S02.E07: Ambush

[LittleIggy]

Besides what others have said about the shooting storyline, I can't believe that Rachel had two hot guys in thrall to her. Nor can I believe that Booth thinks he could have children with mid 40s Quinn unless he is thinking surrogate.

[cakes1975]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 3:02 PM, wings707 said:

This is intended to be dark and shocking.  We all get that.

You can turn the death and injured black man story to a statement that says this happens, sit up and take note.  And it does.  So this episode was actually in defense and supports the 'black lives matter' crusade. How better to illustrate this than 2 innocent men from a reality show in an expensive car get shot.  Yes, Rachael called 911 and reported it stolen.  I see that as a plot device for this to happen.  And it served to also show how far (exaggerated) reality shows go to get their story (suicide).   

Yes they stole a car but an arrest was in order, not death.  It also showed Darius reacting to his hurt back which was misunderstood as resistance.  This happens.  A man reaches for his wallet and is shot because cop thinks he is going for a gun and on it goes. 

Before you come down on me for being insensitive or worse, this is just another way I saw this could be interpreted. I am not defending the episode or this season or anyone in production.  Just and observation. 

I may be the only one on this thread that agrees with you on this. I will even take it a bit further and say that the episode and maybe the entire season is about 'white privilege' and how black folks are just part of the scenery. White women have been lying and getting Black men killed since the founding of the nation; and even when they are caught red-handed it is still about their pain.

Black Lives Matter and other civil-rights groups are calling this out and they get called racists for their trouble. When a person of color tries to talk about race or ethnicity in this nation, it is the 'white' establishment that gets overly sensitive and butt-hurt, thinking that it is some kind of personal affront.  Black and LGBTQ people die and the media only cares about how 'white' folks are going to feel and react to the tragedy. Rachael, Coleman, and the entire Everlasting  crew are mirroring this way of behaving. Jay did not fight too much for the woman he wanted to appear (I forget her name) to get the hell out of Dodge after Rachael talked her into leaving college to do a 'reality' show. Darius and Romeo signed up for this to improve Darius' image with women after he called the reporter a bitch. they walked into this shit-show with their eyes partially opened, not knowing that they had no control over any of this narrative.

Rachael instead of doing her normal job after being demoted, gets Quinn a 'handler' who wants to elevate a television show. Coleman is out of his depth and instead of sitting back and letting Quinn, Chet, and Rachael show him how it is done, piggybacks on Rachael 'liberal guilt'  and talks her into making the show be more than fluff. Now we have two Black Men possibly mortally injured, and it's all about the 'white folks' pain.

I sorry that others can't see it but this is one of the best pieces of social satire I have seen/read in quite a while. The best way to show some truths is to place real life in the picture frame and put it in our face. This season mirrors our desire for fifteen minutes of fame and fearing of confronting our racial history, and we are totally seeing our own reflections with our comments. I'm not even sure the writers knew that they would get this many people up in arms, and the real payoff may be a Peabody Award and the cancelation of the series.

[Jade Foxx]

24 minutes ago, cakes1975 said:

I may be the only one on this thread that agrees with you on this. I will even take it a bit further and say that the episode and maybe the entire season is about 'white privilege' and how black folks are just part of the scenery. White women have been lying and getting Black men killed since the founding of the nation; and even when they are caught red-handed it is still about their pain.

Black Lives Matter and other civil-rights groups are calling this out and they get called racists for their trouble. When a person of color tries to talk about race or ethnicity in this nation, it is the 'white' establishment that gets overly sensitive and butt-hurt, thinking that it is some kind of personal affront.  Black and LGBTQ people die and the media only cares about how 'white' folks are going to feel and react to the tragedy. Rachael, Coleman, and the entire Everlasting  crew are mirroring this way of behaving. Jay did not fight too much for the woman he wanted to appear (I forget her name) to get the hell out of Dodge after Rachael talked her into leaving college to do a 'reality' show. Darius and Romeo signed up for this to improve Darius' image with women after he called the reporter a bitch. they walked into this shit-show with their eyes partially opened, not knowing that they had no control over any of this narrative.

