Queenpins (2021)

Queenpins (2021) Full Recap

In a small neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona, a retired Olympic racewalker, Connie, walks out of her house and meets a delivery woman named Mrs Flores, who has some things for her. After Connie collects some coupons and newspapers from Mrs Flores, she packs a few things to give to her nice delivery woman. She then heads into the house to help her husband, Rick, arrange his clothes for a work trip. As Connie tells Rick to pack a jacket because it might rain at his destination, he asks why she gave Mrs Flores a bunch of free stuff.

Connie says Mrs Flores is barely getting by, but Rick doesn't seem to care about this because he believes that his wife is spending money that they don't have. Connie says she's actually saving them money, but Rick still doesn't appreciate this. As he then heads to the store room, he sees a couple of detergents that Connie just bought, and he looks surprised. However, Connie explains how she saved a lot of money by buying the detergents in bulk with coupons.

Rick doesn't seem to understand this, and as he keeps complaining about how his wife stocks up the house with supplies, Connie remembers when they didn't use to argue about money. A few years earlier, things were going quite smoothly for them until they decided to start a family. After a couple of appointments at a fertility clinic, Connie still couldn't deliver a baby, and this put a strain on her relationship with Rick, who started traveling around the country as an analyst for the IRS. Connie initially felt sad about this, but with Rick always being away, she got closer to her neighbor, Jojo, who is a YouTuber.

In the present day, Jojo records a video about coupons and the best deals of the week. Jojo's mom, Mama Josie, doesn't seem to like this, and she interrupts the video to mention that Jojo doesn't actually have a job or the money she claims to. Jojo immediately ends the video and tells her mom to stop interrupting her. She also calls herself an entrepreneur, but Mama Josie says she's just a saleswoman who doesn't make sales.

Jojo seems tired of talking to her mom, and she says she's heading over to Connie's house. Mama Josie sounds concerned that her daughter and Connie are always spending time together, carting around all kinds of coupons. Jojo doesn't seem interested in arguing with her mom, and she picks up her box of coupons and heads out. Just as Jojo gets to Connie's house, Rick is already on his way out, and he jokingly calls her a savior of savings.

Jojo doesn't like this, and she says she's sure that no one is ever happy when they see him. Rick just laughs this off and leaves the house while Jojo heads in to meet Connie, who is arranging some of the coupons she just got. After talking about the deals they found this week, Connie heads to a local A&G Family Mart to buy a few things. When she gets to the checkout desk, she tries to engage the cashier, Greg, in a conversation, but he doesn't really seem interested in talking to her.

After he tells Connie the price of everything she bought, she gives him her stack of coupons, and he looks surprised by how many she has. Quite interestingly, Connie ends up saving around one hundred and twenty dollars, and she tells Greg that it's actually good if everyone saves. She adds that if they all watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves. After this, she heads home and arranges all the things she got in the storeroom.

While she's at it, she sees a poster on the wall that reminds her of the way she decorated her baby's nursery before things didn't eventually work out. As she looks frustrated, she grabs a box of Wheaties and eats out of it. Connie notices that the cereal is stale, and out of anger, she sends a complaint email to the company that produces it. Elsewhere, Jojo tries to convince a neighbor to buy a cosmetics kit from her brand called Back 2 Black.

As the customer asks if Jojo takes credit cards, she says she can only take cash because she has a history with identity theft. The customer takes this the wrong way, but Jojo quickly explains that she didn't steal anyone's identity, and she was actually a victim. Despite this, the customer remains hesitant about buying the product, and Jojo heads home looking disappointed. A few days later, Rick returns from work, and Connie suggests going on an expensive date.

Rick doesn't think it's worth it because it will cost a lot of money, and he tells Connie to use her coupons to get them something to eat instead. The next day, a mailman named Earl comes around to deliver Jojo's mail. Interestingly, Earl has a huge crush on Jojo, and he's also a big fan of her YouTube channel, even though all she talks about is coupons. Jojo doesn't know that Earl likes her, and as he commends her last video, she just thanks him.

