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S01.E06: Exit Stage Death

shantown

By shantown
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shantown

shantown

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Charlie's waitress job at a dinner theater is interrupted by a tragic death onstage during a performance by two washed-up television stars; when she starts to investigate, deadly motivations come to light.

Streaming on Peacock starting February 9

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AnimeMania

AnimeMania

MV5BYzFjMDEyNDctOTE0OS00MWEyLTljOWMtN2E0
p23611094_e_v13_aa.jpg

Ellen Barkin as Kathleen, an actor
Tim Meadows as Michael, an actor
Jameela Jamil as Ava
Audrey Corsa as Rebecca
Chris McKinney as Phil
Niall Cunningham as Harry
Noah Crandell as Assistant
Brad Calcaterra as Chef
Daniela Rosario as Maria, a waitress

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)

Another great episode:

  • Best part may have been Charlie's ad lib in the play as the ghost. 
     
  • There were a lot of moments intended to be comedic, but I have a faulty laugh-o-meter, so others will have to judge the success of the bits.
    Still, I did love Charlie's many malapropisms. They worked because Charlie, unlike Natasha Lyonne, is unfamiliar with the world of acting and actors.
     
  • All the guest stars were excellent.

 

BUT I HAVE QUESTIONS:

  • At about 38 minutes, after Charlie in the rafter sees Kathleen (in character in the play) tell Michael (in character in the play) that she loves him, Charlie says "Truth," recognizing that Kathleen really loves Michael.
    • But at that moment, the fluff of magenta-colored slipper fuzz——left by Kathleen's wardrobe slipper when she booby trapped the klieg light to fall almost on Michael to trigger his fake heart attack——drifts down in front of Michael on stage, causing him to look down so that Charlie does not see his face when he responds with his line of "I love you."
    • Later we learn that (Michael's?) scheme was for Kathleen and Michael to kill Michael's wealthy young wife (who, incidentally, has no appreciation for Michael wanting to act) and lay low for a year or 2——which I interpret to imply that Michael does not love Kathleen, but rather is using her?
  • But then, talking to the young female actor, Charlie states that Kathleen and Michael love each other. So Charlie was wrong, because she missed seeing Michael's face when he said "I love you." Right? Or not?
    • BTW, this leads to the funniest line (to me) of Charlie asking if the young actress is in a thruple with the other 2 actors (because the young actress is "lying," that is, covering up for the other 2 so she can black mail them).
  • So: At the end, the killers escape, right? Or not?

 

Edited by shapeshifter
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akg

akg

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

So: At the end, the killers escape, right? Or not?

The fanboy cop called for back up after he heard their confession and they showed several officers coming in the back of the theater as the play was going on. They must have decided to wait until the end to make the arrests.

I love that Charlie keeps making friends wherever she stops. And that she cares enough about them to make sure they don't feel guilty over a death that wasn't their fault.

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Ms Blue Jay

Ms Blue Jay

(edited)

"This ain't a TikTok Baby!"  😄😄😄

Who knew Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows would be such a good couple!

Thursdays are big appointment TV now with this show coming on, each episode is so exciting!

One thing I didn't understand was why Michael and Kathleen were so reckless and stupid.  LOL.  This was far from the perfect crime.  

Jameela Jamil has made herself pretty famous for being annoying on Twitter, so everytime she shows up in something, someone invariably reviews it saying "Jameela Jamil jumpscare".  That's how I felt watching this episode 😄

10 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Niall Cunningham as Harry

Omg He plays Brady on And Just Like That!  And his character is the worst!  😄

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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Cranberry

Cranberry

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

So Charlie was wrong, because she missed seeing Michael's face when he said "I love you." Right? Or not?

She doesn't need to see someone's face to know if they're lying. Rian Johnson describes her ability this way:

Quote

“We had to define this really clearly for ourselves and the rules that we landed are, she can tell if someone says something out loud that they know is an intentional lie,” Johnson told Variety. “If someone says something that’s untrue, but they think that it’s the truth, that will read as truth to her. It’s entirely just if someone says something that’s a lie."

...

"We’ve tried to stick very closely to, if there’s a lie said out loud, she’s going to clock it,” the “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” director said.

