Ep 8. Byte Club

Mariana and Raj, two engineers at Speckulate, are excited about the upcoming Byte Club event. Byte Club is a gathering of engineers and developers who compete in coding challenges, and winning could lead to job offers from top tech companies. At the same time, Gael is stressed about his art exhibit and Callie is dealing with her own romantic issues.

Mariana and Raj form a team with Evan, an arrogant developer who is convinced they can win. Things get off to a rocky start when Mariana realizes that Evan has been writing code on company time, which is against Speckulate's policies. She confronts him about it, but Evan insists that he's doing it to help the team win. Mariana is torn between wanting to succeed and doing what's right, and the tension between her and Evan continues to grow.

Meanwhile, Gael's art exhibit is in full swing, and he's getting attention from a well-known art critic. But when Gael's ex-boyfriend, Bryan, shows up unexpectedly, things take a turn for the worse. Bryan is jealous of Gael's success and tries to sabotage his exhibit. Gael is torn between his feelings for Bryan and his desire to succeed as an artist.

Callie's love life is also causing her stress. She's been seeing Jamie, a lawyer she met through work, but things have been moving slowly. When she confides in her roommates, they encourage her to take more initiative and make the first move. Callie decides to take their advice and invites Jamie to a bar, where she hopes to make a move.

Back at Speckulate, Mariana and Raj are struggling to keep up with Evan's pace. Mariana realizes that Evan has been cheating by using old code, and she confronts him again. Evan admits that he just wants to win and get a job offer, and doesn't care about ethics or rules. Mariana decides to kick him off the team and replace him with Casey, a talented but unknown developer.

Things come to a head at the Byte Club event, where Mariana and Raj's team competes against several others. The competition is fierce, and Mariana's team starts to fall behind. But with Casey's help, they manage to catch up and eventually win the competition. Mariana is thrilled, but she can't shake the feeling that she compromised her values to win.

Meanwhile, Gael's exhibit is a success, and he and Bryan make amends. Callie's date with Jamie is also a success, and they share a kiss. The episode ends with Mariana and Raj celebrating their victory, but Mariana is left wondering if she made the right choices.

Overall, "Byte Club" is an episode about the tensions between ethics and success. Mariana's struggle with Evan's cheating and her own desire to win highlights the difficult choices that engineers and developers must make in order to succeed in the industry. Gael's exhibit and Callie's romance provide a welcome break from the tech-focused plotline, and the episode ends on a satisfying note as the characters' hard work pays off.