PREMISE
Dave’s quest for love reaches its epic conclusion.
EPISODE MVP
BRAD PITT (!)
As I’ve said before (and as I seemingly will continue to say whenever Brad Pitt is in something that is a comedy), Pitt is funnier than he is anything else. I simply can’t think of one thing that he’s done in the comedy spectrum, including this episode, that he has not excelled at or stood out in. The more absurd this episode continued to be, the more it seemed to go in the wheelhouse of Pitt.
The highlights of this episode are all of the times when he tried to communicate with Dave under extreme duress (the Swiss army knife, the silent conversation by the fireplace in the recording studio). I forget what interview he said it in, but he did say that he was going to make it a point to make this stage of his career into something different than things that we’ve constantly seen him in before. I hope to get performances like this as often as possible in the upcoming years.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Tenea Intriago
This episode took a page straight from the Atlanta playbook and introduced some horror aspects. However, unlike Atlanta, these horror elements are played for laughs rather than dead seriousness. This is not an episode that’s trying to push forward a message about anything in particular, just trying to make things more and more absurd. Each one of these scenarios becomes more and more intense, all the while remaining hilarious.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I appreciate that, but…when you say that, it’s almost like you have this undertone. Like there is almost the auto-tune crying under you.”
-(Mystery guest)-
In response to Dave proclaiming himself to be a superstar.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE
BELLA
As previously mentioned, I loved the performance in the episode. But this could have been done more effectively by portraying Bella as unhinged and irrational. Does she overstep her boundaries as a P.A. to get close to Dave initially? Yes.
However, as Dave realizes at the beginning of the episode, and based on what GaTa said towards the end, she has the same mindset as Dave to accomplish her dreams. It’s so true in every way. Because of that, it makes her story kind of sad when she is continually disrespected by everyone she comes in contact with (especially) Dave before she goes off of the deep end. I don’t think that was the goal of this episode. It makes her a sad character instead of a villain.
THE FINAL MONTAGE
Don’t get me wrong, that was quite an impressive ending montage. I didn’t mind the last celebrity Cameo because it did wrap up the end goal of Lil Dicky, and it made sense to end the season that way.
Here’s the problem. That ending montage has about three things that could have made for a way better episode than this one… had we gotten scenes out of those snippets. Those are big moments for the supporting characters to have. They only get about 15 seconds a piece in this montage to revel in the accomplishments these characters have been working for for the entirety of this show.
I understand how gigantic a “get” that Brad Pitt is for an episode of TV, but this is the weakest season finale they’ve had so far.
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Dave remains one of the more balanced shows on television, in my opinion. When it wants to be deep and thoughtful, absurd and silly, or touching and romantic, it can excel in its efforts. It’s understandable that because of Dave’s ongoing fame, celebrity cameos will be littered throughout this show. I think that’s part of the joke by this point.
The problem is that the show is now treading in entourage territory. One of the bigger problems with entourage is that the celebrity cameos became so egregious that they didn’t make sense to exist toward the end. We’re not there with this show.. yet. But we’re very close to being there. I don’t know if dialing the celebrity cameos back a little bit is possible at this point in the story, but it would help this show if they did that.
DAVE is streaming on HULU now
