The Wheel

Walker and Albee arrive at a lakefront Airbnb to test their relationship with a self-help book. The couple is tense from the start, showing few habits of open communication. The setting by the wooded lake underscores the isolation and intensity of what lies ahead.

Host Carly and her fiancé Ben are introduced as a hopeful couple preparing for their wedding. Their warmth contrasts with Walker and Albee’s friction, highlighting different relationship dynamics. Carly signals that the weekend will include honest conversations with others present.

Albee bluntly explains why they came, signaling unresolved issues and a reluctance to address root problems. Walker persists in reaching out, but she rebuffs him, indicating she isn't ready to engage. The book is framed as a potential catalyst for change, even as trust remains fragile.

Walker offers two glasses of champagne in a bid to reconnect, but Albee declines and asks what would happen if the weekend fails. The moment underscores a longing for closeness tangled with fear of vulnerability. He withdraws back to the room, leaving the couple apart.

Walker spends the night on the couch while Albee remains emotionally distant. He makes a gentle romantic overture, which she deflects, then she goes off to find a phone signal. They are physically near but emotionally apart, foreshadowing further conflict.

Carly brings a breakfast tray to the guests and discusses wedding plans with Ben, including the altar's progress. Ben worries aloud about whether Carly really trusts him and about how relationships can become contagious. The breakfast setting reinforces the tension simmering beneath cheerful hospitality.

Ben approaches the cabin and overhears the heated exchange sparked by the first question in the book. The moment reveals how quickly a probing memory can escalate into blame. An outsider’s presence intensifies the couple’s conflict, exposing deeper wounds.

During lunch with the guests, Albee and Walker’s tension remains evident, and Carly tries to shepherd conversation. Albee notes she and Walker aimed to do the book together but diverged, while Ben remains skeptical about the interruption to plans. The meal becomes a test of staying civil under strain.

Back with the book, the next prompts require honesty about hurt. Ben shares his own memory of feeling hurt by a craft gift, while Albee needles Carly about trust. Walker tries to steer the discussion, but the emotional climate grows increasingly charged.

Albee recounts the honeymoon moment when Walker struggled to perform, and she admits she did not feel loved. Walker accuses her of lying about her feelings, producing a painful exchange. In a volatile gesture, he tosses her phone into the lake to stop the distraction and push for a real conversation.

The next morning, Walker finishes the altar scene, a concrete act of his contribution. Albee confirms they broke up last night, and Carly and Ben react with mixed feelings. Walker asks to stay, but the emotional toll has left Albee uncertain.

Albee realizes Walker told Carly and Ben about her troubled childhood, triggering a volatile reaction. She storms off, and Carly hurries to drive Walker toward the bar. The emotional fault lines broaden beyond the cabin as secrets spill outward.

At the bar, Albee flirts with a stranger, then halts as old wounds resurface. The renewed distance prompts them to seek a safer space to talk, with the bar as a transitional backdrop. The couple challenges the impulse to run away again.

On a ferris wheel ride, they finally break through their defensive barriers and speak honestly from the heart. They acknowledge love, trauma, and the fear of being unlovable, and both commit to trying differently. Walker returns with fries to share, and Albee cracks a relieved smile as the moment of reconciliation settles in.