Rachael instead of doing her normal job after being demoted, gets Quinn a 'handler' who wants to elevate a television show. Coleman is out of his depth and instead of sitting back and letting Quinn, Chet, and Rachael show him how it is done, piggybacks on Rachael 'liberal guilt'  and talks her into making the show be more than fluff. Now we have two Black Men possibly mortally injured, and it's all about the 'white folks' pain.

I sorry that others can't see it but this is one of the best pieces of social satire I have seen/read in quite a while. The best way to show some truths is to place real life in the picture frame and put it in our face. This season mirrors our desire for fifteen minutes of fame and fearing of confronting our racial history, and we are totally seeing our own reflections with our comments. I'm not even sure the writers knew that they would get this many people up in arms, and the real payoff may be a Peabody Award and the cancelation of the series.

Applause. ??

[jhlipton]

I realize my comments were highly insensitive given what happens in the Real World.

8 hours ago, Jade Foxx said:

* have you ever driven while black?
) Being snitty is not cause for that serious of horrendous events to go down. Even driving without a license and insurance is a situation that can be handled without gunplay. (for certain members of a certain population)

2) Romeo was checking on Darius, not rushing the officer, when he was shot. The most agressive person in this scenario was Rachel running out the bushes toward the scene.

3) Again, a few traffic violations ARE NO REASON FOR ANYONE TO GET SHOT.  We have witnessed unarmed black men acting in full compliance and still end up beaten/and or murdered. Unlike a young white man who walks into a church and massacres nine people, and is armed YET captured "without incident" and gets a meal from Burger King.

I have not and can't drive while black.  While I obviously see this scenario through the filter of white privilege (I openly admit that I have it), and that far too many blacks have been murdered  by police, I can still offer my opinion of it.

Being snitty and having no papers wasn't the cause for gun-play.  The gun didn't come out until a white woman came out of hiding. (Grand Theft Auto was a contributing factor as well.

The officer didn't know what Romeo was doing -- All he knew was that another person was coming towards him (and Darius) the minute his back was turned (and while his partner was distracted by Tiffany).

I could name 23 reasons why I agree with you about how blacks are treated:differently than whites (and how the man who killed the churchgoers sickened and disgusted me).  I just think that they could have made racism a touch more of the reason Romeo was shot.  Having Jameson (or even Chantell) there would have improved the scene immensely. And making the next scenes about Rachel, and not Darius and Romeo was an example of pure racism.

I have absolute no wish to diminish the atrocities committed by cops.  I absolute agree that Black Lives Matter and that saying All Lives Matter is disgusting. 

6 hours ago, nara said:

Rough treatment of Darius as he was made to leave car (probably racial).

Analysis: although many parts of the confrontation were not racially-motivated, the final outcome was impacted by race.

I mostly agree with your analysis, with the exception of the statement above.  I've seen enough episodes of Cops to believe that Darius wasn't treated especially roughly, especially since the cop had no reason to believe that he was hurting Darius until he screamed.  (When I say that the cop didn't act in an overly aggressive way, I'm not saying he gets a cookie -- his actions were at best the baseline for handling a call -- I'm saying that it is far too often we hear about a black person shot 10 or 20 times.)

re knowledge of who Darius is but inability to recognize him (maybe racial, maybe darkness).-- I wouldn't know by sight 9/10s of the NFL or Major League Baseball.  So it might be racial, might be darkness, or might be not knowing (or caring) who Darius was.

Edited July 22, 2016 by jhlipton

[nara]

2 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I mostly agree with your analysis, with the exception of the statement above.  I've seen enough episodes of Cops to believe that Darius wasn't treated especially roughly, especially since the cop had no reason to believe that he was hurting Darius until he screamed.  (When I say that the cop didn't act in an overly aggressive way, I'm not saying he gets a cookie -- his actions were at best the baseline for handling a call -- I'm saying that it is far too often we hear about a black person shot 10 or 20 times.)

re knowledge of who Darius is but inability to recognize him (maybe racial, maybe darkness).-- I wouldn't know by sight 9/10s of the NFL or Major League Baseball.  So it might be racial, might be darkness, or might be not knowing (or caring) who Darius was.

