Thursday, April 21, 2022

What I’m Watching: Roar

Roar: Season 1, Episode 7 “The Woman Who Returned Her Husband” (B+)

What I like most about this show is how its unbelievable plotlines are posited as normal and not worth questioning. The notion that a husband could be returned because everything in America can be returned was a humorous setup for Anu to be able to, for the first time, really think about what she wanted for herself. Meera Syal was a great choice to play that lead, and I enjoyed seeing Bernard White opposite her in a lighter part than the one he’s currently playing on “Big Sky,” similar to his “Silicon Valley” and “Kidding” characters. Seeing how his value went down because he got returned again as she tried out a few other options who didn’t end up being right for her either. It was fun to see Julie White as the neighbor who had apparently always had a crush on him and who wanted to act on it, which in turn prompted considerable resentment from the original “buyer” since he hadn’t put that kind of effort into their relationship in a very long time. It was sweet, and perhaps a bit expected, to see that she ended up back in the store and eager to steal him rather than buy him even at a low price, allowing them to do something unlike the people they used to be and infuse a bit of adventure into their lives. This was definitely the most harmless and accessible episode thus far, sparing any trauma and violence and instead navigating the intersection of boredom and unhappiness.

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