The War

I honestly can't remember the last time a single episode made me lose this much respect for a show I previously enjoyed. Episode 5 of The Studio is not just a misstep - it's a full-on betrayal of its characters, its tone, and its audience.

Let's start with Sal - one of the most entertaining, characters in the series. Yes, he's a bit of a douchebag, but that's part of his charm. He's sharp, flawed, but human - the kind of character people root for. So what do the writers do? They suddenly and inexplicably decide to villainize him, with no real justification, and expect us to cheer against him. It's character assassination, plain and simple.

Then we have Quinn, the CE. A character we've seen before, but never deeply explored - until now, when the writers decide to reintroduce her as a narcissistic, selfish, entitled tyrant. Within minutes, she's bullying the parking manager ("You know I'm the CE, right?"), illegally accessing assistant's computer, stealing passwords, deleting meetings, and sabotaging Sal's work.

This is not "boss energy" - this is unhinged, unethical behavior. And instead of presenting her as a flawed antagonist or a cautionary example, the writers clearly want us to root for her. The tone celebrates her manipulation, her entitlement, and her belief that she deserves Sal's position simply because she thinks she's smarter.

But the most insulting moment comes at the end. Quinn decides she's going to report Sal to HR - and only backs off not because he defends himself, or because she realizes she's in the wrong - but because she pities him. Sal, broken and defeated, begs her not to go through with it. And somehow we're supposed to see this moment as a "badass win" for her. The episode even frames her as the triumphant underdog who came out on top.

It's not clever. It's a moral mess. There are no consequences for her actions - despite the fact that she blatantly committed fireable offenses, Instead, the show rewards her, celebrates her, and completely ignores the toxic message it's sending: that bullying, sabotage, and ego-trips are okay, as long as you're confident doing them.

This episode was an absolute classic. Easily the most amusing, some fantastic comedy timing, and very good fun. I laughed out loud regularly.

Perhaps some of the other episodes are more technically proficient, "The Oner" for example, but The War was a nice slapslick interlude. That's what i like and admire about this show, the way that each episode borrows slightly (and reverently) from some other legendary hollywood scene or idea.

Finally, as with every episode so far, the music is fantastic. It sets a slightly older fashioned tone (much like how the episodes are shot generally) and hark back to the Golden years of Hollywood...

Since I won't review a series (usually) till it's all over, this serves as a half-season review check in. So far: great! All episodes are an 8 or a 9. Reserving that 10 for an all-time classic but this series is fully capable of achieving that.

I don't know if you've noticed, but good comedies are on the wane. They give the comedy Emmy to that show about the restaurant that isn't even funny at all.

Well The Studio is laugh-out-loud howlingly funny. The cast is great, especially Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz, whose visage appears to be composed of a highly malleable form of plastic to be contorted into every comic form imaginable. Marvel should have cast him as Mr. Fantastic.

The only note I can give (more of a suggestion!) is...what the heck happened with the Kool-Aid movie plot? So far, the episodes are self-contained. Hoping for a bit more serialization in the future. Maybe all the jangling plot threads will be tied up by season's end.

Note to Apple: go ahead and blow a billion a year on your shows. You're finally clicking. Now about that Waterloo movie...

This episode tanked every expectation of comedy or tongue in cheek reference to the movie business. I don't know what happened but things really got out of hand and derailed in the worst way possible. Maybe it was AI or some other non human form of intellect, in any way shape or form it was just bizarre and corny in the same time. Compared to the previous episodes it just pales...

Trying to understand even the simplest most human connection seems presumptuous at times and characters we love and understand are just caricatures of themselves. Hopefully this show will recuperate as it is near and dear to movie fans!

This previous episodes of this show were so much fun until this awful one. A bully plots to destroy and force herself into success by cheating, and that's the whole plot. Not one thing redeeming. Fastest and worst drop off in writing in a long time. Personal vendetta is sometimes fun to watch, but only when it is deeply deserved. Quinn is not loveable in this one and Sal is not that hated as the writer was hoping. It's too dark with no redeeming or lightening comedic moments. It feels like the episode was written out of hatred and a personal vendetta and that is depressing to watch. At least we got to see Roderick in a short scene! I don't really care if the real Hollywood is like this...this episode puts a dark mark on the series.