S01.E05: Falling

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Deborah blackmails Marty. Ava has a wild night to remember in Vegas that puts everything in perspective.

Original air date: 5/27/21

[Quickbeam]

I love this show but hated this episode. It felt so dark and mean, ugly. Not enough Jean Smart. If this had been the first episode I’d seen, I would never have continued. #6 felt more in keeping with the tone of the show so I am counting this as one-off bad. 

[peachmangosteen]

I really loved this episode but I do agree that it felt really different and I was surprised that George (?) killed himself. That felt off.

[arc]

Ahhh, Joe Mande! He's hilarious.

"I'm actually directing a Marvel movie" - ROFL That really has been the MCU recruiting scheme as of late: indie director -> MCU director.

George tipped off that he was gonna ditch Ava when he dispiritedly said "yeah, sure" to Ava's suggestion of breakfast sandwiches. But I figured he was just gonna go home, not kill himself.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was suspicious of that guy, partly because I don't know how much you can fully trust a rando that you meet in Vegas, especially one who's generously offering you cocaine and Molly. I was taking everything he said with a grain of salt because you just never know. But after he told her how much money he'd blown in one night, I was waiting for him to do something shady. I guess I should feel a little bit bad because the only person he ended up hurting was himself (well, besides all the old people he stole that money from) but at that point, I kept thinking of Heather #2 calling Hot Probs and saying, "The last guy I had sex with killed himself the next day."

Ha, drunk Deborah might be my favorite Deborah!

I get that Ava thinks she's completely burnt in LA due to her tweet, but it made no sense to me that she was acting like those three girls were her only way back in. If she really wants to get back into the scene there, LA is full of writers and comedians. There's no need to think that those girls were her only lifeline back. She might have to start networking lower down than the level she'd been at before, but it's not completely undoable.

But poor Hallie. She didn't even do anything but I still laughed when George told her to fuck off too.

I also felt bad for Marcus. He is out there hustling, trying to get Deborah every possible alternate revenue stream possible and she just blew off that meeting with the cincher sisters. I mean, honestly, if that's not something you want to do, JUST SAY SO instead of showing up super late.

Edited May 28, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I get that Ava thinks she's completely burnt in LA due to her tweet, but it made no sense to me that she was acting like those three girls were her only way back in.

I kind of like that the show is showing us that it really seems not to have been the tweet, so much as lots of people just seem to dislike Ava and were happy to have an excuse to dump her.  

 

10 hours ago, arc said:

 

George tipped off that he was gonna ditch Ava when he dispiritedly said "yeah, sure" to Ava's suggestion of breakfast sandwiches. But I figured he was just gonna go home, not kill himself.

I figured he was going to have something wrong with him once Ava started taking his advice.  It reminded me a little of that 30 Rock episode where Carrie Fisher guest starred and convinced Liz to quit her job, only for Liz to later find out that Carrie Fisher's character was bonkers.  I didn't expect them to go so dark with the suicide. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

16 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I kind of like that the show is showing us that it really seems not to have been the tweet, so much as lots of people just seem to dislike Ava and were happy to have an excuse to dump her. 

I'm glad Ava finally realized that being an asshole was a bigger problem than the tweet she had been blaming. Very few people in Hollywood actually get permanently cancelled so I think she could make a comeback eventually. And as I said before, there are a lot of other writers besides those three girls so if she plays her cards right, she should be able to network with some new people and get hired. That's assuming that she doesn't decide to stay in Vegas (because who can resist all those 24 hour CVS locations?).

[Demian]

On 5/28/2021 at 10:32 AM, txhorns79 said:

I didn't expect them to go so dark with the suicide. 

Well, the episode is called "Falling," and after he admitted losing $60,000 in one night, that he bought his drugs from a homeless person, and that he gave her his last $100 to bet in a slot machine, I sort of did see it coming -- though I thought they'd swerve somehow to avoid it.

(Shallow note:  Jeff Ward has arresting eyes, doesn't he?)

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 hours ago, Demian said:

he admitted losing $60,000 in one night, that he bought his drugs from a homeless person, and that he gave her his last $100 to bet in a slot machine, I sort of did see it coming

Even though he was supposed to come off as charming, I found a lot of what he said a series of red flags which is why I was afraid he was going to end up trying to murder Ava (or at least do something super sketchy).

