S02.E10: Fever

[amarante]

On 11/21/2021 at 8:52 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

Well, it seems that you all have pretty much covered it all.  For this episode, my reaction included: confusion, disbelief and disappointment.  And, I kept thinking that it wasn’t a season finale….that I was mistaken….I’m not mistaken, right?  Lol
 

Does anyone know who the writers are who come up with this stuff?  Do they actually discuss it with other people to see if it makes sense or seems like it would be a good idea?  
 

Do they consider their target audience and how the actions of these characters might be perceived?  Do they want characters that the audience hates?

 What are they trying to convey in this series? 

 How do the actors react when trying to act in these scenes?  Do they get angry? Are they embarrassed?  I’m sort of embarrassed for them, actually.

 How is possible to write a series about someone like Mitch, but create other characters who are despised just as much?  Maybe, that was their goal….idk….I’m not sure it’s worth figuring it out.  I may watch a third season….I don’t want this show to cause me to dislike Anniston and Witherspoon.  Right now, I feel a little sorry for them.  
 

Does anyone know of any other show worth a flip on AppleTV?  I’ve tried a few and they all are terrible, imo.  So, going to drop my subscription, at least until season 3 of this show.  

I would assume that Witherspoon and Aniston are almost totally responsible for the direction of Season 2 as they are both Executive Producers with their own production companies as well as stars with clout. It is not unusual for stars with unfettered creative control to make a mess because their egos get in the way of objectively viewing the script. This episode seems as if it was a cliche of the kind of scenes an actress like Aniston would write for herself. 

I don't think Apple gets very involved in the creative decisions as that is one of the big draws of the streaming services - it is a place where the "creatives" can do their own thing without pesky network or studio interference.

Apple at this point is using Apple+ as a way to keep consumers in the Apple fold. It worked brilliantly for iTunes which when there were only iPods. Fully disclosure - I am not an Apple executive but I live in an Apple universe - my first Apple was a Performa bought in 1993. Everything works together seamlessly so it is worth whatever small change Apple has to nurture their streaming service. I watch Apple+ on my Apple streaming device and can shift content between my iPhone, iPad and iMac as necessary and still use my iPod classic to listen to music in the car because it holds way more music than my iPhone and has my carefully culled playlists which date back to 2001.

 

 

[Carolina Girl]

On 11/21/2021 at 2:23 PM, dmc said:

I love Discovery!

Me too!  Food shows, true crime, lifestyle.

Paramount's not a bad bargain either.  

 

[Carolina Girl]

On 11/22/2021 at 6:22 AM, TV Diva Queen said:

apple doesn't let bad guys use iphones in the movies"

Wonder how they feel about some of the nastier Real Housewives using them.

[dmc]

57 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

Me too!  Food shows, true crime, lifestyle.

Paramount's not a bad bargain either.  

 

I didn't know Paramount had streaming

[lovinbob]

On 11/19/2021 at 1:11 AM, txhorns79 said:

I feel like the writers only wrote half a script for this episode, and the cast was told to improvise the rest.  The episode was kind of a trainwreck.  

Who was the audience for Alex's stream of consciousness Covid program?  If I was watching that in real time, I might think she was mentally ill.  She seemed all over the place, and was not particularly coherent.  I honestly half-expected her to die in the middle of the show.   

100 percent. This was more off the rails than ... I can't even think of an appropriate metaphor to represent how terrible this was.

On 11/19/2021 at 6:23 AM, BingeyKohan said:

What was with Chip’s dopey ‘yes, this is going great!’ faces?

Good lord! I couldn't believe they were trying to represent this as good television! I was kind of hoping that maybe Chip was rooting for her to fail and that's why he was happy? That is the only possible explanation that makes sense. (I am so glad I don't have a Chip-Alex relationship in my life--the whiplash would be debilitating.

On 11/19/2021 at 10:59 AM, marceline said:

I did appreciate the show letting us see Alex's suffering. People are going to want to memory-hole what COVID was like. Pop culture needs to document it.

You're not wrong that representing the reality of COVID will be important, but watching her suffer from COVID in close to real time was the equivalent of watching paint dry. Scratch that--the equivalent of watching a painting dry, if it was a painting depicting your parents having sex or something equally cringeworthy and painful.

On 11/19/2021 at 8:05 PM, nlkm9 said:

Yeah that scene at hospital was so absurd!!! Noone recognizes her ??!!. Puhleese

How about when she was handing out flyers? One minute these people are the most famous people to ever be famous; the next they are nameless faces in the crowd. Ugh.

