Take Three: Nine Perfect Strangers

Nine Perfect Strangers: Season 1, Episode 3 “Earth Day” (B+)

The whole idea of this tranquility retreat is something I’m not sure I could ever sign up for, purposing depriving people of amenities and privileges, or at least the access to those, to help them realize how much better they can be without them or because of them. Going into a forest with no food and a directive to forage for anything they could find didn’t work out too well, especially with the one avocado on the tree that no one ended up taking and the fruit that wasn’t yet in season, and I have a feeling that Tony was meant to kill that goat for them all to feast on later. Delilah inviting everyone to venture naked into the pool was an interesting development, one Heather accepted much to the horror of her daughter, who also didn’t want to hear how her father was a brilliant lover and how she wanted him to have an affair. Napoleon’s one-on-one with Masha wasn’t terribly well-utilized, and for someone obsessed with the positive at all times, he couldn’t really be in the moment. I did recognize Hal Cumpston from “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” as Zach, Napoleon and Heather’s late son, in the brief visions he experienced. It’s intense to see Carmel’s anger issues, and I had the chance to speak with actress Regina Hall shortly after watching this episode about this role. I’m intrigued by the Carmel-Jessica dynamic and how that played itself out in the cheerleading stunt during the sack race and the preconceptions they both bring into their interactions. Learning that Ben won the lottery and Tony used to be a famous football player helps to fill in some context and explain their behavior. I don’t know what to say about Delilah offering to come up to Lars’ room and punish him for being bad, but I can’t imagine that’s actually going to happen. Heather asking Masha if she’s been medicating them and having them all turn to stare at her was a momentous ending, one that makes sense as the cliffhanger point between the first three episodes of this show and its second week installment.