UnREAL 1.10

Future

- the season finale both for UnREAL and Everlasting; for Everlasting things seem to move extremely fast and fluidly; ultimately UnREAL is about what happens behind the scenes and not about what happens in front of the cameras
- Rachel goes through quite a bit; she leaves Jeremy for Adam but that turns south when Adam gets cold feet after talking to Quinn; Jeremy gets wise to what she and Adam were up to and tricks Adam into confirming it for him; then Jeremy embarrasses Rachel in front of the entire crew; for her part Rachel does what she can to poison Adam's well and it seems to work
- Quinn doesn't have quite as wild a ride as Rachel; Chet undercuts her in a couple ways early on; she returns the engagement ring; she pulls a stunt on the Everlasting season finale which is being aired live and goes to prove how invaluable she is to the show and how inept Chet is
- the show ends with Quinn and Rachel hanging out after the season finale; it's a nice character moment which highlights how similar they are and how good they are for one another

- got to admit to a little disappointment with the brief glimpses at the season finale of Everlasting; I guess it is no different that in previous episodes; Everlasting contained most of the comedic moments; the darker and more serious moments happened behind the camera and offstage
- there were lots of little moments that crackled with energy but they didn't really add up to a big explosive ending; the ending was definitely more muted than what I hoped for or expected; honestly I wasn't sure how they could end it in a way that would fully satisfy me; it did keep me guessing right up until the very end as to how it would wind up
- among the little twists that I enjoyed was the return of Britney even though I had it spoiled for me, although all I knew was that she would be back
- does Rachel know that Quinn is the one who talked Adam out of running away with her? it certainly seems that way but the way that final scene goes with Rachel and Quinn makes me think that Rachel secretly agrees with Quinn that romance of the sort she hoped to experience with Adam is a bunch of BS
- I'm ready for more but season 2 isn't available on Hulu just yet

UnREAL 1.09

Princess

- Where to begin?
- After having sex with Adam, Rachel gets Jeremy's text and seeks him out and winds up going back to his place with him; for a short while it seems like everything is going to work and she and Jeremy will be able to live happily ever after; they talk about quitting; everything seems great
- Quinn continues to work her little scheme; she tries going behind Chet's back to network to work a deal of her own; she does what she can to ensure that she doesn't get pregnant after having unprotected sex with Chet; she invites Rachel to become her business partner but Rachel turns her down; Rachel is still gaga over Jeremy and the life she wants them to have
- Chet's attempt to get Grace to "sex up" her date with Adam blows up in Chet's face; Rachel manages to smooth things over after Chet finally gets the message and backs off
- Madison is uncomfortable after Quinn reveals that she knows what happened with Chet and insists that the PA get and attorney and sue Chet; Madison turns to Dr. Wagerstein for advice and tells her everything; Dr. Wagerstein takes it to Chet and in the process reveals that Quinn knows all about what happened with Madison; these scenes are some of the funniest of the show; I love all the double entendres and miscommunication and reveals that happen in these scenes
- Quinn reviews the tapes for something of value and finds footage of Rachel and Adam having sex; she uses that to blackmail Rachel into coming to work for her; she threatens to show it to Jeremy who knows nothing of her having sex with Adam
- the episode ends with Adam suggesting that Rachel run away with him that night

- loved how fake the dates with Grace, Anna, and Faith are shown to be
- so much double dealing and backstabbing in this one
- sad as it may seem I'm not sure that Rachel is meant to be happy, certainly not in the silly romantic sort of way that she seems to crave; her desire for something along those lines seems antithetical to everything that came before it and her general nature as revealed in this show; I think she is just succumbing to the lure of something different that she might have once had briefly and is fooling herself into thinking it can last
- on the whole a wonderful episode; I really hope they stick the landing in the next and final episode of the season but either way it has been a fun ride from the beginning to now

