I believe the main purpose of art is to make you feel something emotionally, but how do you define a work of art that was created with the specific intent to make you feel mixed emotions.
Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal is an incredibly engaging show that plays on the idea of what if we could control our own lives and determine the outcomes. Would we be happy with the results or would we be left with this undesirable feeling of regret.
This show balances between being incredibly meta and thought provoking, while also being insanely witty and creepily satire comedy (i.e. silent birthday party).
A big theme of the show is what is actually reality and what is manipulated.
For me personally I found this show to be a great parody of modern day reality television. Nathan has a very dry humor which would make him a dull protagonist but the added inclusion of his off kilter voice overs paired with juxtaposing visuals are laugh out loud hilarious and really add to the ominous creepiness of the show much like how the character of Hal does in 2001: A Space Odyssey
Nathan is robotic and monotonous throughout the show often hiding his true feelings and emotions behind a deadpan stare and a passive aggressive boss/ friend persona often used to manipulate an undesirable situation into one that best suits his own comfort.
The supporting characters are way more emotionally developed and their beliefs and sense of values are the primary forefront of why their characters are included into the show.
To name a few supporting characters. The most important throughout the series is Angela, a middle aged woman of devout Christian faith and an almost God like sense of judgmental juror over those not familiar with her beliefs. Upon first glance she seems odd but fairly innocent but after a few days inside Nathan’s experiment we as the audience begin to question what her true motivations are and is she a victim to Nathan’s experimentation or just another person seeking attention and using any form of media to affirm her sense of self righteousness.
Another interesting supporting character is Remy. A little boy who serves his purpose as a child actor in Nathan’s simulation, but he soon becomes another victim paralyzed in Nathan’s reality bending, and develops a bound for the creator refusing to accept the fact that Nathan isn’t his real dad and was just acting as such to selfishly simulate the absence of parenthood in his own life.
Upon the release of the season finale it was announced that this show will be getting a second season. Fingers crossed it comes sooner than later. In the meantime this show is filled with great Easter eggs and interesting fan lore so its six episode run is definitely worth the second and third watch as we patiently wait for the next installment of Nathan Fielder’s meta comedy The Rehearsal.
My Rating 8.5/10 .