Scenes From A Marriage - General Discussion

[himela]

47 minutes ago, aemom said:

I don't think that those two episodes were four years apart.

I think when the poster said "4 years later" they meant from the beginning of the series.  My understanding was that the last episode was about 4 or 5 years from the timeframe of Episode 1.

 

45 minutes ago, aghst said:

Don't remember exactly when but one of them referenced it as 4 years.

Well it's still unclear. I remember in episode 4 she said "why is it so hard for us to break up? it's been 4 years". But in episode 5 the only thing talking about time frame was that they were together 17 years, this means 5 more from episode 1's "12 years". So it doesn't really make sense.

[thatsall]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:13 PM, SHD said:

They are terrible Airbnb guests. 

Here they are in a rental house that used to belong to them. He basically steals a bottle of wine. She opens the closet and selects from the owner’s personal wardrobe a coat and just wears it. Then she is determined to open the door that says “stay out” or whatever that leads to the attic; she finds the key and lets herself up there, presumably to a kid’s room, where they proceed to USE THE BED!!! Then afterwards, in an ode to a SATC episode featuring Charlotte and Harry, he is sitting bare-assed on a light-colored-upholstered stool.

So much boundary violation there, mostly led by her (not surprising), but he wasn't stopping her. Now granted, any rental house realistically would have the owner’s stuff put away, and a lock without a findable ky on any door they didn’t want someone to go through; so yes, a stretch. 

I wonder if the director was using those boundary violations symbolically. If so, brilliant.

[thatsall]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:57 AM, himela said:

Human psychology at its best.

I hated Mira and everything she did to her kid and Jonathan. But I mostly hate her for making Jonathan a bad egotistical person in the end.

How much power does one person have over the other, really? Especially when said other does years of therapy after a betrayal? As I see it, Mira didn't *make* Jonathan a bad egotistical person: she behaved egotistically, treated him (and their daughter) reprehensibly; and even after therapy, his reaction was not to cope exclusively from a place of unique strength, but rather to take on that same egotistical mindset and behavior in order to cope and move forward. Not necessarily admirable, but perhaps some selfishness did balance out his more passive personality.

As another poster pointed out, life is messy, relationships are messy, and people are messy. Lots of mess on display in this series.

[himela]

2 minutes ago, thatsall said:

How much power does one person have over the other, really? Especially when said other does years of therapy after a betrayal?

Ask yourself this: would Jonathan become an egotistical person were it not for Mira's behavior?

[thatsall]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:39 AM, himela said:

Ask yourself this: would Jonathan become an egotistical person were it not for Mira's behavior?

Perhaps Jonathan turning into an egotistical person was necessary to bring some balance? Perhaps he is more aware now of what he wants, what his boundaries are, and what his true feelings are...that's certainly valuable in the pursuit of living authentically. Is it worth becoming egotistical? Tough to say unless you're that perpetually passive, conceding, deferring, care-taking person who gets dumped on one too many times. Maybe in the short run your self-respect is bolstered and you're able to model a more balanced way of being to your child? Not saying I enjoy egotistical people or that they're allowed to remain in my orbit. Just widening the lens on understanding the whole human.

[Inquisitionist]

Bailed after about 30 or 40 minutes.  I found Isaac's character insufferable and the open marriage friends ridiculous.  I don't need to spend time watching people whose problems are of their own making. 

[himela]

10 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:

Bailed after about 30 or 40 minutes.  I found Isaac's character insufferable and the open marriage friends ridiculous.  I don't need to spend time watching people whose problems are of their own making. 

The show is a about marriage problems, what did you expect? :P

[Inquisitionist]

8 hours ago, himela said:

The show is a about marriage problems, what did you expect? :P

Something that didn't make my eyes roll every few minutes.  😉

[LoveLeigh]

OMG I am late to this unbearable show and watched episode1 and I can't stand it. The picky minutiae, the self- absorbed trivialities, self-indulged people, over analytical spouses, and the dissection of everything... how can they live inside their own heads let alone live with anybody else. 

All of them are huge pains in the ass.  

On 11/28/2021 at 2:22 PM, Inquisitionist said:

Bailed after about 30 or 40 minutes.  I found Isaac's character insufferable and the open marriage friends ridiculous.  I don't need to spend time watching people whose problems are of their own making. 

