#TvShowsOrGabeNeverHappened
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TvShowsOr... WeCrashed
One scene in, and I was sold. The scene was of Anne Hathaway's character getting a guy fired because he was having a meeting in her office, while him and everyone else at that gathering was wearing shoes right on top of a white carpet. What seemed like a hilarious scene of a terrible boss with a terrible accent turned into something much bigger. I was sold on a wrong idea, but that's kind of genius when you realize what WeCrashed is about. Nothing more than just a show about an entrepreneur who really only cares about being rich. It doesn't matter how, or with what idea he gets that, as long as he get the money on his pocket. Capitalism at its best, am I right?
Just like Christian Bale's role in American Psycho, I thought: maybe I could take some notes. This miniseries (based on real facts) tells the story of Adam Neumann, the eccentric founder of WeWork, a co-sharing workspace, that lost his company because he cared more about living the good life than living the real responsability of being in charge of a billionare company. It kind of reminded me of Inventing Anna, from Netflix: small people who tell big lies to huge people who somehow believe in them. Rich people, go figure.
No use in sugarcoating it: just like Inventing Anna, WeCrashed made me want so much to be a sociopath who doesn't care about deceiving people because that's just a small price to pay compared to the opportunity to have all of your dreams becoming true. No mater what and who cares how. Honestly, being a good person is really getting me nowhere, but that's all I know how to be — believe me, I tried being the fucker and it's too much effort.
Coming back to the reason why I decided to give a chance to this: Anne's character (plus the fact that it was a show that wouldn't need a second season and, therefore, wouldn't be cancelled half-way trough it). She is the wife of the founder, and she was a real person years ago, but it feels like she could be someone created in these last two years because she believes in manifestation and all that shit (don't get me wrong, I believe in that shit real hard). Maybe if Adam wasn't too busy paying attention only to himself, he could have seen that all this esoteric talk would be the big deal in the future, and maybe that could've been capitalized early on. You see? I rooted for them, even knowing that they are still rich and so much better than me. But it's impossible not to agree that Adam was toxic in all his leadership and Rebekah was insane in all her good intentions.
The show, just for all that, is incredible, and the story itself borders on the absurd way too many times, that you just can't stop wondering what's coming next and what will be necessary for someone to put an ending in all this madness. However, nothing caught my eyes more than Jared Leto. He was Adam throughout the whole thing. The characterization was insane. I forgot that I was seeing the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars on the TV screen. I forgot he once was the Joker. It's amazing how much of a chameleon he is. Insane. It's true that Anne has all the emotional weight on her, that she handles beautifully, but even so it's no match for the fire Leto brings.
Unfortunately, I came to realize (and, arduously, accept) that there are things that you just can't be in life. I can watch as many shows as I want, but nothing will ever teach me how to really be like Adam (or Anna). I can draw inspiration, change something here or there, but nothing can make me create the aura they have. The aura that believes in their own craziness and that will make everyone around them believe too. It's just as mesmerizing to watch this inspiring fire as it's fun to search for what really happened and seeing that it's not just television exaggeration. I caught myself doing that a lot during the episodes. Going through the articles to the Reddit picture that made Neumann finally step down as the CEO of WeWork.
Ultimately, I have to admit, I was worried about how he would end up. Look at that! Me! Worried about a billionaire (other than Taylor Swift). It would be more convincing to be worried about Rebekah's failure at being an actor (even with the power of nepotism right in her hand) since I am one too, than to be worried if Adam made it alive after all (and of course he did it). Guess his charisma really worked on me, even if through Jared Leto who has the incomparable beauty as an ally. A unicorn effect, indeed.
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TvShowsOr... High Fidelity
Read my post about the song I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
In all fairness, there was no way that the TV version of High Fidelity could be bad. The show is based on a book, that was already adapted into a movie — that I think I'll never get the courage to watch because I can only imagine how much of a brocialist the guy in there must be — and has the perfect ingredients: New York, Zoë Kravitz, and good music. It's like cooking desserts with condensed milk and chocolate: it definitely can't go wrong.
