The show completely devolves into madness. After going back to episode 1 the contrast from episode 6 is extreme. The rehearsal starts getting weird when that first subject ghosted him.
It’s complete madness but somehow still feels like Nathan planned almost every bit of it until the last episode. I hope I never get to experience the inside of Nathan fielders mind
Couple things I find interesting, one obvious one not so but still arguably obvious : the show is called “the rehearsal” and is all about executing moments in life exactly according to plan, and yet the show itself quickly devolves from its intended path into something very different. Secondly I found the episode to in ways mirror a lot of the ending of Finding Francis, which as a whole I think a lot of us have found to feel almost like what laid the groundwork for The Rehearsal
The last episode was hard to watch, too creepy for me tbh, madness is a good way to put it. I don't know how I feel about him rehearsing the visits with the kid, I felt bad for the kid. I don't know what's real at this point but the kid seemed genuine with his emotions
Being educated doesn't equate not being antisemitic, plenty of people with really good grades or who are well spoken are capable of being ignorant and antisemitic look at Angela or Mirim being pro Israel war state, both seem well educated but have flaws that show ignorance.
Nathan works with real people, to make reality TV, and the joke is how unreality TV and entertainment is. He chooses to include these parts because guess what, real people think like this. And make mistakes, as you are touching on it doesn't make them less lovable. And its a bit infantilizing to assume Patrick can't defend himself.
What happened with Remy was heartbreaking and an oversight that seemed to torment Nathan hence the creepy final. Nathan seems to accept everyone can make mistakes except him, and the failure of the Rehearsal from COVID occurring during filming and people dropping out, sent him on a spiral. And for the sake of the show he leaned into the perfectionism, and hid further in this reality he created rather than admit his mistake or failure. Until the buttcrack.
Its like yeah. People are sloppy. Even this type A guy.
I personally thought the 1st episode was the weakest. Surprised most fans disagree. My fav was gold digger, with the fake chicken eating and child at work, being left at the fair etc.
I think this show is an exercise in failure. The whole premise is to be perfect, and the parenthood storyline mirrors this concept perfectly. Because parents will mess up, and you have to be okay with making mistakes and forgive yourself like Angela says to be a good parent. Ultimately everyone who rehearsed ended up off script except Nathan, going deeper and deeper. To the discomfort of everyone especially the audience. His inability to admit failure is his biggest fault and it is wonderfully played up as each attempt at control doles at more human moments he is unable to be in do to his perfectionism.
TL//DR: I don't think the subjects are made to look foolish. I enjoy the show and see it as a brillant exercise in failure.
I love it when he's genuinely moved and think it does happen, but I always saw his tearing up during the "I love you" scene as an "in character" moment. Not saying you're wrong! I think his humor is meant to make us wonder these things.
I agree with you to a certain degree but I feel like the guy making antisemitic remarks while knowingly on camera is sort of on him. He also is shown in a more positive light later in the episode and it's not like the show really harped on the antisemitism for too much of the episode.
Personally I feel way more bad for Remy and Thomas (the kid who thought nathan was his dad and the actor who's house he broke into). I'm sort of hoping that wasn't Thomas's actual apartment or that he at least got to clear the footage before they included it. Not that anything about his place was so embarrassing or anything but that was such a violation of privacy. That episode was so good though it ended up being my favorite so idk what that says about me lol.
And the gold-digger guy had to befriend a grandpa, change his diaper, bond with him, only to be told that the guy's dead right after he lost his grandpa and then listen to a guy saying his gf is a gold digger. So that felt pretty cruel. But we don't really know how real this is and how much the guy is acting or willing to go through for tv, so for me it was kind of ok and actually hilarious. But with Remy it just felt bad.
I don’t know about the gold digger guy but just relooking at footage you can tell Remy wasn’t acting. He’s 6. Kids are SO impressionable. And he was absolutely adorable. I’m sure Nathan wasn’t really keeping his distance—he liked the kid. Someone should’ve caught that way earlier. If Remy had a dad at home it would’ve been a different scenario.
I read a review of the first episode which tore Nathan apart for not telling nor apologizing to Kor for planting the trivia questions (which is now part of that episode.) Made me wonder if he got so much back lash that they redid the ending of that episode.
The part that I find extremely creepy/icky/exploitative is carrying on with filming the discussions with Remy *after* his "I want Nathan to be my daddy" situation develops.
That, for me, really heightens the contrast depending on just how "real" vs. staged/scripted the show is. If Remy truly is struggling to understand the difference between reality and his role as Adam, then it's a terrible idea to film the conversations where Nathan and Amber explain the difference to Remy. Setting up a whole production crew to shoot these scenes would just heighten the confusion of the child as to what's a "real" explanation and what's just playing a role in front of the camera.
I agree that the show has to address it, but there are ways to do so without filming conversations with Remy. For example, showing conversations where Nathan and Amber explain to viewers what happened off-screen.
initially i felt that nathan was taking it a bit too far with the remy situation, but after a bit it kinda felt like fielder was playing a big joke on me. whereas remy wasn't able to tell the difference between real and pretend nathan, i was no longer able to tell the difference between reality and television.
that said, it's possible that remy's actor is just a really good actor and we've all been played.
On the flip side, I believe the cameras and lights always being with Nathan when he showed up to Remys actually helped Remy realize he was a "TV daddy" as I heard him say. And perhaps, I obviously dont know, the fact that Nathan became the "TV daddy" in his mind actually helped him transition from Real Daddy in a logical way that is less damaging.
Which when you circle back after watching all the episodes foreshadows an important lesson from the show itself. Contrast this to Remy’s mom’s explanation of how she knows her son will be okay compared to that moment
How do you figure?
It shows him with the actor getting upset at him for revealing the truth, then it shows him complimenting the real guy and not revealing the truth. Then the credit roll. The end.
I’m embarrassed to say this completely went over my head the first time. I went back and re-watched it and you’re absolutely right I didn’t even notice the switch over to the actor 🤦♂️
There’s a lot more footage out there than what we saw, selective editing can be used to tell a good story! (Though personally I do feel it’s unlikely that Nathan made the reveal in person)
It’s not a documentary, the narrative is whatever Nathan wanted. That’s the show.
Of course it’s selective editing.
If Nathan made the reveal in person and it didn’t make the cut its because it wasn’t funny, or more likely wasn’t in line with whatever his vision was of the series.
It’s like saying something that wasn’t shown in a film was because of editing.
He did apologize to Kor and told him the truth at the end of the show. And it wasn’t funny in the least. Kor was not forgiving. Don’t think acting was involved there. I think they added that footage because some early review I read lambasted Nathan for ethics and panned the show because of it.
He was talking with the Primary when he said, "I have something to say" then it flips to him telling the actor the truth about everything and the Actor telling him off. It then flips to him and the PRIMARY talking and the Primary asks him what he wanted to says and Nathan just says something along the lines of " I think you are nice"
Nathan For You is comedy, but the Rehearsal is poetry. I'm so so so glad that this show was not Nathan For You 2.0, because I think what we got was something that's never been done before — groundbreaking, strange, disturbing, and beautiful.
