What I’m Watching: Doll and Em

Doll and Em: Season 2, Episode 3 (B+)

It didn’t take long for things to get awkward as they always do, but they didn’t play out in the way I had expected. Ewan McGregor was a fun and surprising choice to show up and take Dolly away from her drink with Buddy and show her just how much talent he thinks she has. Their making out in the bathroom and his general praise of her writing helped inflate her ego to a level that made it so that, when Em broke the news to Dolly that she wasn’t going to be able to direct because she got the part, Doll was read to tell her that she could do it without her and didn’t need her anymore. That obviously didn’t happen, and now it’s getting to the point that Dolly is confusing the play they wrote for their own lives. She isn’t the only one, as Olivia’s rather invasive visit to her home to try her life on for size caught her by surprise and showed how little Olivia has self-awareness and boundaries. What is completely clear is that both Olivia and Evan are committed to the play and that it should take off. John’s attitude and his facial hair, on the other hand, are a bit more of a hurdle, but show business isn’t supposed to be easy, and this show wouldn’t succeed the same way if there wasn’t the opportunity presented for enormous discomfort at every turn. With three more episodes left, I’m sure there’s much more of that in the weeks to come.