Just the same, in all fairness, it would probably take me too long to give this show a chance, since I tend to be very picky with the productions I watch because I don't want to start something that could end up a) canceled or b) with too many seasons made just to squeeze the fruit until there's nothing left. With High Fidelity, I'm almost certain I read something about it being canceled, so, if it wasn't for the song I Believe, I would have missed this perfection for all my life.
Rob is the kind of girlboss we can't help but envy. We can't deny that people like that in real life can be mesmerizing. She doesn't care what people think about her. She doesn't try too hard to be herself. She just is what she is, and she is the kind of girl that goes on a date with a cut on her hand and with a coffee stain on her shirt. Me? No… I take myself too seriously to ever do that. But seeing her doing it makes me want to do it as well. In fact, in one of the episodes she drank a whole bottle of prosecco on her balcony, and there I was, a few days before, doing the same — on a park bench, feeling super self-conscious, but I did it regardless.
One thing about High Fidelity is that this is a show that breaks the fourth wall, something I wasn't expecting so it took me a bit of adjustment, but then again, I'm constantly pretending to break the fourth wall in my daily basis like the main character I am, so I don't even know why I thought the show would be good without it. Even so, sometimes I feel like someone should try this whole talking-with-the-viewer thing without looking at the camera, as if the character is just speaking to himself without anyone noticing. It could be something different. I just think they missed the opportunity to show someone noticing Rob talking to us, like it once happened in Fleebag, but maybe that would've been too on the nose.
Basically, Rob spends the ten episodes coming back and forth to her top 5 heartbreak list, which I found genius (I can totally see myself doing that), and we meet lots of doubtful ex-lovers, especially Mac, who is so… meh. Love is stupid, after all. Before finishing the show, I read a spoiler that led me to believe she would end up with him (maybe in the movie it's like that?), but thank God she didn't — even though it could have happened, since the season ended with a potential storyline there, even having a decent finale for a canceled show.
In total, we have 10 incredible episodes, with no one feeling like a filler (although the episode featuring the encounter with the eccentric wife selling records came close) but honestly, even if the series consisted of 23 episodes, each lasting 40 minutes like they used to in the old days, it still wouldn't be enough for me. One of the episodes is from the point of view of her best friend, Simon, which was a good change (especially because it showed another perspective on the day we previously saw on a Rob episode), but that felt pointless because her other friend, the awesome Cherise, didn't have the same treatment. She would've absolutely killed in one themed episode just for her, because she is just the best. Coming back to Simon, I have to say, how jealous I am that he found someone like Blake. He's just… so perfect. The actor, Edmund Donovan, is incredible and so familiar, so I gasped when I discovered I had watched Akron with him (and fell in love there as well).
It turned out that Da'vine doesn't sing her version of I Believe on the show, which is another fucking waste, but what a nice surprise was to discover that Thomas Doherty sings. Just like his character on the disastrous Gossip Girl reboot, he's so charming and sexy, and being a singer is just the icing on the cake. Ergh, lucky Rob. But at the end of the day, I was #TeamClyde all the way because how can't you not be with Jake Lacy being there, right?
As with any other New York show, High Fidelity made me love the city even more. It made me want to be there so bad and to have friends like Rob, to go crazy and wild. I feel so uptight sometimes, I wish I could be a messed-up trainwreck like she is, even though I kind of am. Or used to be, since I'm trying to be the best version of myself for my mental health. So I guess I can settle for being a record store owner. The list of intense heartbreak I already have, anyway.
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TvShowsOr... Red Oaks
A couple of months ago, I was scrolling through Instagram, and found a post with TV show recommendations, and it had Red Oaks on it. I made a note-to-self (in the form of a screenshot) to watch it but never came back to that promise. Until one night when I realized I had to stay days locked up at home, so it was important to find something to spend my time with. That's when I found the show again, while scrolling on Amazon Prime. “What harm can a show of only three seasons do?” I pondered.