I don't watch Cops (didn't know it was still on) so I will defer to your knowledge on the roughness of the arrest. However, if that is how police treat everyone, including alleged non-violent offenders, that is an issue.

True, it's possible that they don't know Darius enough to recognize him, but I got a different impression from the dialogue.

[betha]

Much like everlasting, this show tried to bite off way more than it could chew. This episode was offensive, but also, this whole season has not made much sense or been very entertaining. 

They should have stuck to the interesting behind-the-scenes stuff.

Kept giving it one more chance but I am over it.

[BingeyKohan]

If new characters aren't going to be interesting on their own (and Coleman and Booth aren't, to me) then they should at least illuminate things about the characters they play off of (Rachel and Quinn). You could argue (though I wouldn't wholeheartedly agree) that Coleman has illuminated some essential neediness and gullibility in Rachel, but I can't figure out what we're supposed to have learned about Quinn through Booth. That there was a giddy, grinning romantic just under the surface and all it took was a casket-shopping trip to let her loose? (And with dates to go casket shopping and one on which a dead man's ashes are blown into another man's mouth, what kind of death-as-aphrodisiac theme are they trying to get at?? Are we going to have Everlasting: Necrophilia Edition next year with Rachel bragging that they've cast the first-ever suitor that's actually just a dead body?)

[Jade Foxx]

8 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I realize my comments were highly insensitive given what happens in the Real World.

I have not and can't drive while black.  While I obviously see this scenario through the filter of white privilege (I openly admit that I have it), and that far too many blacks have been murdered  by police, I can still offer my opinion of it.

Being snitty and having no papers wasn't the cause for gun-play.  The gun didn't come out until a white woman came out of hiding. (Grand Theft Auto was a contributing factor as well.

The officer didn't know what Romeo was doing -- All he knew was that another person was coming towards him (and Darius) the minute his back was turned (and while his partner was distracted by Tiffany).

I could name 23 reasons why I agree with you about how blacks are treated:differently than whites (and how the man who killed the churchgoers sickened and disgusted me).  I just think that they could have made racism a touch more of the reason Romeo was shot.  Having Jameson (or even Chantell) there would have improved the scene immensely. And making the next scenes about Rachel, and not Darius and Romeo was an example of pure racism.

I have absolute no wish to diminish the atrocities committed by cops.  I absolute agree that Black Lives Matter and that saying All Lives Matter is disgusting. 

I mostly agree with your analysis, with the exception of the statement above.  I've seen enough episodes of Cops to believe that Darius wasn't treated especially roughly, especially since the cop had no reason to believe that he was hurting Darius until he screamed.  (When I say that the cop didn't act in an overly aggressive way, I'm not saying he gets a cookie -- his actions were at best the baseline for handling a call -- I'm saying that it is far too often we hear about a black person shot 10 or 20 times.)

re knowledge of who Darius is but inability to recognize him (maybe racial, maybe darkness).-- I wouldn't know by sight 9/10s of the NFL or Major League Baseball.  So it might be racial, might be darkness, or might be not knowing (or caring) who Darius was.

I appreciate your reply and clarifications.

[jhlipton]

18 minutes ago, Jade Foxx said:

I appreciate your reply and clarifications.

Thanks!

[shksabelle]

I'm done.  What the f*ck were they thinking to air this episode given the events of the last few weeks?  Did they think they were being "edgy", "relevant", "ripped from the headlines?  NOPE.  Just DESPERATE.

Quinn is over the top and her behavior would not be acceptable in any organization.

And RACHEL - PLEASE.  She is a morose, selfish, self-absorbed slut.  Yes, I said it.