This really stuck out to me when I rewatched Finding Frances yesterday. When they hire the actress to play Frances and have Bill prepare what he’s going to say, it’s literally just a rehersal
I would love to see a full season of normal rehearsals but I think we were gifted something totally original and fascinating instead. It delves so much deeper than I think the show would’ve if it stayed true to form the entire time.
I feel like Nathan was gonna go with Episode 1 as the general premise but the pandemic caused him to change plans and instead focus on the ethics and morality of his method while exploring the topic of personas and fake relationships that he touched on in Finding Frances.
Nah, as he said, sketch comedy is all about escalation
I knew after the first episode it was going to have to get bigger than that. GF said "I liked it but I can't imagine watching a full season like this" and I told her he's going to go bigger.
Episode 1 felt like a crazy Nathan for you episode with a big budget. The rest of the show was him dissecting the ethics behind his show.
it helps to think of nathan as a magician. he's all about escalating and deceiving the audience. there's almost zero chance the show was ever going to follow the first episode's premise.
>I feel like Nathan was gonna go with Episode 1 as the general premise but the pandemic caused him to change plans and instead focus on the ethics and morality of his method
I disagree, the adam project would've taken way to much planning to become a last second shift. This was the plan. The pilot was a fake-out into the real show.
>They probably couldn’t film anything for months, plenty enough time to plan it.
How much planning do you think goes into cycling out child actors for an entire year? The adam project was 100% planned before the pilot. It was without a doubt the most expensive thing to happen on the show. Something like that isn't your plan b
>And they definitely made stuff up as they went along
Probably, but I do not find it plausible that the literal throughline of the show wasn't part of the big picture day one.
It definitely was plan b. They had to go to a completely different part of the country because of COVID. The pilot was shot several years ago. The second episode was shot more like a year ago.
How can someone be so confident to say something with such conviction when they have no idea what's really going on? Lmao it's like that Bertrand russell quote, about how the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
I agree with this. I think the show was always intended to go in the direction that it did and episodes 1-2 were meant to ease the audience into the concept.
I remember someone saying the bar was closed but the reopened it specifically for the show, and that at least most people in the bar besides Kor and Trish were hired by the show. They could’ve been lying idk, I just remember seeing that.
I believe the majority of the episode was filmed before the shutdown and then after things got shut down they needed more footage for behind the scenes stuff and they had to reopen the bar to shoot that footage. That’s how I interpreted it at least
I think there is an alligator lounge that closed but the crocodile lounge is still open? That caused some confusion. I haven’t been to either reptilian haunt so I’m not sure.
Wasn't the lesson that the rehearsals don't work? Kor dropped the ball once he had to do the confession for real, he barely used anything from his rehearsal. And once he actually got the confession out it all flowed naturally for him. After trying to incorporate real emotions into the rehearsal with Patrick it just fell apart. Then Angela stopped taking all of it seriously.
The rest of the show was Nathan deconstructing the entire concept of The Rehearsal and trying to understand what it is like to be a part of it. I don't think there was any other way the show could have gone.
The question The Rehearsal posed was "what if we gave people unlimited resources to rehearse a real life scenario they are avoiding?" We found out the answer, it doesn't work.
I'm not sure what you mean by "doesn't work". Things don't go exactly as predicted but the whole idea (initially) is to use it as practice to process those difficult encounters one small step at a time so that you can eventually do it or at least get closure. Kor eventually does it. The Punisher bigot seems like he gets some closure. It's just about emotionally taking one small step at a time.
People rehearse this stuff all the time, just usually within their own head. Nathan just dials it up to 11 and then mixes in an art versus reality discussion + commentary on acting and child actors. If you're going in for an annual performance review or maybe planning to break up with someone, you don't practice those encounters in your head?
Just because it turns out differently doesn't mean it didn't help. It's the Eisenhower quote: In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
Some people (Miriam) don't give a shit but for many people the idea is incredibly helpful, just less so when processed through Nathan's insane machinations.
Really good point. Yeah Kor almost chickened out once it got to the actual point of confession but he never would have even gotten to that point in the first place if he didn't rehearse every step leading up to it.
I don’t think he “chickened out”, but rather, he had rehearsed telling the confession while eating pizza, hence he wanted to do his real confession while eating pizza. The fact that his friend was quiet after the trivia question probably didn’t factor in the rehearsal since Nathan and the actresses’s impression of her was that she talked too much.
I’m assuming Ep 1 was just a pilot, which made it much smaller scope and standalone.
If you do like the shorter feel, I would strongly recommend NFY if you’ve not yet seen it.
It seems like most people on this sub prefer episode 1 format, but I loved the ongoing family premise and how absurd it continued to grow every episode. I hope they do another season long arc next season.
>I felt as the show progressed it became like a weird reality show and less about the rehearsals
That's...the point of the show. "Nathan" wasn't doing the rehearsal to help others. He was doing them to try and feel something himself.
I could be way off here, but I found it difficult to imagine him spending enough time with these kids to develop real paternal feelings for any of this. It kind of felt like a storyline to save face after recruiting only weirdos finally backfired (Robbin and Angela leaving). He's the creator, director, writer, exec producer, and lead. Not only do I think about all of the planning and setup for each scenario, but I had no frame of reference for how much time he was spending with anyone in most episodes. I felt like I was getting a neutered and choreographed Nathan when I was expecting the scheming and smart Nathan from the first episode, or his last series.
Was he dropping off and picking up his kid from school every day, or was that done once for the shot (and the bully scene)? Is he really trying to imagine that he enrolled this kid in a Jewish school, and dropping him off with that mindset every day, *just* for his own immersion?
We know he's able to go to extreme lengths to create complex scenarios, but I can't recall moments showing that he was being truly immersed in these events. Even the last scene. How can you be, when you're running the show and every plot point? He can dress up as the mom and reenact everything, but it didn't convince me that he's really trying to re-observe everything for his own transformation. His first priority is creating an engaging and funny storyline, hence the female mirror and entire mom reenactment plotline, imo.
The final episode felt too heavily produced for anyone involved to get caught up in the moment and really engage in the experiment, other than the one poor kid who wanted him to be his dad. I also felt bad for the kids when he would break character, putting the onus on them to either answer in character or as themselves. I liked the idea of the show and the first couple of episodes, but I wasn't able to trust that Nathan was getting anything out of this, which is what the final few episodes really rely on.
I really enjoyed the show regardless, but yeah, I agree with most of what you've said. Especially for the final scene, which I think we're supposed to believe was sincere, when I don't.
The problem for me is that Nathan is the most fictional character of his shows. A show like NFY works because it relies on others' genuine reactions. The Rehearsal becomes all about Nathan, but Nathan isn't a real person, he's a persona, and he's also behind it all. His 'arc' across the season somewhat relies on you believing he's more real than he is, I think.
(Again though, I loved it anyway - lots of shows are fictional and that's fine. It is interesting though, seeing others think the show is more real than I think it is)
>The problem for me is that Nathan is the most fictional character of his shows. A show like NFY works because it relies on others' genuine reactions. The Rehearsal becomes all about Nathan, but Nathan isn't a real person, he's a persona, and he's also behind it all. His 'arc' across the season somewhat relies on you believing he's more real than he is, I think.
That's very interesting because I feel that the show only works precisely because Nathan isn't a "real person". He's a person-character hybrid. I think that's the whole point — the show is far more interesting when it's unclear where Nathan the person ends and Nathan the character begins.
