{"id":6975,"date":"2018-09-12T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T20:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6975"},"modified":"2018-09-12T16:25:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T23:25:34","slug":"mark-watches-slings-arrows-s03e01-divided-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/09\/mark-watches-slings-arrows-s03e01-divided-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Slings & Arrows’: S03E01 – Divided Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of the third season of Slings & Arrows<\/i>, success is a blessing and a curse. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Slings & Arrows<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of mental illness and depression, substance abuse<\/b><\/p>\n

This was not what I expected, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited to see more. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s odd for the show to start from a place of success. Oh, there have been victories<\/i> prior to this, but this is the first time that success is a real thing for everyone here. Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to see through Sanjay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marketing plan granted him, by almost sheer luck, the beautiful popularity that he always wanted. With that has come money. Fame. Attention. The cast put on Macbeth<\/i> ON BROADWAY, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. They get to live their dreams! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what so many theater people aspire to.<\/p>\n

But what happens after<\/i> that?<\/p>\n

So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m deeply fascinated by the framing of season three, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very eager to see what these people are going to do now that they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have to worry about ticket sales. With that conflict mostly taken care of, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left? What plagues them?<\/p>\n

Richard<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a telling moment amidst what feels like an absurd subplot for Richard concerning his reluctance to just buy a new car, despite that his old one keeps stalling out about town. Presented with a sensible used car option, he worries that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not ready to give up who he used to be. And it seems silly because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a shitty car. Is that really<\/i> a big deal. However, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a huge personal question in this: How much of his identity is tied to his career in business? Who is he once you take all of that away? Unfortunately, he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t answer that. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until he goes on a date with a woman who he thinks is interested in him that he discovers she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interested in a potential he does not have. He isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t creative; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all business and numbers. Last season, he toyed with the dream of being in musical theater, but that dream was shot down pretty quickly. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know either! Richard has been the businessman with a quiet dream, one that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to become his reality. The irony, of course, is that the Richard of the last two seasons would have been ecstatic to get a new BMW from Mr. Archer. But now? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of what he used to value. How do you change something that<\/i> integral to who you are?<\/p>\n

Geoffrey<\/b><\/p>\n

I suspect that Geoffrey has a similar issue as Richard does, but he is coming at it from a different perspective. With fame, Geoffrey has been thrust into the machine that comes along with it. Interviews. Meeting. Appearances. Promotion. This is all stuff he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never<\/i> really had to deal with in any capacity. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never been expected of him either. All of a sudden, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being told a production of his was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153perfect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s asked to explain his process; he has to make speeches to people he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care for or know anything about. Every bit of that takes him away from King Lear<\/i>, away from the work he needs to do to feel satisfied. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t claim to know exactly what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on with Geoffrey, but I suspect all these new pressures have left him deeply unfulfilled and distracted. Perhaps his creative energy has been thrown so far out of his comfort zone that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s distraught over it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was another reason I identified both with this story and with Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. There is very little conversation around what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to do when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found personal success and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still sad. It is something I have experienced this year, and I wanted to talk about this as it concerns mental health, too. Both these characters could really use someone to talk to. I mean, that feels like an understatement because Geoffrey LITERALLY says this, first to Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho ignores him\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand then later to Charles, who mostly assumed he meant talking about King Lear<\/i>. The problem is that we are told so many times that once you find success, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to be happy. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ungrateful. But for those of us who have depression and anxiety, success often doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the same feeling or sensation. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not always affected by external factors, and lord, did I learn that the hard way earlier this summer. Even worse, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard talking about these sort of things when so many people around you would respond with hostility or disinterest.<\/p>\n

So what are you supposed to do? Geoffrey is so restless throughout this episode, while Richard lashes out at others and himself. Both are desperate for some sort of connection. Richard thought it was with the woman he met at that conference, and Geoffrey turned to Ellen. But they need more. Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a spiral around his identity; Geoffrey is uncontrollably weeping and experiecing erectile dysfunction. This is some heavy<\/i> shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. But I appreciate it because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I see so little of in media, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really, really eager to see where the writers take this. And really, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I want from the first episode of a new season: I want potential<\/i>. I just need the smallest hint of a story, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be hooked, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely what this does.<\/p>\n

The same goes for the other plotlines seeded in this premiere. Darren is back and is going to produce a musical<\/i>, and I am certain a new mess is upon us. I think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something more to Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friend, Barbara, and I am wondering if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to make Ellen realize that New Burbage isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the best she can do. I say that because Ellen seems to really like<\/i> New York and that life, and Barbara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s little complaints might hit a little too close to home. Well, literally<\/i> so, since she is now living with her and Geoffrey. I am also guessing that Anna is done with Lionel? I sure hope so I STILL DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LIKE HIM. And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Charles, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what to fucking SAY. That last scene completely threw me off. The show largely keeps his characterization a mystery. We know he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great actor from the scene in the retirement home, and I suspect the drama around him is because of his age. But heroin<\/i>? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another surprise, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also something we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see much of: substance abuse in the elderly.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Basically: this premiere was a big surprise, and it was a good one. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much the writers can do with this. I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WAIT FOR MORE.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Divided Kingdom\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":"