UnREAL: War

June 6, 2016 8:01 PM - Season 2, Episode 1

In the second-season premiere, Rachel hires the show's first African-American suitor after Quinn promotes her to produce the new season. Meanwhile, Chet attempts to reclaim control of the show and sways the suitor's opinion to agree with his vision.
posted by everybody had matching towels (10 comments total)

It was pretty trippy to watch The Bachelorette in the 8-10 slot and then watch this immediately following it on another network. I really love the cast of this show and their characters; there is really no one to like, so I can just sit back and enjoy disliking everyone equally. Favorite bit was where the asst tried to get the contestant to talk about the car accident. Also, would not be surprised if Darius (they kept referring to him as The Suitor so they wouldn't have to remember his name) is not as interested in any of the women as they think he should be. I'm not sure that's his target demographic.
posted by the webmistress at 9:37 AM on June 7, 2016

Favorite bit was where the asst tried to get the contestant to talk about the car accident.

Yeah, that was fascinating. I am really interested in seeing where they take the Madison character this season.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:43 AM on June 7, 2016

I'm not sure that's his target demographic.

Yeah, I've seen similar speculation elsewhere, that he might not be swinging their (the contestants') way. I kind of hope the storyline doesn't go down that road though because it seems like it would make the women look worse in the public eye than the guy for having been such "famewhoring" fools. It'd be interesting though if they addressed the impact on his pro football career if he were to be outed by the show. Or worse, blackmailed by Quinn, Rachel, or one of the contestants.
posted by fuse theorem at 12:21 PM on June 7, 2016

I don't dislike all the characters, I enjoy them. They're all monsters (except, presumably, the constestants), but I want Quinn & Rachel to be monsters who win and Chet and Rachel's ex (Jason? Jeremy? Jordan?) to be monsters who lose.

I don't think that this episode is as good a hook into the show as the premiere, but I think the entire first season is available to watch online.
posted by jeather at 6:19 AM on June 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I really enjoyed Shiri Appleby's performance as Rachel enthusiastically embracing her talented monsterhood. It's so different from last season, but I still find it believable that she's high on the power and money and finding something (approval? acceptance? friendship?) in her partnership with Quinn.

Jeremy's change to petty, vindictive asshole is welcome too. I like making him into a minor villain while Chet becomes the major one. And, Chet's paleo-MRA villain makes a good foil for Rachel and Quinn.
posted by gladly at 7:23 AM on June 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Poor Madison, she's woefully unprepared for this job and it's going to do bad things to her. I sort of love that she slept with the host too though, did we see that happen last season or is this the first we're learning of it?

Dr. Wagerstein might be my favorite of the smaller roles. She brought up micro-agressions! I love her.

Chet is the worst, and actually seemed a little surprised when Quinn didn't just roll over, instead kicked him out. How exactly was that going to go in his mind?

Mostly: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:21 PM on June 8, 2016

I immediately thought of that "unlikable women protagonists" thread watching this -- Rachel and Quinn fit that so well. They're morally compromised anti-heros who get rewarded for their bad behavior, yet you want to root for them anyway. And they are anything but "nurturing women;" if anything, the faux-therapeutic demeanor Rachel occasionally puts on to manipulate people is a kind of nihilistic parody of that trope. (I was going to say that the closest they get to "nurturing" is Quinn's mentorship of Rachel, but then I remembered that even that is partly based on a couple of different instances of extortion, so.)
posted by en forme de poire at 2:28 AM on June 11, 2016

(I was going to say that the closest they get to "nurturing" is Quinn's mentorship of Rachel, but then I remembered that even that is partly based on a couple of different instances of extortion, so.)

I think of everything in Showgirls vernacular (or if you prefer a more classic approach, consider All About Eve), so whereas the Quinn-Rachel relationship is troubling as hell, it really is the Rachel-Madison relationship I have my eye on. It's absolutely Crystal Conners-Nomi Malone territory; Madison largely plays wild-eyed ingenue, but there is definitely a cunning aspect to her.
posted by psoas at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

New Yorker profile of UnReal creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro -- there are some sort-of spoilers for the current season, but they are extremely vague. Lots of interesting stuff about Shapiro and Lifetime.
posted by gladly at 12:41 PM on June 13, 2016

Late to the party, but I just binged the first season after reading that great New Yorker profile. I am really loving this show - it's such an absolute joy watching women be really good at their jobs, even if those jobs make them do things that are pretty morally repugnant.
posted by lunasol at 1:45 PM on June 26, 2016 [1 favorite]