Kisegach, while happy that Lyuba finally found her love, worries for her future with Kupitman, who's an alcoholic. But Lyuba thinks that they may hire a "mage" to deal with Kupitman's alcoholism. Chance is slim (most, if not all of the "mages" are con artists), but what else they have left? Conventional methods would not work. They indeed tries that option, but Kisegach is sceptical; maybe that guy has some sort of "license" or the like, something to confirm his abilities? "The mage", as a proof, mentions one incident from Kisegach's childhood, which caused her to become die-hard realist (and contributed to her first marriage's collapse), and Lyuba's attempt to deal with the "curse" which made her unable to marry. This seemingly convinces them both. "The mage" also realises that they've hired him to deal with someone's alcoholism. After doing his "work", "the mage" states that Kupitman wouldn't drink ever again, even if he's not aware yet. Lyuba proceeds with "testing" Kupitman, by offering him alcohol, but he refuses, even after giving some to Lyuba herself. Unknowingly to them, the real reason is Kupitman's agreement with Bykov: stay sober until 9 p.m., so they can go partying together. Kisegach, meanwhile, decides to hire the same "mage" to "cure" Bykov of his gaming addiction; he states that this would be more expensive. The next day, "the mage" goes to Bykov (who reacts badly to his mere presence), but gets interrupted by Kupitman (who enters while suffering from heavy hangover). "The mage" feels disappointed by Kupitman snapping back so quickly, and asks what he felt while drinking. Kupitman indeed felt some sort of "rejection", but dismissed it. Realising that something is fishy, the friends grabs the guy and threatens to inject him with something unless he tells them everything. To save his skin, "the mage" reveals that he was hired by their women. The two decides to mess with Lyuba and Anastasia, and Kupitman pretends that he's now a gaming addict, while Bykov is an alcoholic. Lyuba falls for it, while Kisegach recognises it as his revenge for their plan. After talking it over, they agrees to not attempt to hire any "mages", "psychics" or "mediums": the magic is a hoax. But if so, then why Lyuba suddenly lost interest to sweets, and Kisegach — to working late?
Phil suspects that Katia is homophobic, and needs Timur's help: just how he may 'fix" her? Timur thinks that this is much less of a problem than Phil thinks: who in Russia doesn't make fun at gays occasionally? She doesn't go beyond this, so maybe he's too early to panic? Unfortunately, Phil was raised by a gay couple, so this would be a major problem if he wants to make her part of his family. Timur has one idea: watch Brokeback Mountain together; if this wouldn't break her shell, nothing would. Unfortunately, Katia reacts to the movie Timur suggested just as Phil feared, refusing to watch it the instant she hears the name, so Phil decides to "teach" her that she's wrong... which only makes Katia suspect that he may be gay himself. Phil, meanwhile proceeds to the next stage, by starting pointing out that many of the things Katia likes were created by gays, meaning that they are better than she thinks they are. Katia gradually starts feeling annoyed by Phil constantly brining up gays, and she asks him whether he's gay directly: after failing to get the answer from Polina, she started asking people, but no one is completely sure. Phil rejects these accusations, and Katia points out that he acts... weirdly, all the time. Phil finally snaps, and calls her a homophobe. She doesn't understand why this is so much of issue for him if he's "normal", and he reveals that his parents are gays. This shocks her so much, she leaves under first excuse she can find.
Gleb and his old friends have a "tradition": gathering together once per year, and setting up alcohol binge, only for them (with no girlfriends and wives allowed). Gleb, not wanting to go anywhere without Sophia, refuses. Alexei, who was presented, calls him "henpecked", to which Gleb replies that he would go on that party, he just decided to not inform Sophia; he is too proud to ask for permission, and sane enough to not provoke a conflict. Instead, he has a plan how to make Sophia herself letting him go. The plan involves highly exaggerating just how miserable he is without his friends, so Sophia would not only let him go on that party, but think that she did the right thing. And indeed, Sophia gets tired of Gleb constantly being called by his friends, only to refuse them, suggests that he would just go on that party and stop annoying her... only for Gleb to refuse, to Lyosha's surprise. When asked, Gleb reveals that it's not what he wanted; she let him go, making it look like she did this out of pity, or like Gleb now owes her. Nope, she must beg him to go on that party. The plan seemingly works when Sophia notices how sad Gleb looks when watching old photos in nostalgia, and orders him to go on the party, for their love. While Gleb would go partying with his friends, Sophia would go partying with Polina; and it seems that this party wouldn't be as innocent as looked at first. Suddenly, Gleb announces that he wouldn't go on the party after all, to stay with Sophia — who, in turn, calls off the party with Polina. Unknowingly to Gleb, this was Sophia's plan: she was aware of his plan, and cooperated with Polina to provoke him into giving up on his own plans.
This episode provides examples of:
- Defying the Censors: By the time the episode aired, depiction of anything even remotely positive about homosexuality in production marketed towards minors (and The Interns has rating 16+) was already banned in Russia, so the plot dedicated to teaching that homophobia is bad, and portraying homophobe being in wrong was a major risk. It was indeed suggested
to ban this and another episode, but it never went anywhere. - Gone Horribly Right: Invoked by Bykov and Kupitman to mess with their women, as a punishment for attempt to "fix" them via "magic"; Kupitman pretends to quit alcoholism, only to become gaming addict, while Bykov drops video games and becomes alcoholic. It works on Lyuba, but Kisegach correctly realises that Bykov knows about "the mage" and this is his revenge plan.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Katia turns out to be rather homophobic, to Phil's discomfort. Unlike Semyon (who showed similar reaction, but only as defensive mechanism after direct contact), she actively insults gays without provocation. Phil's main plot involves his attempts to prove to Katia that there's nothing wrong with homosexuals... to no avail. In the end, he just snaps and tells about his parents being a gay couple, which shocks her to the point she silently leaves.
- Manipulative Bastard: Gleb exaggerates just how miserable he is without going partying with his friends, so Sophia would feel sorry for him and let him go, and think that she did the right thing... except, no, it's not the whole plan; she let him go out of pity, which isn't his intentions; Gleb's plan goes further — she should start begging him to go on that party! However, ultimately the plan fails, as Sophia catches up with the scheme, and counters it with her own, which makes Gleb refuse to go for her.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: We would never learn for sure whether this "mage" was a con artist, a fool believing in his "magic" or actual psychic, but all three times he tries using his magic, his "patients" shows at least some results, even if short-lived.
- Not-So-Phony Psychic: The "mage" whom Lyuba hires to cure Kupitman of alcoholism (and Kisegach to "cure" Bykov of video games) is obviously yet another con artist, one of the hundreds. He gets quickly revealed by Bykov and Kupitman and bullied into working for them to teach their women not to trust the likes of him. But in the end, he somehow "programs" Lyuba into losing interest to sweets, and Kisegach to working until late, implying that maybe he knows something after all. Kupitman also confirms that he did feel a brief aversion to booze, he just chose to ignore it.
- Operation: Jealousy: Sophia somehow recognised Gleb's plan, and started pretending that she would go partying with Polina, progressively adding more details to make it look like Gleb may find unwanted competitors. Ultimately, he calls off his party to stay with Sophia, so she wouldn't go anywhere — which is exactly what Sophia wanted.
- Out-Gambitted: Turns out that Sophia had her own plan, and managed to trick Gleb into acting the way she wants it, without feeling that he was pressed into it. Very similar to Gleb's own plan towards Sophia, only that one actually works.
- Status Quo Is God: Did you really expect that some "mage" would "program" Kupitman into quitting drinking just in one episode?
