Thursday, April 21, 2022

Take Three: Roar

Roar: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Woman Who Was Kept on a Shelf” (B)

I was excited to see the talent involved in this episode, with the creators of “GLOW,” who also made this show, bringing back one of their favorites and the only performer to score an Emmy nomination (well, three) for that series: Betty Gilpin. She’s a terrific actress I first remember seeing on “Masters of Sex,” and this felt like a particularly fitting role for her. I was also pleased to see Daniel Dae Kim, an actor from “Lost” who I got to meet at the Sundance premiere of “Blast Beat” the last time the festival happened in person. The way that he suggested that she be in his eyeline while he was working felt so creepily normal, and she didn’t have to think much about it before she decided to agree to it. Seeing her in lavish outfits sitting on that admittedly comfortable-looking bench was hypnotizing, and the passage of time was well conveyed by her increased boredom and her husband’s relocation of his desk so that he could no longer see her. Her daring escape led to a wild but understandable celebration of the feelings that she had upon finally being in the fresh air and free to move around after years of sitting still for others to look at or ignore her. When she was in the water, she went through a jolting shift back to reality, one that led to an uncertain end, with her starting her own store that found her doing just what she had been doing for so long and yearning for fulfillment that was out of reach.

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