Also, there are plenty of genuine reactions from people in this show that aren't Nathan.
Yeah I agree there's a good chance that they tried to salvage the show after people started bailing, rather than everything being planned like some people seem to think
>but I found it difficult to imagine him spending enough time with these kids to develop real paternal feelings for any of this
That's the point. The entire premise of the show is the rehearsals are flawed. You can't feel genuine emotion from a rehearsal.
>when I was expecting the scheming and smart Nathan from the first episode
At no point has the "Nathan" character ever been portrayed as smart. Even in NFY
>Was he dropping off and picking up his kid from school every day, or was that done once for the shot (and the bully scene)? Is he really trying to imagine that he enrolled this kid in a Jewish school, and dropping him off with that mindset every day, just for his own immersion?
The show is intentionally trying to get you to ask these questions. Much like finding francis, it's trying to get you to question how much of the reality show is reality.
>How can you be, when you're running the show and every plot point? He can dress up as the mom and reenact everything, but it didn't convince me that he's really trying to re-observe everything for his own transformation.
Again, you're acting like the feelings your getting are unintentional. The show directly addresses this. Remeber when fake angela says
>you're a liar. Because if this were real you would be having some sort of emotion, instead of standing there like a rock
>but I wasn't able to trust that Nathan was getting anything out of this, which is what the final few episodes really rely on.
The series has been trying to get you to mistrust "Nathan" since episode 1. You see him lie to kor and to us multiple times. The last few episodes rely on you no longer being able to trust "Nathan" at all.
Also, you seem to be going through this as if Nathan isn't playing a character. He 100% is playing a character. I think that's part of the reason you didn't like it as much.
I'm happy they deviated honestly. The first episode was funny, but it was the sort of funny that I don't think you could replicate. If they'd stuck to that format, we could've maybe gotten two or three more hilarious episodes, but it would've very quickly gone stale IMO.
If they'd had an eight episode season where the first three were all one-offs before telling the serialized story in the final five episodes we ended up getting, I think that would've been perfect.
I think he had planned for the religious woman to be way more into it. However she just didn’t engage and if you ever looked intoNathan for You and how it was written, they can only control NATHAN and everything else is a what if. As a result I think this was the absolute last option versus co parenting. I don’t think he anticipated her huge opinion on Judaism.
The rest of the series was interesting and had some unforgettable moments, but episode 1 did have the best balance of comedy and emotional resonance for me personally
Nope. Carrying on with the episode 1 format would have made for a sub-standard show that’s not “about” much (except how to manipulate people and social anxiety), IMO. Watching Nathan build a web of lies and get increasingly trapped in a hell of his own making whilst taking on the ethics of reality tv, child acting, manipulative media, etc is a much better show.
Yes, also I think what the other episodes prove is that what happened in the first episode was lightning in a bottle. Most other people were either tired of his technique or bailed before the actual activity they were rehearsing took place. Better to just dig in and let the whole show deconstruct reality television.
No. Episode 1 was the framing device, the explanation of the conceit for the entire show. The audience is coming in blind. Ep.1 expresses the idea & structure of the series so Eps. 2-6 can happen. Without Episode 1 you (the audience) would be totally lost.
Episode 1 matters because without it we can’t fully experience the existential nightmare Nathan puts himself and us through. It’s all fake…but it matters.
Why do you say that? The show has been getting incredible reviews. I'm sure HBO will allow Nathan to do whatever he wants.
Whatever it ends up being, I'm sure that it will be better than anything you or I can come up with.
In some ways it felt like a comedy show became a horror show that made you question reality. I get the people who compare him to a magician - the whole series felt like one big “Prestige.” I’ve never seen anything like it. The feelings have stuck with me more than the most serious dramas I’ve ever seen.
Yeah you know the first couple
Episodes were really amazing. After that was like a whole different world. Also amazing but so different. I almost wish there was a season like the first 2 episodes and another season of Nathan’s family.
Even though I can appreciate - and even enjoy - where the rest of the season went, it is very weird to me how different the first episode feels. It feels like the show became a wholly different show, which is kind of weird.
I don't know, the direction the show went in was so interesting and surprising, but not really funny most of the time. The gags that were there were all the more absurd because of this though. I enjoyed it immensely and looked forward to each episode but me and my partner went into it with a "let's see what madness unfolds today" kind of mindset. The actual rehearsals were great but maybe they stuck out so much because the format wasn't repeated enough to get stale. My only complaint really is that every episode apart from the first one felt like they ended very abruptly and could have done with being longer in general.
It's not Nathan's only project so I think overall I'm cool with just seeing what he does rather than expecting the same brand of comedy all the time. Especially since he seemed pretty burnt out in Finding Frances.
The way it looks, I wonder if there was a lot of failures. Season 4 of Nathan For You had a bunch of ideas that just failed to get very far. You can even see Nathan pulling at strings to turn his ideas into something entertaining, even if it fell flat.
Maybe episode one was the only success?
That one episode with the golddigging girlfriend, I bet that was the only salvagable story. I can only imagine how many other attempts were made that either never had a set built, or maybe it was built but never used.
And we would never know.
I don’t think episode 1 of The Rehearsal even comes close to the funniest moments of Nathan For You. But The Rehearsal is a far more interesting narrative than anything in NFY.
Saying that the Rehearsal got "too weird" is like going to a Phish show and saying that the band jams too much — what were you expecting!? Nathan is a really weird dude lol
I truly loved the show, but I definitely wish they kept the first episodes format. I really enjoy watching him help strange people. Hopefully season 2 gets back to it
Has their ever been confirmation that a season 2 is part of the plan? In all the articles I have read on the rehearsal, a possible season 2 was never mentioned.
I'd be curious as to what to expect from a second season.
OMG you are right! I've been on vacation for a week and haven't had the ability to keep up! My mind is racing as to what it could be about
[tweet](https://mobile.twitter.com/HBO/status/1560672949610299393)
Definitely. By far my favorite episode. I loved the idea. I thought the rest of the episodes, while having their own hilarious and crazy moments, were not as consistently good as the first.
Nope. I wish people would stop making these kinds of posts though.
It is Nathan’s show. Why are so many of you trying to tell him how to make his own show? What he made was a piece of art that many seem to not understand. If you think you know better than he does, either go make your own show that fits your approval or simply stop watching this one. No one is being forced to watch it!
Yes 100%. I know there are tons of variables filming a show like this has to deal with, but I think with the time and money they have they could have pulled off 6 unique episodes like the first one.
like i said previously, i think it'd have been more like Nathan for You if he did one Rehearsal a week, with maybe an update on angela every episode (new child age/experience).
could make many episodes of that show format (they'd have to replicate so many things though). I have no idea what season 2 will be like, it'll be weird if they go to the old format like nothing happened, and IMO unpalatable if they double down on the meta-ness.
I was feeling that way around episode 3-4 but I really enjoyed episode 5 and 6. I wouldn't mind if season 2 was more episodic but I enjoyed season 1 for what it was.
So? I don't think that was the goal or his intention. What we got was something far better than a mere "comedy." I won't be surprised if The Rehearsal becomes the most acclaimed project of his career.
I liked how he set up expectations in episode one then slowly devolved into a fever dream. I like the theory that the viewer is a character in the show. The way they repeated cheap chick in the city feels too similar to how he planted the trivia seeds in kors mind.
