Forrest gets into a fight with a stranger, blackmails his new girlfriend and discovers the pleasures of a glory hole.
The first season of Review was a phenomenal masterpiece. It was a show I only experienced after its entire season had aired and I could binge it all in two sittings. It landed on my year end Top 10 list. It was a brilliant season of television. All of that acclaim is probably why it got renewed for a second season - considering the ratings weren't all that great in the initial airings. The first season ended in a very specific way. After all the destruction that the show had brought to Forrest's life and the people he loves the most, he opted to punch his producer Grant in the face and run off to try and win back the love of his life, Suzanne.It's somewhat surprising to see the second season premiere open with Forrest back on the job and getting ready to start a new season of reviews. How and why he chose to come back to this show is left a mystery. And yet, it also seems fitting for the show itself to do that considering the footage for Forrest's show composes the entire program. If the cameras don't get it for the show, then it isn't seen for the audience. The series could try and make AJ or Grant or Josh the host for a little bit. But that wouldn't have felt right. So much of the humor of the show comes from Forrest's misplaced love for the show above all else. He will literally do anything for the show - despite the perils it creates in the rest of his life. It's easy to believe that Suzanne not taking him back would send him crawling back to Grant and the show.
The season does open with Forrest believing he has come up with a solution to keep the show from destroying his life in a veto option. He is able to use that for two different reviews this season. And yet, that's just a device that gives him clarity to keep on doing the show. Knowing that it's there is going to give him some comfort. He probably believes that that veto option will keep him from making the same mistakes he did last season. And yet, this premiere does a phenomenal job at showcasing just how disastrous this show actually is for Forrest MacNeil. A veto isn't enough to fix that but Forrest's delusions will keep him from seeing that until it's too late.
Forrest's first review back on the job shows that things will only continue to get worse for him. Reviewing what it's like to be in a brawl feels very fitting given how last season ended. Forrest even makes a joke that him punching Grant was the first punch he had ever thrown in his entire life. That's what makes it so joyful when he realizes that punching someone hurts your hand as much as it hurts the other person. And yet, things take a sudden and violent turn for the dark when the person Forrest threw that punch at took out a gun and shot him three times in the chest. It's that kind of dark comedic sensibility that made the show so delightfully messed up to watch in the first season. This first review proves that the show is back and plans on being just as inventive as before.
Forrest getting shot also allows for some very solid buildup of a new relationship for him. It's always fantastic to see Fargo's Allison Tolman pop up in things. She continues to be very delightful and joyous here. And yet, she gets mixed up with Forrest rather quickly in a way that was only going to end tragically. It's great to see that Forrest is capable of being a regular person of society and winning over the heart of an attractive woman. The premiere makes it easy for the audience to see the affection between the two of them. But like everything else, their relationship is destroyed because of the show and Forrest's need to review the art of blackmail.
The look of befuddlement on Marisa's face when she learns what Forrest is doing to her was hilarious. She's new to him. She must know what he does for a living given the amount of cameras that were at the hospital. And yet, she doesn't know the extent of what the show does to him. It's very destructive. The blackmail is initially something she doesn't take seriously. She loves this man. She knows he feels the same way. She can't understand why he would do this to her. She is willing to give him money. But she's not prepared for how far Forrest is willing to go in order to issue his review. That takes things to a whole new level once he brings up the payment schedule at the most inappropriate time - right after sex when he just wants to be the inside spoon. Marisa went from loving him to hating him so quickly. It was devastating to see but also really funny. She didn't get her chance to shoot him again. But she really wanted to. That proves that any kind of relationship with Forrest is going to end in tragedy. Marisa is probably going to go to jail for stealing medication from her hospital. Instead of a life of happiness, she will live one of darkness and regret for ever getting close to Forrest. He in turn feels bad about what he did. He hoped that highlighting her good qualities would be able to overwhelm the crime she did. He's eternally hopeful in that regard even though things never turn out the way that he desperately wants them to.
And yet, Forrest was able to issue his review and move on to the next thing. Him seeking out a glory hole was probably the least effective segment of the premiere. It relied a little too heavily on Forrest's obliviousness to the concept. But it was still very funny in the execution. He got addicted to the pleasures offered to him through the hole that he was incapable of seeing what the actual truth was. He was so convinced that it was a woman that he couldn't fathom anything else being true. It was also great seeing him speak out about being cut in the line for the glory hole and being met with admiration and acceptance. Sure, things ended poorly when he falsely believed a woman in the park was the person on the other side of the stall. But that still set up some great reactions from AJ Gibbs and the rest of the staff. Even though things will only continue to get worse for him, every once in awhile he gets some pleasure that really excites him about the whole concept again.
Some more thoughts:
- Grant and Lucille nonchalantly talking about smothering Forrest with a pillow and making plans for lunch while he was in the coma were terrific. In fact, all the reactions while Forrest was in the coma - Suzanne's disgust at the sight of cameras, Josh's need to have sex, etc. - where great.
- That's Max Gail playing Forrest's father and I'm so worried that horrible things are going to happen to him. He seems like a good enough guy who just wishes his son wouldn't slam the car door so loudly and who yells at his son when he's pointing the gun towards himself.
- The guy shooting Forrest was a strong enough joke on its own but then the hilarity increased when the cameras got him confessing to his mom that "it happened again."
- Instead of using his near death experience to get closer to his family, Forrest saw it as an even stronger reason to do the show. That's only a rationalization Forrest MacNeil would take from this situation.
- Loved the sight gag of Marisa helping Forrest walk again by leading him up stairs that lead to nothing but a wall. A great metaphor for what their actual relationship became.
- AJ Gibbs reaction shots continue to be the best.
