[8.3/10] This is my favorite episode of the season so far. What the show lacks in conspicuous artistry, it makes up for in realism. While I haven't been in the specific scenario of a Bay Area duo preaching “declonaivization” to a group of teens, I have been in any number of mandatory seminars where pie-in-the-sky facilitators cheerily force bored teens through various bonding/learning exercises. This episode gets the reaction of both the instructors and the teens just right.
It’s also a good episode for the various character relationships. I like the continued hints that, despite existing in opposition to each other for most of the series, there’s a strange concordance between Bear and Jackie. The fact that they win the potato dance contest (a strange sentence to write) despite grousing at one another the whole time is a sign that they’re more in sync, more aligned, than either of them realizes. We’ve had hints of that throughout the season, and I’m intrigued where it’s headed.
Likewise, I appreciate the way that Bear and Alora seem to work out their lingering issues from Alora bailing through a “guide your blindfolded friend through an obstacle course” exercise. (And Willie Jack using the exercise to have Cheese get her a soda is a big laugh.) The sense of learning to trust one another through the process seems to help them push past their beef. And yet, the theme of the episode seems to be that some issues are too deep to be resolved through hippie dippie, baseless shtick to keep teens occupied for an afternoon.
The scene at the end of the episode between Bear and Alora Jack is powerful. Bear’s hurt is real, but his attitude is childish, and his attempt to try to hurt Alora in turn by saying she’ll die alone like her grandmother is a verbal knife in the back. He’s right that Alora never apologized, but she’s also right to point out his hypocrisy in claiming to be the bigger person when spewing that kind of B.S., and that she’s not sorry for leaving that sort of childishness behind, even if she didn’t go about it the right way. The acting is a little stiff, but the emotions feel real, which gives the scene life.
In the same vein, I appreciate Willie Jack’s scenario with Jackie. She, more than anyone, has been the most resistant to Jackie’s presence in their orbit, even as she worked to remove the curse on her. The fact that she intentionally bungles a trust fall to get back at Jackie for jumping her friend seems almost cruel in the moment. But I like what follows a lot, where Willie Jack trashes Jackie’s brother, without realizing that the brother is dead, “like Daniel.” There’s a parallel between her and Bear, in trying to get back at someone and realizing you’ve gone too far when you see the humanity in your enemy. Willie Jack’s remorse, Jackie’s hurt and threat, and the way the enmity between them remains is another sign that this session didn’t fix anything.
Despite my backhanded compliment above, there’s a lot of artistry in this episode. The simple composition of Willie Jack approaching Jackie at the clinic is very well framed. The sequences where the kids recall a happy moment from their pasts, realized in black and white with one splash of color is eye-grabbing. And the flowing camera work when Alora is home alone, helps convey the eeriness of that scenario, where she feels the presence of her dead grandmother, or at least sees her sanctuary seem more unnerving in its solitude, conveyed with the cinematography and the acting.
Overall, this is a high water mark for season 2, which has its laughs and its neat directorial choices, but also some well-observed moments among the show’s main characters.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-09-08T05:15:42Z
[8.3/10] This is my favorite episode of the season so far. What the show lacks in conspicuous artistry, it makes up for in realism. While I haven't been in the specific scenario of a Bay Area duo preaching “declonaivization” to a group of teens, I have been in any number of mandatory seminars where pie-in-the-sky facilitators cheerily force bored teens through various bonding/learning exercises. This episode gets the reaction of both the instructors and the teens just right.
It’s also a good episode for the various character relationships. I like the continued hints that, despite existing in opposition to each other for most of the series, there’s a strange concordance between Bear and Jackie. The fact that they win the potato dance contest (a strange sentence to write) despite grousing at one another the whole time is a sign that they’re more in sync, more aligned, than either of them realizes. We’ve had hints of that throughout the season, and I’m intrigued where it’s headed.
Likewise, I appreciate the way that Bear and Alora seem to work out their lingering issues from Alora bailing through a “guide your blindfolded friend through an obstacle course” exercise. (And Willie Jack using the exercise to have Cheese get her a soda is a big laugh.) The sense of learning to trust one another through the process seems to help them push past their beef. And yet, the theme of the episode seems to be that some issues are too deep to be resolved through hippie dippie, baseless shtick to keep teens occupied for an afternoon.
The scene at the end of the episode between Bear and Alora Jack is powerful. Bear’s hurt is real, but his attitude is childish, and his attempt to try to hurt Alora in turn by saying she’ll die alone like her grandmother is a verbal knife in the back. He’s right that Alora never apologized, but she’s also right to point out his hypocrisy in claiming to be the bigger person when spewing that kind of B.S., and that she’s not sorry for leaving that sort of childishness behind, even if she didn’t go about it the right way. The acting is a little stiff, but the emotions feel real, which gives the scene life.
In the same vein, I appreciate Willie Jack’s scenario with Jackie. She, more than anyone, has been the most resistant to Jackie’s presence in their orbit, even as she worked to remove the curse on her. The fact that she intentionally bungles a trust fall to get back at Jackie for jumping her friend seems almost cruel in the moment. But I like what follows a lot, where Willie Jack trashes Jackie’s brother, without realizing that the brother is dead, “like Daniel.” There’s a parallel between her and Bear, in trying to get back at someone and realizing you’ve gone too far when you see the humanity in your enemy. Willie Jack’s remorse, Jackie’s hurt and threat, and the way the enmity between them remains is another sign that this session didn’t fix anything.
Despite my backhanded compliment above, there’s a lot of artistry in this episode. The simple composition of Willie Jack approaching Jackie at the clinic is very well framed. The sequences where the kids recall a happy moment from their pasts, realized in black and white with one splash of color is eye-grabbing. And the flowing camera work when Alora is home alone, helps convey the eeriness of that scenario, where she feels the presence of her dead grandmother, or at least sees her sanctuary seem more unnerving in its solitude, conveyed with the cinematography and the acting.
Overall, this is a high water mark for season 2, which has its laughs and its neat directorial choices, but also some well-observed moments among the show’s main characters.