{"id":6977,"date":"2018-09-14T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6977"},"modified":"2018-09-12T16:25:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T23:25:55","slug":"mark-watches-slings-arrows-s03e03-that-way-madness-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/09\/mark-watches-slings-arrows-s03e03-that-way-madness-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Slings & Arrows’: S03E03 – That Way Madness Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the third season of Slings & Arrows<\/i>, Geoffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s promise is complicated, Ellen considers other options, Paul makes his move, and Richard stands up to Darren. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Slings & Arrows<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Holy shit, this was a LOT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ellen<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a single plot in this episode I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find fascinating. I know that some subplots haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly wowed me over the course of the show, but lord, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That Way Madness Lies\u00e2\u20ac\u009d knocks it out of the park over and over again. I wanted to start with Ellen because I actually felt slightly prepared for this turn of events. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d theorized before that Barbara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence in Ellen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life might push her away from New Burbage, and now we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing the next step in that. Barbara might be irritating at times, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not wrong<\/i> about Ellen being unable to promote herself. Actua<\/p>\n

lly, it goes further than that. Ellen is so comfortable in New Burbage that she hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even tied her misery to being stuck in a small town. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always<\/i> aspired for more, but she won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t chase after it.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried. I think she might actually leave.<\/p>\n

Paul and Megan<\/b><\/p>\n

Honestly, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite Shakespearean that two people from opposite sides of a longstanding feud are now bridging that divide because of love. Well, they seem to be the only<\/i> two willing to do that, but I do believe that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something more to these two productions than just the contrast. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk more about that later when I get to Charles, but Paul, like Sophie, also found the musical theater actors to be aggravating\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 right up until he fell for one of them. Now, he openly admits to Sophie that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably biased because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attracted to Megan, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That Way Madness Lies\u00e2\u20ac\u009d does a lot to show the audience that these two productions suffer from a lot of the same problems. Staging. Frustrating directors. Short schedules. Artistic interpretation. Maybe if the two groups spent less time fighting, they might understand one another. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW, JUST THINKING ALOUD.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

You know, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a douche a lot of the time, but purely from a personal level, it was satisfying to see him learn how stories work. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still learning to this day, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basically been my job for a decade. I also admit that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s satisfying to see Darren Nichols proved wrong. Actually, not just that: he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shown not to even understand basic story structure! SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE, YOU WEIRDO.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s change, the musical seems to have finally found what it needed, and the reception to opening night was pretty good! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what that means for Richard or the other story lines, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m suspicious of the fact that this happened so early in the season. Richard got what he wanted\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 so now what? He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deal with success well the first time around, so will he deal with it better this time?<\/p>\n

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

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a lot of great television in the last years, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so pleased the medium has given us so many mind-blowing stories and scenes. I know that if I ever end this whole Mark Watches project, the scene where Charles asks Geoffrey to inject him with heroin will probably be one of the top scenes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen. It is such a raw, vulnerable moment, one that is both shocking and deeply heartbreaking. This character is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never really seen anything like this before. Slings & Arrows<\/i> is dealing with mortality headfirst, and it pulls no punches. That makes for a deeply uncomfortable experience as Geoffrey tries to keep Charles under control and then fails<\/i> to do so.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that, as has been the case each season, Geoffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is falling apart. Ellen won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ask Barbara to find her own place, despite that SHE CLEARLY HAS A LOT OF MONEY, and it means that even if Geoffrey tries to escape work at home, he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t! So, while living on a couch in Charles\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apartment, he discovers just how far he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to go to enable Charle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final wish. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just making sure Charles is taking his medication or keeping his cruelty in check. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everything that comes with an aging body. Is Geoffrey ready for that? And even if he is, is that fair<\/i>? Is it fair for him to keep Charles in the production at this point? And now, Maria knows part of the truth, so how much longer can he keep up this charade?<\/p>\n

I continue to be utterly entranced by all the therapy scenes, by the way. McTeague is PERFECT for Geoffrey, and through those, we get a lot more of Oliver and<\/i> insight into how Geoffrey came to be. I loved that notion that every artist has a private audience, that they create to that audience. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that mine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a single person, but I certainly hold myself to specific standards because I also want to impress others. Oliver looks to be that person for Geoffrey, but what about all that stuff about his father? We know virtually nothing about Geoffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk about them. So is the show going to delve into that?<\/p>\n

UGH THIS SEASON IS SO INTENSE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That Way Madness Lies\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":"