Elsewhere, Rick sees Connie arranging the supplies in the storeroom, and he tells her that he's going to be away for a few weeks. Connie doesn't respond to him, and he suspects that she's still not happy about him turning down her idea of going out on a date. He then mentions that they would've been able to afford eating out at expensive places if Connie hadn't chosen to do four rounds of IVF treatments, even though he wanted to quit after one. Connie looks sad when she hears this, but Rick still says that she's trying to replace what she lost with coupons.

Connie says they lost a baby, but Rick just tells her to get out of the room and find a job. Shortly after, Connie checks her mail and sees a letter from the producers of Wheaties along with a coupon to get a free box. Connie looks shocked by this, but she immediately heads to the supermarket to get the free box of Wheaties. When she gets there, she shows Greg her coupon and repeats her quote about watching the pennies so that the dollars will take care of themselves.

Greg asks why she keeps saying that, and Connie says it's because little things matter to her. Greg asks if writing a complaint letter is one of the little things she cares about. Connie looks surprised and asks how he knows what she did, but Greg just mentions that she's not special. He adds that companies always send free coupons to people who send them complaint letters.

Connie looks amazed by this, and when she gets home, she decides to write more letters to other brands. Days later, Connie gets free coupons from different companies, and she shows them to Jojo, who wonders how she got them. Connie explains what she did to get them, but Jojo says she doesn't think it would work. Connie then asks if she would be open to buying the free coupon for half the price of the product.

Jojo says she wouldn't mind paying for it, and Connie points out that if she can get paid for coupons she got for free, then it would be a real business. Jojo doesn't understand this, and she also asks how they'll get more free coupons to sell. Connie says she knows where they can get the coupons in bulk, and she shows Jojo a video of a coupon printing facility called Advanced Solutions. In the video, it is mentioned that there's a printing facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, and Connie suggests going there to get boxes of free coupons.

Jojo doesn't like this idea because it's stealing, but Connie convinces her to change her mind. Following this, they both leave Phoenix and begin their trip to Chihuahua. The next day, a loss prevention officer at an A&G Family Mart in Nevada, Ken, sees a cashier unsuccessfully trying to scan a coupon brought in by an old lady. Ken then approaches the cashier, Dave, to ask for the coupon.

After taking a look at it, Ken says it's a fake coupon, and that the old lady needs to pay full price for what she bought. The old lady begs Ken to make an exception because she doesn't have enough money with her. Dave also mentions that the old lady has been a regular customer for years, but Ken doesn't seem to care. He insists that the coupon is fake, and the old lady has to pay for what she bought.

The old lady looks pissed at Ken, but he just walks away from the store and heads home. Interestingly, Ken lives a boring and miserable life without a wife or kids, and he doesn't really care about being seen as a good person. Elsewhere, Jojo and Connie arrive in Chihuahua and find the Advanced Solutions facility. Connie then mentions that they need to find someone who would be willing to work with them to get the free coupons out of the facility.

As they scout for the right person, they see a man named Alejandro smoking in a section where it is prohibited. Connie says he's the perfect person for them because he's already bending the rules, and Jojo agrees with her. Shortly after, while Alejandro is heading home with his pregnant wife, Rosa, who also works at the facility, Connie and Jojo start trailing them. Alejandro and Rosa eventually notice this, and as they look scared, they nearly attack Connie and Jojo.

However, Connie and Jojo quickly mention that they're regular people who have a way for Alejandro and Rosa to make more money. The couple seem interested in this, and they take Connie and Jojo to their house. When they get there, Connie tells Alejandro about her idea, but he says he can't help her steal the coupons because it's a crime. Jojo tells him to think of it like they're Robinhood, and Rosa convinces Alejandro to change his mind because they need the money for their new baby.

Alejandro then explains that there's always an extra box of free coupons, which eventually gets destroyed at the facility. He says he can get those boxes to Connie and Jojo for their business, and they look pleased with this. The next day, the first box gets delivered through Mrs Flores, and as Connie receives it, she and Jojo start planning how to run their business, which will be called Savvy Supersaver. After sorting the coupons, Connie creates a website and puts her favorite quote about pennies and dollars on the home page.