 

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susannot

susannot

Not sure about this episode, but great showcase for Ellen Barkin.  Like all of us, she sure looks older, but at least she has not filled her face with plastic like Madonna.  Haven't seen her in a long time.  I love this show for giving starring roles to older guest actors.  Did Ellen's character fall down the trapdoor to her death at the end?

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paigow

paigow

23 minutes ago, susannot said:

Did Ellen's character fall down the trapdoor to her death at the end?

Not likely... Her original plan was to escape... there was no time to rig the trapdoor after finding the microphone. 

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ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

(edited)
On 2/9/2023 at 9:45 AM, shapeshifter said:

Later we learn that (Michael's?) scheme was for Kathleen and Michael to kill Michael's wealthy young wife (who, incidentally, has no appreciation for Michael wanting to act) and lay low for a year or 2——which I interpret to imply that Michael does not love Kathleen, but rather is using her?

When Kathleen wanted to do the encore, Michael said, "What happened to we hide out overseas for a year and then reemerge, confessing our love?"

Rebecca was pretty careless with that blue paper.  Just as she plucked it out of Michael's jacket, Charlie saw it sticking out of Rebecca's.  She should have stuffed it down her costume for safekeeping.

When Michael signed his autograph on the menu (and then ordered a club sandwich, which wasn't on the part of the menu that was visible), I though that perhaps he really was illiterate.  But the blue script refuted that rumor.

Remembering that Kathleen had said she needed the money, I was wondering how much Kathleen could possibly have been paid for one performance (even with a director's fee) of a play in a dinner theater.  But of course, small change was not her goal.

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
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Haleth

Haleth

Oh my, that play was horrible.  Something like a mishmash of Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie.  Charlie's entrance as the literal ghost made it so much better.  

A thruple.  Made me laugh out loud.  I knew Rebecca's peanut allergy would come into play somehow.

Yes, the cops were waiting to arrest both actors after the show.  They didn't get away.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

On 2/9/2023 at 9:45 AM, shapeshifter said:

So: At the end, the killers escape, right? Or not?

23 hours ago, akg said:

The fanboy cop called for back up after he heard their confession and they showed several officers coming in the back of the theater as the play was going on. They must have decided to wait until the end to make the arrests.

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yes, the cops were waiting to arrest both actors after the show.  They didn't get away.

Okay.
Since Kathleen finally got to make her trap door exit, I was just imagining a tunnel in the basement left over from Prohibition or The Underground Railroad.
But on this show they would have at least given us a Chekhovian glimpse of such a tunnel before hand. Right?

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paigow

paigow

23 hours ago, akg said:

They must have decided to wait until the end to make the arrests.

The audience paid good money for dinner AND a complete show... Police wanted to avoid any refund disputes

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arc

arc

I’m glad Charlie managed to save the intended second victim this time, unlike in ep 5. Even if Rebecca was a blackmailer who would’ve let two murderers go for $5m. I did like her doubling her demand on stage and in code right away.

The kitchen and wait staff being so into the theatre was fun. “Frankly Franklin” was hilarious.

little nitpick that a lav mic, esp one hidden under a wig, probably wouldn’t pick up people talking six feet away.

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SomeTameGazelle

SomeTameGazelle

2 hours ago, arc said:

“Frankly Franklin” was hilarious.

I was so disappointed that Charlie blocked it out immediately. I wanted more.

I also wasn't sure whether she had picked up on the warning about the peanut allergy since she had the earplugs in already, but when crunch time came she obviously did know.

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wanderingstar

wanderingstar

On 2/9/2023 at 3:18 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Who knew Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows would be such a good couple!

They had great chemistry! Kathleen and Michael were a trip together. 

Also, since I just started watching The Good Place, I was delighted to see Jameela Jamil pop up in this.

Loved the twist of the younger actress, Rebecca, figuring out the mystery before Charlie. 

Always a delight to see Chris McKinney (Phil, the lighting guy).

This show continues to delight.

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Paloma

Paloma

On 2/9/2023 at 1:24 PM, akg said:

The fanboy cop called for back up after he heard their confession and they showed several officers coming in the back of the theater as the play was going on. They must have decided to wait until the end to make the arrests.

Did you notice that the cop standing in the back during Kathleen's final monologue seemed to wipe away a tear? I guess this really was the best performance of her career (and most likely her last one)--even Charlie seemed moved listening to the monologue.

