In episode 10 of Everything’s Trash Season 1, Jayden gets hyped up for election day.
He and Jessie make their way to the polls, but Jayden makes a major mistake when filling out his ballot: He accidentally votes for his opponent, Tom Weaver.
When he goes to ask for a new ballot, the volunteer there misunderstands and processes the ballot for him instead. He ends up yelling, in front of everyone, that he voted for Tom Weaver.
Of course, someone records the event, and Hamilton circulates the embarrassing video on social media. But Jessie convinces Jayden to turn things around and convince people to vote last minute.
They go out canvassing one last time and convince multiple people to vote for Jayden–making up for Jayden’s wasted vote on his opponent.
When Phoebe and Malika go into work, they find that Murder Gals have received a brand-new office. Their boss tells them that Murder Gals have been rewarded for their loyalty.
This angers Phoebe, who yells in front of everyone that she and Malika are leaving the company for Limelight (despite the fact that they don’t have a contract yet).
Fortunately, the meeting with Limelight goes well. They tell them they love “Everything’s Trash” and are going to send them an offer. But Angela, one of the executives, later pulls Phoebe aside to tell her they only want her. Rather than bring Malika on, they want to pair Phoebe with an in-house producer.
So, Phoebe tries to get a better offer from Parakeet, but ends up getting fired. She admits to Malika what Limelight’s terms and conditions are. Malika admits to Phoebe that Parakeet wants her to stay on and produce other projects. It looks like it’s time for the podcasting team to part ways.
At Jayden’s election night party, he waits in anticipation to hear if he won. He gets a call about the race, to which he reacts disappointedly. Later, Phoebe comes in, and he tells her he lost.
Jayden realizes he’s made so many mistakes throughout the course of his campaign. He wonders aloud if he self-sabotaged because he knew he didn’t deserve to win.
Phoebe stops that train of thought. She says he never needed to win. He’ll keep helping people because that’s who he is.
Jayden gives a speech to those who turned up for the party. He admits his loss, but claims he’s happy. He’s happy due to his family and all the people who have helped him in his campaign. Jayden then encourages everyone to take chances with the people they love.
Phoebe and Malika share a significant glance during Jayden’s speech. Phoebe tells her she doesn’t want them to separate. So, they agree to self-produce the podcast together.
One of the Limelight executives approaches them during the party. He says Angela gave them the wrong message. They want both Malika and Phoebe. But Phoebe turns him away. “Too little, too late,” she says.
Hamilton calls Jayden to tell him he ran an incredible race. He only lost by a small margin, against all odds.
Hamilton then says he sees huge things on Jayden’s horizon. He wants to work for him to help him reach greater heights.
Encouraged by Jessie, Jayden reluctantly agrees.
Everything’s Trash Season 1 ends with the Limelight executive telling Phoebe he’s glad she refused his offer. Now, he can ask her to go to Miami with him.
Even with Hamilton texting her about the two of them going away together, Phoebe considers it.
She smiles. “I’ve never been to Miami.”
Though not usually a show of many surprises, Everything’s Trash takes Phoebe’s and Malika’s conflict with Parakeet somewhere I didn’t expect. Although they could have gone the cliché route of making Phoebe struggle over choosing between Limelight and Malika, writers rightfully chose not to betray the friends’ bond.
Of course, they had to introduce conflict somehow, and when real problems do crop up, they’re not exactly naturally occurring. Rather, Phoebe agonisingly creates conflict where none previously existed.
At least the season finale prepares all new drama for a potential second season. Even as Phoebe is stirring the pot where Hamilton is concerned, it seems Jayden will be keeping his former enemy closer than ever.