UnREAL 1.08

Two

- the network wants the season to end with a marriage, Adam and Grace; Chet suggests that they could also do a spin off show about Adam and Grace; the trouble is that Adam wants out once the season is over and doesn't want to marry any of the remaining contestants
- Rachel has something to gain from all this; after bargaining with Chet he agrees to make her the show runner for the spin off if she can get Adam to change his mind; she suggests to Adam that he could marry Anna instead of Grace; he warms to the idea of being with Anna but still balks at the notion of marrying her; he doesn't come around to the idea of the spin off until Rachel suggests that he only go along with the spin off deal if they film it at his vineyard and center the season around fixing up the vineyard
- Although Rachel spent the night (that began at the end of the prior episode) with Adam, they didn't have sex; Jeremy seems to want Rachel back now; he goes so far as to tell his fiancee that he is having doubts about the chances of them getting married; he tries to get another night with Rachel but she ends up in bed with Adam (again) but this time they do have sex
- everything between Quinn and Chet seems very rosy: first he announces he is divorcing his wife, then he proposes to Quinn, but then she catches him getting a blowjob from one of the production assistants; instead of letting him know that she knows Quinn smiles and agrees to marry him as soon as the divorce is final

- loved the spa date scenes; once was awkward, another was silly, the third and fourth ones ended badly but for different reasons; Grace flipped out after most of her body was covered in mud in the the third one; the fourth one, with Anna, seemed to be going well until Adam realized why she was warming up to him so much
- there is definitely some set up here for future developments; things between Quinn and Chet are going to change it is just a matter of when; Anna is going to find out about Rachel sleeping with Adam from someone, possibly Jeremy; these are just guesses, of course
- I was a bit worried after waiting two weeks between episodes that my interest might have faded but I enjoyed this one quite a bit; will the other show ever drop for me? dunno

UnREAL 1.07

Savior

- another solid episode; the focus of this flows out of the tragedy that occurred at the end of the previous episode
- there is lots of finger pointing and self-flagellation over what happened; Rachel and Shia each have their reasons for feeling culpable; Rachel doesn't know Shia's reason until Shia spills the beans; once Quinn learns what Shia was up to she has Jay secure her in a hotel room until the press has cooled down
- Quinn and Rachel quickly go into damage control mode; against orders from the corporate lawyers they start to put together some interviews to make it clear what kind of man Kirk, Mary's ex, is; they don't want to see him profiting in any way from the tragedy; in the end they even get Mary's sister in on the act; they keep Chet and everyone else in the dark about Shia's role in the tragedy
- Adam is very hard on Rachel, for good reason as she is very close lipped about what happened and what circumstances led up to the tragedy; the other contestants react to the tragedy in a variety of ways; Maya decides she has had enough and leaves the show
- Rachel has sex with Jeremy (in the trailer where she has been sleeping) the night after the tragedy and sneaks into Adam's bed the next night
- Chet tells Quinn he has left his wife

- the whole episode was very moving and tense, there weren't a lot of laughs in this one

UnREAL 1.06

Fly

- This episode revolves around Mary; there was ground work laid in previous episodes, mostly in the one immediately preceding this one, and it all paid off here
- Mary's daughter, sister, niece, nephew come to visit her on the set in advance of her date that night with Adam; everything goes wrong for Mary; there are a number of contributing factors: (a) Shia replaced Mary's med with something else last episode, (b) Mary has started drinking again, (c) Quinn and Chet have a bet as to whether Mary will make it beyond the date which leads them both to get other to do things that impact Mary's fragile state of mind, (d) Chet has Anna interrupt Adam's visit with Mary and her daughter, (e) Quinn has Rachel invite Mary's ex on the set without telling her he is coming
- in the end it all blows up in Mary's face and she takes very drastic measures; it wasn't the end I was expecting and totally made up for what I thought was an okay episode but not great at the halfway point; I'm not sure if I would say it was great now but it was pretty damn good
- I can't wait to see what this does to the cast and crew of Everlasting

UnREAL 1.05

Truth

- Once again, three tracks

- On one track we have Rachel and Jeremy tagging along as Adam goes home to Mississippi with Faith to visit her grandmother; Rachel is encouraged to get Faith to give up her virginity to Adam while on the trip; instead she winds up coming out and admitting that she is in love with her best friend, Amy; some of her confession is caught on camera; Rachel tries to intercept the recording but is unable to do so; she turns to Jay for help but he is too busy trying to please Chet to help Rachel and Faith
- there is a lot of tension in this one over whether Faith's on camera confession will go live or not; at first Rachel is happy with herself for getting Faith to come out but then she gets nervous that Faith will ruin it by coming out in front of the whole town, who very likely won't be anywhere near as understanding as Rachel or Amy; then there's the tension over what will happen to the footage of her confession
- Rachel's still not over Jeremy as is demonstrated in two scenes, one with him, and the other where she is in bed alone getting off to their sex tape; Jeremy on the other hand doesn't feel the same magnetic pull; in the hot and heavy scene they have together he starts to make out with her but then he has second thoughts before things get too far and walks off