On 11/19/2021 at 9:44 PM, SnazzyDaisy said:

Me! Me! Me! 

So, so, so bad. This woman's narcissism (and the show's delusions about her being likable) know no bounds.

On 11/19/2021 at 10:56 PM, SoWindsor said:

This season jumped the shark!

This season was devoured by the shark and now lies at the bottom of the ocean floor as shark feces.

On 11/20/2021 at 1:08 AM, ruby24 said:

Am I supposed to be rooting for Cory and Bradley? Because I'm more rooting for Cory and Stella at this point. At least they're kind of funny together.

This I could get behind. I started out the season not liking Stella at all (and being very confused that she was the head of the division because she seemed to dress like she was a 16 year old babysitter) to feeling she was the only voice of reason or reality. Rather than watching Alex sweat COVID, I'd prefer to watch Cory conduct meetings behind plexiglass and Stella try to pull together a news team out of random crew members. 

Such. A. Bad. Show. I can't believe I watched the whole thing. 

[Anela]

On 11/19/2021 at 1:35 PM, marceline said:

That's what I thought he about to confess. The "I love you" thing was such a let down. Then there was also Bradley ignoring Laura's phone call. I have no interest in a Laura/Cory/Bradley triangle. But.... if Cory and Bradley hook up I'm hereby calling them "CoBra." 😄

I missed that she didn’t pick up a call from Laura, but I’m glad.  The woman has known her for all of five minutes, and was telling her to ditch her brother! 

I wasn’t hoping that Cory would kiss her.  she’s involved with someone else, and he’s her boss. We don’t need everyone to be hooking  up like it’s Grey’s anatomy.  I don’t watch the after-shows.  I watched one in the past (Talking Dead), and they always pumped up the ridiculous.  

Edited December 4, 2021 by Anela

[QQQQ]

Wait, was Alex's montage of Covid suffering only ONE DAY?? And then she did the broadcast like some all-knowing expert?!

[Kel Varnsen]

On 12/14/2021 at 10:27 PM, QQQQ said:

Wait, was Alex's montage of Covid suffering only ONE DAY?? And then she did the broadcast like some all-knowing expert?!

I have so many questions about Alex's show because it makes no sense. Like how long was it, was it just the maybe 5-10 minutes we saw or did she talk for a whole hour. And did it actually come out on the day UBA+ launched? And what the point of it? The whole thing with new stuff on streaming services is to drive new subscribers, but would anyone sign up for UBA+ to see Alex's crazy rant. The best parts would be on YouTube or being covered by actual news before it was over. Then again I still don't understand why people are so angry at Alex? Like the whole going to Italy and then speaking at Mitch's memorial seems way to insider for most people to care about. Especially in a world where creepy predator Martin Short can still show his face in public. 

[theredhead77]

I think I might be the only person around here that really enjoyed season 2. I binged both seasons this week and cannot wait for season 3.

I'm so disappointed Corey is responsible for the outing of Bradley. There had to be a better story to kill the story about Hannah. Such a bummer because up until then I always considered him a decent person. I'm glad he didn't 'out' himself that he was the one that is responsible for that story, while they were looking for Hal, but also, dude, that was not the time to profess your love. I would have been on board with a Corey / Bradley thing if 1) the power imbalance wasn't there and 2) he didn't out her. He is a man of action and I appreciate how he showed up to help because he truly likes Bradley and they have a true friendship. I hope they don't "nice guy" him.

I like Laura as a character but she is 100% playing Bradley and there is a major imbalance there. I don't think we know how old Laura is but JM is 56 and if Laura is even close to that age, and with how long she has been out, it's just a bad situation. Family is family, and on one hand, Laura is right, Bradley needs to live her life for her, but it's clear Bradley isn't ready to cut Hal out.

I don't want to see a triangle next season. I want Corey to be exposed for that story and I want Bradley to break up with Laura. I would also be OK if he wasn't the one who leaked the story.

I'm way more invested in this than I am in Alex. I like Alex though, I find her a complex and damaged person who was already on the edge when she learned about Mitch. She made reference to COVID being like a cold so I wasn't surprised that she took off on a private jet to Italy. I know some of the timing is off but those first few months were a blur and I'm not going to nitpick it. I don't think Mitch had a redemption arc. They showed him trying to make peace with his new reality, one that he finally realized he deserved, and I was fine that he found some solace with Paola. What he did was horrific, and had he not died, I think he should be serving time, but Paola was his equal in age, and was in her territory. 

