It’s a real series of unfortunate events in Lucifer’s “Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid”
TV Reviews Daniel Espinoza
In case you missed it, season five was originally supposed to be Lucifer’s final season. The noir episode, the musical episode, Maze trying to return things to Season One status, physical Easter Eggs, the very presence of God. Even the current status of the Lucifer/Chloe relationship—and the sidelining of Chloe as a result—falls into the realm of a final season stretch. But the crowning achievement of these “final season” choices might just be “Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid.” Especially as a reminder of Dan being a crowning achievement when it comes to the way this show handles character development and actor t.
Written by Mike Costa and directed by Greg Beeman, “Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid” is full of callbacks and references to the series’ past—in a way that works for the story at hand, not just for the, “Hey, I remember that.” of it all. Instead of coming across like the series has run out of gas in the home stretch, this episode—even before the reveal—feels like a character’s past finally coming back to haunt him. Both the Los X’s and the Russians are a strong reminder of the ecosystem in which these characters exist, but they’re also a reminder of the things Dan has gotten away with, even after redeeming himself as a person (the show redeeming him as a character). Because it’s still amazing that this or any Dan-centric plot works at all—in terms of humor, sympathy, empathy—considering how unlikable (at best) he was in the first season.
“Detective Douche” wasn’t just an affectionate nickname at the time, it was the single best way to describe him on network television. As this episode brought up “Palmetto” and the kind of corrupt coward Dan used to be, I couldn’t help but remember just how much people wanted him to die or go to prison by the end of Season One. But then came improv. And pudding. Slowly but surely, Dan has gone from the jerk whose comeuppance you long to see to the loveable punching bag of the show. At Dan’s worst, it always felt like Kevin Alejandro was far too talented to be playing such a one-note character. Since then, Alejandro has regularly proven that talent. And here, he truly outdoes himself.
“Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid” is such a showcase for Alejandro, as he is called on to play an escalating sense of fatigue and frustration and pain, scene-by-scene. He’s in every scene of this episode, so it’s difficult to pick out just one thing he does. But I’d say that Dan’s manic energy in the scene with the Russian bookkeeper (before she hits him with a baseball bat) is truly something else, challenged only by his goofy earnestness during his speech at LUX, calling for peace between the gangs. The latter is especially impressive, as I even went from thinking about how dapper Dan looks in the previous scene—like a true “Joe Stone”—to thinking he looks like a kid who’s forced to wear a suit for his birthday party—like a true “Dan Espinoza.”
This episode is a wild ride. Stylistically a Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez joint and narratively a Pink Panther-esque farce, “Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid” manages to be simultaneously hilarious and worrying. Yes, you’re worried about all of the very real concussions Dan gets throughout, but does that make all the times he gets said concussions any less funny? Absolutely not. It’s also brilliant, not just because of the callbacks but because of the intricacy of the ultimate callback. Yes, this is the result of Lucifer’s “OPERATION PAYBACK DAN” from “Spoiler Alert.” But most importantly, the “OPERATION PAYBACK DAN” whiteboard is actually integral to the plan. The whiteboard that includes Dan’s schedule—featuring his morning routine, which we open with here—as well as ideas like “send him to Tijuana,” the calculated trajectory of his car crashing (originally, it was supposed to go off a cliff), “hates dogs,” “severed head in a box” (which also calls back to the original introduction of the Russians) and “kidnap.” Lucifer also mapped where all of the “death blows” would be on Dan, which… he did manage to avoid.
As Lucifer points out at the end, he included “so many Easter Eggs from our previous adventures” (“Did you spot them all?”) during this prank. As mentioned earlier, Los X’s and the Russians are the most obvious ones, as they were responsible for some classic Dan and Maze messarounds. (Which is why it makes a lot of sense that Maze is the only one Lucifer let in on the prank.) But there are also bits like the poison/antidote aspect (the Professor Carlisle arc in Season Two), Dan’s past love of improv, and even the titular concept of Dan waking up naked and afraid (only without a pink tracksuit or *NSYNC shirt in sight). And as elaborate and immersive as this prank is, it feels a lot like the kidnapping service from the Season Three premiere—Dan even ends up stranded in the desert, just like Lucifer.
Ultimately, Lucifer sees everything that happens in this episode as a lesson he’s teaching Dan for shooting him at the end of 5A. This is Dan’s punishment, in Lucifer’s mind. Dan, instead, takes it as his Homer-like odyssey, learning about himself in the process. As he even tells Lucifer, “It’s crazy, but I think I needed this. I’ve been in a really weird place for a long time. And I think I’m through it now. I can’t explain it. But you really helped me.” And the reason Dan really needed this now is because of something he says to his former buddy Luis (Wilmer Calderon) while they’re drinking:
“Because if God is like you and me, that means He’s fallible. He makes mistakes. And if God can make a mistake, what does that say about the universe? I mean, who’s even in charge? How could anything even matter anymore?”
