Bree and Timberly's hookup is amicable, but news about it spreads among the cast and crew. While the writer's room discusses scissoring at length, Hannah admits to Benny that she hasn't come out to Gordon. Upon learning about the hookup and watching Josie suggest a joke for Timberly, Clay warns Reed that Timberly had used sex to get ahead on her reality show, Fuck Buddy Mountain, and the men rush to warn Bree. Bree confronts Timberly, who tells her that Fuck Buddy Mountain was scripted, and she angrily calls out Reed and Clay for overstepping. This causes her to miss her cue, which in turn causes Hannah to yell that she's a lesbian.
Meanwhile, Zack lunches with Elaine, and convinces her to play hooky afterwards. He takes her on a tour of the studio lots.
Tropes:
- Coming-Out Story: Played for laughs. Hannah spends the whole episode worrying about coming out to her dad, and trying and failing to do so. Onset, Bree misses her cue and loudly yells "I'm coming out!", causing Hannah to yell "I'm a lesbian!", only for Gordon to tell her he'd known the whole time.
- Disgusting Vegetarian Food: Gordon complains about how appetizing a doughnut with bacon is (since he's Jewish and bacon isn't kosher). Dennis immediately comes up to tell him that the doughnut is gluten-free and the bacon is made with beans. He immediately throws it away since it's lost the appeal.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode title "Girlfriends" can refer to...
- The Idiosyncratic Episode Naming of sitcoms (this time for Girlfriends);
- The fallout (or lack thereof) of Bree and Timberly's lesbian sex;
- Hannah trying to come out as a lesbian to her dad;
- Zack's budding romance with Elaine.
- I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Clay claims that as a former reality TV personality, Timberly must be pretty cutthroat:Bree: Timberly and I are friends.
Clay: She is a reality star. She didn't come here to make friends. - LGBT Awakening: Bree sleeping with Timberly causes her to question her sexuality for the first time in her life since she's never had a sexual encounter with a woman before.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Bree angrily informs Clay and Reed that Timberly's "mean slut" reality TV persona is constructed.Bree: She brought out the outline of the episode where she sleeps with Sarah R, and then she showed me pictures of her at Sarah R's wedding.
