Emmy Catch-Up: I May Destroy You (Season Finale)

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 12 “Ego Death” (B+)

I wasn’t sure how this show could end in a way that would feel both realistic and satisfying, but I think this was it. The sexual assault prompted Arabella to go on this journey, but part of what she has learned along the way is that there isn’t necessarily a moment of vindication or condemnation, and even those can be complicated by the relationships that develop, like with Zain. Seeing the man and remembering him made her head go to many possible places, and there was something a bit too simple about the paths she imagined. Having him drug Arabella in one scenario was reminiscent of “Promising Young Woman,” though in this case the road she took was considerably more violent and revenge-driven. Getting him to come home with her and then admit the different kinds of rape that he did all of the time was oddly therapeutic, in part because it would never happen like that, and Arabella even managed to find compassion for him as a result of their conversation and his openness. Having her not actually do any of those things and instead just decide to stay home with Ben was powerful, and apparently it did lead to a productive place where she was able to finish her book and then end at its launch. This show has been somewhat very different than I ever expected, and I wish I had kept watching through episode two to be on board at the very start when it first aired. I’d be thrilled if it took home a few trophies at the Emmys.

Series grade: A-
Series MVP: Michaela Coel

Emmy Catch-Up: I May Destroy You (Penultimate Episode)

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 11 “Would You Like to Know the Sex?” (B+)

This show to me feels a lot like “Normal People,” in that it’s a limited series that was highly acclaimed but that I only ended up watching much after it originally debuted despite generally liking the pilot. They’re both twelve episodes, and while that’s longer than most limited series these days, I’d still love for it to go on for a lot longer. This episode started out in a very lighthearted way, reminiscent of how Arabella and Terry were behaving when they went in to speak to the two pregnant detectives. Arabella was so enamored with Della’s book that she wanted to meet her, and while the energy of her sitting on the toilet expressing how similar they are seemed like it was going to work, it instead ended up getting her promptly blocked. That wasn’t the end of the story, of course, but Arabella first had to experience a serious fall from grace as she got dropped both by her publishers and her lawyers ahead of needing to repay her advance. Running into Zain felt like a strange development, but the fact that he was actually that author who had managed to be successful even after she had publicly called him a rapist was an even more brutal blow. He did manage to help her quite a bit, and they had a positive interaction that in a weird way seemed to remedy their dynamic. Terry and Kwame also had transformative experiences with their dates, pushing the boundaries of what they’ve previously been exposed to and the expectations they have of themselves. Terry also got the job, though much of what happened in this episode overshadowed that, and Kwame’s attempt to apologize to Nilufer went very poorly. The most monumental development was the sudden flashback for Arabella at the end of the episode that seemed to allow her to recall pretty much everything, which is going to set her on a pointed course of vengeance in the final episode.

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.

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 9 “Social Media Is a Great Way to Connect” (B+)

Comparing people’s experiences and trying to judge the severity and impact of what they went through is never a smart idea, and that led to some real tension here. Arabella was definitely in overdrive in terms of the power she was getting from her social media presence and following, reclaiming an authority over how women are treated by men in society but getting far too sucked in by that to realize how she was hurting other people. Kwame talking to Arabella and Terry about what happened with Nilufer elicited a harsh reaction from Arabella that essentially accused him of being just as bad as a rapist, and the fact that they were all wearing Halloween costumes when it happened only made it seem more mean-spirited. It was good that Carrie recommended a timeout from social media for Arabella and a return to the real world, and the effects of that change were almost immediately felt when Arabella apologized to Kwame for the way she had spoken to him. Terry was in the middle of all this, trying to focus on the Paint and Wine event and unable to ignore Arabella being connected constantly to her phone, even when they had agreed not to do that inside. Being told not to vape was the last straw for Arabella, and I liked how Terry reasoned with the doctor that the logic that vaping was also bad for Arabella was not information that should be shared with her since it was a necessary distraction from worse things. Going back to the club shows that Arabella isn’t moving on with her life but merely redirecting her focus to that catalytic incident.

