Emmy Catch-Up: I May Destroy You

Every year, I watch the six submitted episodes of every series I don’t regularly watch that’s up for one of the Emmy series prizes. Last year, I started watching the entire season of each show to get a better idea of the quality I missed, and I’ve decided to continue that this year.

I May Destroy You: Season 1, Episode 10 “The Cause the Cure” (B+)

Every episode of this show reveals something new about why Arabella is who she is and the formative events and relationships that shaped her. She didn’t even process the information that Simon accidentally revealed to her when they finally got together, and instead went to celebrate her mom’s birthday while holding out hope as always that her dad would eventually show up. That opening montage with her waiting over and over again for him to come and take her to McDonald’s was exceptionally-done, and the fact that she still believed he would come through, even as an adult, is another instance of dependence on toxic influences. All she took away from him showing up at dinner incredibly late while everyone else was waiting to eat was that he did make an appearance as promised, but of course things got more tense later when he casually noted that her leaving the window open in his house was how the thieves managed to get in. That seemed to really shake her, and her complicated grappling with her parents’ marital situation was evident in her teenage interactions with Terry. In the present, the typically distracted Ben was a real support for both Terry and Arabella, who are sure to have trouble seeing eye-to-eye if Arabella chooses to confront her for how she handled things with Simon. Kwame’s latest date was unlike others, and his quick rush not to have his time wasted prompted an interesting response from Tyrone. I was definitely distracted by the questionable idea of eating that whole plate of food on a bed rather than at a table.