Dispatches from Elsewhere: Simone

March 3, 2020 5:21 PM - Season 1, Episode 2

The game continues as Simone and Peter follow the clues and explore the city, the gang discovers that the game runs deeper than they thought and they have to make an important choice.

EW recap: Simone owns her issues in… 'Simone'

EW - Jason Segel on how 'self-exploration' led him to Dispatches From Elsewhere

posted by oh yeah! (5 comments total)

I wasn't completely hooked by the first episode, but this one has totally done it for me. Simone gives me all the feels.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:12 PM on March 3, 2020

The scene with Simone and her nana was so sweet. Simone feels very “real” in a way the other characters just don’t (yet, anyway.)
posted by Thorzdad at 12:57 PM on March 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

I agree that Simone is the best character so far. She reminds me of young me, and I want to shake her and just tell her to stop running. It was refreshing, to me, that the {spoilers} unrequited romantic affection broke both known tropes. Normally the woman would realize she's being silly and take the romance from the man, because of course! That's what women are for. OR The woman would be steadfast in her stubborness and the show would pity the poor man, woe is he, his poor heart. It was nice to see the show validate Simone's feelings, let her keep her boundaries, they remained friends, and Peter still values her company and doesn't feel sorry for himself.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:44 AM on March 7, 2020 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I really like that she, and the show, is insisting that it's okay that she do things at the pace she chooses.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 11:13 AM on March 7, 2020

Eve Lindley in real life sounds like a minor mirror of Simone, from her interview with Time Magazine: 'More Than a Diversity Box to Be Checked.' Eve Lindley Is Poised to Become the Breakout Star of Dispatches From Elsewhere

Three of the four stars of AMC’s new drama Dispatches From Elsewhere need little introduction. André 3000 is hip-hop royalty. Sally Field is a two-time Oscar winner. Jason Segel, the show’s creator, has been a prominent voice in comedy over the last two decades.

Then there’s Eve Lindley. When the 27-year-old actor learned who would be joining her on set, she became terrified: “I had horrible visions in my head of everybody saying, ‘We hate this show, and now we hate Jason, and now we hate Sally too,’” she told TIME at a Brooklyn diner. “‘We’re gonna break all of our Outkast albums. How dare they support this sick, sick person?’”

Instead, the opposite seems to be happening. While the show itself—which premieres March 1 and follows four lonely people who get roped into a surreal adventure across Philadelphia—has received moderately positive reviews in advance of its debut, praise for Lindley has been unequivocal, with critics calling her “the breakout star of this series hands-down” (Den of Geek) and “absolutely incredible” (Philly Mag). Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, wrote that Lindley “steals pretty much every scene she’s in.”

I adore this show, and Eve as Simone. Jason Seagle is a less certain version of himself from other movies and shows, which is a good fit for this role, but she's stellar.

And this episode broke my heart, but mended it, too. So, so good.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:17 AM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]