Just How Phony Was Sarah's Breast Cancer Scare?

Last night's penultimate episode of Start-Ups: Silicon Valley (probably for all time, given the way Bravo has started burning episodes off outside of primetime) featured an emotional storyline that was a departure from the show's usual talk of beta launches and angel investors, as lifecaster Sarah had to deal with a health scare. The situation, as she explained it to her friend David, was that she'd found a lump in her breast. "Doctors" in the Bay Area didn't know whether it was cancerous or not, but wanted to perform a lumpectomy to see what they were dealing with. However, Sarah preferred to get a second opinion before getting surgery, and would be travelling to Los Angeles to see another doctor before reviewing her options.

Practically everyone knows at least one person who's had a cancer scare, if not the actual disease, so it's gripping and tense to watch Sarah go through the process of seeking a solid diagnosis. Or, it would be, if she didn't seem like she was full of shit.

I realize that even suggesting that Sarah might not have been entirely truthful in her description of her problem makes me sound like a monster, but when you really look at the circumstances, you may also have your doubts. Let's run down what we know.

• Sarah is coming off a poor showing in last week's episode, in which she tried to fight for Ben (no prize, really) by telling Ben's on-again, off-again girlfriend Ashley not only that Ben and Sarah had gone on a date, but that Ben had described Ashley to Sarah as "a stalker." Ashley confronted Ben, Ben got pissed, and Sarah left the party in tears. So now she's on the outs again with Ben and his sister, Hermione. Even David told her, in last night's episode, that he thought Ben probably just lied to Sarah about his status with Ashley "to get in [Sarah's] pants." Which is not to say that Ashley didn't deserve to know what kind of person she was carrying a torch for, but also, Sarah shouldn't have expected to be treated as a hero for speaking truth to power or whatever the hell.
• So after David told Sarah some shit about her behaviour, she changed the subject to her possible cancer scare. After that, if David didn't return his sympathies to her, where she obviously felt they belonged, he would seem like as big a monster as I do right now. And it's hard to keep that up to someone's actual face.
• Sarah referred to "doctors," plural, in the Bay Area who've examined her and given her this weirdly vague diagnosis, so she wanted a second opinion. Fine. But she couldn't seek one from yet another gynecologist or oncologist in San Francisco? I mean, the place is a dump, but I doubt it lacks for qualified cancer experts. She had to go all the way to Los Angeles to get examined by another doctor?
• And then, when Sarah checked in at this clinic in Los Angeles, she told the receptionist that she doesn't have insurance and would be paying out of pocket. To us, she commented that her company doesn't do well enough for her to offer health insurance, and that she doesn't have as much money as people think she does. But she...does have enough money to travel to another city to pay for a doctor's appointment with her own money?
• In the end, it turned out that nothing was wrong with her.

Here's what I think happened. The San Francisco doctors told Sarah she was fine; she's young, she has lumpy breasts, there's almost certainly nothing to worry about. But! After the Bravo producers turned her into the villain standing in the way of Ben and Ashley's happiness, she knew she had to do some damage control. So Sarah found a clinic in Los Angeles that was willing to examine her on camera, trumped up this "second opinion" business that would actually amount to her doubly ruling out what she already knew wasn't anything for her to worry about, and got herself on TV bravely facing a health crisis without all her selfish foes even knowing she's going through it.

Or, I'm completely wrong, and Sarah was legitimately worried for her health, and scrounged together her last couple of thousand dollars to go to the Pink Lotus Breast Center -- a facility whose sign was captured with a big fat establishing shot on a nationally broadcast cable show -- to assuage her fears. In which case: phew, I'm glad she's okay.