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Occasionally, it is necessary toconvene a conversationbetween Vulture writers to discuss an important and timely issue in culture.
But the way you interpret that last minute can completely change the broader experience of the show.
But Kor is adamant that he cannot cheat at the game.
An actor playing a pedestrian spills a drink and exclaims, Ooh, shit!
Its all over my DKNY pants.
Donna Karan New York.
But its not Kor whom Nathan comes clean to.
Its an actor Nathan has hired to stand in for him.
Then the camera cuts back to the real person.
How much did Nathan actually tell the real Kor?
What is the purpose of this final rehearsal?
What does it mean if you dont evennoticeit?
Kathryn VanArendonk:Okay, I confess it: I didnt realize it wasnt Kor!
Did you realize what was happening the first time you watched?
Trick onBuffy the Vampire Slayer!
), who is standing in for Kor.
Freemans acting here is amazing: His anger seems so genuine!
He mimics Kors tone and pacing!
And then my brain sort of collapsed in on itself like I was aWestworldhost or something.
There are too many layers to this!
Am I overthinking it?
Overthinking a Nathan Fielder show?Surelynot!
As you pointed out, his performance is so good that its a remarkably easy mistake to make.
Instead, what we get is one more level of Nathans rehearsing.
Its such a weird, arresting moment, and it feels so representative of Nathans overall project.
Who hasnt carried guilt over something seemingly innocuous?
Who hasnt worried that other people wont like the true them?
Maybe its a little bit of both because I dont think its neither.
But what does it mean that hes only being honest to who the credits identify as Fake Kor?
Does that make Nathans regret any less genuine?
Is the imagination here our own, and how we want to be assuaged?
Or is the imagination Nathans own?
If youre in a fake place doing things that are fake, are you yourself fake?
I just dont know!
But I also wonder, Is this cruel?
By including that moment when someone berates him, Nathan gives us an emotional pressure release:See!
In an episode full of discomfiting moments, that final minute is perhaps the most unnerving and destabilizing.
Its also, as you say, so,sowell done.
It is the section of the first episode that feels most patently false.
Surely everything Real Kor and Real Tricia did was unscripted.
Surely everything Fake Kor and Fake Tricia did was preconceived.
Am I getting too big in thinking about this?
But the winking quality of that final minute will certainly keep me watchingThe Rehearsal.
Kathryn, you watched with other people.
What was their reaction?
Were also pretty familiar with the question of what can actually cut through the noise of peak TV.
Compared with the rest of TV,The Rehearsal, for better or for worse (or both!
looks like a laser, slicing through everything.
RH:Its really all orange juice, no pulp.