Jojo also dedicates her YouTube channel to promoting the website so they can get customers. In just a few days, Jojo and Connie are able to sell hundreds of coupons, and they start receiving more boxes from Alejandro through Mrs Flores, who doesn't actually know about the business. In a few weeks, Jojo and Connie make hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they still continue receiving lots of orders. Meanwhile, Ken gets a lot of calls from different companies, complaining about a drastic decrease in their revenues because people are now buying their products with free coupons.

Ken looks shocked by this, and he starts trying to figure out what’s happening. After a while, he finds a customer who used a free coupon recently, and he gets her to tell him where she got it. The lady doesn't initially reveal anything, but when she realizes that he's not a cop, she tells him where she bought the coupons. Ken then checks the website when he returns to his office, and he sees the quote on the home page.

Days later, while Jojo and Connie are lamenting about receiving hundreds of orders daily, they get a message notifying them that their PayPal business account has been frozen. They both look scared and worried because they already have a lot of money in the account. Shortly after, Connie calls a PayPal rep and learns that the account will be unfrozen if they're able to prove that they're running a legitimate business. Jojo laments that they won't be able to prove it, but Connie says they just need to find someone who is experienced in something like that.

Jojo looks confused, but Connie suggests calling the hacker who stole Jojo's identity a while ago. Jojo doesn't think it's a good idea, but Connie says they have to try. Following this, they call the hacker, Tina, who comes over to pick them up so she can take them to her place. On the way, Jojo complains about how her stolen identity has affected her, and Tina apologizes for this.

Shortly after, they arrive at Tina's hideout, and she asks how the ladies have made so much money from selling coupons. The ladies then tell her about the business, and she looks surprised. Tina also notices that they have saved all their money in the same account, and she suggests spreading it into separate accounts. After she sees the Savvy Supersaver website, she complains about it being too basic because it could be traced back to them.

She adds that she'll take down all of Jojo's videos promoting their business because it's unnecessary. Jojo doesn't really support this, but Tina says she can't have anything online that ties her to the business. She also mentions that they need to rent a stash house for their business instead of working from Connie’s house. The ladies like this idea, and Tina says she'll get them fake IDs so they can open multiple accounts and apply for credit cards.

She adds that all the money they have is dirty, and they can't just go around spending it yet. She tells them to wait for six months and ensure that they aren't raising any alarms with whatever they're doing. As she calls them queenpins, they seem impressed and more focused on that. They then ask if Tina can repeat everything she just said so they can take notes because they didn't get it the first time.

Tina says she can't, and she offers to continue helping them if they give her ten percent of whatever they make from the business. Jojo doesn't like this, but Tina says she's worth it. Elsewhere, Ken goes to the FBI office in Salt Lake City to report the coupon fraud. He also prepares a document, which he says must be sent to the DC office so that the case can be treated urgently.

However, the FBI boss at the Salt Lake City office doesn't believe Ken is serious about the coupon fraud, and he tells one of his agents to ensure that the document gets lost in DC. In the FBI office in DC, the document gets delivered to a low-ranking intelligence analyst named Anderson, whose office is in the basement. Meanwhile, Connie receives the fake IDs Tina made for her, and she uses them to create new bank accounts before buying a stash house just as instructed. Six months later, Connie and Jojo realize that they've now made over five million dollars.

They look incredibly happy, but Connie suddenly remembers that Tina said something about the money being dirty. The ladies then decide to call Tina, but her number doesn't go through. As the ladies wonder what they'll do next, Connie remembers a story that Rick once told her about a guy who embezzled a lot of money and cleaned it by buying expensive things and selling them. Jojo thinks it's a good idea, and she tells Connie to go to the bank to withdraw all their money.

The next day, Connie goes to different banks and convinces the bank managers that she's the CEO of Back 2 Black. Since it sounds like she’s a legitimate businesswoman, she's able to get all the money. After this, Connie calls Rick to ask what he would buy if money wasn't a problem. Rick says he would buy a Lamborghini, and Connie and Jojo head over to a private dealership to buy a couple of expensive cars.

