Blow Out

Jonathan has only three weeks to open ""Jonathan Salon"" in Beverly Hills and realize his dream of establishing a presence in one of the world's most glamorous cities. Financed with his life savings, it's a move that could make or break the driven stylist.

Opening day arrives...except the salon isn't open. Most of the stylists have booked appointments but will have to scramble to find space at Jonathan's West Hollywood location to keep them.

Kimberly's career ambitions are on hold until she can find a suitably ""genius"" replacement to become Jonathan's new assistant. The interviews are many, but candidates are few — until Elizabeth arrives, and gets the job on the spot. To celebrate Kimberly's achievement, Jason organizes a trip to a nearby lounge. There, he convinces a waitress to come in for a cut. Brandon seems jealous. At the salon the next day, Jason gives her a terrific new look — with frequent visits from Brandon, who watches intently. On a busy Saturday, comedienne Margaret Cho pays a visit. Celebrity surprises are part of life in Los Angeles; Jonathan makes the time to attend to her personally. The next week, Passions actress Heidi Mueller drops by for a cut and a makeover. Brandon again fails to endear himself to Jonathan. First, he invites his ""sandwich guy"" to sell food to the stylists without seeking Jonathan's permission. He washes his hair in the salon sinks, a Jonathan no-no. He continues to wear short sleev

Having seen and heard enough, Jonathan lowers the boom on Brandon. Brandon seems disappointed but unsurprised by the decision. At first Jonathan is conflicted by his actions, but is later infuriated to learn that, in addition to everything else, Brandon asked out one of his clients inside the salon. Down a designer, Jonathan takes on extra work when he volunteers his staff to do hair at the Rock & Republic fashion show. In a meeting, the designers request wild, ""warrior""-woman hair. Jenn is reluctant to participate because of her strongly held anti-fur and anti-leather beliefs. Jonathan is disappointed to hear that she won't be joining them, but the show must go one even without one of his top stylists. At the show, Alicia is upset when the area in which she was planning to work is taken over by Jonathan and Edward, a top freelancer from West Hollywood. She leaves in a huff, but the others simply work without her, creating high volume, ""Barbarella"" hair for the models. Two hours before

Jonathan & Alicia get into a argument. Alyn, Jenn, Jason and Kiara are dissatisfied with their working conditions: no support staff, a disorganized storage room and no nearby parking or valet for their clientele. The time they spend prepping is time they'd rather spend making money. Together with Annie, they agree to confront the boss.

After hours, Kiara, Jason, Jenn, Alyn, and Annie sit down with the boss to outline their complaints. Jonathan listens, but feels their comments are nitpicky. ""Did I make a mistake bringing in these people?""