Bykov tears Gleb a new one right in front of interns for being late at work. Gleb now resents Bykov, as it may destroy their respect for him. Since Bykov obviously doesn't care, he states that by insulting his (former) intern like this, Bykov shows that he isn't proud of his own work; he then reinforces this argument by stating that, by showing Gleb at least some respect (even if only in front of interns), Bykov shows them that their lives would be better after they finish internship, and it would motivate them to work harder. Bykov agrees... on condition that without interns in sight, he would yell at Gleb even more. Gleb decided to exploit Bykov's inability to yell on him in front of interns, by always bringing them around whenever Bykov plans to start chewing him out, to the point that Bykov cant' even punish him for screwing up with his patient. But Bykov feds up, and orders interns to put in earplugs, then just shouts insults at Gleb via intercom. When called out on humiliating him before a whole hospital, Bykov states that their agreement is over (even if Gleb now "agrees" to follow its spirit and stop cheating). In the middle of discussion, comes Kisegach: Bykov just sabotaged her attempts to promote their hospital before a man from ministry (she stated that they're like "big, friendly family"), and now she wants to tear a new one to Bykov himself. Gleb, barely holding his laugh, leaves in haste.
Sophia tries to introduce Rita to "speed dating", stating that it just started being popular in Moscow, and that with good luck, she may even find someone. She wants to try, but is afraid to go alone. Rita refuses, stating that people who goes there are only interested in casual sex, but doesn't throw out the advertisement flier just yet. Lyuba later learns about this from Rita — and feels insulted by not being invited. Sophia tries to defend herself, stating that she didn't expect that Lyuba is interested in this, but Lyuba says that it should've been obvious, given that she's still single. Sophia's attempt to counter that sounds dangerously close to her calling Lyuba "old", which enrages Lyuba enough to reject apologises and an invitation when Sophia finally offers her to join. But later, after discussing it with Rita, Lyuba, along with Rita herself, decides to try it after all, and goes to the club on their own, where they, to their mutual surprise, actually meets Sophia, who gathered enough courage to go by alone. They decides to give it a try together, but each one jumps into one lame "date" after another, culminating with Sophia meeting no one else but her uncle Kupitman (who then meets Lyuba and notices Rita). They agrees that keeping it secret is in their mutual interest, though Lyuba considers going here again at some point, just by herself.
Maxim learns that Alexei just bought a new smartphone... too expensive for someone like him. Just where he obtained money for it? Alexei states that he has some second job, but doesn't specify what it is. Max starts suspecting just that kind of "job" that may be: he constantly receives calls from some girls, and Alexei insists that they aren't his girlfriends, "they just have sex together"; what if he's a prostitute? He shares this version with Sophia, and suggests to check by themselves: Sophia would call from Maxim's phone and ask for a visit. When Alexei would come to the address they give him, they would confront him and inquire about his "job". But when they actually asks Lyosha, turns out that he's just a plumber... who sleeps with his female clients, cause why not? To not make it a false call, and distract from awkwardness of the situation, Max asks him to help with water tap.
This episode provides examples of:
- Brick Joke: Near beginning of the episode, Rita refuses to try Speed Dating, stating that people going in such clubs just trying to find some casual sex and nothing more. Towards the end of the episode, she actually tries going there, and the second man she meets starts by asking for her phone number, before even introducing himself. She rejects him on the spot.
- Digging Yourself Deeper:
- When Lyuba calls Sophia out on not inviting her on Speed Dating (she invited only Rita), Sophia tries to defend herself by stating that she was unaware that Lyuba is interested; Lyuba counters this by stating that her single status was clear enough clue by itself. Sophia then states that she thought that since it was inhabited mostly by youngsters, it wouldn't be interesting for Lyuba... who, predictably, interprets it as Sophia calling her old, and refuses to forgive Sophia even after she apologises, as well as rejects her invitation.
- When asked by Rita why she didn't invite Lyuba (which offended her), Sophia states that she considers Lyuba being too old, and that she would look like Lyuba's daughter. Rita (who's about the same age as Lyuba) asks Sophia what she thinks about her. Sophia states that Rita would look like "older sister" or "aunt" — which offends Rita, since she's a "bad option, too, but at least better than Lyuba". Sophia fails to realise just what she said wrong.
- Exact Words: Bykov has an agreement with Gleb — to not yell at Gleb in interns' presence. When Gleb abuses this rule way too much, Bykov finds a solution: he forces interns to insert the earplugs, so they wouldn't hear a thing, and then yells insults at Gleb via intercom. Gleb tells him this ain't fair. Bykov's response? "We only agreed about interns, not the rest of the hospital".
