The Golden Spoon

Stella plans and prepares her two pies for the day’s challenge, trying not to indulge in fantasies about being Betsy’s friend or to be distracted by the activity around the tent. She can’t help but compare herself to the other contestants, who seem to embody “perfection” while she stumbles along. When Betsy asks Stella about her pies, Stella struggles to answer. Betsy says she smells something burning; a mortified Stella realizes the smell is her peach filling on the stove—even though she could remember turning the heat off earlier.

While she prepares a rhubarb pie, Lottie reflects on her childhood history at Grafton Manor that she has thus far concealed from the other contestants. She had lived here with her mother, who cooked and cleaned for the Graftons when Lottie was a girl. Lottie recalls a number of memories from that time, from being forced to play with Betsy, who was haughty and intimidating, to being afraid of Betsy’s father, Richard Grafton, for reasons she was unable to articulate at the time. As she pours custard into the pie crust, Lottie reveals her true motivation for applying to Bake Week: She needs to find out what happened the night that her mother disappeared more than 50 years earlier.

Pradyumna, having gotten over the initial excitement of coming up with ideas for his pies, allows his attention to wander to the other contestants. He wonders what Lottie was doing the night before and is annoyed by Hannah’s general demeanor. He feels himself at “loose ends,” reflecting on all the other activities he’s taken up to distract himself from the essential boredom of his life. Gerald’s outburst interrupts his thoughts.

Gerald meticulously prepares his filling using ingredients that he has made himself. As Archie tries to insinuate himself into the scene, Gerald notices that something is not right about the aroma of his orange essence. Realizing that has been replaced with gasoline sends Gerald into a panic made worse by Archie’s mockery and the presence of the cameras and lights. He shouts for everything to stop.

After Gerald storms out of the tent, Hannah smiles to herself and continues preparing her pies, which are her strongest bakes. When Archie winks at her, Hannah recalls following him to his suite in the East Wing the previous evening and wonders what would have happened if she had stayed longer. She looks around the tent, remarking that Stella is “my only competition in the beauty department” (110). Archie appears by her side and quietly asks Hannah to meet him after dinner. During judging, Gerald does not return to the tent. Hannah receives high praise for her pies.

Betsy and Archie discuss their final rankings for the day in a separate tent. Betsy regrets that Gerald did not return to finish his bakes—and hopes the footage won’t be edited too negatively—but Archie is less sympathetic. They agree that Stella’s pies were below average. Betsy, who privately notes that Stella has now escaped being sent home twice, cites the “mishap” with her filling as a mitigating factor, but Archie is again unsympathetic. By contrast, he is effusive in his unwavering praise of Hannah’s pies, to the point where Betsy is suspicious. Archie’s manner unnerves Betsy and reminds her of her unfaithful ex-husband.

Stella explores the grounds of Grafton Manor and notes how the front of the manor is well-maintained while the back has been neglected. She encounters a cameraman named Graham who is vaping in a gazebo. Although she is nervous about talking to a stranger, they have a conversation about the competition. Graham offers cryptic warnings about Betsy, and Stella excuses herself and runs inside.

Pradyumna struggles to keep the conversation going during an awkward dinner. Hannah is jumpy, Lottie is sleepy, Stella is distracted, and Gerald is absent. When Stella makes a sarcastic remark about pies being served for dessert, Pradyumna realizes that she’s been saved from going home twice. Pradyumna becomes increasingly restless. He thinks about the hosts. Betsy doesn’t bother him, but he dislikes Archie and compares him to his least favorite classmates in boarding school who were always overcompensating for something. He assumes that Archie is threatened by Pradyumna’s wealth and business success.

Just as Lottie is about to fall asleep, she remembers the Christmas season from the year she was 10. She and her mother made creatures out of snow and decorated them with food coloring. Later, she and her mother were happily making Christmas cookies for the Graftons, when they saw Betsy watching them from the doorway of the kitchen. Betsy’s expression is briefly longing but almost immediately haughty. Days later, Lottie is sent to Betsy’s room to play with her and takes in the enormous amount of toys scattered through the room. Betsy teases Lottie by offering her a doll that is missing a chunk of hair and has a broken foot. When Lottie reaches out for it, Betsy smashes it on the fireplace.

Hannah prepares to meet Archie, pushing aside thoughts of her boyfriend, Ben, and choosing a particularly sexy outfit. She and Archie meet for a walk in the woods. He compliments her baking skills and offers to be an advocate for her. They kiss passionately until the sun sets and then head back to the house.

After drinking on his own, Pradyumna explores the hallway of the west wing that Peter suggested may hide the staircase to the fourth floor. Pradyumna searches the inside of a wardrobe at the end of the hall and discovers a hidden door leading to a set of stairs. They take him to the sealed fourth floor. Pradyumna stumbles upon the abandoned servants’ quarters of Grafton Manor. Underneath the pillow of the long-unused bed, he discovers a photo of Richard Grafton with a woman. He is surprised to hear someone else approaching the room and attempts to hide before he realizes that it’s Lottie. Upon seeing the photo, Lottie exclaims that her mother is the woman with Richard Grafton.

Lottie hesitates to reveal the truth to Pradyumna but, eventually, relents. She tells him about her connection to Grafton Manor and how she had applied to Bake Week as a way to return there and investigate what happened to her mother. Based on the evidence of the photograph, Pradyumna says it’s likely she was having an affair with her employer. Lottie can’t disagree, but she knows there is more to the story. Enthralled by Lottie’s quest, Pradyumna offers to help her search for evidence in the forbidden East Wing.

Stella spends the evening in her room planning out recipe ideas to strengthen her position in the contest. Just after 11 o’clock, she hears noises outside and attempts to calm herself from a looming panic attack. She attempts to go to sleep but hears laughter outside. She goes to the window in time to see Hannah and Archie emerging from the woods.