesn't, and she's sorry if she misled him. He asks just what it is that she wants, that they seem to have what everyone else is looking for. She may have tried to draw a line, but now she's in his hot tub. She replies that it's not his hot tub, and he's drunk.

He says that he's frustrated, and he'll implode if they tiptoe around for three months. She says she doesn't want to ruin what they have. He says he's telling her what they have, but she can believe whatever she wants. She points out that he's almost twice her age. "So?" he replies, wondering if that was really what she was thinking about all day. Just then, Tammé shows up, calling it a "hot tub club." She hops in, saying she loves it in there. Ruth comments that she was just getting out. "More room for me," agrees Tammé. "Good night. White girls can't take the heat." She asks Sam if he had a good day off.

Guest starring

 * Sunita Mani as Arthie Premkumar
 * Shakira Barrera as Yolanda Rivas
 * Kimmy Gatewood as Stacey Beswick
 * Rebekka Johnson as Dawn Rivecca
 * Marianna Palka as Reggie Walsh
 * Ellen Wong as Jenny Chey
 * Bashir Salahuddin as Keith Bang
 * Rich Sommer as Mark Eagan
 * Ashley Platz as Brenda
 * Toby Huss as Tex
 * Indira G. Wilson as Julie

Co-starring

 * Eric Lutz as Chad
 * Erik Aude as Stevie