This show started out with an interesting premise but now, IMO, holds the record for shark jumping

[LittleIggy]

The dead fiance's ashes getting blown into Darius's face took me right back to the Donnie funeral scene in "The Big Lebowski, my favorite movie, so thanks for that, writers!

[skotnikov]

On 22.7.2016 at 7:38 AM, cakes1975 said:

I sorry that others can't see it but this is one of the best pieces of social satire I have seen/read in quite a while. The best way to show some truths is to place real life in the picture frame and put it in our face. This season mirrors our desire for fifteen minutes of fame and fearing of confronting our racial history, and we are totally seeing our own reflections with our comments. I'm not even sure the writers knew that they would get this many people up in arms, and the real payoff may be a Peabody Award and the cancelation of the series.

Thank you for saying that. The outrage re: this episode here and elsewhere is totally nonsensical.    

[MakeMeLaugh]

I'm pretending the first season's cast "stole" the Bentley, and Rachel and some random person saw it. Rachel might have followed the car with a camera to capture this lighthearted lark to get footage for the show, but she wouldn't have called the police. This season is so bad, so ridiculous, and riffing off the Black Lives Matter storyline is just insulting to the viewer. 

I don't like anyone on this season except Darius. IMO the characters are all one-note this season. Hit me over the head with sad sack Rachel, vulgar Quinn, etc., etc. Pick an antihero, any antihero.

We forget to watch this series and then remember it's still on and catch up on-demand. I think we're done with that. 

Edited July 23, 2016 by MakeMeLaugh

[buttersister]

Show got in over its head and I'm not sure it can be resuscitated. Did the writers have good intentions but not the talent to avoid a crappy execution (no pun intended)? I don't give a shit. Show has failed on many levels except one --- it's succeeded in freeing up an hour a week for me.

Edited July 23, 2016 by buttersister
Now with 25% less judgement passed.

[jhlipton]

How did Rachel and Coleman get ahead of everyone else at the precise spot the arrest took place -- far enough ahead to get the crew under cover?  More BS.

[LittleIggy]

Chet's dog is my favorite character this season.

[backformore]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 11:50 PM, LittleIggy said:

Besides what others have said about the shooting storyline, I can't believe that Rachel had two hot guys in thrall to her. Nor can I believe that Booth thinks he could have children with mid 40s Quinn unless he is thinking surrogate.

Yeah, what the hell?  On a show with pretty bimbos prancing around 24/7,  Rachel and Quinn are irresistible to men? 

[backformore]

I'm still liking the show, though this episode was rough to watch.   It's a pretty dark view of people who will screw other people over for the sake of "making good TV".  This episode took it to an extreme, setting up an incident which would make good TV, without stepping back and realizing how horribly out of control it can get.    What they (Everlasting) were going for was a social commentary, filming two Black guys being hassled by cops for "driving while Black".  Yeah, that would have made good TV, except for the fact that Rachel called the cops, thereby changing it to "driving a stolen vehicle,"  a crime which may cause the cops to be more apt to draw their guns when approaching the car.  as soon as she called the cops, the segment that  might   have been "our bachelor/suitor gets hassled by racist cops"  had the potential for tragedy.   
What I get from it is that you have to stop pretending you are filming a "reality TV show" when you start messing with and setting up "reality."  

The people on the show get so caught up with out-doing each other to get the best ratings, that they lose sight of the real people involved. 

So, I get why people are upset that Unreal had this story line, but the Unreal  story line was about how Everlasting tried  to do a story about racism without an understanding of how real and scary racism is.  I guess if I see Unreal as a show that is showing what assholes the people running Everlasting are, I can watch, and even enjoy the show.  

[Raja]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

Yeah, what the hell?  On a show with pretty bimbos prancing around 24/7,  Rachel and Quinn are irresistible to men? 

Don't forget Madison. Part of it is the bimbos are holding out for bigger game, at least until they lose and then the men around the production can make their move.