This innovative coming-of-age summer-show tells the story of David Mayers (played by Craig Roberts): a boy from the suburbs who works at a country club. He has a simple life, but he wants to be more. He wants to become a movie director. He doesn't want a trophy wife, a beautiful baby or to stay forever teaching tennis or to become a tax person like his dad (someone who doesn’t support his dreams in the slightest). Craig must have been the name to watch when the show premiered back in 2014. I remember him being kind of a Tumblr actor with his movie choices. Here he looks adorable and funny (and kind of a Tom Holland look-alike from certain angles). Seeing him in tight small pants was a vision for the eyes (specially when butt naked). He probably liked the whole camera thing because, in real life, he became a director and now he's focused on taking pictures with a 35mm camera. I'm happy he found his passion but sad not to see him on the screen.
Alongside David, we have a lot of charming characters. Skye, portrayed by Alexandra Socha, even though an irritating, spoiled, and entitled little brat, is, undeniably, the female heart of the show. Her absence in the third season is deeply felt, but, hopefully, when she appears to conclude her arc, she does it satisfactorily. Another girl who also steals the show is — oh my, another Alexandra — Alexandra Turshen, who plays Misty. The hot girl who dates the hot (but dumb) guy. Her role grows more during the episodes, leaving that teenage rom-com stereotype behind, and I’m sure the audience feels pleasure with that. It's interesting to see the development of the romance she has with Wheeler, brilliantly funny played by Oliver Cooper. Yes, he's just another cliche of the show, as the fat (and smart) guy who likes the hot girl, smokes marijuana and makes bad decisions, but he does it so well that I only remembered how cliche he was while writing this.
From the adult characters, Herb is the perfect one. I spent my watchings hoping to see Freddie Roman again and again, since he was very old when the show was shot. Well, he died last year, but good to see that he gave us this warm character on his 85 well-lived years. But, even though we get great characters played by veterans actors, one was the baddest of the baddest. I'm in love with Paul Reiser and his Douglas Getty. That's the guy I want to be when I'm old: ruthless, smart, and a relentless business-driven man, while also being (somewhat) generous. Of course not the bad parts of being a criminal and having offshore money, but that this made him a sweet badass, it did.
I have nothing bad to say about any of the seasons, which is funny to think about because I always some remark. Since I've watched them all in a few months, things are fresh in my mind. But that's not something that can prevent me from wondering about some writing decisions. In the first season, for instance, the cocaine situation was so quickly resolved for something so harmful. It could've been used to set the tone for the second season, and it would've been extra nice if Nash had used it for his advantage (since he was needing one at that time). Speaking of Nash, it can't be just me who saw a spark between him and Skip. I really thought they would have an enemies-to-lovers plot somewhere. Maybe if the show were recent, they would have a chance. Skip could be an asshole, but he's the finest looking one. In the third season, he even has a threesome with Nash, and they also move in together… Well… I guess the script indeed had that subtone after all.
Talking about settings, the change of scene to Paris in the second season, and, more prominently, New York in the third, was pleasant to see. I mean, who says no to shows in Paris and New York, right? But that made the magic of the country club disappear, especially in that smoky third season and even with arcs of the story happening there. Still, this change of scene had to happen to give the show a better flow and it also had a positive balance on the storylines, because allowed the writers to make the characters grow and evolve further in teenagers territories.
The struggle David lives, for example, became more intense, and I could relate to it so damn well. Money or happiness. A career or your passion? The girl or the dream? The growth of his character and his dilemmas caught me more and more as the episodes went by. At least, until the very last seconds of the last one, where he showed a snobbish side of him I wasn't pleased to see. If that's a side of the real David (the director), it makes it easy to understand why his movies aren't so well-received. Fun fact: only when I finished the series did I make the connection between this character's name and the creator of the show: David Gordon Green. And the surname Mayers? Well, let's just say Green has a thing for horror movies.
