The Playboy Club Episode 1.03 An Act of Simple Duplicity

Billy and Carol-Lynne interview a flock of Bunny candidates; the club's grown busier than ever, and they're shorthanded. The field of would-be Bunnies is weak, but one girl catches Carol-Lynne's eye: Doris Hall. Despite Billy's objection, Carol-Lynne hires her on the spot.

Alice and Maureen talk about Nick and how perfect he is. Maureen admits she had a serious boyfriend once, but it was a "big mistake." Maureen asks Alice about her history with her husband Sean; she can only respond that "it's complicated." Meanwhile, a steamed Max excoriates Janie about failing to tell him that she was married. She tells him it's not a typical marriage and that he had better learn to deal with it if he wants to see her anymore.

As the club begins to swell with the nightly rush, Carol-Lynne greets Jimmy Wallace, an old friend and, like her boyfriend Nick Dalton, a candidate for State's Attorney. Jimmy asks Carol-Lynne to dinner, but she refuses. Jimmy tells Nick Carol-Lynne's too good for him and walks off.

Sean Beasley, Bunny Alice's husband, corners Nick to strategize his campaign. Nick tells Sean the bar association hasn't backed him yet because he hasn't raised enough money. Sean could change that in a heartbeat, he tells Nick - if he were Nick's campaign manager. His idea? Have Nick start dating Frances Dunhill, daughter of local magnate Arthur Dunhill.

Sean introduces Nick and Frances. "You two sure look good together," he tells them. They exchange pleasantries, and Nick excuses himself to look after Maureen. John Bianchi's been pressing her again for a date and, more ominously, for information about what happened to his father the night his father was murdered.

Carol-Lynne introduces the newest Bunny, Doris, to the team. Doris feels put on the spot, but the gals quickly take her in. She knows she's got a lot to learn and immediately begins peppering the Bunnies with questions.

Nick visits Carol-Lynne at her dressing table. He explains what Sean told him: he needs the right connections and the right companion to capture the election. He tells her of Sean's suggestion that Nick start a public relationship with Frances Dunhill to pump up his public appeal. Nick assures Carole-Lynne that it would be just for the press. Nick carefully asks if she'd be comfortable with it. "If it's what you need to win, I would never stand in your way," she answers. They kiss.

Bunny Doris continues her on-the-job training. She asks Bunny Brenda about whether the Bunnies ever do more than serve drinks. She says no. Doris wants to know if it's true that the club is the last place that mob boss Bruno Bianchi was seen alive. "That's the rumor," Brenda responds. When Doris keeps probing about the murder, Brenda shuts her down. Doris sneaks off to make a phone call. "I'm in," she says. "No one suspects a thing."

Nick parades Frances through the club and runs into John Bianchi; Nick declines to introduce them. Bianchi pulls Nick aside and asks for an update on the search for his father. Nick's got no leads. Bianchi points out Maureen and is convinced she knows something. Nick tells John to back off. "She's just a kid. Don't scare her," he warns. Nick leaves and tells Maureen in private to stop talking to John Bianchi. Maureen tells Nick she can take care of herself.

As Nick chats with Frances, Leslie Gore takes the main stage and delivers her hit, "It's My Party." Frances asks Nick to dance, and quickly, they're making beautiful music on the dance floor. Carol-Lynne, watching from the balcony, fights her jealous pangs. Bunny Doris notices too and asks Bunny Alice what's going on. She explains that her husband Sean is Nick's campaign manager, and the whole public show is just that - a show. Doris takes note and returns to the pay phone. "Nick Dalton is up to something," she tells the voice at the other end, before Carol-Lynne comes by and tells her to return to work.

Club Manager Billy gets an urgent call. It's a poker playing pal explaining there's a game going on with a rich sucker at the table. Billy says he'll be there in 20 minutes and leaves his office. Doris, waiting nearby, sneaks into Billy's office and steals the personnel records of several Bunnies.

As the Bunnies dance and sing along with Little Eva's "The Loco-motion" on the radio, Brenda and Janie catch up on why she's dumping Max. He needs to accept me as I am, Janie tells Brenda. Meanwhile, back at the club dressing room, Carol-Lynne finds a mysterious piece of paper with the names Carole-Lynne Cunningham, Frances Dunhill and Nick Dalton.