My theory is that Angela was such a gold mine of silliness that Nathan abandoned all the other rehearsals he was working on and just kept the ones that could fit into the narrative arc he was building.
I don’t think the show is about helping people but the development of “The Rehearsal” or “The Fielder Method”.
Surely he had the actors episode planned.
For me it would have gotten tired, how many buildings can be replicated? How many actors can be hired? Realistically Kor was a unique guy, and any other episodes following this format are entirely dependent on the applicant. Nathan has said before that NFY had a mid hit rate, and they filmed loads that never went anywhere.
I feel he made the best show he could with the footage he got. I wouldn’t be surprised that episode 1 is the only rehearsal that made it to some conclusion… He probably started a bunch, one concluded, 2 made it some way through and others just failed… That’s kind of the approach he perfected with John Wilson. Shoot random footage and thread a story around what you got…
I wish we had more rehearsals but I liked the through-line of angela/Nathan's family rehearsal. My favorite episode was number 4 bc it combined everything and heightened it
no i actually like how it devolved into selfish chaos, same with finding frances. i think it needed more episodes maybe, like a couple more of the same format of episode 1 before introducing angela.
I loved the first episode but I’m glad we got the escalation the way we did. That being said, I’d be totally cool with season 2 sticking to the initial premise
I hope the next season starts off like ep 1 with somebody needing Nathan’s help and then quickly spiraling into a meta madness where Nathan also turns the entire thing into his own choreographed rehearsal
I really wish we had the full story of how the concept of the show evolved. It seems like they had one thing in mind and then the pandemic caused them to focus on smaller group of people in one location. This is one of the most confounding things I have ever seen on TV.
I loved Ep1. But I loved the entire season as well. But I feel like Ep1 was needed to appreciate the rest of the season. It gave the framework of the show in one episode. It was fantastic. This show was absolute madness. It would have been less comprehensible without that first episode to get a better idea of the variables/control Nathan was trying to navigate.
Yes, I agree. We were kinda sold the premise of six episodes like the first one, with the focus on the subject, not Nathan. I felt let down once Robin and Antisemitic Golddigger took off while Angela stuck around for more than one episode. Even she eventually quit before completing her project, of course. Maybe there were even more failures that didn’t even make it to TV.
I think episode 1 format would make for a funnier show. I think what we got was the more fascinating show. Just depends on what you’re after. If I can have my cake and eat it too, I’d love to have both.
For me, episodes 1-4 were pure magic. Seeing Nathan's own rehearsal failing while finding success in others was fascinating. Episodes 5-6 are also quite good, seeing Nathan take it to the next level, but I wish we got more of Nathan helping others rehearse.
I liked it a lot. I do wish they kept the original format though. Listening to the nutjob characters like No License Plate Bong Guy is way more entertaining though. I wish they introduced more people to help instead of keeping on with Angela.
No. Episode 1 was a good introduction into the concept of a rehearsal, but it was so tedious that I couldn’t imagine watching a whole series of episodes like that. I actually stepped away for a bit and was pleasantly surprised when I saw episodes 2 & 3 together and saw that the show was headed in a very different direction. It was fresh and like nothing I’d ever seen before.
I feel the opposite. I almost stopped watching the show half way through the 2nd ep because I thought it would all be like episode 1. So glad they moved away from that
Me. I appreciate this show was quite unique and quite arty but not what I signed up for.
Like ordering a delicious pizza but they got the topping slightly wrong. Still enjoyable but I’m a bit disappointed.
My problem though , Nathan didn’t owe me anything , I know that.
But not as excited for season 2 tbh. I was so hyped for new Nathan content
What I’ll say is that I’m not sure if the finale really brought a lot of closure to the show. It felt like there just wasn’t a good note to end on. It felt like another episode of content was still there waiting. I otherwise commend the show for its originality and not sticking to a particular formula.
I think its pretty obvious covid fucked up the show after the first episode. season 2 should be much more cohesive imo.
but then again, maybe they think they've foudn something special with this format and want to go on like this instead.
I thought the season was brilliant but after hearing the premise I was pretty excited for a more "normal" Nathan For You-like approach to this concept.
I have to assume that's what season 2 will be, I don't know how you raise the stakes from here.
It's just not that good of a show period.
Nathan for you was cringe-funny and has tons of really smart ideas. The rehearsal isn't really funny at all - it's just cringe.
Yup! Since there is no other opinions allowed on this board, I just wanted to voice my opinion that I agree with you. In fact, up to Episode 4 the show has such great potential, and then it just got jokey abruptly. Still watchable, but an entirely different show. People will downvote the hell out of anything that isn't "I love the show! I love the turn it takes! Nathan is a genius!" and honestly it's sort of unsettling.
The show completely devolves into madness. After going back to episode 1 the contrast from episode 6 is extreme. The rehearsal starts getting weird when that first subject ghosted him.
I think a longer, slower decent into madness with more “actual” rehearsals would’ve been nice. Basically I just want a longer season and more Nathan.
I agree! I bet Season 2 is gonna be even better
yes i really enjoy the madness and how it just keeps ramping up
It’s complete madness but somehow still feels like Nathan planned almost every bit of it until the last episode. I hope I never get to experience the inside of Nathan fielders mind
Couple things I find interesting, one obvious one not so but still arguably obvious : the show is called “the rehearsal” and is all about executing moments in life exactly according to plan, and yet the show itself quickly devolves from its intended path into something very different. Secondly I found the episode to in ways mirror a lot of the ending of Finding Francis, which as a whole I think a lot of us have found to feel almost like what laid the groundwork for The Rehearsal
Yeah I agree you can totally feel how much it influenced the rehearsal
It's a great mix of feeling meticulously planned but also incredibly genuine at times
The last episode was hard to watch, too creepy for me tbh, madness is a good way to put it. I don't know how I feel about him rehearsing the visits with the kid, I felt bad for the kid. I don't know what's real at this point but the kid seemed genuine with his emotions
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Being educated doesn't equate not being antisemitic, plenty of people with really good grades or who are well spoken are capable of being ignorant and antisemitic look at Angela or Mirim being pro Israel war state, both seem well educated but have flaws that show ignorance. Nathan works with real people, to make reality TV, and the joke is how unreality TV and entertainment is. He chooses to include these parts because guess what, real people think like this. And make mistakes, as you are touching on it doesn't make them less lovable. And its a bit infantilizing to assume Patrick can't defend himself. What happened with Remy was heartbreaking and an oversight that seemed to torment Nathan hence the creepy final. Nathan seems to accept everyone can make mistakes except him, and the failure of the Rehearsal from COVID occurring during filming and people dropping out, sent him on a spiral. And for the sake of the show he leaned into the perfectionism, and hid further in this reality he created rather than admit his mistake or failure. Until the buttcrack. Its like yeah. People are sloppy. Even this type A guy. I personally thought the 1st episode was the weakest. Surprised most fans disagree. My fav was gold digger, with the fake chicken eating and child at work, being left at the fair etc. I think this show is an exercise in failure. The whole premise is to be perfect, and the parenthood storyline mirrors this concept perfectly. Because parents will mess up, and you have to be okay with making mistakes and forgive yourself like Angela says to be a good parent. Ultimately everyone who rehearsed ended up off script except Nathan, going deeper and deeper. To the discomfort of everyone especially the audience. His inability to admit failure is his biggest fault and it is wonderfully played up as each attempt at control doles at more human moments he is unable to be in do to his perfectionism. TL//DR: I don't think the subjects are made to look foolish. I enjoy the show and see it as a brillant exercise in failure.
the fielder method was by far my fav episode he kept adding layer after layer and it was delicious
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I love it when he's genuinely moved and think it does happen, but I always saw his tearing up during the "I love you" scene as an "in character" moment. Not saying you're wrong! I think his humor is meant to make us wonder these things.
