It's Gerri who convinces him to get back into writing. He's still stung from his experience at the LA studios, but she assures him that his robot screenplay wasn't that bad, just a little too violent to be marketable.
"You have the talent," she says. "Look at Tern Haven. You came up with the entire plot of an imaginary book in seconds."
"Yeah, I made a complete dick of myself."
"But in a creative way." She smiles. "I believe in your ability to make shit up."
This is the most encouraging thing anyone has ever said to him, so he starts working on a script while Gerri is out at work. He never needs to work again after the sale to GoJo, in fact he never really needed to work, could have done a Connor and just lived off their father's money while making sour dough bread. But the truth is, he's bored and needs a project.
By the time Gerri comes home, he's finished a draft of the first episode of his new show. She reads it while sipping a martini, Roman hovering nervously until she tells him to sit down.
"It's not bad," she says finally.
"But?"
"There's no circus in it."
"The circus is a metaphor, Ger!"
"Uh huh. I just think people might be misled by the title."
"Right. Back to the drawing board." He reaches for the screenplay.
"It has potential," she hastens to assure him.
"But you want more… clowns, is that it?"
"Look, I like it. I just think adding an actual circus would help with the themes."
"Okay. What if the lead guy runs away to join the circus?"
"That could work."
"And he meets a milfy trapeze artist who takes him under her wing and eventually seduces him?"
She rolls her eyes. "If you like."
"Okay." He suddenly feels inspired. An actual circus, with a cruel ringmaster and underlings fighting for dominance. He thinks he can write that.
"You coming to bed?" she asks.
"Not yet. I think I need to do a rewrite."
"Okay." She bends down to brush her lips against his. "Good to see you so enthusiastic."
By the time he goes to bed, he has a rewritten pilot draft and a plan to pitch it to a studio executive in the morning.