It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.
UnREAL: Season 1, Episode 3 “Mother” (C+)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Constance Zimmer)
I’m more than happy to be officially done with this show, at least for the season, now that I’ve gotten to Zimmer’s submitted hour. This absolutely is not my kind of show, and usually I’m at least a little bit interested in where the plot is going to go and what’s going to happen, but I really don’t care much here. The title of the episode has a lot more to do with Rachel than it does with Quinn, and what a monster of a mother she has, so determined to control her life that she withholds financial support if her daughter refuses to engage in therapy with her, which is totally unethical in every way. It’s true that Rachel is good at her job because of how twisted her brain is, and that her natural impulse is to stir up the drama in a way that her hapless colleague Shia just doesn’t have. But back to the Emmy nominee at hand – this is definitely a smart submission for Zimmer. Giving Chet another chance seemed like a step backward, but I don’t think she expected him to have a heart attack while they were having sex. Getting talked down to by his wife was a harrowing moment, and one that Zimmer handled very well in her portrayal of Quinn. It’s the meatiest role on a soapy show, and therefore I think Zimmer might have a decent shot at taking home the Emmy for her performance. I’ve enjoyed her better in other projects, but I suspect that she’ll be a returning nominee given the positive reception to season two of the show.
Showing posts with label Unreal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unreal. Show all posts
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Emmy Adjacent-Episodes: UnREAL
It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.
UnREAL: Season 1, Episode 2 “Relapse” (C+)
Sandwiched between Emmy-nominated episodes one and three
I only watched this episode for some context getting to the next installment, which is Constance Zimmer’s submission for Best Supporting Actress. In this undeniably dramatic hour, this show underscored its mirroring of its subject matter by underlining its soapy and sensational in nature. That does not appeal to me, and I’m honestly pretty bored by this show. I’m also distracted by the focus on Johanna Braddy’s Anna, who I naturally reference as already having plenty of parent issues from her role as Shelby on “Quantico,” an unfair predisposition given that this episode aired months before the ABC FBI drama even premiered. The notion that contestants would miss out on major life events like the near-death of a parent seems ridiculous, and while it may actually happen in real life, it’s still hard to watch. It’s also incredible just how much of the scenes edited into “Everlasting” are taken from members of the producing team planting questions and then reframing the interactions to make it seem like they’re crazy. For Rachel to attend Anna’s father’s funeral seems more than disrespectful, and I find it hard to believe that Adam so willingly led along with being forced to keep Anna waiting and thinking that she might not be chosen to stay on the show with him. Zimmer’s Quinn is showing no signs of calming down as the season is intensifying, and she was not at all pleased to learn that Chet’s wife was pregnant and that he was planning to build her a house to live in all by herself. I don’t plan to watch this show past episode three, and we’ll see how that installment goes.
UnREAL: Season 1, Episode 2 “Relapse” (C+)
Sandwiched between Emmy-nominated episodes one and three
I only watched this episode for some context getting to the next installment, which is Constance Zimmer’s submission for Best Supporting Actress. In this undeniably dramatic hour, this show underscored its mirroring of its subject matter by underlining its soapy and sensational in nature. That does not appeal to me, and I’m honestly pretty bored by this show. I’m also distracted by the focus on Johanna Braddy’s Anna, who I naturally reference as already having plenty of parent issues from her role as Shelby on “Quantico,” an unfair predisposition given that this episode aired months before the ABC FBI drama even premiered. The notion that contestants would miss out on major life events like the near-death of a parent seems ridiculous, and while it may actually happen in real life, it’s still hard to watch. It’s also incredible just how much of the scenes edited into “Everlasting” are taken from members of the producing team planting questions and then reframing the interactions to make it seem like they’re crazy. For Rachel to attend Anna’s father’s funeral seems more than disrespectful, and I find it hard to believe that Adam so willingly led along with being forced to keep Anna waiting and thinking that she might not be chosen to stay on the show with him. Zimmer’s Quinn is showing no signs of calming down as the season is intensifying, and she was not at all pleased to learn that Chet’s wife was pregnant and that he was planning to build her a house to live in all by herself. I don’t plan to watch this show past episode three, and we’ll see how that installment goes.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Emmy Episodes: UnREAL
It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. This year, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.
UnREAL: Season 1, Episode 1 “Return” (B-)
Nominated for Best Writing for a Drama Series
Once upon a time, I really was able to watch every single pilot each season. It’s hard to catch all the streaming premieres, but there are also a few networks whose new shows I don’t seek out, like Hallmark, ABC Family (now Freeform), and Lifetime. That leads to be missing the few shows from those channels that do become big, like this buzzed-about hit which premiered in June 2015 and wrapped its second season earlier this month. I wasn’t too interested in this show because it’s about a reality series, something that I don’t watch in any capacity and therefore wouldn’t appreciate seeing parodied as much as many other people. There is still plenty of that, with a decent focus on the content of the show that I found to be rather boring, but there’s a much darker, more intriguing story going on in this drama that’s set up as a mystery. I recognize Shiri Appleby from her “Roswell” days, though I don’t think I ever really watched that show, and Craig Bierko from his role on “Nip/Tuck” as a repeat customer who kept coming back for plastic surgery after enjoying being physically scarred, among others. I’m a big fan of Constance Zimmer from her recurring roles on “Entourage,” “The Newsroom,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” and “House of Cards,” and it’s great to see her finally earn an Emmy nomination for this role. Also in the cast as bachelorette contestants are Ashley Scott from “Jericho,” Johanna Braddy from “Quantico,” and, most exciting of all, breakout star Breeda Wool from “AWOL,” which I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival. Appleby’s Rachel seems pretty damn crazy, and Zimmer’s Quinn is more than happy to use that to her advantage in the most conniving way, which should at least make for soapy television. I can’t say I’m hooked at all, but I’ll watch the next two episodes to make it to number three, which is the hour that Zimmer submitted for Emmy consideration, to see if my opinion changes.
UnREAL: Season 1, Episode 1 “Return” (B-)
Nominated for Best Writing for a Drama Series
Once upon a time, I really was able to watch every single pilot each season. It’s hard to catch all the streaming premieres, but there are also a few networks whose new shows I don’t seek out, like Hallmark, ABC Family (now Freeform), and Lifetime. That leads to be missing the few shows from those channels that do become big, like this buzzed-about hit which premiered in June 2015 and wrapped its second season earlier this month. I wasn’t too interested in this show because it’s about a reality series, something that I don’t watch in any capacity and therefore wouldn’t appreciate seeing parodied as much as many other people. There is still plenty of that, with a decent focus on the content of the show that I found to be rather boring, but there’s a much darker, more intriguing story going on in this drama that’s set up as a mystery. I recognize Shiri Appleby from her “Roswell” days, though I don’t think I ever really watched that show, and Craig Bierko from his role on “Nip/Tuck” as a repeat customer who kept coming back for plastic surgery after enjoying being physically scarred, among others. I’m a big fan of Constance Zimmer from her recurring roles on “Entourage,” “The Newsroom,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” and “House of Cards,” and it’s great to see her finally earn an Emmy nomination for this role. Also in the cast as bachelorette contestants are Ashley Scott from “Jericho,” Johanna Braddy from “Quantico,” and, most exciting of all, breakout star Breeda Wool from “AWOL,” which I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival. Appleby’s Rachel seems pretty damn crazy, and Zimmer’s Quinn is more than happy to use that to her advantage in the most conniving way, which should at least make for soapy television. I can’t say I’m hooked at all, but I’ll watch the next two episodes to make it to number three, which is the hour that Zimmer submitted for Emmy consideration, to see if my opinion changes.
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