- on the second track Quinn presses forward with a lawsuit against Chet; after her lawyer advises her that she doesn't have a strong case against Chet she decides to pursue a different angle and goes after him for palimony; in the end, after a bit of back and forth maneuvering, Chet gives in and gives Quinn what she wants, a 40% share in the show; Quinn seems satisfied

- on the third track Mary gets pushed by a few people to stand up for herself; first it is Shia who starts off by pushing her to start drinking and then sneaks into Mary's room and messes with her medication; after that Mary gets a visit from Quinn who has been drinking and is still in the middle of her legal tussle with Chet; Mary ends up confessing on camera in a very bold way to Adam about her past; which seems to play in her favor because Adam picks her for the next home date; at the end of the episode we see her drinking; between the alcohol and the spiked medication I don't envision this ending well for Mary

- Another solid episode; I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and maybe it will before this is all over but so far I am still very impressed by this show

- I've got no idea how this will all end; probably not well; I have trouble imagining how season two could measure up to this one

UnREAL 1.04

Wife

- Adam cons his way into getting Everlasting to pretty up an old rundown villa in the hills of Napa; they are supposed to be shooting a date there with 5 of the remaining 10 women; turns out what he is hoping is to attract investors in the villa; a couple of investors show up on the set but their interest fades when they learn that Adam's father's company won't be involved in running the property
- Adam gets into hot water with the 10 remaing contestants when they find out about a tabloid article that reveals that he has been texting his ex; he manages to get out of the hot water but then turns up the heat himself by passionately kissing Mary within sight of some of the other contestants, at Rachel's request
- Rachel is falling for Adam; at first I didn't think it could be, even after he kissed her on the cheek, but considering how they ended the episode, with her watching and then deleting the tape of the two of them sharing that intimate moment, it is the only logical conclusion
- Quinn has the most interesting arc in this episode; she is still mad at Chet and goes to see Bill; he and Quinn were an item before Everlasting, which wasn't just Chet's idea, but he managed to claim all the credit; in this episode she is using Bill to get at Chet; she's sick of playing second fiddle, being the side wife; she wants more; she tells Bill, early in the episode, that a law suit is a non-starter but towards the end of the episode she suggests to Chet that she is thinking about it or about going public with her original copy of the proposal for the show which has her name on it as co-creator
- there's more, like Jay's attempt to get in Chet's good graces which blows up in his face and Athena's attempt to get on Adam's good side which similarly goes nowhere

- great episode; love the introduction of more back story; love seeing the various layers of the onion slowly get un peeled
- it was interesting to see Adam play a bigger role in this one
- even though Rachel was ever present her personality seemed somewhat subdued; maybe because she is pining for Adam

UnREAL 1.03

Mother

- Rachel goes to visit her parents after Quinn kicks her off the set because she looks like she needs some rest; the visit with her parents isn't exactly relaxing; her mother is a psychiatrist; when Rachel asks her for money she agrees under the conditions that Rachel gets back on the medication she has prescribed and resumes sessions with her; from everything that Rachel says and the way her mother responds it is clear that isn't a good idea but Rachel agrees and gets a check from her mother only to rip it to pieces once she has left the house
- Quinn takes a stab at getting Chet to impregnate her but then he starts experiencing chest pain and has to go the hospital; what seemed like it was a heart attack turns out to be something not quite so severe; when Cynthia, Chet's wife, shows up at the hospital she pulls Quinn aside and lays her cards on the table: she knows Quinn is sleeping with her husband and she is fine with it, it makes her life easier; Quinn is left feeling powerless
- on the set of the show Adam's friend Roger visits to help Roger pick one of the 10 remaining contestants for a date; he forces himself on one of the contestants when the cameras are elsewhere; Roger and Adam get into a fight, also off camera, before the night is over; Adam's anger at his friend isn't entirely noble, his number one concern is improving his reputation, he sees the show as his ticket to achieving that goal and Roger's antics aren't helping his cause
- Rachel and Quinn return to the set separately and discover the chaos that has ensued; it isn't something they can use; Quinn pushes Rachel to do something about it so Rachel pushes Anna just enough that she goes and picks a fight with Grace, on camera; the episode ends with Quinn and Rachel sharing a cigarette as they watch the fight from a distance

- much better than the previous episode, possibly my favorite episode so far
- the scene with Rachel and her mother was very revealing, as was the one with Quinn and Cynthia; both were deliciously dark and disturbing
- also loved the two scenes with Rachel and Quinn, before and after Anna picks a fight with Grace

-:-:-:-

a few more thoughts...

