UnREAL: Savior

July 13, 2015 8:03 PM - Season 1, Episode 7

When tragedy strikes the set, the contestants and everyone behind the scenes are all affected.

In this episode, Rachel makes a series of bad decisions and everyone involved in the production of the show proves they have thrown away every last shred of decency even as they try to convince themselves otherwise.

I watched this episode live and I think the commercials are not exactly aimed at the audience of the show, they were distractingly weird.

posted by jeather (9 comments total)

My husband and I have been enjoying this show until last week, when he nearly ragequit because of the implausibility of "Fly's" events. I thought that given the ridiculous premise of last week, this episode felt more believable, though I'm with the AV Club recapper in that I cannot make myself care about Jeremy and Rachel. Other than that, I still find myself very interested in the different types of moral rationalizing (or lack thereof) different people seem to employ to do their jobs well.

Also, this episode sent me on a morbid internet search bender when I started looking up whether anyone had ever died during a reality TV show production. And...it turns out that in March, 10 people from the French reality show "Dropped" were killed (3 cast members, the director, a producer, a cameraman, the show doctor, a journalist, and the 2 pilots) when the two helicopters carrying them collided mid-air. That was not a Google rabbit hole I would recommend for anyone.
posted by joan cusack the second at 8:47 AM on July 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

What is up with the extra button on the bottom of Adam's blue shirt during the scene where he delivers the condolences speech?
posted by bswinburn at 8:11 PM on July 14, 2015

When Adam spooned Rachel at the end my husband cheered so loudly he woke up the cat. He ships Adam and Rachel so hard; they are his OTP.

I can't believe Shia came straight out and confessed what she did - but I really believe that Rachel would forge a suicide note, both because she's a master manipulator and because she ultimately cares about Quinn. Not Jeremy, though, I don't buy her and Jeremy for a second.
posted by nerdfish at 8:21 AM on July 15, 2015

Wouldn't the police be able to immediately tell that the suicide note was forged? I liked it as a plot twist but it was hard to suspend disbelief. Rachel's good but she's not THAT good.

I was so surprised at the end that Chet *said* he was splitting up with his wife. I know by now not to trust anything he says... but that was something I wasn't expecting!
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 2:17 PM on July 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto, I assumed that the sister's confirmation that the letter was in her sister's writing was probably all the confirmation anyone needed. Plus, since it's clear that Mary committed suicide, it's probably not being investigated like a homicide and the police wouldn't be looking closely at the note.
posted by joan cusack the second at 7:42 PM on July 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Good call joan cusack -- you're probably right and I've watched too many crime dramas. :)
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 7:14 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

I cannot make myself care about Jeremy and Rachel.

I file that under "the price of getting your show picked up by Lifetime." Based only on my own conjecture, I can totally see the network execs saying "We will happily bankroll your project about the cynicism and ruthlessness of televised romance, but we require a minimum of two (2) implausible love triangles and a moment of beefcake shirtlessness in every episode."
posted by psoas at 1:59 PM on July 20, 2015

So this episode and the last one finally revealed what Chet is actually good at. He's the asshole who can interface with both the assholes with real power and also the peons. The network guy seems completely incapable of paying attention for more than two seconds to anyone who isn't sucking up to him in a big way. Chet also expects that, but is marginally more capable of dealing with people who are normal humans, so he plays the middle-man.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:42 AM on January 12, 2016

Also, I'll go on record as saying Adam/Rachel is much more interesting than Rachel/Jeremy
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:42 AM on January 12, 2016