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paigow

paigow

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

Did you notice that the cop standing in the back during Kathleen's final monologue seemed to wipe away a tear? I guess this really was the best performance of her career (and most likely her last one)--even Charlie seemed moved listening to the monologue.

Whatever prison she ends up in will have the best theatre program...

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sharifa70

sharifa70

On 2/9/2023 at 6:45 AM, shapeshifter said:

Best part may have been Charlie's ad lib in the play as the ghost. 

Oh lord I was crying. I didn’t think I could love this episode more and then that happened. 😂😂😂

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Cranberry

Cranberry

In the first scene, I thought to myself, I remember Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows being better actors than this! It seemed like they were overacting when arguing about the play. I loved learning later that everything had been a performance for everyone around them and that they weren't the best actors around, so of course they rang a little false. Clever.

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Ms Blue Jay

Ms Blue Jay

4 hours ago, snarkysnarkerson said:

Ellen Barkin looks scary now. She looked so much better when she was on Animal Kingdom. Now she looks like a skeleton put out during Halloween.

She said that she was sick at the time of shooting and had lost a lot of weight.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

(edited)

This episode was fun but after last episode which so far was the best it was kinda a letdown.   I thought Ellen Barkin looked fine but then I don’t really notice or care.    I have a weird thing about good actors acting like bad actors so maybe that was my issue.   Last episode was a straight up whydunit.  This was more a soap opera with problematic people who were problematic from the start.

Edited by Chaos Theory
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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

I know I just posted or posted last but one of the things I noticed and really love about the show is that Charlie might just do the most evil thing that anyone can do in this day and age (and yes that includes murder).   

 

She smokes.  

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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

On 2/9/2023 at 10:23 PM, susannot said:

Did Ellen's character fall down the trapdoor to her death at the end?

I chose to believe this, and still do. And further (you may mean this, also), that she did this knowing it was suicide. Her final, dramatic gesture. I choose this meaning because it makes the moment harrowing, imbuing it with a taste of tragedy. I love tragedy. 

In other news, I loved how Barkin and Meadows, when in performance on stage, captured that "theatrical" quality so different from how people really speak. I've seen this in terrible productions, and also good ones! In fact, it evoked many Steppenwolf stagings I've seen over the years. Totally phony out of context, but not meant to be seen out of context. Ghosts of Pensacola--what moments of it we saw--came across as bargain-basement Glass Menagerie, but almost valid in its own right. Saved from being valid by just the slightest touch of satiric exaggeration in Meadows' and Barkin's line readings. How finely calibrated their Poker Face performances were to be 99% not terrible as stage actors and just terrible enough!

 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:
On 2/9/2023 at 11:23 PM, susannot said:

Did Ellen's character fall down the trapdoor to her death at the end?

I chose to believe this, and still do. And further (you may mean this, also), that she did this knowing it was suicide. Her final, dramatic gesture. I choose this meaning because it makes the moment harrowing, imbuing it with a taste of tragedy. I love tragedy. 

But wouldn't it be more tragic if Kathleen was so used to being the prima donna, that she assumed a mattress would be back in place for her but it was not?
Perhaps the mattress was in an evidence room being dusted for fingerprints and no replacement mattress had been procured.

I'm still clinging to my own version of a mattress in place and a secret escape tunnel out of the basement.
I'm just not sure whether I want both Kathleen and Michael to make it out. 

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LEILANI2

LEILANI2

(edited)
On 2/11/2023 at 7:04 AM, snarkysnarkerson said:

Ellen Barkin looks scary now. She looked so much better when she was on Animal Kingdom. Now she looks like a skeleton put out during Halloween.

Yes she looked amazing on Animal Kingdom and that was just a few years ago.  She looks 20 years older over the last 3 years.

Edited by LEILANI2
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ItCouldBeWorse

ItCouldBeWorse

On 2/10/2023 at 2:57 PM, arc said:

The kitchen and wait staff being so into the theatre was fun. “Frankly Franklin” was hilarious.

https://lorenz.com/shop/elementary-classroom/programs-and-musicals/frankly-franklin

On 2/11/2023 at 7:43 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I know I just posted or posted last but one of the things I noticed and really love about the show is that Charlie might just do the most evil thing that anyone can do in this day and age (and yes that includes murder).   