- Hint Dropping: When Lyuba learns that Sophia didn't invite her on Speed Dating (but invited Rita) (which offends her), she gives Sophia a chance to save grace, and starts giving her hints about wanting to go somewhere to fight boredom, so Sophia would realise her mistake and invite her now. Sophia misses every single one, and Lyuba just tells her directly.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Bykov publicly humiliates Gleb to punish him, but it sabotages Kisegach's attempt to promote their hospital, so she starts (also publicly) chew out him.
- Innocently Insensitive: Sophia accidentally insults both Lyuba and Rita due to not thinking before saying, resulting in accidentally implying that they're old:
- She makes a mistake of telling Lyuba (who has major issues with being called "old") that there would be many youngsters, so she likely wouldn't be interested.
- When Rita takes offense at Sophia stating that Lyuba would look like Sophia's "mother" if they comes together, and asks what she would look like then, Sophia says that she would be "big sister or aunt", which Rita interprets as "still bad, but at least better than Lyuba". Naturally, she refuses to go with Sophia after that.
- Internal Reveal: Maxim and Sophia learns about Alexei's side-work as a plumber.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gleb and Bykov have an agreement — Bykov can't yell at Gleb or insult him in front of interns; however, Gleb exploits it by always inviting interns when Bykov is about to chew him out. Eventually, Bykov gets fed up, and punishes him by humiliating him before literally everyone else but interns, via intercom. This comes to bite Bykov in the ass, too, since it sabotages Kisegach's attempt to promote her hospital before representative from ministry, and she starts to yell at Bykov himself.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: After their awkward meeting in Speed Dating club, Sophia, Lyuba, Rita and Kupitman all agrees that keeping these events secret is in their mutual interests. Well, at least Kupitman does.
- Loophole Abuse: Gleb has an agreement with Bykov, which prohibits Bykov from yelling at Gleb in interns's presence, or insult him. Gleb starts exploiting this by always bringing them around whenever possible, often at the last moment. This works right until Bykov finds an alternate solution — forcing interns to insert earplugs, and then yell at Gleb... via intercom, no less.
- Mistaken for Prostitute: When asked where he obtained money to buy new smartphone, Alexei states that he has a new job, but never specifies what it is. After he started receiving multiple calls from some girls, and instead of specifying who they are, stated that they are "just girls with whom he has sex", Maxim jumps to the obvious conclusions that he likely works as a prostitute. He cooperates with Sophia, and they makes a fake call to check by themselves. In the end, it turns out that Lyosha works as a plumber... but actually sleeps with several of his female clients, because why not, if they both wants it?
- Speed Dating: Sophia's entire plot is built around her attempt to try speed dating:
- Sophia invites Rita to go with her to a speed dating club, stating that even if they wouldn't find someone, it at least would be fun (plus, she's afraid to go alone). Rita refuses at first, thinking that people who goes there are only interested in casual sex. Lyuba actually shows interest, but Sophia doesn't invite her, and when Sophia (clumsily) tries to explain why, Lyuba gets offended by Sophia calling her old. Rita soon loses what little motivation she had for pretty much the same reason.
- Much later Rita and Lyuba, after discussing the whole idea, decides to go by themselves... only to meet Sophia, to their mutual surprise. They decides to stick together and see what would happen next. Cue streak of terrible dates, culminated in Sophia meeting her uncle, to their mutual shock. Then Kupitman meets Lyuba and Rita, and they all decides to just pretend that all of this never happened... all except Lyuba, who's interested to try again, just by herself.
- Spiders Are Scary: Exploited by Bykov; he threatens that he wouldn't kill spiders for Kisegach if she would continue yelling at him, which makes her stop.
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: Rita, Lyuba and Sophia's attempt to try Speed Dating results in a streak of several terrible dates:
- First one whom Rita meets seems to be intelligent man... who's controlled by his mother via phone, even here. Second one just straight up asks her for phone number, before even introducing himself, confirming her initial reason for refusing to go; she rejects him on the spot.
- First one whom Lyuba meets is a blatant criminal, complete with crude tattoo with his name on his fist. Second one is a "funny" fat dude with laugh so annoying, he manages to creep Lyuba out.
- First one whom Sophia meets is nice and intelligent at first... then he accidentally hits his elbow, and starts shouting profanities. Another one leaves before we could learn anything about him (but considering everyone else before him, likely was not any better than them)... and gets replaced by Kupitman, to both his and Sophia's shock.
- You Didn't Ask: When Lyuba calls Sophia out on not inviting her to go on Speed Dating together, Sophia defends herself by stating that Lyuba never made it clear that she's even interested. It doesn't work, because Lyuba considers that it's obvious enough that she still seeks a man. Sophia tries again, this time stating that she thought that she didn't think that place full of youngsters would be interesting for Lyuba, but it works even worse, due to Lyuba taking it as a sign of being called old.