If, once, I first started watching Red Oaks for its short duration, I finished the final season damning that first relief, because the third is the shortest of them all. So short that, for a moment, I thought the show wouldn't be competently wrapped, but thankfully it was. Even so, that's how I like my shows to end: in their glory. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Younger are good examples of this (even though they lasted longer). The good thing is that I can always come back to this project and finish it just as fast as tennis courtyard swing. A show that caught my interest from the very first moment, when David's father had a heart attack at a tenis filed, and, scared to die, confessed he was still in love with an old fling, and that his wife was secretly a lesbian. Ah… the 80s.
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TvShowsOr... The Crowded Room
Being a Tom Holland enthusiastic can be overwhelming sometimes. Sure he has the charisma and the range, but he lacks focus. And a good management. If you really think about it, he only has one impactful work, and that's The Impossible. Sure, one can argue that his portrait of Spider-Man is the highlight of his career, in particular the third installment. Fine, I can't argue with that, but super-hero movies in general, are always faded to commercial success, specially if they're coming from Marvel and if they bring a lot of beloved actors to reprise their beloved characters. My point is: watching something from Tom for me nowadays is more a showcase of loyalty than to appreciation for the movies he puts out. I mean, just look at his previous works, Chaos Walking and Uncharted, and you'll get my drift.
All this to say that I almost decided to never give The Crowded Room a chance. First, Tom was looking dreadful in set pictures, with that hideous hair. Then, the critics weren't doing any favors to the odds against this production, or neither Tom's last acting choices. However, the lack of things for me to watch made me cave in. I joined the party once all the episodes had been released and that gay sex scene had surfaced online — which I watched it, just to have it ruining the major plot of the series for me right at the beginning. Ergh... Fortunately, not all the fun was shattered.
Danny Sullivan, a real life person who, in 1979, was arrested for an attempt of gun shooting in NY that started a major change in mental health jurisdiction in the United States, is the best character Tom has ever played. He's just magnificent throughout the entire thing. And that comes from me, a person who, up to this AppleTV original, thought that Arvin, from The Devil All The Time, was the best characther choice of his portfolio, inside the best concisive production he has ever been into. Cherry almost took that spot in my heart as it was a good contender, but that screenplay didn't make the movie justice.
It's no wonder to me why playing this complex man was challenging for Tom. Playing fractionated characters, while very good to explore ones hability, can be pretty exhausting for an actor, specially for one like Tom, who has a past in dealing with mental health issues. Even with all the problems he faced on set, I like to believe that this was, somehow, an enlightening experience for him. Hopefully, out of the dirt, he pulled out an excellent performance, which it was never really a question, since he is an formidable actor. I really hope this means he will chose more mature projects to work on in the future, since he already has Disney to keep his youthful Peter Parker persons alive for more a few more years.
Other than him, the show has another person that can deliver: Emma Rossum. I've known her since she played Fiona in the american version of Shameless. Even though that show lost its magic place inside my heart when I decided to rewatch it a few months ago, it's still undeniable that Rossum is an incredible actress who deserves all the praise, even if she doesn't seem to get much of them. In The Crowded Room I can't see her changing that fate though, because, unfortunately, she doesn't get the opportunity to shine. It's nowhere in sight an intense moment where she could've showed how good of an actress she is. As Candy, Danny's mother, she's just the woman who has an abusive husband. If the real Candy wasn't that complex, then Emma didn't have much to work with from the start, but it's a shame that the screenwriters didn't give her a Moment with a capital m, because Emma could've done one beautifully.
Alongside them, we have Amanda Seyfried and Jason Isaacs (as the psychiatry and father's friend, respectively), whose names I also already knew and that portraited their part very well, but that didn't give me much to say it about it here. From the other actors I never heard of, Levon Hawke as Johny (one of Daniel's friends), is definitely the one who steals the show. He’s just spectacular. Sam Vartholomeos, as Mike (another friend) is also incredible, but just your regular school jock. At last, I need to mention Sasha Lane as the badass, but phsyco, friend Ariana that Dan discovers along the way. That eyeliner… sharp enough to seduce anyone.
