Less Than Zero

Later, Clay reluctantly attends a New Year’s Eve party at Kim’s new house, where he meets a very pale man named Spit who is the drummer in the band Fear (a real band in the 1980s LA punk scene). He and Muriel are having an argument when the discussion turns to Kim’s parents—who are in England—and later to who Kim is dating. She confirms rumors that she is dating an actor, but the friends question why he wasn’t at a previous party. Famous actors and producers visit the party and are talking to Kim when Spit interrupts and explains that Muriel, in anger at him, locked herself in the bathroom. When Muriel finally lets Blair, Kim, and Clay in, they find her injecting drugs with needles, and the party photographer enters and takes pictures. Blair wishes Clay a Happy New Year.

After the party ends early, Clay goes home and watches a religious television program, specifically one in which two preachers claim that Led Zeppelin albums are evocative of the devil. Rip calls Clay and tells him that Julian wants to see him at the Chinese Theater, but he doesn’t know why.