Geek Girl episode 2 recap: will Harriet call Wilbur?
Geek Girl episode 2 sees Wilbur track Harriet down, but can he convince her she's the next big thing in fashion?
Geek Girl is a Netflix adaptation of Holly Smale's coming-of-age book series which tells the story of geeky teen Harriet Manners whose life is transformed when she is scouted by a modelling agency in London.
Here's everything that happened in episode 2...
The second episode opens with Harriet waking up in bed as her alarm goes off, only to realize she fell asleep clutching a magazine with pictures of Nick Park, the model she met at London Fashion Week.
As she eats breakfast with her dad and setpmum, Annabelle, everyone is busy getting ready for the day when her dad, Richard, gets a call from his boss chasing a pitch he is meant to be doing for work.
Meanwhile, Harriet is distracted when her best friend, Nat, sends her a message with the video of her falling over at Fashion Week the previous day that has now gone viral.
Meanwhile, a car pulls up outside a fancy London store and designer Yuji Lee goes inside to see the final dress for her last show of the season. Everyone who works for her is clearly terrified of her, and when she dismisses using model Poppy for her final show, her staff are forced to find a new model with little notice.
Over at Infinity Models, Jude Paignton (Sarah Parish doing an amazing mean-boss impression) is putting pressure on Wilbur to find a new model for Yuji and fast as they don't want to lose the contract. As Wilbur goes through headshots of all their models, he keeps coming back to Harriet and clearly thinks she will be perfect for the job.
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Meanwhile, Nick is waking up in a swanky London apartment where he has a meeting with his fashion team while riding on his Peloton bike. Without any warning, Poppy arrives in the lift and hands him a green smoothie and tells him that they have to make a quick live video for their followers. It soon becomes clear that their romance is fake and they are pretending to be a couple for their sponsorship deal with the drinks company.
On camera, they are the picture of happiness, but off camera, the pair are cold with one another, throw their smoothies in the bin, and Poppy makes a hasty exit.
At school, Lexi and her gang tease Harriet about the video going viral and so Harriet and Nat decide that they need to make lots of fake social media accounts so that they can report the video and get it removed.
Harriet is avoiding PE lessons and instead hides in the caretaker's cupboard and searches Nick Park online. But what she doesn't realize is that Wilbur and Betty have tracked down what school she goes to and have turned up at Hollybridge Secondary School to see her.
At first, the school secretary isn't impressed with them turning up unannounced and won't let them in, but when Mr Fiennes the headteacher sees them he invites them to his office and calls for Harriet.
Harriet asks Nat to go with her to the headteacher's office thinking she is going to get told off and is surprised to find Wilbur there waiting for her. He is thrilled to see her, thinking all his troubles about finding a new model for Yuji are over. However, Harriet has no interest in going with them for a casting, until Wilbur says she can bring Nat with her.
For a moment, it looks like Harriet will agree to go to the casting, but when Wilbur tells her soon her name will be up in lights and all eyes will be on her, Harriet freaks out and changes her mind, turning down the opportunity and rushing out.
Later in English class, Harriet is distracted when her phone pings with a notification telling her the video has been removed from Lexi's social media. But Harriet's moment of happiness is ruined when Lexi gets a message notifying her of the same thing at the same time and she is fuming.
Despite being distracted, Harriet manages to give a degree-level answer to one of Mr Fiennes's questions about Hamlet, causing Lexi to bully her even more. When the teacher leaves the room Lexi gets everyone in the class to put their hand up if they hate Harriet, and as she is queen bee at the school everyone does as they're told and puts their hand up.
Harriet is mortified and races out of the classroom and goes to hide in a bush outside by the school gates, upset and feeling alone.
Back at home, Harriet lies on her bed and thinks about her horrible day at school, and realizes that the only way things are going to change in her life is if she makes the changes herself.
She picks up her phone, leaves a voice note for Nat telling her they are going to the casting, and sits looking at the phone number that Wilbur gave her... will she call him?
All episodes of Geek Girl are available to watch on Netflix worldwide now.
Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia.
After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off.
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As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.