The Rehearsal

I usually wait until the entire season is over before giving a rating. With that said, this show is so funny I couldn't wait. The Rehearsal continues the Nathan Fielder brand of elaborate schemes, awkward interactions, and overall funny situations that he built with Nathan For You. If you loved Nathan for you, you will love The Rehearsal .

This show has value as a cautionary tale. Nobody should live like this!

This is exactly the wrong way of engaging with life; trying to control and micro-manage every possibility is based on fear and a lack of developed connection with one's instinct. People have instincts, and they can tell that something isn't real.

I knew a guy who approached women in this way, hyper-studying the object of his obsession and planning flow charts of possible actions and reactions. It sort of worked for a while, but fairly soon, she reacted like a trapped animal. It was insanely frustrating for me to hear about this. "No, no, no! Don't DO that. That's NOT how you interact with people. (What the hell is wrong with you??)"

You have a soul. Souls are like surfboards. Trying to freeze everything to get it right is like trying to reduce yourself to a reaction machine. It's like trying to cheat god. It cannot last.

HOWEVER...

The point of this show is not to attempt success through the method of hyper-control.

The point is to demonstrate the futility of trying to control god, and through the exercise, stealth-grow the subject's confidence in dealing with random events.

It's self-help reality show satire. Idk how else to put it. If you don't get it, then sorry. His situational comedy hits a little too close to home for some. But for those who have the humility to appreciate the awkwardness of the human condition, then you appreciate just how absurd this show gets. It's comedic inception, I started the show chuckling, and by episode 4 I was in tears. Layers upon layers of absurdity. This show has the perfect guy (and apparently the budget) to do it.

A lot of reality shows do the same thing Nathan does in this show. But they polish it up to make it seem like interactions are flawless, use actors to stage nearly everything, and all works out perfectly in the end. This show just exploits that aspect of those reality tv shows. His mindset is (believe it or not) not too far from a regular reality television producer. Nathan just has a little more of a nihilistic approach. I love it.

I know I'm probably the millionth person to say this but this is the most Charlie Kaufman-esque show I have ever seen in my life. The show is really introspective. Reminded so much of Synechdoche, New York, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich and even other films like Eternal Sunshine and I'm Thinking of Ending things. Especially when it came to the idea of a character viewing themselves through the eyes of another person or trying to view experience in that way. It's something that Charlie Kaufman loves exploring and I loved seeing Nathan Fielder's take on it.

This is where movie becomes reality, and vice versa. After helping with people's careers on Nathan For You, the wizard of loneliness returns to help with people's relationships.