A few final thoughts on this episode - I'm doing my best but they all sort of blend. I knew Chip wasn't positive when he showed up at Alex's. Her live-stream was odd, at best. I imagine the audience were people who wanted to see a train-wreck. I hope season 3 shows his wake-up call and that he walked away from this toxic relationship.

I didn't think twice that no one recognized Bradley, she's in NY and one of thousands others who look similar. In this crisis, at most she'd be placed as "you look like someone I should know but can't place you". She's out of context. I once ran into someone I played social sports with at the grocery store. I saw this man every week for over a year, spent time with him and his GF at the bar, and I could not place him when I saw him at the grocery store. I knew I knew him but I had no idea where I knew him from. Out of context is a thing.

I hope Daniel makes it to his grandfather. Someone upthread said they were waiting for the police lights to appear while he was talking with Mia. I was, too. Those early days were terrifying, sleeping in the car, peeing in a bottle is 100% what I would expect from someone in that situation. And if he comes back, he better have an anchor chair. 

I really don't know what they are trying to do with Mia. She seems to be at a cross-roads and probably needs some therapy to help her cope with the impact Mitch, and his death, had on her life. It should go without saying that Bradley and Alex, and Chip, and hell, the entire group, needs some therapy.

 

[nara]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:18 PM, theredhead77 said:

A few final thoughts on this episode - I'm doing my best but they all sort of blend. I knew Chip wasn't positive when he showed up at Alex's. Her live-stream was odd, at best. I imagine the audience were people who wanted to see a train-wreck. I hope season 3 shows his wake-up call and that he walked away from this toxic relationship.

I hope Daniel makes it to his grandfather. Someone upthread said they were waiting for the police lights to appear while he was talking with Mia. I was, too. Those early days were terrifying, sleeping in the car, peeing in a bottle is 100% what I would expect from someone in that situation. And if he comes back, he better have an anchor chair. 

 

Chip-Alex is toxic but I kinda find myself hoping these 2 crazy kids get together. 😆

I absolutely think people would watch the train wreck Alex show. I mean, how many Real Housewives, Kardashian, and other shows are there with people making fold of themselves?  It’s going to go viral and it will spawn memes. They will start out malicious and then earn the show a cult following.

I also thought Daniel would be shot by the police. The MeToo storyline is now played out and they need another compelling story with characters that can be grey. Police brutality is exactly the right topic. It would be interesting for them to tie to Reese’s real life encounter with the police in which yelled at them and nothing happened to her— in contrast to what would happen to a Black person in the same situation.

I am surprised at how many posters hate this show. It has it’s weak moments this season, but I think the Alex-Chip-Mitch scenes are consistently compelling.

[BetyBee]

We got new phones that included a subscription to Apple TV, so I just got all caught up on this show. What a terrible finale this was! As I watched Alex melt down for the millionth time, but this time on air, I just couldn't believe her unprofessional ramblings. I imagined if at this point in Covid, I was watching her and came to the conclusion that I'd have turned that nonsense off! How was that helpful to anyone? Yet, Chip was nodding as if her every utterance was brilliant. I think the writers think they are telling a totally different story than we are seeing! That said, I'll probably watch Season 3, but I'm not exactly invested in this show. I'm not waiting with bated breath!

[Hanahope]

I recently binged seasons 1 and 2 over the holidays.  I agree that this is a soap opera, but its not that bad, imo.  its not like real life daytime shows don't have their share of drama (remember the View blow up between Barbara Walters and Elisabeth Hasselbeck?).  We haven't been shown what Alex is like when there are not the stresses in her life, which we saw began with Mitch's termination.  maybe she's not quite as bad.  of course, its not "entertainment" to see people acting under "normal" circumstances.  

I too was confused by the montage of Alex's suffering with covid to then make it look like it was just one day.  and it looked to me that she was starting to see the consequences of her actions, even if she was still very entitled.  I get Chip's professional actions, but he is definitely blowing it personnally.

and yes, they misused the terms that were in use at the time regarding covid.  plus, i'm pretty sure there were not that many people wearing masks back in March 2020, when Fauci was recommending that people not buy them (because they were trying to make sure hospitals and medical personnel had access to the dwindling supply).  a handful of people knew covid would be a problem, but most didn't realize how bad it was becoming until later in March.

I'm not a fan of JM, and agree that she really wasn't the best choice to play Laura, but i never really got the impression that  Laura was out to betray Bradley.  

and yes, Bradley needs therapy, but considering her upbringing, I'm not surprised of her resistance.  what she was taught at home can definitely still cause her hesitancy.  and just because she went to college doesn't mean she overcame her upbringing, if she went to college in WV, she would still have likely been surrounded by people like her hometown.