[Mr. R0b0t]

As dark as this one was, I really enjoyed how much it did for AVA to come to the realization that she needs a personality transplant to succeed in life.  I don't think we're supposed to like her at this point, but the show is different from everything else on tv right now so I'm in.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 hours ago, Mr. R0b0t said:

As dark as this one was, I really enjoyed how much it did for AVA to come to the realization that she needs a personality transplant to succeed in life.  I don't think we're supposed to like her at this point, but the show is different from everything else on tv right now so I'm in.

The thing is that Ava is not an asshole 100% of the time. She's been shown to have moments of kindness and understanding so she's not completely awful. I think what she learned from what the girls said to her is that she needs to not be so selfish and one-sided. She called this girl out of the blue just to get tickets to her movie premiere. That's not a friend or someone who reciprocates. That's an opportunistic leech. She did the same to that girl who was having lunch with her mom in the first episode. The other girl said that Ava hadn't spoken to her in months, yet here she was asking for a favor. It's fine to be focused on your career and to network, but if that's all you do then why would anyone want to help you? Her behavior with all of those people was really selfish because she just wanted to take what she could get from them but she clearly wasn't giving anything back in return. It doesn't have to be monetary or anything either. Just call to say hi. Offer to take them to lunch so you can catch up. Cultivate a relationship that isn't just you asking for stuff.

[sugarbaker design]

On 5/28/2021 at 10:32 AM, txhorns79 said:

  It reminded me a little of that 30 Rock episode where Carrie Fisher guest starred and convinced Liz to quit her job, only for Liz to later find out that Carrie Fisher's character was bonkers. 

Unforgettable episode, CF's character lived in a neighborhood called Little Chechnya.

On 5/30/2021 at 9:27 PM, Demian said:

(Shallow note:  Jeff Ward has arresting eyes, doesn't he?)

I couldn't take my eyes off his.

On 6/2/2021 at 1:54 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The thing is that Ava is not an asshole 100% of the time. She's been shown to have moments of kindness and understanding so she's not completely awful.

Right, and she's young, so hopefully she can gain some self-awareness and learn from her mistakes.  She's still an asshole but I have hope for her.  I think those LA young women represented what Ava wanted, to be a part of a cool group, to be part of multi-million dollar projects, it had to hurt.

FWIW, I loved the guy behind the hotel desk, the toothpaste Nazi, I hope we see him again.

Edited June 7, 2021 by sugarbaker design

[Iseut]

2 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

FWIW, I loved the guy behind the hotel desk, the toothpaste Nazi, I hope we see him again.

Yes, he was great. This show does a really good job capturing a lot of character and expression from the smaller roles. Also, Marcus, Hallie, the agent's receptionist, etc. 

[LisaM]

I didn't love this episode - too much Ava. 

[larapu2000]

On 6/7/2021 at 1:44 PM, sugarbaker design said:

Unforgettable episode, CF's character lived in a neighborhood called Little Chechnya.

"Never go with a hippie to a second location."  That episode is *chef's kiss.*

I hate that it took a dark turn with the suicide, but if that's what it takes to get Ava to be less of an asshole, well...

[Fiftyninth]

Funny to see others’ reactions. I just loved this episode. It was my favorite so far.

[paramitch]

I found this episode very strange to parse -- part of me loved it, and loved that Ava basically came to the realization that she's an asshole who engineered at least some of the comeuppances she's been experiencing lately (because, I mean, YIKES).

I haven't liked Ava at all so far, so at least this gave me something that genuinely shocked and moved me, and that I could see believably affecting her powerfully enough to change her for the better.

But I also found this episode super-depressing. It just felt so nihilistic at heart. And so certain that everyone deep down is their worst self.

I still like the show, and love Jean Smart, so I'm still in.

[LuvMyShows]

On a nit-picky note, no way on earth would there not be crime scene tape and policemen all over that guy's apartment, to say nothing of the fact that some covering would have been put in place so quickly over the open window because of risk management at a big casino/hotel...Ava would never have just been able to walk in there.

On 5/28/2021 at 10:52 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm glad Ava finally realized that being an asshole was a bigger problem than the tweet she had been blaming.

I haven't seen the rest of the episodes, but from what we saw in this episode, it's entirely plausible that drunk/high Ava is the one that had the realization of how much of an asshole she is, and sober Ava is only desperate to keep her job. I don't think it will play out that way, but the writers could easily take it that way.