Maureen requests a meeting with John Bianchi. They rendezvous in the club's storage room. Ask me what you want to ask me, she challenges him. But Bianchi wants to talk on his own terms and tells Maureen that they need to meet up the following night.

Nick and Frances walk into a very swanky dinner party hosted by her millionaire father, Arthur Dunhill. He quizzes Nick on how he could possibly win when Jimmy Wallace already has Mayor Daley's endorsement. Nick explains he's not beholden to Daley and his system of patronage. "And," he tells the well-heeled crowd, "When I'm the mayor of Chicago, I won't have my hand in your pocket."

We finally learn who Doris has been talking with: her editor. The newsman meets Doris outside the club to tell her she's got just two more days to finish her story for the Daily News. Carol-Lynne, observing them from a distance, realizes she's been duped - and that a spy is about to shred the club's veil of secrecy. She rifles through Doris' purse and finds a press pass. Doris returns, and the two shout it out. "You won't get away with this," Carol-Lynne warns Doris. "I just did," she shoots back and then struts out the door.

Carole-Lynne calls a meeting of the Bunnies, explaining the situation and begging them to come forward if they think they've revealed anything to Bunny Doris that could be a problem. Nearly all of them raise their hands. She discovers that they've been very forthcoming with Doris revealing details about the club, the patrons, even Hef. Billy and Carol-Lynne commiserate; Hef is not amused.

Nick and Frances have a serious conversation at a fancy restaurant. She knows he's got a girlfriend; she really just wants to use Nick to win the approval of her father. She hand a check to Nick for $50,000. Apparently, her father thinks Nick's the perfect man. As they speak, Carol-Lynne and Jimmy Wallace stroll by, arm in arm. Nick introduces them to Frances, who quickly informs Jimmy that Nick will surely defeat him in the race for State's Attorney.

Billy visits the editor at the newspaper in an attempt to kill the story. The editor tells Billy he should consider himself lucky that they're not doing a story on him and his nightly high stakes poker games held by the Bianchis. Doris, the reporter, stops by to tell Billy that her next story will be about a Bunny who killed a man.

The paper hits the streets. It's a front-page expose on life inside the club. The article promises an even more lurid story the next day: the story of a Bunny who's committed murder. Billy, Nick, Carol-Lynne and Brenda all can't believe what's being written. The Bunnies begin to wonder who among them is a murderer.

Maureen and Nick have a frantic meeting. How could the reporter have discovered their secret? Maureen wonders if Doris overheard them talking in the club. She wants to talk to John Bianchi, but Nick insists he'll handle it. At Bianchi's office, he finds John loading his pistol as he prepares to visit the reporter. Nick tells him not to go, that the feds will be looking for him. They agree that Nick will handle it personally.

Nick warns Doris that libeling the club is a serious offense. Doris stands by her story and shows Nick her evidence for the murder charge. He reviews her file and nods his head. Back at the Bunny dorms, Maureen encounters an anxious Janie. She confesses to Maureen that years ago she and her husband killed a man. They had been robbing stores, and they killed an old man accidentally; the cops let Janie off easy but threw the book at her husband. She's terrified of being at the club tomorrow when the story comes out.

The next day, the story has been buried in the paper. Billy announces to the Bunnies that Nick has spoken with the Daily News; they sensationalized an accident, he tells them - they'll be printing a retraction. The story's over. The only ones more relieved than Janie are Nick and Maureen.

As Carol-Lynne belts out "The Lady Is a Tramp" onstage, Sean confers with Nick. The checks are starting to flow in, he tells the candidate. Nick shakes his hand and tells him he's officially hired as his campaign manager.

Doris returns her Bunny costume to the club and runs into Carol-Lynne. It wasn't personal, Doris tells Carol-Lynne. Carol-Lynne responds that it absolutely was personal, that it did great damage to the girls who work at the club and took her into their confidence.

Sean conducts a meeting of Chicago's Mattachine Society, a support and activism group for homosexuals. He introduces the new chapter treasurer to one of the club's members: Ms. Frances Dunhill.

As Maureen walks outside the club, a Lincoln pulls up beside her. The window rolls down to reveal John Bianchi inside. He beckons her inside. It's time for that chat after all.