UnReal and I loved it. (Not only because I don't especially love reality shows, although I don't,at least not the competitive ones) The characterizations and performances are really good...a terrific balance between that "tragic inevitability" thing beloved by tragedians and little glimpses of possibility where you could imagine the crew of Everlasting making better decisions. It's interesting to see some critiques of the whole #ladyboss mindset that don't try to turn the clock back and send women all the way back home. Rachel(and Quinn, the devil on Dana Gordon's shoulder, (now that it isn't Ari Gold, I should say,played with a kind of jaded relish by Constance Zimmer,) may find their playful sides or peace of mind(could almost write "piece"---there's lots of sexual situations on this show) in the arms of their guy of the moment, but the show never implies that they are any kind of permanent rescue or solace. It's plainly a story about women and mentoring, and the damage the wrong kind of examples and cultural messages can do.While the on-screen contestants play out the bright fairy tale onscreen, the "Everlasting" production team wanders through the creepy forest. I had seen Shiri Appleby either as a teen, or at twenty playing teenaged on some show about a foster child that was trying to gather "Party of Five's" sloppy seconds at one point, but she was the best thing about the show, even after her character slept with her math teacher. Rachel is a very multifaceted character who makes you root for her even if she is being a shit. She might count as mental-health disability representation, too but I'm not quite sure about that.
Although I am impressed that the writers did manage, as the seasons went on, to make loutish producer Chet(played with multiple layers by Craig Bierko) at least occasionally sympathetic.. Many a feminist might start out hating Chet, but I came to find him at least as confused and manipulated as Rachel.
Editor's note:
I made some changes to this. Spotted a typo and finished some thoughts that didn't fully make it to the page yesterday...if it's just a little, I don't say anything, but mentioning it seemed like a thing to do this time.
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