While watching them was a delight, the same can't be said to every screen time Zachary Golinger, the younger Danny, had. He was just too insufferable to watch. And don't even get me started on Emma Laird as his love interest. I mean, what producers in general have against Tom that they always chose the worst actresses to play girls Tom falls in love with? Apart from Zendaya, of course, they all are always terrible, terrible, terrible.
For me, however, the two really difficult parts of watching The Crowded Room were the unnecessary long credits and the cringe interview between Daniel and Rya on the last episode. In general, the show didn't trigger anything on me or made me feel uncomfortable. In fact, only one moment from the end of the ninth episode made me want to close my eyes. For the most part of the show, all I felt was pride to see Tom finally in a good character. Also, the story gave me good concepts of life and art (hence the "second arrow" and "blood spilled in violence" moments) that made me think a lot about my life and even inspired me to write a song, called Second Arrow, which is always a good thing. The ending, though satisfactory, felt too much like a TV show ending, not a real life ending, but how can I argue with facts, right?
As a whole, The Crowded Room is a real good watch and should've been the project with more chances to be Tom's blueprint. Unfortunately, it won't be. The room may be crowded inside Sullivan's mind, but it isn't for Holland's recognition.
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TvShowsOr... Heartstopper
Last year, Heartstopper took my heart at full steam. It left me in a trainwreck of happy and sad emotions. It was everything I ever needed, but also it was painful. It definitely molded one of the biggest challenges I ever faced in my life and played a big part in the shift I wanted to make for myself. I was scared for the second season, not because of its quality (I knew Alice would make a good job — although I'm concerned about the fact that Netflix askes her to make this season based on one book, and not two like the first), but because of how I would perceive it. How it would make me feel. Did I want it to be as soul-crushing as the first season was? Did I want it to make me miss something I could never have? Did I want to be the person who still loves teenage TV shows?
I didn't stress out much to find these answers when watching the second season. While last year I had the chance to watch it all in one sitting, which said more about the effect it was having on me than having the time to do it, this time I watched a bit more slowly. Life is busy right now. But whenever I had the chance to sit and watch, a smile was drawn on my face the entire time, and that's how I knew that I was happy watching it. It's funny how I spent years of my life watching straight love movies - like The Fault in Our Stars - and craved for that while manipulating my mind about how love should look like (always in a straight form) and now I have such deep LGBT+ content. It warms my heart. Still, the feeling of "I missed these experiences my whole life" was still there, but not as latent as it used to be.
The thing about this season is that it showed me how love can be. I had this conversation once with my therapist and I couldn't elaborate on what positive sides a relationship can have. I assumed there were some because of songs, movies, and books that followed me my whole life, but when it was time to point them out, I froze. I could only list the negative aspects of it. I took that approach with a friend of mine as well, and she enlightened me with something that made sense last night when I watched the last episode: love can be good. And now I know. I thought I knew it could, but the truth is that I never really, actually knew it.
So, the feeling after everything is peaceful and hopeful, and I'm definitely not as invested as I was last year with the first season. I think part of that was the changes. I read the books and, while they're not my style at all, it bothered me that there were so many new things. I couldn't help but compare it. That's why I decided not to read anything new Alice might put out. I'm also mad they chose "Seven" by Taylor Swift as her song for the season when it obviously should be "Paris," but I loved how they used the Folklore song on the show, so it's all good. Also, it was amazing to hear Gabrielle Aplin and Alfie Templeman on the soundtrack. A blast. Just like season one that introduced me to Waterparks, I'm glad to see these two incredible artists being introduced to more fans. They deserve it.
To conclude, I must say I can't wait to watch everything again. To pause to read the messages and to capture the details I missed on the first view. But mostly, I can't wait to finally find love. It's been so long I've been alive, but I think I'm finally ready to have my heart stopped.
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