What I’m Watching: Nine Perfect Strangers

Nine Perfect Strangers: Season 1, Episode 4 “Brave New World” (B+)

As tends to be the case when the curtain is pulled back, things on this show are getting considerably more unstable, and the mere revelation that the guests are being drugged is putting them on serious edge. Masha’s methods are most definitely questionable, particularly encouraging people with known violent histories to tap into their rage and take it out on the dummy she had set up in the room. She was also very dismissive of Delilah’s concerns about Yao sneaking into her room, and her number one associate did not respond well to being cut out of the decision-making process. The news that Delilah was also on medication to manage her bipolarity suggests that everyone there, possibly including Masha, is heavily under the influence of mind-altering drugs. That approach is evidently resulting in Masha being targeted, first in the parking garage flashback and then in the break-in at her room with the threatening message. Carmel going ballistic in the anger session seemed to set everyone else off, particularly Tony, who shared his dark secret with Frances, and Napoleon, who was no longer quite as thrilled about having slept without his CPAP for the first time in nine years. Zoe seems to be having a great time getting to know Lars, who is a reporter but allegedly not there to get a story, and she’s going to keep the family there so they can experience more of this craziness which will surely result in someone – or likely, multiple people – getting seriously hurt.