They also buy a private jet and a lot of expensive guns, which they plan to resell to clean their money. Elsewhere, Anderson calls Ken to ask about the coupon case. Ken seems pissed that the FBI is just calling him about the case, but Anderson says he's only a regular analyst with no field experience. He adds that after looking at the case, he has discovered that nothing on the website is traceable to anyone.

As he suggests that the coupon fraud isn't real, Ken says the scammers have been sending the coupons through the mail around the country. When Anderson hears this, he asks if the coupons were really sent through the postal office, and Ken confirms this. Anderson then gets an idea and says that help is on the way. Days later, a postal inspector named Simon meets up with Ken, who seems disappointed that an FBI agent wasn't sent to handle the case.

Simon says he's a federal agent, and that all issues related to the postal office are handled by postal inspectors. Ken still doesn't look impressed, but he tells Simon everything he knows about the case. Simon says he'll look into it, and Ken asks if they can work together. Simon says they can't because he’s a federal agent, but he still asks if Ken has tried to order a coupon from the website.

Ken says he hasn't, and Simon says he'll start from there. Meanwhile, Connie tells Jojo to follow her to a fertility clinic because she wants to try for a baby again. She adds that she can’t tell Rick to follow her because she doesn’t want him to know about it. The next day, they head to the fertility clinic, and the doctor tells Connie that this is her last chance to get pregnant.

Connie then says she would like to get a sperm donor because she doesn't want to use Rick's anymore. The doctor says it's fine, and he sends Connie and Jojo to a nurse who can show them the available samples. Elsewhere, Simon orders a coupon and realizes that it's coming from Phoenix. Ken says he knows the area well and can help Simon find the criminals, but the postal inspector still has doubts about this.

However, they eventually head to Phoenix together, and on the plane, Simon talks about how important the postal service is. Ken doesn't think it’s important because he believes letters are outdated, but Simon reads him a really old letter that a soldier sent to his wife from the warfront. This gets Ken emotional, and he asks if Simon knows if the soldier ever got back to his wife. Simon says the only thing he wanted to prove was that the letter survived, but Ken still seems interested in knowing what happened to the soldier.

Meanwhile, Tina calls Connie and asks to meet up. Shortly after, Tina shows up and takes the ladies to her hideout. There, she scolds them for buying expensive things with their money, even though it's already clean. She adds that Jojo's Back 2 Black business was a perfect cover, and they didn't need to clean their money again.

Connie and Jojo look disappointed by this, but Tina tells them to take the cash back to the bank in small amounts. The ladies then talk about the things they bought, and Tina looks disappointed. Days later, Rick returns from work and sees that Connie bought a new TV. He looks shocked and asks where she got the money for it.

Connie says she took his advice and got a boring sales job. Rick then asks about the coupons, but Connie says she doesn't do that anymore. Rick looks happy about this, and he mentions that he likes his changed wife. Elsewhere, Simon and Ken arrive in Phoenix and head to the A&G Family Mart to ask questions about customers with unusual couponing habits.

After speaking to a few cashiers, they meet Greg, who tells them about Connie. As he talks about her quote, Ken realizes that it's the same one on the Savvy Supersaver website. He then gets aggressive and tries to get a good description of Connie, but this scares Greg. Simon then takes Ken out of the store and scolds him for shouting at Greg.

Ken says he feels they're really close, and Simon agrees. The next day, they head to the nearby mail company to ask the mailmen if they've heard anything about a coupon counterfeit ring. One of the mailmen then points out that Earl is the only person who talks about a girl who makes videos about coupons. Earl immediately denies this, and even though Simon and Ken ask him more questions, he doesn't give up any information about Jojo.

The next day, Simon and Ken trail Earl while he's delivering mail in his assigned location. When he gets to Jojo's house, he looks scared that she's in trouble, so he writes her a letter and adds it to the ones he's about to deliver. Interestingly, Jojo isn't at home, and Earl drops the mail with Mama Josie. As he tells her to make sure Jojo reads the first letter because it's urgent, she ignores him.

