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S02.E02: Valerie Tries To Get Yesterday Back

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in The Comeback [V]

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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

I love this show.  I didn't catch it the first time around (didn't have HBO), then caught it On Demand later.

 

Is it my imagination (or wish fulfillment) that Valerie seems a tad more self aware this time around?  She looked embarrassed when she didn't know Jane's last name.

 

My only complaint is that she must be living in a cocoon.  There's so much that she doesn't know, for someone who's been in the business for so many years.  It also seems odd that she doesn't keep up with popular entertainment.  What does she do all day? 

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iMonrey

iMonrey

I sort of feel like the premise doesn't work as well as it did in the first season. It did in the first episode, because she was trying to make a reality show for Bravo, but now that she has a real job on a real show, there really isn't any need for "reality" cameras to follow her around everywhere she goes. That seems like something she would have dumped as soon as she got the HBO job, which is a big step up from a reality show on Bravo. Talking the HBO execs into using the footage for "behind the scenes" extras for their website feels forced. They want to maintain the same gimmick they had in the first season, but there isn't a compelling reason for the characters to do so.

 

The scene where the sound guy took a hit off the joint and flipped off the camera guy was golden.

  • Love 3
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junemeatcleaver

junemeatcleaver

I got the impression she was doing her vlog independent of the reality show/BTS footage stuff.  It seemed to me like she had been posting vlogs for awhile, but I'm not entirely sure.  If she is making vlogs, does she post them to YouTube or on a personal website or blog.

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JasminePhyllisia

JasminePhyllisia

I watched all of the first season and now I'm caught up on S2. I get Valerie's ignorance of pop culture, I think it's because she lives in a self-centered bubble which is her way of coping with her loss of fame.

The dress she ended up wearing to the golden globes looked like a bad, Ill-fitting prom dress--was this just my take or did the designer just not care?

  • Love 2
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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

Jasmine, that's a good question, about the dress.  Did HBO want her to look out of date?  It does reinforce who they think she is.   Neither dress was a good choice, so I think it was intentional.  We only saw two dresses.

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txhorns79

txhorns79

(edited)
Did HBO want her to look out of date?  It does reinforce who they think she is.

 

I saw it as a callback to the first season.  Valerie was doing an awards show, and I want to say she suggested Nolan Miller should design her dress.  The joke with that was that Miller was well known for having designed clothing for the television show Dynasty, so Valerie's idea of fashion was twenty or so years out of date at that point.

 

I was glad to see Jane.  I like she and Valerie's relationship, and loved Jane's kind of resigned weariness in hooking back up with Val. 

Edited by txhorns79
  • Love 1
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pasdetrois

pasdetrois

I covet Jane's home (and animals).

 

Brad Goreski was a stylist on Rachel Zoe's reality show, and there was major drama when he went out on his own. He and his partner Gary Janetti, who is an acto, scriptwriter and producer, had their own short-lived reality show. It was interesting watching Brad decide how snarky to be about Valerie, given that in real life he would never publicly humiliate a client (one assumes).

 

I liked this epi a bit more than the first one. The Washington Post TV critic says the series picks up come epi three.

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CMH1981

CMH1981

(edited)

The sad part about Jane is that she is going into this thinking this could lead to HBO financing the rest of her independent film, and that has never been firmly established.  Valerie mislead Jane into thinking HBO is all for this new reality/behind the scenes web series, when in fact they are just indulging Valerie for who knows what reasons.  I'm guessing HBO does think Valerie could have a lawsuit for Paulie G's unflattering portrayal of her in the script, and this is why they are just humoring her currently and allowing this filming to continue.  Mark is trying to let Valerie know that this is going to end badly b/c he read the script, and I have a feeling Jane is going to know join in and beg Valerie to get out of this project.  I think Jane will end up being more protective of Valerie this go round.

 

I was glad Jane acknowledged the way Valerie was portrayed the first time around that she was part of it, even though she was doing her job.  I don't think Valerie heard her over the glow of the Oscar though.