This is spot on! 

Edited November 29, 2021 by LoveLeigh

[aghst]

Episode 3, Vale of Tears, makes Sepinwall's list of top episodes of 2021.

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-lists/best-tv-episodes-2021-sepinwall-1273494/the-pursuit-of-love-amazon-prime-video-episode-1-1273513/

 

 

[topanga]

On 11/29/2021 at 5:00 PM, LoveLeigh said:

OMG I am late to this unbearable show and watched episode1 and I can't stand it. The picky minutiae, the self- absorbed trivialities, self-indulged people, over analytical spouses, and the dissection of everything... how can they live inside their own heads let alone live with anybody else. 

On 11/28/2021 at 2:22 PM, Inquisitionist said:

Bailed after about 30 or 40 minutes.  I found Isaac's character insufferable and the open marriage friends ridiculous.  I don't need to spend time watching people whose problems are of their own making. 

Not every show is for everyone, and for that I'm glad there's a wide variety of tv/movies to satisfy almost every taste. 

For me, the set up of the show was the very reason I liked it. It was an intimate, insular look inside the heads of two people as their marriage fell apart. Did they both act self-centered, selfish, and entitled at times? Absolutely. Were they whiny and dramatic? Yes. But I probably would be whiny and dramatic myself if I were being filmed while I contemplated divorcing my spouse, we talked about it, ultimately divorced, and then became shitty people who hooked up in a teenager's bed at our Air bnb. 

So while the lengthy monologues and dramatic scenes were certainly theatrical, I'd argue that they were realistic in theme. Several close friends of mine have recently divorced their spouses. We've never talked about this show specifically, but the things my friends did share about the end of their marriages and the divorce process were eerily similar to things that happened on the show. 

And then there's my borderline obsessive love for Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, which trumps everything else. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I’m really late, but just discovered this series and watched.  I agree with many of the posts, but suspect I detest Mira more than most.  To me she demonstrates many traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  She thrives on manipulating others and grows bored easily, if she can’t.  She gets off on others’ pain.   I suspect that she would have stopped at nothing to ruin Jonathon’s life if he had not agreed to cheat with her. In fact, that’s exactly what was happening.  After the trauma from her leaving him, he then chose to inflict trauma on others, such as the girlfriend and later second wife.  (With second wife, he’s already planning on leaving her, possibly after she discovers his infidelities.)
 

I also felt that Mira really struggled being a parent. That poor kid…. She comments on it and admits she isn’t very good at it. They allude to it with a couple of comments from Jonathon, the way she gives in to her daughter so easily, and quickly discarding her daughter’s concerns over her dolls. Recall when she is on the phone with her daughter who is crying and upset over the welfare of her dolls?  Mira picks them up and says she’ll put them in her car for extra protection. But later she sits them down amongst the other boxes. She then picks a fight with Jonathon.  Does she ever go back to get them?  
 

The fight scene at the door is how a lot of people get domestic violence restraining orders against them.  Very foolish.  Why didn’t Jonathon just go out the back door and avoid that incident? Lol

I’ve practiced divorce law for many years, so I suspect I’m more jaded than many about couples behavior as they divorce.  Also,  most states require separation agreements to be notarized.  Fictions pieces almost always ignore that.  
 

What blows my mind is that Jessica Chastain appears in the post finale video saying the couple had finally become free and were giving love from a wonderful, happy place!!!  WTF?😳  She must be delusional. They were screwed up A holes who were hellbent on destruction, imo.  But, as long as they are happy about it.  

Edited February 7, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[aghst]

Jessica Chastain won a SAG award!

But for another role, not this dreck.😙

[topanga]

On 2/28/2022 at 10:01 AM, aghst said:

Jessica Chastain won a SAG award!

But for another role, not this dreck.😙

Dreck? That's harsh.

Oscar Isaac was nominated for his role on this show (deservedly), but not Jessica. That was a snub, IMO. 

[SunnyBeBe]

On 2/28/2022 at 10:01 AM, aghst said:

Jessica Chastain won a SAG award!

But for another role, not this dreck.😙

I can’t believe she won for her portrayal of Tammy Sue Baker.  Did you see it?  Hmmmm…..I just can’t get over her assessment of those characters in Scenes From A Marriage.  Imo, delusional.