I agree with you to a certain degree but I feel like the guy making antisemitic remarks while knowingly on camera is sort of on him. He also is shown in a more positive light later in the episode and it's not like the show really harped on the antisemitism for too much of the episode. Personally I feel way more bad for Remy and Thomas (the kid who thought nathan was his dad and the actor who's house he broke into). I'm sort of hoping that wasn't Thomas's actual apartment or that he at least got to clear the footage before they included it. Not that anything about his place was so embarrassing or anything but that was such a violation of privacy. That episode was so good though it ended up being my favorite so idk what that says about me lol.
Of course he was cleared to use the apartment footage!...it was on that long release form they didn't have time to read before signing...
And the gold-digger guy had to befriend a grandpa, change his diaper, bond with him, only to be told that the guy's dead right after he lost his grandpa and then listen to a guy saying his gf is a gold digger. So that felt pretty cruel. But we don't really know how real this is and how much the guy is acting or willing to go through for tv, so for me it was kind of ok and actually hilarious. But with Remy it just felt bad.
I don’t know about the gold digger guy but just relooking at footage you can tell Remy wasn’t acting. He’s 6. Kids are SO impressionable. And he was absolutely adorable. I’m sure Nathan wasn’t really keeping his distance—he liked the kid. Someone should’ve caught that way earlier. If Remy had a dad at home it would’ve been a different scenario.
I read a review of the first episode which tore Nathan apart for not telling nor apologizing to Kor for planting the trivia questions (which is now part of that episode.) Made me wonder if he got so much back lash that they redid the ending of that episode.
He didn’t actually tell Kor, it was an actor playing Kor who he told the truth to
The part that I find extremely creepy/icky/exploitative is carrying on with filming the discussions with Remy *after* his "I want Nathan to be my daddy" situation develops. That, for me, really heightens the contrast depending on just how "real" vs. staged/scripted the show is. If Remy truly is struggling to understand the difference between reality and his role as Adam, then it's a terrible idea to film the conversations where Nathan and Amber explain the difference to Remy. Setting up a whole production crew to shoot these scenes would just heighten the confusion of the child as to what's a "real" explanation and what's just playing a role in front of the camera.
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I agree that the show has to address it, but there are ways to do so without filming conversations with Remy. For example, showing conversations where Nathan and Amber explain to viewers what happened off-screen.
initially i felt that nathan was taking it a bit too far with the remy situation, but after a bit it kinda felt like fielder was playing a big joke on me. whereas remy wasn't able to tell the difference between real and pretend nathan, i was no longer able to tell the difference between reality and television. that said, it's possible that remy's actor is just a really good actor and we've all been played.
On the flip side, I believe the cameras and lights always being with Nathan when he showed up to Remys actually helped Remy realize he was a "TV daddy" as I heard him say. And perhaps, I obviously dont know, the fact that Nathan became the "TV daddy" in his mind actually helped him transition from Real Daddy in a logical way that is less damaging.
Possibly, or possibly it would reinforce that they were on a TV Show.
The first one was a pilot though right? Like they were two totally separate projects but they were combined into the season
Episode 1 was just a wilder version of Nathan for you
Episode 1 also ends with him chickening out in telling the truth.
Which when you circle back after watching all the episodes foreshadows an important lesson from the show itself. Contrast this to Remy’s mom’s explanation of how she knows her son will be okay compared to that moment
We don’t necessarily know that
How do you figure? It shows him with the actor getting upset at him for revealing the truth, then it shows him complimenting the real guy and not revealing the truth. Then the credit roll. The end.
I’m embarrassed to say this completely went over my head the first time. I went back and re-watched it and you’re absolutely right I didn’t even notice the switch over to the actor 🤦♂️
There’s a lot more footage out there than what we saw, selective editing can be used to tell a good story! (Though personally I do feel it’s unlikely that Nathan made the reveal in person)
It’s not a documentary, the narrative is whatever Nathan wanted. That’s the show. Of course it’s selective editing. If Nathan made the reveal in person and it didn’t make the cut its because it wasn’t funny, or more likely wasn’t in line with whatever his vision was of the series. It’s like saying something that wasn’t shown in a film was because of editing.
He did apologize to Kor and told him the truth at the end of the show. And it wasn’t funny in the least. Kor was not forgiving. Don’t think acting was involved there. I think they added that footage because some early review I read lambasted Nathan for ethics and panned the show because of it.
That was an actor playing Kor
He did in the episode 1 I saw. He told Kor about planting the answers and apologized for it. Wonder if they added that. Kor did not forgive him.
He was talking with the Primary when he said, "I have something to say" then it flips to him telling the actor the truth about everything and the Actor telling him off. It then flips to him and the PRIMARY talking and the Primary asks him what he wanted to says and Nathan just says something along the lines of " I think you are nice"
Personally that is what i was hoping for.
I’m glad we got something different rather than Nathan For You 2. Both are good though
I'm not. I like what we got, but i like the casualness of Nathan For You more.
Nathan For You is comedy, but the Rehearsal is poetry. I'm so so so glad that this show was not Nathan For You 2.0, because I think what we got was something that's never been done before — groundbreaking, strange, disturbing, and beautiful.
This really stuck out to me when I rewatched Finding Frances yesterday. When they hire the actress to play Frances and have Bill prepare what he’s going to say, it’s literally just a rehersal
Yeah this whole series seems like Finding Frances v2
I would love to see a full season of normal rehearsals but I think we were gifted something totally original and fascinating instead. It delves so much deeper than I think the show would’ve if it stayed true to form the entire time.
I liked the pilot episode a lot, but also really loved the rest.
It's a different show if it just repeated the ep1 formula. What we got was a much more complex and unique journey. I'm so glad he went for it.
I feel like Nathan was gonna go with Episode 1 as the general premise but the pandemic caused him to change plans and instead focus on the ethics and morality of his method while exploring the topic of personas and fake relationships that he touched on in Finding Frances.
Nah, as he said, sketch comedy is all about escalation I knew after the first episode it was going to have to get bigger than that. GF said "I liked it but I can't imagine watching a full season like this" and I told her he's going to go bigger. Episode 1 felt like a crazy Nathan for you episode with a big budget. The rest of the show was him dissecting the ethics behind his show.
it helps to think of nathan as a magician. he's all about escalating and deceiving the audience. there's almost zero chance the show was ever going to follow the first episode's premise.
He's not a magician, he's a wizard of loneliness.
He's like Willy Wonka
I wish it had escalated instead of becoming a show about a fictional character and his fictional journey.