He looks disappointed by this, and Simon and Ken notice that something is off. As Simon checks his database, he realizes that Jojo and Mama Josie live there. Since Jojo might be the person they're looking for, they decide to wait at a distance to watch the house. Elsewhere, Connie and Jojo find some men to buy their guns at a discounted price.

When Jojo returns home, she dances outside the house, and Simon and Ken look confused. Ken suggests arresting her right there, but Simon says they can't do that because they don't have evidence. The next day, as she leaves the house, they follow her until she gets to the stash house. Connie also parks her car there, and as Simon and Ken see her, they notice that she matches the description that Greg gave them.

Shortly after, they meet up with Anderson and do some extra research to figure out that Connie and Jojo are really the ones behind the coupon scam. With enough proof, Simon and Ken work with the cops to plan a raid to catch Connie and Jojo. That night, Jojo decides to check the letters she received recently. Coincidentally, Earl's letter is the first one she reads, but before she realizes what he's talking about, the cops raid the house and arrest her.

They also go to Connie's house to arrest Connie. Shortly after, at the police department, Mama Josie tells Simon that she always knew Jojo was doing something shady, and she's ready to cooperate with the cops. Rick is also brought in for questioning, but he says he had no idea about his wife's involvement in the coupon fraud. After Jojo's YouTube videos are recovered, she's unable to deny her involvement in the scam.

Simon and Ken also interview Connie, and she tells them that she did it because she knew she was worth more. Simon doesn't care about this, and he says she's facing 40 years to life for everything she did. As Simon leaves the interrogation room, Ken advises Connie to get a good lawyer. Shortly after, Connie meets Jojo in the holding cell and tells her what Simon said about their possible jail time.

Queenpins (2021) Ending Explained

She adds that if she takes responsibility for dragging Jojo into it, she believes the court will be more lenient on her friend. Jojo says she doesn't have to do that, and they both talk about how everyone is calling them frauds. Almost immediately, a cop tells Jojo that someone has paid her bail, and she heads out to see that it was Earl, who also brought her flowers. Jojo thanks him for this, and she realizes that he likes her.

Meanwhile, Connie is informed that she has a visitor, and it turns out to be Rick, who scolds her for getting involved in a shady business, which she called a job. Connie seems tired of being with him, and she asks for a divorce after she insults him. Days later, Simon and Ken figure out that Alejandro and Rosa helped Connie and Jojo secure the coupons from the Advanced Solutions facility in Chihuahua. However, the Mexican couple have fled the city, and the cops are unable to arrest them.

Elsewhere, Connie gets a lawyer who tells her that all she did was take advantage of a loophole, which is the same thing that most corporations do. Luckily, he's able to argue this well in court, and Jojo is sentenced to ten days' suspended imprisonment and one year probation. Connie also gets sentenced to eleven months in prison, with the possibility of parole after eight. Connie and Jojo look pleased with the judgment, but Simon and Ken cannot believe it.

As they complain about this outside the court, they're informed that all the companies involved pressed for leniency to avoid bad press. Ken isn't happy about this, but Simon says they did the best they could. Before he walks away, he reads another letter from the soldier's wife, confirming that he survived the war and was on his way back at the time she wrote it. Ken looks happy to hear this, and he decides to start working toward becoming a postal inspector.

He also joins a dating app and finds a match for himself. Meanwhile, Rick and Connie get divorced, and Jojo finds some of Connie's boxes, which she used to save some money at home. This made her really happy, and after she begins a relationship with Earl, they move to Montenegro to restart the coupon scam because the country doesn't extradite suspects to the United States. Elsewhere, Connie has now become heavily pregnant after her last IVF attempt.

She also seems really happy as she looks forward to her release so that she can rejoin her friend in Montenegro. After Connie gets tired of her husband’s frequent complaints, she figures out a way to get free coupons so she can sell them online. She then teams up with Jojo to make it a real business that eventually makes them millionaires. Unfortunately, their business gets noticed by a loss prevention officer, who works with a postal inspector to get them arrested.

Despite this, the ladies get a good lawyer to defend them, and with Connie about to finish her sentence, she gets ready to meet up with Jojo to continue the business in Montenegro.