We’re back with a recap of Episode 5 from Netflix’s Inventing Anna. This time we’re focusing on Neff.
Beginning
After Anna assembled her dream team for ADF (Anna Delvey Foundation), she had no trouble living the high life waiting for her financial loans to come through. During that time, she had a 3-4 month stay at the 12 George, one of many ritzy hotels owned by AB Rosen, New York’s ultimate real estate tycoon.
Her arrival disrupted the normal lives of the hotel staff, but in a good way. She tipped every single one of them, from the door man to the bellhop to the desk concierge, each a Benjamin large. This is where Neff comes in.
Neff knows the 12 George inside and out. She knows all the guests by name, who they are, and what they do. With connections all over the city, she can get you onto any list for any club, restaurant, theater, or other.
Middle
Neff listens to conversations with other staff members to anticipate Anna’s wants and needs and get ahead. And it pays off. Neff almost takes on a role of personal assistant, setting up meetings, taking care of her day-to-day, and getting her name on all the VIP lists.
With various hedge fund managers all vying for a piece of her $60 million trust fund, Anna is bound to come in contact with men who have less-than-great intentions. When one of these is forcibly trying to come up to her room with her, Neff saves her.
To repay her, Neff gets invited to one of her dinner parties. She witnesses first hand the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous. One of the guests was Martin Shkreli, the man who bought a pharmaceutical company and increased the price of Daraprim from $3.50 per pill to $750 per pill (he’s in prison now).
Nevertheless, Neff is in the inner circle now. She meets Anna’s other friends including Kayce Duke, fitness guru to the social elite, as well as Rachel, a girl who works at Vanity Fair and only seems to be there for “the Instagram moments”. The girls are living the good life with spa days, shopping sprees, and an exciting night life.
But all good things must come to an end. The seeds of doubt are sown when AB Rosen’s sons, who Neff is familiar with, say they’ve never heard of Anna Delvey and if she was their father’s client, why would she be in a simple deluxe room and not a suite?
Back in the staff room, Neff’s boss said a credit card was never put on file for Anna and she’s already accrued over $30,000 in hotel charges. At dinner that night, all of Anna’s credit cards are declined. Neff foots the bill, something she clearly can’t afford, and starts to look uncomfortable.
She realizes Anna actually hasn’t been paying for anything. She simply charges everything to the hotel room. When Neff confronts her, Anna attempts to gaslight her but Neff cuts her off. She’s most likely the only person to lay it straight with her.
Anna gets kicked out of the 12 George and Neff doesn’t stop it. But Anna comes back the next day and pays her bill and gives Neff back the money for dinner. Neff feels a little embarrassed and although she wants to follow Anna wherever she’s off to next, she knows that life isn’t for her.
End
Vivian tells Neff she is the only person Anna ever paid back in full. She thinks Anna only stayed at the 12 George that long simply because she liked Neff. In the meantime though, Vivian’s past has come back to haunt her.
A few years ago, Vivian was working on a nondescript piece–30 Things To Do in New York. At the time, her and Paul (her current boss) were friends and more importantly, peers. One of the list items involved a young man named Donovan Lamb who made a ton of money off of a stock market bet.
Even though Vivian did her due diligence, Lamb went on record after publishing and said that what she reported was false. As a result, Vivian lost her job at Bloomberg business, Paul threw her under the bus, and her name has been dragged through journalistic mud ever since.
When it’s revealed that Lamb will go on air in a 60-Minutes-esque segment with his truth, Vivian is visibly upset. Paul attempts a somewhat apology and begs her to go on air with her own version of events. Vivian spends the entire episode on the fence.
Until one day before she leaves the office late at night, Vivian feels inspired by Anna’s self-belief and self-confidence. She demands that Paul be the one to go on record with the truth.
At the end of the episode, we finally see Neff visit Anna in prison and the two are all smiles. Maybe they were genuine friends after all.