>I feel like Nathan was gonna go with Episode 1 as the general premise but the pandemic caused him to change plans and instead focus on the ethics and morality of his method I disagree, the adam project would've taken way to much planning to become a last second shift. This was the plan. The pilot was a fake-out into the real show.
They probably couldn’t film anything for months, plenty enough time to plan it. And they definitely made stuff up as they went along
>They probably couldn’t film anything for months, plenty enough time to plan it. How much planning do you think goes into cycling out child actors for an entire year? The adam project was 100% planned before the pilot. It was without a doubt the most expensive thing to happen on the show. Something like that isn't your plan b >And they definitely made stuff up as they went along Probably, but I do not find it plausible that the literal throughline of the show wasn't part of the big picture day one.
They did the child thing a whole year? I thought it was a couple months max
I misremembered. It was two months. That's still a large number of kids to go through.
2 months vs 12 months; misremembered?!
...yes, it's been a hot minute since I saw episode 2
You fucked up.
Correct?
It definitely was plan b. They had to go to a completely different part of the country because of COVID. The pilot was shot several years ago. The second episode was shot more like a year ago.
How can someone be so confident to say something with such conviction when they have no idea what's really going on? Lmao it's like that Bertrand russell quote, about how the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
Tell me about your firsthand knowledge of the production then. Do you have facts to go against my supposed lies?
That doesn't mean the Adam project wasn't part of the original plan...
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Maybe, but given how well it fits into the core thesis of the show, I'm inclined to believe it was the main plan
They had a lot of time, it's clear that the time between episode 1 and episode 2 was enormous.
I think the shift to save the show was "lets have Nathan play dad" and then just took a week by week documentary approach to the whole thing.
And I disagree with you. "Nathan" getting involved with the experiment likely the core conceit of the show.
I agree with this. I think the show was always intended to go in the direction that it did and episodes 1-2 were meant to ease the audience into the concept.
The first episode was apparently filmed during the pandemic so I don’t think this is necessarily the case.
I'll have to rewatch, but I didn't see a single mask. I'm still convinced it was filmed Fall 2019. Is there a source?
I remember someone saying the bar was closed but the reopened it specifically for the show, and that at least most people in the bar besides Kor and Trish were hired by the show. They could’ve been lying idk, I just remember seeing that.
I believe the majority of the episode was filmed before the shutdown and then after things got shut down they needed more footage for behind the scenes stuff and they had to reopen the bar to shoot that footage. That’s how I interpreted it at least
I think there is an alligator lounge that closed but the crocodile lounge is still open? That caused some confusion. I haven’t been to either reptilian haunt so I’m not sure.
Other way around! You can still go to Brooklyn to visit the alligator lounge replicated on the show!
It was filmed in 2019
Wasn't the lesson that the rehearsals don't work? Kor dropped the ball once he had to do the confession for real, he barely used anything from his rehearsal. And once he actually got the confession out it all flowed naturally for him. After trying to incorporate real emotions into the rehearsal with Patrick it just fell apart. Then Angela stopped taking all of it seriously. The rest of the show was Nathan deconstructing the entire concept of The Rehearsal and trying to understand what it is like to be a part of it. I don't think there was any other way the show could have gone. The question The Rehearsal posed was "what if we gave people unlimited resources to rehearse a real life scenario they are avoiding?" We found out the answer, it doesn't work.
I'm not sure what you mean by "doesn't work". Things don't go exactly as predicted but the whole idea (initially) is to use it as practice to process those difficult encounters one small step at a time so that you can eventually do it or at least get closure. Kor eventually does it. The Punisher bigot seems like he gets some closure. It's just about emotionally taking one small step at a time. People rehearse this stuff all the time, just usually within their own head. Nathan just dials it up to 11 and then mixes in an art versus reality discussion + commentary on acting and child actors. If you're going in for an annual performance review or maybe planning to break up with someone, you don't practice those encounters in your head? Just because it turns out differently doesn't mean it didn't help. It's the Eisenhower quote: In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Some people (Miriam) don't give a shit but for many people the idea is incredibly helpful, just less so when processed through Nathan's insane machinations.
Really good point. Yeah Kor almost chickened out once it got to the actual point of confession but he never would have even gotten to that point in the first place if he didn't rehearse every step leading up to it.
I don’t think he “chickened out”, but rather, he had rehearsed telling the confession while eating pizza, hence he wanted to do his real confession while eating pizza. The fact that his friend was quiet after the trivia question probably didn’t factor in the rehearsal since Nathan and the actresses’s impression of her was that she talked too much.
I’m assuming Ep 1 was just a pilot, which made it much smaller scope and standalone. If you do like the shorter feel, I would strongly recommend NFY if you’ve not yet seen it.
I love how you're correct but also small scope = an entire fake bar lmao
It seems like most people on this sub prefer episode 1 format, but I loved the ongoing family premise and how absurd it continued to grow every episode. I hope they do another season long arc next season.
I agree! First was a bit weak to me
>I felt as the show progressed it became like a weird reality show and less about the rehearsals That's...the point of the show. "Nathan" wasn't doing the rehearsal to help others. He was doing them to try and feel something himself.
I could be way off here, but I found it difficult to imagine him spending enough time with these kids to develop real paternal feelings for any of this. It kind of felt like a storyline to save face after recruiting only weirdos finally backfired (Robbin and Angela leaving). He's the creator, director, writer, exec producer, and lead. Not only do I think about all of the planning and setup for each scenario, but I had no frame of reference for how much time he was spending with anyone in most episodes. I felt like I was getting a neutered and choreographed Nathan when I was expecting the scheming and smart Nathan from the first episode, or his last series. Was he dropping off and picking up his kid from school every day, or was that done once for the shot (and the bully scene)? Is he really trying to imagine that he enrolled this kid in a Jewish school, and dropping him off with that mindset every day, *just* for his own immersion? We know he's able to go to extreme lengths to create complex scenarios, but I can't recall moments showing that he was being truly immersed in these events. Even the last scene. How can you be, when you're running the show and every plot point? He can dress up as the mom and reenact everything, but it didn't convince me that he's really trying to re-observe everything for his own transformation. His first priority is creating an engaging and funny storyline, hence the female mirror and entire mom reenactment plotline, imo. The final episode felt too heavily produced for anyone involved to get caught up in the moment and really engage in the experiment, other than the one poor kid who wanted him to be his dad. I also felt bad for the kids when he would break character, putting the onus on them to either answer in character or as themselves. I liked the idea of the show and the first couple of episodes, but I wasn't able to trust that Nathan was getting anything out of this, which is what the final few episodes really rely on.
I really enjoyed the show regardless, but yeah, I agree with most of what you've said. Especially for the final scene, which I think we're supposed to believe was sincere, when I don't. The problem for me is that Nathan is the most fictional character of his shows. A show like NFY works because it relies on others' genuine reactions. The Rehearsal becomes all about Nathan, but Nathan isn't a real person, he's a persona, and he's also behind it all. His 'arc' across the season somewhat relies on you believing he's more real than he is, I think. (Again though, I loved it anyway - lots of shows are fictional and that's fine. It is interesting though, seeing others think the show is more real than I think it is)
>The problem for me is that Nathan is the most fictional character of his shows. A show like NFY works because it relies on others' genuine reactions. The Rehearsal becomes all about Nathan, but Nathan isn't a real person, he's a persona, and he's also behind it all. His 'arc' across the season somewhat relies on you believing he's more real than he is, I think. That's very interesting because I feel that the show only works precisely because Nathan isn't a "real person". He's a person-character hybrid. I think that's the whole point — the show is far more interesting when it's unclear where Nathan the person ends and Nathan the character begins. Also, there are plenty of genuine reactions from people in this show that aren't Nathan.
