Kisegach, irritated by Bykov always going somewhere with Kupitman while she stays with Ilya, states that this time, she would go with her friends, while Bykov would stay home. He agrees... on condition that she would find at least one free friend until the end of the day. And indeed, Kisegach can't find anyone who can go with her. Bykov is ready to celebrate, but Kisegach reminds him that the day is far from being over. After failing to invite her mother, Kisegach tries to ask Vera, but loses interest when realises that Vera would do whatever asked to please her boss, in hope to get something out of it. She tries to ask Lyuba, but Lyuba claims to being busy, due to a visit of her cousin... only for Rita to suddenly appear and ask Lyuba on what time she should rent a place in a restaurant, accidentally revealing that the part about "cousin" was a lie. Kisegach then asks Kupitman — not only he's unlikely to refuse going somewhere where he may get free booze, but without him, Bykov wouldn't go anywhere anyway. But Bykov predicted that she would try this, and warned Kupitman about the bet. What Bykov didn't predict is that Kisegach is still Kupitman's boss and can change his vacation from summer to the late winter. Bykov retaliates by bribing Kupitman, forcing Kisegach to increase her offer — which Bykov counters by even higher bribe, and so on, and so on. Burning with greed, Kupitman invites them both to his office, so they may decide who exactly would "win" Kupitman's interest. Eventually, their "lensman race" results in both Bykov and Kisegach realising that it would be wasteful to not use all those gifts they've promised by themselves, and deciding to simply leave Ilya with babysitter and go together. And by "together", they means them two — while Kupitman would be their babysitter. Kupitman realises that he was tricked only when they locks the door behind him.
Sophia realises that she and Gleb are only ones around to not have sex, and wants to be dead certain that it would happen today, no matter what. For it, she would press Phil into spending a night somewhere else, to free the apartment for them. She succeeds, and tells Gleb that this night would be for them and only them. Gleb realises that his last chance is to use extreme measures: just dump Sophia outright today, and deal with fallout tomorrow. By proxy, it also means that the next day, Alexei would be free to start fighting for Sophia's attention. Comes the evening; when dinner ends, their "night of love" would start at any moment, so it's now or never: either Gleb dumps Sophia, or would be forever forced into relationship with her. Unfortunately, Gleb's mind keeps bringing up terrible scenarios of what would happen next: Sophia previously established herself as being not exactly stable, and may try to kill herself with whatever she can find right here and now — or even try to kill him. While trying to find a way to "safely" dump Sophia, Gleb completely misses the moment when his fear becomes reality: he and Sophia finally consummated their relationship. Back in the hospital, Alexei waits for confirmation that their plan has worked, and that Sophia is now single and heartbroken — only for the elevator doors to open, revealing Gleb and Sophia, kissing. Turns out, Gleb actually fell in love with Sophia. In order to comfort Lyosha, Rita invites him to herself, to help her fixing... pretty much everything. Alexei immediately realises that it was an invitation to do something entirely different, and gives her a big smile.
Phil (who was asked by Sophia to free apartment for this night for her and Gleb) asks Semyon whether he can stay in his apartment (Olga's leaved, Semyon is on a night shift, so it would be free), but Lobanov refuses; when pressed, he reluctantly reveals that Phil started stealing things — which Phil immediately proves, since, just as Semyon stated, Phil compulsively stole his lighter. Later, Lobanov busts Phil stealing sweets and even one spoon from a dinner room, and points this out to him. Phil starts realising that there's indeed some problem; to kill last doubts, Semyon searches Phil's workplace: every thief has a stash. After searching several lockers, they finally finds it, to Phil's shock. Phil can no longer deny it: he's a kleptomaniac. Lobanov forces Phil to visit psychiatrist, who informs them that this isn't "true" kleptomania: Phil is just too overworked and needs some rest, it would stop once he deals with his stress. Now, when Phil's innocence is proven, Semyon may entrust him the keys from his house. But when Phil comes to Lobanov's house, he starts remembering what psychiatrist has told to him — and realises that it's exactly what's happening! "True kleptomaniac firstly feels tension; then — foretaste of joy; and then, when stealing is done — satisfaction and relief". In panic, Phil realises that he just felt that — and that he just stole something. He rushes to the hospital, so he may return what he'd stole (and the keys) to Semyon, whose trust he just betrayed. Phil once again visits a psychiatrist — who once again suggests him to just have some rest (and maybe drink some pills, if his stress is that high). Phil leaves... but not before stealing something from the office.
