It is the latest highly ambitious project by one of my favourite improvisational comedians of all time, Nathan Fielder. You never know if it’s satire or real because they have the “rehearsal” and the real-life scenarios of tough conversations, and with kids who can actually act, and sometimes you forget it could be real or actually scripted, which makes it even better satire. There are lots of parenting themes that tell us Nathan might be processing his own childhood, which is a nice touch because, as an adult who hasn’t processed his grief, he would make a show like this.
The Storyline
In rehearsal, he is tackling air safety, specifically the possible unwillingness of a co-pilot to speak up when they believe a Captain (pilot in charge) is doing something wrong or risky. Nathan Fielder delivers his own personal brand of mind-bending, deadpan genius as only he can. It’s about a boyfriend afraid of speaking with his seemingly uncommitted girlfriend about her flirtatious behaviour. It is about freedom of speech issues and the risk of both the right-wing and leftwing narratives regarding the Holocaust and steps to address it.
The Best Part
The lengths Nathan, with HBO’s blessing, will go to produce each episode are amazing. We watched him fly a 737 with passengers, then follow that up with, in his spare time, flying empty 737s planes point to point internationally. Nathan For You was one of the most awkward, uncomfortable, yet interesting shows I’ve watched in a while. Nathan Fielder delivers again. This show is so completely uncomfortable at times that you really have to question the reality in which it exists. This show is an amalgamation of reality TV but with actors, and they’re all participating in a social experiment.
The Critical Part
The propaganda in the episode on jews. So gross, super offensive to Muslims and Christians. Talks about how Palestinians could have simply left their own land if they didn’t want to be bombed. The whole series on a fake family with a Christian woman was used to put her down and her beliefs. It’s okay if you don’t see beyond the pale, but to mock someone for their own convictions is cruel.
They mocked Christian beliefs when the mother asked Nathan to undo the damage he had done. He gave a sarcastic speech and once again made another Christian look stupid at the end of the speech. Nathan Fiedler, a humourless, soulless creature, has exploited children for his own gain and profit. That puts him one step below a pedophile. He should be prosecuted for this endeavour, as should the geniuses at HBO who greenlit this monster.
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The Characters
Angela and all her beliefs that she is the ideal woman. There’s a scene which wryly contrasts Angela’s dogmatic Christian and soft anti-semitic beliefs with another Jewish woman’s unabashed support for Israel.Long form performance art at its finest. Gone off the rails in certain moments and impacts people participating, particularly one child, an actor.
The Conclusion
In The Rehearsal, it’s been quite interesting to see Nathan tackle a bit more serious subject matter this time around, being that this is airing on HBO instead of daytime TV. This one change seems to have opened up a deep well of possibilities that Nathan for You simply wasn’t able to dive into. It’s the most original show on TV in a long time. You should definitely watch it without knowing more about it.
IMDb Rating – 8.5/10
Written by Nilesh Shiv