Cory is going to be pleasantly surprised how well his streaming channel does when everyone is home.  and i can see people tuning in to see Alex's covid chats.  

I was a bit bored with the Mitch redemption arc (and no matter what anyone says, Hannah never said "yes" and that is what was needed - as she said, she froze, which is a normal response to crisis - if there is no "yes" then there is no consent - and absolutely Fred knew Hannah did not consent), and really could have done without it (except for the beautiful views of Italy), but i'm not surprised it was there.  I'm sure Carrell got a 2 season contract, so they had to do something with his character.

 

 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 11/19/2021 at 4:31 PM, LADreamr said:

I don't care about Bradley, but at least she was some brief respite from the never-ending Alex self-pity.  Jesus.  I went through Covid early, with no support system and had just lost my father to it and had to go through a furlough from my job while I was still trying to recover, and I didn't go anywhere near her levels of self-centeredness.  

At the beginning of the season, I was wishing the show could just be a little bit better.  But at this point, it needs a complete overhaul.

Sorry for what you went through but I don't know why you would compare yourself to Alex. She was self-centered long before having Covid. It's just how she is, no matter what she's going through.

On 11/21/2021 at 1:31 AM, Armchair Critic said:

I don't know if Aniston and Witherspoon will want to come back for a 3rd season if this season did not do well. But I admit if this show comes back I will watch it.

I will watch it, too. I'm a fan of Reese Witherspoon and I like Jennifer Anniston, too. There was so much criticism and nitpicking about Covid details - why are people wearing masks so early, why are they saying covid instead of coronavirus, etc. While I can admit this season wasn't the best, I'm still interested in what happens next. 

On 11/21/2021 at 12:41 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

Them addressing covid doesn’t bother me. As a news show set in NYC, it seems unavoidable. Plus, it changed life as we know it.  
 

Where was Chip’s girlfriend when he put the phone in the bed to keep it open for Alex all night?  
When I think about Cory, I’m reminded of when NBC hired Conan O’Brien for The Tonight Show.  I won’t give the details, but it was a fiasco.  They ended up realizing what a lot of people knew beforehand and paying a lot of money to get out of it.

I think Chip is in a serious relationship and engaged. 

I didn't mind seeing the pandemic, either. I thought I would and this is the first show I've watched that addresses those early stages. I think because of the nature of the show, it seemed like a natural progression. We heard about that quarantine ship in season 1, which I think was just a coincidence And then in this season, there were rumblings about this virus. I thought it was interesting. I don't want to see the pandemic in every single TV show I watch but it makes sense here. 

On 11/22/2021 at 4:38 PM, RunningMarket said:

Chip has to be in love with Alex, right? Otherwise, there is no logical explanation for his behaviour - I mean, lying about having COVID so he can hang out in her place, and ignore calls from his fiancé, who is likely freaking the f out at that (incorrect) news?! 

I echo the earlier posts about how this many people would not be calling it "COVID" at this point. I am Canadian, but I tune into American news as well, and I remember that for the most part, US-based stations called it "Novel Coronavirus" for much longer. 

I may be the lone dissenter in that I didn't hate the Hal storyline. Letting go of a family member isn't easy, no matter the circumstances. 

Chip seems to be obsessed in a way that transcends romantic interest. I've never actually seen any signs that he may be into Alex beyond some sort of weird attachment to her and connecting his own success with her career. I have seen that with support personnel (executive assistants, household staff, etc.) and it was never romantic. Just creepy and sad. Like Chip. 

I'm OK with calling it Covid at this point. Depending on your circle, people may have used different terminology. At work, I remember my team drafting communications around that time and using the word Covid because that's what we heard was the official name. I have no issue with employees of a news show using Covid so early on.

On 11/23/2021 at 11:05 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I didn’t understand why they had Alex get her hair styled and makeup done before the show either.  The entire point was to show how she was doing with covid. Just look natural.   And, maybe her brain was all mixed up due to covid, fever, delirium, etc.  If so, she still had the energy to be a smart ass.   Why did they make her so curt with the doctor?  Asking him if he was afraid to die…then challenging his response….it seemed nit picky and uncalled for.  Just the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to watch.  Lol Thanks Chip for this great idea.  Your idea of making Alex more likable needs tweaking.  

I thought she did her own hair and makeup - she looked pretty disheveled to me. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by love2lovebadtv