Nathan’s team is quickly on their feet, rushing toward a house and covertly switching a baby with the one in the crib–without the woman ever seeing. Nathan congratulates his team for a job well done and walks toward the house himself.
Nathan has always been a great help during rehearsals. He’s always willing to explain what’s going on and makes sure everything is on track.
Angela is the subject of this episode. For the first time in her life, Angela is required to take on the role of a parent. She is joined by dozens of other child actors in this simulation, all of whom are eager to learn how to be parents.
He moves Angela into a rural area (she doesn’t want to raise a kid in the city); simulates the adoption process of baby Adam; constantly switches out babies to work around child labor laws; and even provides a robot baby to imitate crying and keep Angela up at night.
Angela and Robin are dating, and they’re both Christians. They’ve both turned their lives around since meeting each other, and they’re really good together.
Angela likes Robin, but she’s sceptical about inviting him to join in the rehearsal. She decides to go on another date with him, but she fails to schedule child care. ..
Nathan’s frustration is clear, and I’m not sure if this was real or fabricated. He muses whether Angela is taking this experiment seriously, or if she just wanted a vacation. In the end, he offers to break his own rules and babysit “Adam,” which leads to some cute playtime scenes as well as Nathan’s first time changing a diaper.
Angela’s date goes well. When she invites Robin to be a part of the rehearsal, he has a weirdly enthusiastic response. It’s after Robin accepts that a few red flags crop up around him.
He calls his roommate a “demon” for not sharing his own belief in God, drives after smoking weed, and internally disregards Angela’s desire for celibacy in their relationship. He also has an obsessive fascination with numbers, citing the numbers he’s seen in his life lately as a sign that he and Angela are meant to be.
I started to wonder if he was even real, or simply one of Nathan’s actors. It wouldn’t be the first time Nathan set out to fool the subject of The Rehearsal. That’s why I can’t help but wonder if this next scenario was planned by Nathan all along.
Robin spends the night with Angela, who tells him to take care of the robot baby each time it cries that night. Nathan watches Robin on the monitor from behind the scenes while controlling when the baby cries. ..
Nathan watches as Robin packs his bag. “I just need a good night’s sleep,” he tells Angela before leaving.
Nathan meets Angela at the fake bar from episode 1. He tells her he thinks he could be a good dad, but he’s not sure. This experiment could help him, if she would allow him to co-parent with her in the simulation. She agrees, though Nathan’s humble presentation wreaks of subtle manipulation.
Nathan walks into the house carrying his cats with him.
The Episode Review
The Rehearsal is a documentary that challenges the viewer’s preconceptions about reality television. By introducing actors within the “reality” setup, Nathan Fielder creates a documentary that is more than just a show. ..
I can’t help but wonder what the real social experiment behind The Rehearsal is. Whether, at its heart, it’s about us as viewers–how much we’re willing to suspend our disbelief and trust Nathan; what we consider to be plausible reality vs. cultivated fiction.
In the latest episode of “The Good Place,” Robin (Katherine Heigl) was revealed to be a plant all along and Nathan (Ted Danson) always planned to become part of this rehearsal. Maybe I’m reading too much into everything, but I can’t help but hope for a big reveal in the next episode–if this was indeed setting up a two-parter.
If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll love this episode. If you’re not a fan of the show, you’ll still enjoy it.