 

I do agree w/other posters who previously mentioned that it makes no sense to have cameras following Valerie around now.  The original premise was great, and for this second season they are stretching it a little thin to make it work.

Edited by CMH1981
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DrivingSideways

DrivingSideways

I know Jane was just doing her job, but I really hated her the first season.  So all of her Laurel Canyon free spirited lesbian crap with the Oscar and various projects that seek justice for oppressed women just made me hate her even more.  Maybe her post-Comeback projects are her attempt to absolve herself from the wreckage she made in humiliating Val.  Or maybe I'm just overthinking it all, haha.

 

That I hate Jane is a testament to what awesome actresses Laura Silverman and Lisa Kudrow are.

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Mumbles

Mumbles

I didn't like Jane the first season until Val told her about the screws in her back, and you could see Jane, perhaps for the first time, see Val as another human being. I think Jane is now older and wiser and sadder. Maybe she took the Comeback gig at first to get the money to do stuff she cares about. Or maybe she was shallow/mean at first, and the experience made her reevaluate what she wanted to do with her life. Don't know, but I do think Laura Silverman is great in the role.

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TV Diva Queen

TV Diva Queen

In regard to the dress - when she was at Brad's, he was trying to get her in something more modern, implying that her clothes are out dated.  At the fitting, she says (paraphrasing) that she will just pick her own dress.  Then we see her in the God awful dress she chose.

 

OT - Brad's partner Gary wrote Will & Grace and I believe still writes the Family Guy.  IMO he IS Will.  I love their reality show....wonder if its coming back.  

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annlaw78

annlaw78

(edited)

What I like about Valerie is that she wants to be famous, but he isn't a famewhore.  That is, she wants to be famous for her acting, not just for being "herself."  She's not into being a Housewife -- she wants to be "Valerie Cherish, America's Most Loved Actress."  She's cottoned on, though, to the fact that the Housewives, and other "reality TV stars" really are just playing characters, too.  Hence, her desire to get her own Bravo show, hoping probably it will lead to her back to her scripted roots.

 

 

In regard to the dress - when she was at Brad's, he was trying to get her in something more modern, implying that her clothes are out dated.  At the fitting, she says (paraphrasing) that she will just pick her own dress.  Then we see her in the God awful dress she chose.

Yeah, I love how her hairstyle has not changed from her early 90s heyday.  Jennifer Aniston has said she makes it a point to avoid layers to get away from "The Rachel."

Edited by annlaw78
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JasminePhyllisia

JasminePhyllisia

It amuses me how often Mickey and Valerie primp her hair, yet it never looks any different afterwards.

And it looked so much better and more flattering that one time in s1 when another stylist gave her a more modern look for the people's choice awards! At least she's loyal to Mickey.

  • Love 2
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hoodooznoodooz

hoodooznoodooz

And it looked so much better and more flattering that one time in s1 when another stylist gave her a more modern look for the people's choice awards! At least she's loyal to Mickey.

Yes, I do love that about her. She can be very loyal. (Unless you're a film student ;) )
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Aja

Aja

I just got HBO Go SPECIFICALLY so that I could see season 2 of this show! Please, Valerie Cherish, never leave me for that long again. I just finished this episode...having Jane back made me very unreasonably happy!! I started out disliking Jane in the first season also, but as someone else said, my mind changed when Valerie was telling the story about how they wouldn't let her be in the team picture and Jane got emotional. I liked that, just like the rest of us, she just couldn't help but like Valerie.

 

Valerie is a brilliant character, and Lisa Kudrow is freaking amazing in that role. She can be completely slapstick over-the-top ridiculous but somehow her humanity remains firmly intact. She's not just a caricature and the butt of jokes; she is a very talented actress, both dramatic and comedic, and nobody can deny that, as badly as some of them want to. She isn't just a universal love-to-hate egotistical bitch--there are people, important people, that can see what a fragile, good-hearted person she is. Her husband is intensely loyal to her, as are her close friends. No matter what shit she pulls, she does not drive them away. That's what I love best about the character.

  • Love 2
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