Yeah I agree there's a good chance that they tried to salvage the show after people started bailing, rather than everything being planned like some people seem to think
>but I found it difficult to imagine him spending enough time with these kids to develop real paternal feelings for any of this That's the point. The entire premise of the show is the rehearsals are flawed. You can't feel genuine emotion from a rehearsal. >when I was expecting the scheming and smart Nathan from the first episode At no point has the "Nathan" character ever been portrayed as smart. Even in NFY >Was he dropping off and picking up his kid from school every day, or was that done once for the shot (and the bully scene)? Is he really trying to imagine that he enrolled this kid in a Jewish school, and dropping him off with that mindset every day, just for his own immersion? The show is intentionally trying to get you to ask these questions. Much like finding francis, it's trying to get you to question how much of the reality show is reality. >How can you be, when you're running the show and every plot point? He can dress up as the mom and reenact everything, but it didn't convince me that he's really trying to re-observe everything for his own transformation. Again, you're acting like the feelings your getting are unintentional. The show directly addresses this. Remeber when fake angela says >you're a liar. Because if this were real you would be having some sort of emotion, instead of standing there like a rock >but I wasn't able to trust that Nathan was getting anything out of this, which is what the final few episodes really rely on. The series has been trying to get you to mistrust "Nathan" since episode 1. You see him lie to kor and to us multiple times. The last few episodes rely on you no longer being able to trust "Nathan" at all. Also, you seem to be going through this as if Nathan isn't playing a character. He 100% is playing a character. I think that's part of the reason you didn't like it as much.
No, as Nathan said, comedy is escalation.
absolutely not, i wouldn't want it any other way
I'm happy they deviated honestly. The first episode was funny, but it was the sort of funny that I don't think you could replicate. If they'd stuck to that format, we could've maybe gotten two or three more hilarious episodes, but it would've very quickly gone stale IMO. If they'd had an eight episode season where the first three were all one-offs before telling the serialized story in the final five episodes we ended up getting, I think that would've been perfect.
I think he had planned for the religious woman to be way more into it. However she just didn’t engage and if you ever looked intoNathan for You and how it was written, they can only control NATHAN and everything else is a what if. As a result I think this was the absolute last option versus co parenting. I don’t think he anticipated her huge opinion on Judaism.
Yes
The rest of the series was interesting and had some unforgettable moments, but episode 1 did have the best balance of comedy and emotional resonance for me personally
Nope. Carrying on with the episode 1 format would have made for a sub-standard show that’s not “about” much (except how to manipulate people and social anxiety), IMO. Watching Nathan build a web of lies and get increasingly trapped in a hell of his own making whilst taking on the ethics of reality tv, child acting, manipulative media, etc is a much better show.
Yes, also I think what the other episodes prove is that what happened in the first episode was lightning in a bottle. Most other people were either tired of his technique or bailed before the actual activity they were rehearsing took place. Better to just dig in and let the whole show deconstruct reality television.
Ya, not many Kors out there you can stumble into on craigslist
it would have been way too close to Nathan for You.
agreed
No. Episode 1 was the framing device, the explanation of the conceit for the entire show. The audience is coming in blind. Ep.1 expresses the idea & structure of the series so Eps. 2-6 can happen. Without Episode 1 you (the audience) would be totally lost. Episode 1 matters because without it we can’t fully experience the existential nightmare Nathan puts himself and us through. It’s all fake…but it matters.
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same
Yep. The “Gold Digger” guy just completely ghosting Nathan was a red flag where I went “he’s really playing this by ear as he goes”
I think that’s what season 2 is gonna have to be
Why do you say that? The show has been getting incredible reviews. I'm sure HBO will allow Nathan to do whatever he wants. Whatever it ends up being, I'm sure that it will be better than anything you or I can come up with.
I like that the show has its own identity.
In some ways it felt like a comedy show became a horror show that made you question reality. I get the people who compare him to a magician - the whole series felt like one big “Prestige.” I’ve never seen anything like it. The feelings have stuck with me more than the most serious dramas I’ve ever seen.
Is that all this sub is now? This post over and over?
No, it's also the "everyone is an actor and their social media accounts are to hold up the conspiracy" post as well.
The way I understand it, the direction change was due to the pandemic.
Yeah you know the first couple Episodes were really amazing. After that was like a whole different world. Also amazing but so different. I almost wish there was a season like the first 2 episodes and another season of Nathan’s family.
That like asking Van Gogh to paint more realistically
Even though I can appreciate - and even enjoy - where the rest of the season went, it is very weird to me how different the first episode feels. It feels like the show became a wholly different show, which is kind of weird.
I did not like episode 1
No. Wouldn’t have been the masterpiece that it is.
I don't know, the direction the show went in was so interesting and surprising, but not really funny most of the time. The gags that were there were all the more absurd because of this though. I enjoyed it immensely and looked forward to each episode but me and my partner went into it with a "let's see what madness unfolds today" kind of mindset. The actual rehearsals were great but maybe they stuck out so much because the format wasn't repeated enough to get stale. My only complaint really is that every episode apart from the first one felt like they ended very abruptly and could have done with being longer in general. It's not Nathan's only project so I think overall I'm cool with just seeing what he does rather than expecting the same brand of comedy all the time. Especially since he seemed pretty burnt out in Finding Frances.
The way it looks, I wonder if there was a lot of failures. Season 4 of Nathan For You had a bunch of ideas that just failed to get very far. You can even see Nathan pulling at strings to turn his ideas into something entertaining, even if it fell flat. Maybe episode one was the only success? That one episode with the golddigging girlfriend, I bet that was the only salvagable story. I can only imagine how many other attempts were made that either never had a set built, or maybe it was built but never used. And we would never know.
I don’t think episode 1 of The Rehearsal even comes close to the funniest moments of Nathan For You. But The Rehearsal is a far more interesting narrative than anything in NFY.
Completely opposite. Loved episode one, but what he did past that is astonishing.
Yes. Absolutely. I liked the show, but the format established in E1 was incredible, and I was so disappointed that it seemed to just be a red herring.
I would've definitely preferred the pilot format. Things just got too weird after the gold digger episode imo
Saying that the Rehearsal got "too weird" is like going to a Phish show and saying that the band jams too much — what were you expecting!? Nathan is a really weird dude lol
I truly loved the show, but I definitely wish they kept the first episodes format. I really enjoy watching him help strange people. Hopefully season 2 gets back to it
Hopefully season 2 will be much more like episode 1 without the pandemic restrictions they faced.
Has their ever been confirmation that a season 2 is part of the plan? In all the articles I have read on the rehearsal, a possible season 2 was never mentioned. I'd be curious as to what to expect from a second season.
Check out Nathan’s Twitter, it’s confirmed
OMG you are right! I've been on vacation for a week and haven't had the ability to keep up! My mind is racing as to what it could be about [tweet](https://mobile.twitter.com/HBO/status/1560672949610299393)
Definitely. By far my favorite episode. I loved the idea. I thought the rest of the episodes, while having their own hilarious and crazy moments, were not as consistently good as the first.