This episode provides examples of:
- The Bet: Kisegach and Bykov have a bet; if Kisegach succeeds at finding anyone willing to go partying with her today, Bykov would stay and babysit Ilya. Otherwise, Bykov would go in the bar with Kupitman, and Kisegach would babysit Ilya. Predictably, Kisegach has bad luck finding anyone, with people she asks being busy with something else. Eventually, Kisegach tries to simply invite Kupitman (meaning that Bykov would lose by default), but Bykov've prepared for it by warning Kupitman about the bet, forcing her to find a way to motivate him to join her side. This starts an Escalating War between Kisegach and Bykov, who both tries to bribe Kupitman, and culminates in them simply abandoning the bet altogether and going partying together — while leaving Kupitman as the only loser.
- Compressed Vice: While Phil'd developed a kleptomania offscreen, some time ago (judging by Semyon losing his pen "a month ago", only to find it in Phil's "stash"), it takes him a single episode to realise that he has it, and cure it. Justified, since, according to psychiatrist whom Phil asks for help, it's not "true" kleptomania, and instead is a consequence of constant stress; with some rest and small doses of special drugs, he would be fine by next episode.
- Escalating War: Realising that Kupitman is already recruited by Bykov, Kisegach starts blackmailing him by threatening to switch the planned date of his vacation from summer to late winter. Bykov tops it by offering him something more than a mere visit to a bar (which was the original plan). Kisegach changes tactic and starts trying to bribe Kupitman, too, which results in them progressively raising the amount of goods promised to Kupitman. In the end, both Bykov and Kisegach decides that the list of events they prepared for Kupitman is too cool to waste, and decides to simply call a babysitter and go doing it all together. By "together", Kisegach means herself and Bykov, while by "babysitter" she means Kupitman.
- Imagine Spot: Gleb, who really wishes to avoid sleeping with Sophia, towards whom he feels nothing, starts planning how he can dump her — only for his mind to bring up the possible consequences. Most of them involves her killing herself (right here and now), with anything she could find, like the knife or the glass (just in case, he immediately hides those). Then he tries hypothetical scenario when he says that he cheated on her, and then she kills him, by hitting his head with a wine bottle. When Gleb tries the last time, it turns out that he imagined it while already having sex with Sophia.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Had Kupitman previously agreed on either Bykov's or Kisegach's conditions, he would have won at least something. Instead, he became too greedy and decided to milk them for as much as he could, causing them to realise that they may as well use all the gifts they promised to Kupitman for themselves, and force him to stay with Ilya.
- Sex Equals Love: Exaggerated. Gleb used to hate Sophia (and only played along with her delusions to avoid another suicide attempt — Sophia is that unstable) and tried to do everything to prevent having sex with her; the very instant they actually do have sex, Gleb falls in love with Sophia himself. "There's one step between love and hate", indeed.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Gleb and Alexei's plan to end Sophia's relationship with Gleb before Sophia could seduce Gleb, so Alexei may start fighting for her affection, ends in failure, because Gleb and Sophia actually do have sex. While Gleb no longer considers it to be a bad thing (due to actually falling in love with Sophia himself), Alexei does, and this was his last chance. However, it's heavily implied that he now would switch attention to Rita instead.
- Sticky Fingers: Phil's plot for this episode involves him developing kleptomania (or something kleptomania-like, since psychiatrist whom he asks for help insists that it isn't "true" kleptomania and just consequences of constant stress).
- Sycophantic Servant: Vera would gladly go anywhere with Kisegach, as long as she may be rewarded for pleasing her boss (she hopes for a vacation). Kisegach instantly loses any interest in inviting her anywhere.
- Take a Third Option:
- Kisegach decides to "cheat" by inviting Kupitman (which not only technically awards her a victory, but also means that Bykov has nobody to go with him). Unfortunately for her, Bykov did foresee this and warned Kupitman about their bet — and that if she asks him, it means that she's on the brink of failure. Unfortunately for Bykov, Kisegach is still Kupitman's boss, and has authority to decide when he would go on vacation...
- When their "lensman race" of bribing Kupitman goes too far, Bykov and Kisegach realises that they may just go partying together... while Kupitman would stay babysitting Ilya!
- Their First Time: Gleb and Sophia finally do what Sophia tried to achieve for the last dozen of episodes (and what Gleb himself tried to prevent).
