Episode 5 of Peacock’s mockumentary series “The Paper” marks an important turning point for Sabrina Impacciatore’s Esmerelda Grand. The series follows a group of journalists working under editor-in-chief Ned Sampson, played by Domhnall Gleeson. The Toledo Truth Teller was once a well-respected publication, but now mostly licenses stories from larger news organizations and has only two real journalists on staff.
In the fifth episode, titled “Scam Alert,” Ned chases a story about a local scammer operating through a dating app and realizes he may already have the scoop when he learns Esmerelda was one of the victims. Impacciatore knew the episode would give Esmerelda a chance to finally shine. The “White Lotus” star had one goal: “I wanted her to be lovable somehow. So I made strong choices about her emotional vulnerability and fragility.”
With Esmerelda anchoring the episode, it only seemed fitting that women helped bring it all together, starting with writer Mo Welch. The idea of a catfishing episode was always in the ether; Welch tells Variety that while she has never been catfished, she knows enough women who have been scammed by men. “That’s where I probably helped,” says the scribe.