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 8 “Line Spectrum Border” (B+)

This episode featured some unfortunate spiraling on the part of two of its main characters, which was unpleasant to watch, especially after they started off casually joking with Terry in the park about how Kwame was going to try sleeping with a woman. That experience actually went somewhat well at the start, with Kwame hitting it off personality-wise with Nilufer and then going back to her place, where things turned sexual. Even though he didn’t really know what to do and it triggered memories of his own traumatic experience, she seemed happy, until she revealed her prejudices and how she didn’t want to apologize for them. She did not react well at all to his admission that he was gay, and that night ended very poorly. Arabella’s sudden trip to Italy wasn’t much better as she snuck into Biagio’s building and then went looking through his apartment until he arrived, startled to see her. She had no understanding of the fact that he wasn’t happy to have her there and just didn’t get it when he locked her out after she excitedly ran out to get the pizza. She did get pretty angry there, raging and swearing at him in Italian, and it took him pointing a gun at her when she essentially kicked down the door to realize that she had to leave. It was a stark difference in tone from the overly happy visit to the police station where Arabella and Terry were giddily celebrating the two officers’ pregnancies before finding out that Arabella’s case is pretty much closed.

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 7 “Happy Animals” (B+)

It’s interesting to consider the idea of Arabella as an influencer since she has indeed found a sort of fame after outing Zain in a public forum, but she definitely hasn’t seen that translate into the ability to, say, pay for her groceries or have cash lying around while she’s working on her book. Thinking that she could go directly to Susy after the warm reception she gave her on their first meeting to get an advance on her deal was met with a firm dose of reality and the most stoic response of her having signed a contract. Being a spokesperson for Happy Animals was an unexpected path, and she seemed excited even if it was a bit strange, but Theo telling her that she got paid more to refer someone of color was enough to sour the experience and apparently cause her to go viral for stopping mid-segment and eating fried chicken on camera instead. There’s a real complexity to Arabella’s newfound friendship with Theo, particularly as perceived by the birthday girl Terry, who still holds it against her that she accused a Black boy of assaulting her without knowing the truth of what actually happened, which itself isn’t as simple. It’s good that Kwame finally opened up to someone, and it’s understandable that he chose Terry rather than Arabella because maybe he doesn’t think she’ll think of their experiences as comparable. Terry’s conversation with Simon was laced with aggression on both sides, and the fierce protectiveness she’s trying to exert may not actually be helping.

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 6 “The Alliance” (B+)

It’s so interesting to see how, in the aftermath of Arabella’s big bombshell and all the subsequent press and chaos, this show chooses to spend almost the entire episode in flashbacks to reveal a deep pain that Arabella was involved in causing without realizing it. Terry didn’t seem impressed with the group that Arabella was going to, especially when she found out that it with Theo, who was referenced as a classmate but without all the important context. Seeing how Theo had photos taken of her by Ryan on his flip phone without her consent indicated how powerless she was in a horrifically judgmental society, and agreeing to do more for money only to throw his phone out the window was an intriguing step designed to, in some way, give him his due. Cutting herself in the bathroom and then framing it as a violent sexual assault prompted Arabella and Terry to come to the aid of their friend Ryan once they found the phone, which told a different story, but everything is much more complicated than that. The racism they saw in Theo accusing Ryan was evidently rooted in the cruel comment she muttered as she passed them walking out of the school, and she also revealed later that her mother had forced her to make false testimony against her stepfather, presumably to offer her a better life even if the truth was lost along the way. The unconditional support that Arabella and Theo now offered each other was affirming, and the list of statistics that Theo opened the meeting with was truly harrowing.

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 5 “…It Just Came Up” (B+)

This episode featured a truly unexpected moment, one that changed the course of how everything works by showing Arabella using the platform she had to make it clear that what I thought she had written off as something that didn’t bother her was instead an incident she wasn’t going to tolerate. Seeing her Google on her phone whether throwing away a condom during sex is rape while Kwame was looking up a similar thing based on his own experience indicated how she was having trouble moving on from what seemed to be an overall positive interaction, but one that she realized was all too similar to what happened to her in the bathroom. She did enjoy messing with Zain a few times by saying the wrong thing so that his ears would perk up when he heard her calling him the rapist, but it didn’t prepare him at all for the public outing she performed which Terry helped to record after he attempted to sneak out and run away from it all. Biagio was much less sympathetic when he spoke with her, arguing that it was her own fault that she was raped, and while she isn’t necessarily close to discovering who her other assaulter was, there’s no turning back now. Her new haircut was a bold change, one that underlines a demand to be seen. Kwame’s time at the police station was considerably different from Arabella’s since the officer he was speaking to didn’t seem to believe his claim, and I’m not sure whether her going public with what happened to her will encourage him to pursue it or to try to hide it from anyone else.