- when the first episode began Rachel was wearing a t-shirt that had written on it: this is what a feminist look like; in the second episode she turns it inside out; there has to be some subtle message there
- there was more to what Cynthia said to Quinn; she told Quinn "you're all he's got, I've got the rest, the house, the car, etc"; that may not be an exact quote but the point is that Chet stands to suffer quite a bit if Quinn deserts him; Quinn cares for him on a level that Cynthia does not, or at least that's my read of the situation, although she doesn't like being backed into a corner the way she is by Cynthia; who would? but she needs more from Chet than to be his "side wife"
- the show (UnREAL, not Everlasting) is about the people that work on the set, mostly Quinn and Rachel, but the Everlasting is already down from 50 to 5 contestants and they aren't even halfway through the 10 episode run of season 1 of UnREAL; will this season of Everlasting end at the same point as the season of UnREAL?

UnREAL 1.02

Relapse

- Rachel has to convince Anna (one of the contestants) to return to Everlasting (the show) after her father has died; this didn't seem to carry as much emotional weight as I thought it would or should; maybe that's because Rachel's mind was elsewhere, specifically on her laptop that her ex-roommate was threatening to sell on Craig's List
- Quinn has to put up with learning that Chet's wife is pregnant; it looks like I was right about their relationship being more complicated than it initially seemed to be to my eyes
- for the most part the episode revolves around turning one of the remaining contestants into the show's villain; Quinn had a villain picked out in episode 1 but Rachel talked Adam into not asking her to stay on the show; there's lots of manipulation by the show's crew to egg contestants into doing something over the top with varying degrees of success

- I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this episode; I kept hoping it would grab me like the first one did but for the most part it didn't; I wasn't overwhelmingly disappointed, I just wasn't wowed
- there were some laughs in this episode but nothing that caught me by surprise; I think I was ready and hoping for more than I got

****

- I have to wonder about Rachel's actions towards the end of the episode; she had the time to prevent the sex tape of her and her ex from getting sent to the rest of the crew but she didn't work very hard to prevent it from happening; did she let it happen, on purpose? I think she might have; there will probably be consequences; Is she trying to ruin her ex's current relationship? possibly; does she want him back? not so sure about that, I think Rachel enjoys having power over him and this is one way for her to influence his current relationship with his fiancee

UnREAL 1.01

Return

- heard about this show on Pop Culture Happy Hour and possibly on WTF when Constance Zimmer was on
- wasn't too taken by the show at first but about 15-20 minutes in to the show it started to get interesting
- the central part of the show and what I see as the most interesting part of the show is the relationship between Rachel and Quinn
- Rachel continues to work on the show as a producer where she flamed out or melted down in the previous season because she has to; they have power over her; at the same time she knows she has a talent for manipulating people and getting the most out the people on the show while simultaneously being disgusted by what she is able to accomplish
- Quinn is the executive producer of the show so in theory she holds all the cards but she doesn't because she is beholden to Chet, the show's creator; she does what she has to stay in his good graces which on this episode looks like she allows him to use her sexually and presumably it isn't the first time; she knows that Rachel is good for the show but that doesn't keep her from pushing her around; ultimately I think she sees something in Rachel that reminds her of herself
- I didn't laugh very much but the what-what-what scene totally got me
- 10 minutes in I wasn't sure if I would be watching any more of this show but by 20 minutes in it was really starting to get its hooks into me; I think I'm in for the long haul which at this point means the rest if season 1 (10 episodes) which is all that's available on Hulu for now

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- on second thought I've been thinking about it and I'm starting to wonder if my first reading of Quinn and Chet's relationship is mistaken; I believe this is supposed to be the 4th season of the show (Everlasting); maybe they have a romantic or sexual relationship; even though he seems to be calling the shots when they are doing it in her office maybe that's just the way it looks
- towards the end of the episode there is a scene of them, she is sitting on his lap, that moment makes me think that their relationship is a little more complicated than I initially thought; hopefully this will be something that was explored in future episodes of season 1