[Sparger Springs]

8 hours ago, backformore said:

Yeah, what the hell?  On a show with pretty bimbos prancing around 24/7,  Rachel and Quinn are irresistible to men? 

Not only are they irresistible, men are declaring they undying love after a week of knowing them.

[Marsupial]

Right, and even Jeremy still luuuuves Rachel even though he was engaged to a beautiful, seemingly lovely girl who was apparently smart enough to ditch his sorry ass.

Quote

I sorry that others can't see it but this is one of the best pieces of social satire I have seen/read in quite a while

I think that interpretation is negated by the fact that we are very clearly supposed to feel sorry for Rachel. If this was meant as social satire, it failed big time. It wasn't funny and it was clear the writers' and director's sympathies were with the white folks.

One of the most searing social satires on the perils of our lust for fame I've ever seen is "To Die For." Gus van Sant does a brilliant job, the movie is extremely funny, but you never, not for one moment, doubt that Van Sant thinks Suzanne  is evil; it's clear he does not sympathize with her and she gets her comeuppance in a very funny and satisfying way. That's how you do social satire. If that's what the Unreal folks were aiming for I give them a big fat F.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Marsupial
clarification

[backformore]

4 hours ago, Marsupial said:

I think that interpretation is negated by the fact that we are very clearly supposed to feel sorry for Rachel. If this was meant as social satire, it failed big time. It wasn't funny and it was clear the writers' and director's sympathies were with the white folks.

I'm not sure were supposed to feel sorry for Rachel.   She might be the main character, but it seemed to me the show was portraying her descent from a good person with some emotional issues, to a person wo got so swept up in producing a TV show that she lost her soul  and her sanity.

[ketose]

The show was already losing me this season, so the episode alone didn't end my viewing. I don't need to argue whether the show is important, because it fails as entertainment. Marsupial made a great call with "To Die For." Whatever else it did, I enjoyed watching it.

The big story about UnReal when it first came out was how SGS was a producer on The Bachelor and had some inside dirt on how they do their job. Within 6 episodes, it was obvious shit was happening on Everlasting that could never continue in real life. VH-1's reality empire was blown up because a guy appeared on one reality show and won a related game show then committed a murder / suicide while the first show started to air. On Everlasting, a woman commits suicide and the show continues for another 3 weeks. Let's not forget that Everlasting airs just days after the content is filmed, which would be impossible for a show like that.

A show like this that goes from idiotic Southern stereotypes to a serious issue (also played as stereotypical) just does not have the gravitas to make me think about anything except what horrible people producers are.

[kieyra]

18 hours ago, backformore said:

Yeah, what the hell?  On a show with pretty bimbos prancing around 24/7,  Rachel and Quinn are irresistible to men? 

I realize (hope) the point here is that Rachel and Quinn are awful people, but I'm also willing to give men credit for being interested in something other than "pretty bimbos". 

[Marsupial]

Also we don't know if they are bimbos, because the show hasn't given us any information about them.

[Eolivet]

On 7/20/2016 at 5:05 PM, dbell1 said:

Our suitor and his women didn't matter last season, they're background characters there to drive the Rachel story forward.

I disagree, and the petitions to bring back Adam clearly speak to the contrary (even if I personally didn't care for the true love story of him and Rachel).

The show is called "UnREAL" and that, to me, means it's focusing on the unreality of a reality show. Last season, that's what it did. It was about the behind-the-scenes of the show. We met and got to know the contestants through their producer interactions. I think of what important characters Faith and Anna and Mary were last season. We spent multiple episodes with them, and yes -- Adam. They weren't props, they weren't vessels through which the producers' stories played -- they were living, breathing characters with wills and minds of their own. It took the stereotype of reality show contestants being airhead morons and deconstructed it.

Now, the contestants (Ruby excepted) are back to being broadly drawn, airhead morons. And maybe that's what Shaprio thinks of them, but that's not what we were sold last season. We were told they could be manipulated, but they at least seemed to be autonomous beings. I love watching the producers manipulate contestants, but not when the contestants (again, other than Ruby) don't put up any fight or have any original thoughts whatsoever. And the suitor? Last year, he got two love interests. This year, he has a secret sports injury. But a secret sports injury isn't character development!

