In the fifth and penultimate episode of the second season of Slings & Arrows<\/i>, the crew puts together a riveting and nerve-wracking performance after Henry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s departure, but not all is well. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Slings & Arrows<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of racism, anti-Blackness.<\/b><\/p>\n
My god, this show is something else. There are times when I think a writing choice shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work, but it does<\/i>. It does here because the writing is sincere, real, and it fits the sort of chaotic tone of a theater production. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.<\/p>\n
Romeo & Juliet<\/b><\/p>\n
I still feel odd about the notion that Patrick was gay until he met Sarah and participated in this play. Again, sexual fluidity is a real thing! But this still has the air of the trope I brought up in the last review, where Patrick just had to meet \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the one\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to find out he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not actually gay. One way this could have been alleviated is simply a matter of time. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spend that much time with these characters, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re easily the most under-developed subplot. And I think it would<\/i> be interesting to explore how someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sexuality can grow and change and morph over time, that sometimes, events or people or places trigger that change in us. Instead, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to believe that the chemistry from a couple scenes\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich is undeniably there!\u00e2\u20ac\u201din order to accept this change in Patrick. And what does it have to do with the conflict they have with Darren, who is MONSTROUS in this episode? Will these two subplots collide? HOW THE HELL IS ROMEO & JULIET <\/i>GOING TO WORK IF THE ACTORS CANNOT LOOK AT OR TOUCH ONE ANOTHER?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Audit<\/b><\/p>\n I wanted to expand on one aspect of this subplot, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure is intentional but still arose because of the nature of the casting. The direction that Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story took in this episode helped me feel better about what the show is writing for her, namely since I find her introspective attitude to be utterly fascinating. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finally<\/i> asking herself some really, really difficult questions, and the answers to them are not comfortable. So, Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s auditor (whose name I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t catch when she finally said it) becomes much like a therapist for Ellen. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is certainly a problem in and of itself. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this anti-Black expectation that Black women exist for other<\/i> people, that they are there to do our heavy lifting for us. And Ellen absolutely expects that of this woman! She berates her, insults her, then dumps all of her emotional problems on her.<\/p>\n She also assumes that the woman has no idea what theater is.<\/p>\n Now, again, this part could have been written just to highlight the irony of Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s misconceptions of the auditor, and then<\/i> the character was cast as Black. But once that happens, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole new meaning to it. Ellen assumed this Black woman had no idea what theater was, and the awkward truth is that the auditor was trying to be respectful the whole time. I will say that I do appreciate the contrast: only one of these people was professional and kind throughout. So, in that sense, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s realistic. But is that intentional? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak for Black women, but I can<\/i> say that as a brown person, I am routinely assumed not to be a reader, or a writer, or anyone interested in the arts, or someone who has a desire to learn about other cultures, or\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, you get the idea. And don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get me started on racism in theater, which is a whole separate essay. You know how many times I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been assumed to be an usher or a janitor while attending shows on Broadway?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anyway, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m curious to see what Ellen takes away from this experience.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anna<\/strong><\/p>\n I don’t like Lionel. END OF STORY. I’m so heartbroken over Anna’s experience in this episode and how gross and manipulative he is of Anna. He stole her story, he violated her privacy, and at the end of the day, he used her so that he could find\u00c2\u00a0relevance<\/em>. He wanted to seem real, so he robbed someone of their whole BEING for art! It’s just… lord. It’s one of the most upsetting plots on this whole show, especially since Anna is perhaps the most genuine, kindest person on\u00c2\u00a0Slings & Arrows<\/em>! I WANT TO DESTROY LIONEL.<\/p>\n Richard<\/b><\/p>\n It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until this episode that I truly appreciated how isolated Richard is from everything else. His job isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, of course, and every new trainwreck makes his position all the more tenuous. With the firing of Henry, Richard is left with\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, nothing<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing really to bring in the crowds at the festival. Henry was the last draw! But his isolation is partly his own fault after the affair with Holly and<\/i> after aligning himself with Frog Hammer. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so obvious in hindsight that Sanjay was a fraud, that he was making everything up as he went. But Richard believed it; he bought Sanjay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manipulation because he wanted an easy path to success. He wanted to prove himself after the whole Listrex fiasco! And what better way to do that than to sink a bunch of money into a flashy, modern, and youthful marketing firm?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another telling scene in this episode that revealed exactly how Richard felt about all this. And I get why<\/i> that was his take on it all! He would rather have a full house for a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153garbage\u00e2\u20ac\u009d production than put on something to be proud of. After his experience in this season, his enthusiasm and understanding for theater is gone. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made one mistake after another, and all he wants to do is save his own ass.<\/p>\n I genuinely don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to do that.<\/p>\n Macbeth<\/b><\/p>\n I feel like anyone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been in theater for a while knows the utter terror of a last minute swap. Understudies are so, so important, and some of the best shows I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen were because of understudies who had to take over at the last minute. (For example, the second time I got to see Hamilton<\/i>, I was eager to see Javier Mu\u00c3\u00b1oz, but Michael Luwoye was his replacement and HE IS SO FUCKING GOOD, and\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfight me\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better than Lin. I KNOW, I KNOW.) Still, behind<\/i> the curtain, that choice can often be a nerve-wracking thing. Look, I braced myself for the absolute worst. And this production in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Steeped In Blood\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is certainly not the greatest. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point, though. In the chaos and terror of Jerry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very first performance as the lead actor, something beautiful happens. Everyone<\/i> comes together. And the way that the show portrays this as a group effort is so incredible, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Emily saves Jerry when he begins a soliloquy at the wrong part; other actors guide Jerry where he needs to be; the whole crew is DEEPLY invested in this working, and thus, Jerry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Macbeth transforms. It may not be exactly<\/i> what Geoffrey wanted, but the fear that Jerry channeled changed that character, and it made it better<\/i>. It is sad that he probably won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get this chance again, but for one night, he was the best Macbeth that Geoffrey could ask for.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how Geoffrey is going to pull this off with Henry. I did love that both Ellen and Brian acted in similar roles in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Steeped In Blood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Both of them brought men with high, high egos back down to Earth. Unfortunately, even with Brian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s urging (and Brian so quickly because the best secondary character this season, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all), Henry still relies on his own ego. That scene where he made Geoffrey apologize to him was agonizing, and then there was the salt on the wound: after everything, Henry insisted he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d still do things his way. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO FRUSTRATING! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what got you fired in the first place! That was Brian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whole point: Henry is afraid to try anything new<\/i>.<\/p>\n Oh god, what is Geoffrey going to tell the cast in those five minutes before opening night?? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SCARED.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Steeped In Blood\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the fifth and penultimate episode of the second season of Slings & Arrows, the crew puts together a riveting and nerve-wracking performance after Henry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s departure, but not all is well. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Slings … Continue reading