 

She smokes.  

There's a warning about that on Peacock.

 

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twoods

twoods

I still can’t get over how a streaming show can get such recognizable guest stars for one episode. 
 

They threw me off with the death being staged to be the wife since I thought it was all a terrible accident. Ellen Barker is almost 70, and I’m okay with her looking her age- good for her for not looking like a plastic botoxed doll like other actresses. Tim Meadows was great as always.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

(edited)

We as tv watchers are not used to actors/actresses actually looking their age.  We are so ingrained to expect teenagers to look like twenty/thirty year olds and grandmas to look like forty year olds.  Now that that we have gotten over this woman “retires from acting at forty” bullshit we are seeing more actresses act into their seventies and eighties and more are rejecting Botox as a way to stave off the ravages of time because if it works at all it doesn’t work for very long.    Ellen Barker looks her age.  Which is actually amazing if you think about it.  A 70 year old woman playing an aging ingenue which is essentially what Ellen Barker is.    

Edited by Chaos Theory
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arc

arc

16 hours ago, twoods said:

They threw me off with the death being staged to be the wife since I thought it was all a terrible accident.

But it's a "howcatchem" show. There's gonna be a murder every week that Charlie solves.

(sigh, I guess they've committed 100% to the Columbo/Murder She Wrote/etc framework, but like, it could be arson or felony fraud some weeks. I wouldn't mind!)

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kay1864

kay1864

On 2/10/2023 at 12:00 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

a play in a dinner theater where the name-brand liquor was refilled everyday with cheap stuff.

Pretty sure that was the onstage liquor bottle, being filled with iced tea.

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Ms Blue Jay

Ms Blue Jay

(edited)
4 hours ago, gesundheit said:

Rian Johnson. Brief commitment. Who would turn it down? Irresistible gig.

Yeah, but you have to admit that this is practically unprecedented in the modern age.  It's rare to see a show with this format and this quality and sheer number of guest stars week in and week out in 2023.  A lot of factors had to come together to make this work and be successful and last.  And who knows how long it'll last - Natasha might want to move onto other projects after a year.

While my immediate analogy was The White Lotus -- I think that's become a desired acting gig - they still employ only a certain number of actors for an entire season, while this show will practically have that number and calibre , and sometimes better, for every new episode.  It's crazy.

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yeah, but you have to admit that is practically unprecedented in the modern age.  It's rare to see a show with this format and this quality and sheer number of guest stars week in and week out in 2023.  A lot of factors had to come together to make this work and be successful and last.  And who knows how long it'll last - Natasha might want to move onto other projects after a year.

Well, it's renewed for another year at least.
And likely Lyonne can do some other projects in the same time span. 
But, yeah. It's not going to last forever, so, "Get it while you can."

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kwnyc

kwnyc

On 2/10/2023 at 12:00 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

When Michael signed his autograph on the menu (and then ordered a club sandwich, which wasn't on the part of the menu that was visible), I though that perhaps he really was illiterate. 

But DARLING...they're SHOW people...they get to order off-menu items! As a theater person myself, this was an especially delicious episode, pun intended, for me!

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merylinkid

merylinkid

On 2/13/2023 at 1:45 AM, twoods said:

I still can’t get over how a streaming show can get such recognizable guest stars for one episode. 

that is what I absolutely ADORE about this show.  (well besides the glimpses of Benjamin Bratt).   They are able to get really good actors to appear.   It helps the scripts are pretty good and it looks like it would be a fun one off to do.   

Thruple?  will never not be funny.   Charlie just wants the truth to come out.   She can detect lies and it bugs her.   Someone being falsely accused is a LIE to her and it has to be fixed.   She does so much good when she could just be looking out for herself considering that her life is in literal danger.   

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sugarbaker design

sugarbaker design

On 2/12/2023 at 7:57 AM, Milburn Stone said:

I chose to believe this, and still do. And further (you may mean this, also), that she did this knowing it was suicide. Her final, dramatic gesture. I choose this meaning because it makes the moment harrowing, imbuing it with a taste of tragedy. I love tragedy. 

She said something like "Now, I'm a ghost" right before she went down to hell, er, the cellar.  I saw it as suicide as well.

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