So, I think the Good Wife analogy works on a different level: if the first season, the show was about the law firm and the ensemble, and the second season suddenly started focusing on one character, her husband, and her family. Viewers indeed might wonder what happened to the law firm.

But again, the title of that show is The Good Wife, so maybe that would be expected. The title of this show isn't "Rachel!" so I don't know why suddenly, nobody matters but her.

[C76]

On 7/24/2016 at 2:40 PM, Marsupial said:

Right, and even Jeremy still luuuuves Rachel even though he was engaged to a beautiful, seemingly lovely girl who was apparently smart enough to ditch his sorry ass.

I think that interpretation is negated by the fact that we are very clearly supposed to feel sorry for Rachel. If this was meant as social satire, it failed big time. It wasn't funny and it was clear the writers' and director's sympathies were with the white folks.

I don't feel sorry for Rachel. Right now I'd have to think long and hard to find a piece of me that pities her. I know some people empathize with her, but I think she has issues, needs help, etc. IMO there's a difference between recognizing that and feeling sorry for her.

***

Like others, the "poor Rachel" nonsense rubbed me the wrong way. I'd like to see what the show does in the next episode to reveal the impact of what happened to Darius. They have an opportunity, I hope they used it wisely.

[Canada]

I can't decide what was more entertaining - that episode or the reaction to it.  Awesome.

[queenanne]

On 7/22/2016 at 1:17 PM, betha said:

Much like everlasting, this show tried to bite off way more than it could chew. This episode was offensive, but also, this whole season has not made much sense or been very entertaining. 

They should have stuck to the interesting behind-the-scenes stuff.

Kept giving it one more chance but I am over it.

Truer word from the point of view of story construction was never told!  It's been a mess.  Last season I cared and was interested in Rachel because they made her a mystery, and made us go through much if not all of the entire season first, before bringing us full circle to the literal "What Did Little Weirdo Do?" reveal.  There was even a bit of sinister mystery in "who is telling the truth about her diagnosis?"  

I liked Coleman well enough when we first met him but now he's a mess.  He might in fact be Male Rachel, because not only does he seem turned on by her imbalance; she's done nothing but affect and suck in "Little Mr. Social Justice Documentarian" to be the selfsame ambulance chaser she is (really, what we've seen this season was supposed to be an example of him making the show more high-toned?  Maybe I fell asleep and missed those 5 seconds).  Chet is irredeemable - I would've sworn he was going to go on through time immemorial making all the wrong choices - oh wait, all of a sudden he's Rachel's white knight throwing Jeremy down the stairs - where was the hint he was going to be that person, scant hours earlier when he was running around stealing children??  

In respect of the hideous Darius/Romeo story, I of course agree that if they weren't capable of swimming in deep waters they should've stayed off the diving board.  I feel sorry for the staff writers who had to suck this one up, probably after thinking this season and show comprised their own personal big career break.  It's tough enough for anyone to get and stay employed as a TV writer.

[dubbel zout]

10 hours ago, queenanne said:

where was the hint [Chet] was going to be that person, scant hours earlier when he was running around stealing children??  

Taking one's one child (albeit illegally) is a lot different from allowing an assault to occur. Chet is an asshole, but he's not a total monster. If nothing else, pulling Jeremy off Rachel was good business sense. You don't want your employees attacking one another.

[Happytobehere]

On July 18, 2016 at 11:03 PM, BunchOMalarkey said:

I don't care about any of these people anymore. Rachel sets up a situation that she knows can be life threatening for good tv, two men are in the hospital and we're supposed to identify with her? We're supposed to think poor Rachel? I would love to see what that writer's room looks like. This episode literally turned my stomach. Not sure if I can continue to watch this show and let them treat this as business as usual in the world of reality tv. I hope Rachel never gets out of that psych hospital. She is truly a danger to society. 

