THE ARTIST | Claire Danish
THE SHOW | Fleishman is in trouble
THE EPISODE | “Me-Time” (December 22, 2022)
THE PERFORMANCE | So far this season, Hulu’s witty divorce dramedy has mostly focused on Jesse Eisenberg’s mopey single dad, Toby, casting his ex-wife Rachel as a shrill, status-obsessed villain. But this week we heard Rachel’s side of the story, which provided a spectacular showcase for the Danes, reminding us that she is one of the best TV actresses of our time.
Rachel had vanished from Toby’s life without explanation, essentially abandoning her two children, and Libby found her munching on a bagel on a park bench, with Danes lost in a daze. At first, Rachel was confused and incoherent, with the Danes layering her rants with twitches and twitches. But then Rachel explained what happened — “I got dumped…by everyone” — setting off a swirling series of flashbacks that showed us why Rachel abruptly went off the grid. (That didn’t excuse her actions, mind you, but it gave us some insight into them.) The Danes showed impressive intelligence when Rachel was shooting and acting as a high-powered talent agent, but we we also saw Rachel at rock bottom, struggling through a traumatic birth and postpartum depression. Yes, Danes broke out his signature Cry Face throughout the hour, and it even turned into a howl of anguished grief when Rachel let out her pent up emotions in group therapy.
Later, she was caught up in an affair with her married friend Sam, and the Danes glowed with giddy infatuation. But that went south on an impromptu yoga retreat excursion, and Danes vented Rachel’s frustrations with another haunting primal scream that even seemed to shake the trees outside. Rachel also burst into apologetic tears when her biggest client cut ties with her after her disappearing act. Flemish cleverly showed us that there are always two sides to every divorce story, and Danes said Rachel’s side in a loud, clear voice with stunning clarity.
THE ARTIST | Billy Piper
THE SHOW | I hate Suzie
THE EPISODE | “Fear” (December 22, 2022)
THE PERFORMANCE | We all knew things were going to get worse for Suzie Pickles before they got better, but we never thought her image rehabilitation scheme at a celebrity dance performance would have exploded with fires. artifice as substantial.
In the Season 2 finale, Suzie’s personal and professional lives collide, as the on-set drama of crazy about dancing got involved in his messy divorce proceedings. During the show’s grand finale on the show, we saw fear, panic, and insecurity paint Piper’s face as rumors of her character’s on-set affair threatened to surface. But that wasn’t the only looming stressor. The results of his drug test (which would determine his custody) hung in the air, his friendship with Naomi once again hit the rocks, and Suzie and Cob’s constant wars upended his well-being. son. And as the dominoes fell horribly one by one, Piper’s body language and quivering energy gave us play-by-play of just how much her character’s screw was tightening.
And that’s when a breakdown became a total crisis. Suzie didn’t screw up the dance routine as we half expected. Instead, she won the show, grabbed the mic, and started chatting on everything, tearing off a wig to reveal a real shock: her bald head. When she finally really broke down, it was a mental break that made all the feelings for us. As Suzie dissociated, a glamorous Piper shot a 180, basking in the limelight and galloping across the stage. But back to reality, the actress had tears in her eyes and was manic; his sober and cold ramblings resembled a belligerent drunkard. It was a total disaster in the best possible way. Watching Piper exert such physical prowess, such control — from her well-choreographed dance routines (which were, no joke, on fire) to her near-hyperventilation and screaming, panicked delivery — shook us to the core.