Reboot Season 1
Episode 2 Preview & Review
Hannah thinks Gordon, the actress Reed hired for his daughter Wendy, is a perfect fit. And apparently, he can't move.
Her name is Timberly Fox and she started on a reality dating show. He reads Hanna's "serious" script horribly, and Reed is annoyed that he ruins his main scene. Bree, on the other hand, is happy that Timberly isn't over her.
Meanwhile, Zack has trouble telling his mom that he doesn't want her hanging around the set, so he enlists Clay's help. All week, Clay tries to talk to his mother, but each time he ends up having sex with her instead.
Hannah and Gordon continue to fight each other, with Gordon adding scenes without Hannah's consent, which Hannah later cuts.
Regardless of what Hannah says, Hulu refuses to fire Timberley, which makes Reed unhappy as well. So Gordon convinces Reed that it is his responsibility to take Timberly under his wing and teach him how to behave.
However, Bree doesn't like it. She watches Reed coach Timberly and hates to see the young actress improve.
So Bree tells Timberly that she knows what she's going through with Reed. He says he can go overboard with his acting chops. When I did that with him, it was a disaster. He then promises to tell Bree what she needs to know.
Later, Reed is confused when Timberly changes his approach and gets bad at re-reading his lines.
Thirty minutes before show night, Hanna buys new pages for the final scene. He goes to Gordon, who tells him that Timberly is taking it easy because he can't handle the heavier scenes. Hannah then accuses him of not wanting to turn Lawrence into a villain because he's based on Gordon.
He then accuses her of missing her show to look bad. "I'm not going to be a bad guy," he says. "Too late," he replies.
Reed finds out what happened and accuses Bree of sabotaging Timberley. Bree tells him that's how it is in Hollywood. at all his previous concerts, other women would provoke him out of jealousy. Reed sarcastically congratulates Timberly for giving him a similar story.
Bree finds Timberly crying in the bathroom before moving on. She admits she was really nervous. He's not an actor like them and he doesn't know what he's doing. Not to mention that everyone's advice is contradictory.
Bree asks him to forget what he said. He hasn't moved in 15 years and is very scared. "Listen to Reed and you'll be amazing." They hug.
Hanna nervously watches the premiere. Hannah and Elaine (VP of Comedy at Hulu) talk about terrible dads. Elen's father actually wants them to work together. She thinks he's crazy for giving up computer science to work in television. Her parents worked all the time, but every week she heard about happy families. Her favorite show, Hannah says, was Step Right Up - she watched every episode.
Before showtime, Hannah gets new pages for the final scene. When she plays, she's as realistic as Hannah wants her to be. And it's an apology to Gordon, who watched Hannah watch the production.
"If I could go back and change everything, I would," Reed told his daughter as Lawrence. "I hope one day, when you're ready… you'll give me a second chance."
Hanna cheers and runs after her father. She thanks him for the scene. She says she regrets not giving Lawrence more of a promise to her daughter, but "characters can't change too much in one episode."
Episode Review
It looks like Reboot is trying to make a big point with its message in this episode. And sure, "characters can't change that much in a day" (something the show gets right) ... but no amount of apologies can take away the bitterness of a lifetime of trauma. Nor is the problem of women sabotaging each other in Hollywood a plot that can be easily solved in a few minutes of screen time.
The show's proposed resolutions are still too "sweet" and "clichéd" to be more "realistic" like Step Right Up.
Currently, the talented actor is hosting the show, and it's clear that there are plenty of issues to explore both inside and outside of Step Right Up (Brie and Reed's past and Clay's criminal trials). So, there is still time for the show to "get real".
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