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 4 “That Was Fun” (B+)

One of the benefits of getting to catch up o na show like this after it’s already aired and been nominated for awards is that those actors who do get recognized, unlike Weruche Opia, who I mentioned in my last review was snubbed, have chosen what they believe to be their best work. In this case, that’s Paapa Essiedu, who plays Kwame and who managed to grab one of the three slots that weren’t filled by “Hamilton” performers in his category. He’s definitely an interesting character, and seeing how he responded first to Damon’s discomfort with the notion of admitting his sexual orientation and then how things turned violent once Damon decided to leave and Kwame struggled to get through that without the right kind of support. I’m looking forward to getting to know his character better over the course of the rest of the series and to see how his own experience factors into how he is going to be there for Arabella as she unpacks what’s happened to her. A lackluster meeting about her book turned into a hookup with Zain, and I got very worried when I saw him flick off the condom right in the middle of everything without telling her. I did think it was going to turn much darker and end up being very triggering, but he quickly admitted it and she even had a joking tone when she informed him that he was going to be paying for the morning-after pill. It’s certainly not a positive development, but their communication improved in a short time after that and it does not appear to be a scarring incident.

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 3 “Don’t Forget the Sea” (B+)

I’ve heard nothing but raves about this show, and I really didn’t know what to expect after watching a pilot that did little to indicate the trajectory of the show and what I knew of its story. After a second installment that laid out the inconsistencies in everyone else’s stories that existed, this episode ignored all of it and instead took us back a few months to a formative Italy experience with Arabella and Terry. It’s very helpful to understand their relationship and the way that they interacted when Terry came to visit Arabella, introduced by Arabella going to audition and, after an initial absence of an answer, returning to share her memorable experience of having a threesome. The circumstances under which that happened were a bit more complicated, and of course they involved drugs, which in this case didn’t lead to anything bad but definitely compromised judgment and led to choices that might have otherwise ended up being unsafe. There was a certain element of trust in the Italian people who freely offered up access to these drugs that felt irresponsible, and fortunately the men vying for the attention of both women did not have malicious intentions, though they easily could have. I’m curious to see how the memory of that visit and night will influence Arabella’s search for the truth in the present and her continuing relationship with Terry. It’s always a shame when I don’t watch a show until after it earns awards and nominations because I don’t get the chance to be upset that a clearly talented performer like Weruche Opia didn’t get recognized until long after the snub has happened.

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 2 “Someone Is Lying” (B+)

This is a show that I had only heard excellent things about, and I kept telling myself that I would go back and keep watching after I was just too busy to continue with it after watching the pilot more than a full year ago. After disappointing at the year-end awards, this show arrived in a big and undeniable way at the Emmys, and so it’s finally time for me to make my way through it. I remember not being certain of the show’s focus during the pilot, and though I’ve heard a bit more about the show since, it’s still not entirely clear. Arabella knows that she can’t remember what happened and isn’t sure what to make of it, and she also seems reluctant to make a bigger deal of it than she believes she should since she can’t prove that anything happened other than the cut on her head and her phone being lost. This episode’s title was fitting since things most definitely do not add up, and some she went to talk to, like Alissa, weren’t at all happy to see her or to consider what it was that she implying. I was pleased to recognize Sarah Niles, a memorable addition to the new season of “Ted Lasso,” as the officer who made a helpful point about eyes and height, though of course it’s this role that helped her gain the other part since this series came first. I also think that Terry is an intriguing character who is going through something very different than Arabella but which should also be very worthwhile to watch.

Pilot Review: I May Destroy You

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.