It's useful and fitting that yesterday I wrote, in reference to [[Secret Mall Apartment]]:

Which, to be clear, is fine — and charming in its own way. Were these eight people engaging in an explicit art project? Almost certainly not. They were kids fucking around. Does it make you think? Does it change the world in some interesting, albeit slight, way? I think so, and the distance between those two truths does not matter that much, and I think I (we) used to feel better about that, that a random art project could be a random art project and not a referendum.

No other show seems to straddle this bizarre, blurry, liminal space between comedy, metafiction, and art quite like The Rehearsal.

How do you describe the show? What do you make of it? The quick-hit "jokes" are great, such as the graphic of Paramount Germany slowly taking over Europe, but everything larger (entertaining as it is) feels recursive in a way that delights the brain and eludes the tongue. "Nathan's making a joke about this thing which was a joke about this thing which was a joke about this thing." It is impossible not to sound like a Redditor when talking about how much you enjoy the show.

There's almost a Jackass element, too, to what Fielder has done this season, capstoned with (spoilers!) the genuinely impressive accomplishment of getting a pilot's license just to reenact flying a 737 on a plane filled with actors. A lot of what Nathan does elicits the kind of dry scoff-laughter that comes from shock and disbelief, followed by the dawning realization of just how far he's gone; this season traded some of the ambition and insanity of last season (which I liked!) for a leaner, more focused set of bits, all of which paid off and none of which outstayed their welcome.

I don't know how to situate "The Rehearsal" alongside really anything else, but what I know is that I look forward to it and it enchants me. (And I have no idea how stressed HBO must have been during this filming.)

★★★★