Just watched this episode and all I got from it is that Rachel and her lot truly are spawns of Satan and when things don't go her way and it's time to be held accountable, the white tears start flowing. This show is racist rash and those behind it and those watching who feel for Rachel can't help but show who they really are.

[aradia22]

This was just OK. I didn't hate it. But they didn't really use Adam very well. It was just a lot of gratuitous "sex" scenes before the big set piece at the end. We'll see where they go from here. This was more of a set up episode.

I have no idea how the girls in the house could still be falling for the magic of Everlasting. This is worse than last season in that respect and someone fell off a roof last year.

I wish the ashes were funnier. Actually, I wish she'd just dropped the necklace in the "lake" like it was Titanic. But I did like the fake gondola.

[aradia22]

Quote

My heart broke when Adam closed the door to the trailer, and then sat down on the step to stand guard.

I like that he gave her space when she kept begging for it and yet stayed around if she needed him. But then they apparently dropped that because we never found out when he left...?

Quote

I feel like SGS and the writers just wanted to be able to pat themselves on the back for having a black bachelor as the lead, but didn't actually think through how to tackle the issue of race effectively on the show.

Same as Rachel

Quote

A tiny part of me wondered how the local police had no idea "Everlasting" was filming in the area. Or that Darius was the suitor, and therefore was who he said he was. This doesn't excuse what happened in any way, but it was way too convenient for the show to ignore this.

They didn't ignore it. Thus, the whole ID conversation. Darius tried to talk his way out of things using his fame/celebrity but without his ID he became another black suspect. I think there was something maybe there in how complicated the situation was but UnReal was not equipped to sort through all of it.

Quote

Also, and I realise this is a serious gap in my empathy, given that Romeo is a side character and Darius has not made any impression on me so far (both of which, I think are intentional on the show runner's part), I do find myself more interested in how the show handles this, rather than how Romeo and Darius handle it. Similar to how i didn't really care about Mary's family last year, but did care about Rachel and the show. 

That is an excellent point. They really should have done a better job developing the new characters this year for this among many other reasons.

Quote

Here's an idea from a previous episode that they should have done. Hired someone from central casting to play a cop. This way you get your footage and nobody gets hurts. If they can do it with the mom then why not with a cop.

Wow. Great point. If the shows, Unreal and Everlasting, were more about proving a point and less about drama I can see how this is the route they might have taken. Though I also agree with the people saying it's crazy that any of this is on a dating show anyway. It doesn't fit organically vs. let's say... Beth Ann's family.

[venezia54]

 This was beyond exploitative and offensive, and but I found it even more offensive that the show copped out (no pun intended!) and didn't address the real issue.  The cases that have been controversial aren't because cops "accidentally" shot blacks. They are because cops make assumptions about blacks that they don't about whites. But this show didn't even do that. Romeo got shot because Rachel ran out and the cop accidentally shot him. And then it made it all about Rachel and White People's Problems. 

I have been on and off with this show--mostly--off, because it's became so relentlessly nasty and sadistic, I could no longer stomach it. I watched Season 1 because it was fun and I loved Adam. And I tuned into this epi because Freddie Stroma was going to be on. But now,  this show has crossed the line from "edgy" into just sick, and I just can't anymore. I have no problem with dark stuff (hell, I LOVED "Hannibal"). And I love flawed, amoral characters. . But Rachel is not epic enough to be, say, a Walter White. She's not an anti-hero. She's just a little twat.  It would be a different story if she had enough self-awareness to change and evolve, but she doesn't. She keeps repeating  the same mistakes over and over, and the show keeps upping the ante in its mirthless, repetitive way. Who do they think is the audience for this unwatchable crap? Who would find this funny or entertaining? Sociopaths and sadists? So I, too, am done! Well, unless Adam shows up again because yeah, they do have chemistry and he's the only one who can knock sense into the twit Rachel.