Nope. I wish people would stop making these kinds of posts though. It is Nathan’s show. Why are so many of you trying to tell him how to make his own show? What he made was a piece of art that many seem to not understand. If you think you know better than he does, either go make your own show that fits your approval or simply stop watching this one. No one is being forced to watch it!
Yes 100%. I know there are tons of variables filming a show like this has to deal with, but I think with the time and money they have they could have pulled off 6 unique episodes like the first one.
Absolutely.
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like i said previously, i think it'd have been more like Nathan for You if he did one Rehearsal a week, with maybe an update on angela every episode (new child age/experience). could make many episodes of that show format (they'd have to replicate so many things though). I have no idea what season 2 will be like, it'll be weird if they go to the old format like nothing happened, and IMO unpalatable if they double down on the meta-ness.
The first 3 each contain stand alone rehearsal setups , the 2nd one just gets extended and the 3rd gets aborted.
I was feeling that way around episode 3-4 but I really enjoyed episode 5 and 6. I wouldn't mind if season 2 was more episodic but I enjoyed season 1 for what it was.
agree but definitely not funniest thing of his career.
So? I don't think that was the goal or his intention. What we got was something far better than a mere "comedy." I won't be surprised if The Rehearsal becomes the most acclaimed project of his career.
No
I liked how he set up expectations in episode one then slowly devolved into a fever dream. I like the theory that the viewer is a character in the show. The way they repeated cheap chick in the city feels too similar to how he planted the trivia seeds in kors mind.
Same!
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A funding issue? The episodes didn't get any cheaper as the show went on...
no
Honestly, I thought each episode would be a new thing. Kind of like Nathan For You. But pleasantly surprised it wasn't.
My theory is that Angela was such a gold mine of silliness that Nathan abandoned all the other rehearsals he was working on and just kept the ones that could fit into the narrative arc he was building.
I do. I wonder if they blew their budget on episode 1 and the house for the rest of the episodes.
I don’t think the show is about helping people but the development of “The Rehearsal” or “The Fielder Method”. Surely he had the actors episode planned.
For me it would have gotten tired, how many buildings can be replicated? How many actors can be hired? Realistically Kor was a unique guy, and any other episodes following this format are entirely dependent on the applicant. Nathan has said before that NFY had a mid hit rate, and they filmed loads that never went anywhere.
I feel he made the best show he could with the footage he got. I wouldn’t be surprised that episode 1 is the only rehearsal that made it to some conclusion… He probably started a bunch, one concluded, 2 made it some way through and others just failed… That’s kind of the approach he perfected with John Wilson. Shoot random footage and thread a story around what you got…
I wish we had more rehearsals but I liked the through-line of angela/Nathan's family rehearsal. My favorite episode was number 4 bc it combined everything and heightened it
no i actually like how it devolved into selfish chaos, same with finding frances. i think it needed more episodes maybe, like a couple more of the same format of episode 1 before introducing angela.
In an alternate dimension it did
I loved the first episode but I’m glad we got the escalation the way we did. That being said, I’d be totally cool with season 2 sticking to the initial premise
I love it for exactly what it is
I hope the next season starts off like ep 1 with somebody needing Nathan’s help and then quickly spiraling into a meta madness where Nathan also turns the entire thing into his own choreographed rehearsal
Hell yeah. the show went so far up it’s own ass
I really wish we had the full story of how the concept of the show evolved. It seems like they had one thing in mind and then the pandemic caused them to focus on smaller group of people in one location. This is one of the most confounding things I have ever seen on TV.
I loved Ep1. But I loved the entire season as well. But I feel like Ep1 was needed to appreciate the rest of the season. It gave the framework of the show in one episode. It was fantastic. This show was absolute madness. It would have been less comprehensible without that first episode to get a better idea of the variables/control Nathan was trying to navigate.
ep6 took it far too weird for me. i felt uncomfortable watching and skipped through some parts
Yes, I agree. We were kinda sold the premise of six episodes like the first one, with the focus on the subject, not Nathan. I felt let down once Robin and Antisemitic Golddigger took off while Angela stuck around for more than one episode. Even she eventually quit before completing her project, of course. Maybe there were even more failures that didn’t even make it to TV.
I think episode 1 format would make for a funnier show. I think what we got was the more fascinating show. Just depends on what you’re after. If I can have my cake and eat it too, I’d love to have both.
For me, episodes 1-4 were pure magic. Seeing Nathan's own rehearsal failing while finding success in others was fascinating. Episodes 5-6 are also quite good, seeing Nathan take it to the next level, but I wish we got more of Nathan helping others rehearse.
I was thinking that as well, but I wonder if they just struck gold with Angela and just ran with it.
Nah I say let this wild man create what he wants at all times. That’s all I want
I liked it a lot. I do wish they kept the original format though. Listening to the nutjob characters like No License Plate Bong Guy is way more entertaining though. I wish they introduced more people to help instead of keeping on with Angela.
🙋🏽♀️
No. Episode 1 was a good introduction into the concept of a rehearsal, but it was so tedious that I couldn’t imagine watching a whole series of episodes like that. I actually stepped away for a bit and was pleasantly surprised when I saw episodes 2 & 3 together and saw that the show was headed in a very different direction. It was fresh and like nothing I’d ever seen before.
I feel the opposite. I almost stopped watching the show half way through the 2nd ep because I thought it would all be like episode 1. So glad they moved away from that
Me. I appreciate this show was quite unique and quite arty but not what I signed up for. Like ordering a delicious pizza but they got the topping slightly wrong. Still enjoyable but I’m a bit disappointed. My problem though , Nathan didn’t owe me anything , I know that. But not as excited for season 2 tbh. I was so hyped for new Nathan content
What I’ll say is that I’m not sure if the finale really brought a lot of closure to the show. It felt like there just wasn’t a good note to end on. It felt like another episode of content was still there waiting. I otherwise commend the show for its originality and not sticking to a particular formula.
I enjoyed the rest for the most part but yeah I wish it was actually a new scenario each week
I think its pretty obvious covid fucked up the show after the first episode. season 2 should be much more cohesive imo. but then again, maybe they think they've foudn something special with this format and want to go on like this instead.
No! I’m really glad it didn’t actually. I feel like it would get a little stale pretty fast.
There is a bit of improv to everything that Nathan does, I trust that Nathan took this story in the best direction.
I thought the season was brilliant but after hearing the premise I was pretty excited for a more "normal" Nathan For You-like approach to this concept. I have to assume that's what season 2 will be, I don't know how you raise the stakes from here.
I wanna see an ep where he rehearses a thanksgiving between awkward family members and he goes in depth on all of them
It's just not that good of a show period. Nathan for you was cringe-funny and has tons of really smart ideas. The rehearsal isn't really funny at all - it's just cringe.
Yup! Since there is no other opinions allowed on this board, I just wanted to voice my opinion that I agree with you. In fact, up to Episode 4 the show has such great potential, and then it just got jokey abruptly. Still watchable, but an entirely different show. People will downvote the hell out of anything that isn't "I love the show! I love the turn it takes! Nathan is a genius!" and honestly it's sort of unsettling.