Dan’s not just scared of going to Hell at this point—he’s hopeless. He’s given up. And the events of “Daniel Espinoza: Naked And Afraid,” as heightened as they are, are necessary for Dan to regain his hope and some clarity. Because, to quote that definitive line from Angel, “If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.” Lucifer tells Dan he knew he’d never give up, because at every opportunity to do so, “I knew that your oafish optimism would keep you going.” Lucifer continues, “I suppose I realized that whenever you’re given a choice, you always at least try and do the right thing.” (As for any other predictions of Dan’s actions or him surviving every hit to the head, keep this in mind: “Crime-solving Devil, it makes sense / Don’t overthink it.”)
Dan just wants to help. And he wants to keep his loved ones safe in the process. There’s a reason he refuses to tell Chloe, Ella, Linda, and Amenadiel—who he’d consider his “good” and “righteous” friends—what’s going on here, as opposed to Lucifer and Maze—who he knows aren’t afraid to color outside the lines. After all, Dan and Maze “killed a guy together.” And Lucifer is the Devil. In fact, Dan doesn’t even go to Lucifer as a friend in this episode—as an early sign that he’s given up is that he won’t verbally spar with Lucifer at the precinct—he goes to him as the favor granter. So, that need to help, even when things truly look helpless, explains every crazy thing that happens to Dan in this episode. It’s not the universe out to get him. It’s simply:
“Because you fucking shot me, Daniel.”
Stray observations
- Commenters, I’m curious to know when (or if) you knew something wasn’t quite right in this episode. On my initial watch, for a moment, I got worried and wondered if this was somehow Dan’s Hell loop. (Mike Costa also wrote Lucifer’s original solo epic, “Off The Record.”) But I figured out something was off (in terms of this being a goof, as you can tell instantly that Luis is not to be trusted) when Lucifer brought up that he can’t be around the Russians, because of his history with them. As far as we know, Lucifer’s history with the Russians started at the same time as Dan and Maze’s. Upon rewatch, the new giveaway moment for me also came from Lucifer, just much earlier. It’s when Dan heads to the penthouse to ask Lucifer a favor. Lucifer’s at his piano—absolutely normal—playing a classical piece that completely reads as a faux innocent, “I’m totally not doing anything” affectation.
- As Alejandro has said in multiple interviews about this episode, Beeman had a very distinct visual language he wanted—something I’ve appreciated about Beeman’s directing since his Smallville days—and that language was that of a mini-movie, culminating in the bloodbath at the very end. You could honestly mute this episode and it would still be just as compelling of a watch because of that.
- Unrelated to Lucifer’s influence, Dan’s apartment is decorated with Wesley Cabot movie posters. But luckily for Dan, Lucifer didn’t do the “fake new Weaponizer” prank.
- Dan: “Well, I know you’re the Devil now. You come at me with these sort of funny, kind of clever insults, I give back. We go into a little insult dance, and that’s a Tuesday. But now everything’s changed.”
Lucifer: “Don’t be ridiculous, Daniel. Nothing’s changed. I’m still the same person: charming, beloved. And you’re still the same person too: useless, tolerated.”
Dan: “Hmm. Doesn’t have the same effect anymore. It’s like being teased by Genghis Khan or Darth Vader.”
Lucifer: “I’m not some bloody villain, Daniel.” Would a bloody villain do… all of this? - Luis: “You never look in the box.” To be fair, Dan didn’t look in the box on purpose. Because he knows: Whenever he opens a box, it’s either a head or a bomb.
- Despite its “bonus” episode status, Lucifer clearly sees “Boo Normal” as an integral part of the mythology. It did introduce another angelic sibling after all. Here, there are references to the episode in the form of Ella’s novel (about the forensic scientist who talks to ghosts) and both Dan’s luck when it comes to losing fugitives and his intense fear of heights.
- It’s one scene, but one scene is really all you need when it comes to Linda helping Dan out with his “Joe Stone” cover. Of the three moments of Dan looking for outside help (from Ella, Amenadiel, and Linda), I think this scene might be my favorite.
- The fact that the only hired “actors” in the prank were Dan’s old improv team really gets me. Lucifer just got a bunch of gang members to get super into acting. Though, in the case of Los X’s, these particular members really seemed to be all about reform (and being paid by Lucifer). Which is good, because Los X’s actually have plenty of reasons to want to kill Dan (and Maze). Unless they resolved that during their therapy session with Lucifer.
- In terms of their “tough” looks, one of the members of the improv troupe truly just has on a rasta beanie. That was his idea of “tough.” Yes.
- Much like the Imagine Dragons “Believer” bit in “Resting Devil Face,” Lucifer comes up with the only appropriate time to play Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling,” a song with an infuriating title.
50 Comments
Honestly, I was fooled all the way through, mainly because I was enjoying this episode so much. After that bloodbath I was thinking the God would come in with a Dues Ex Machina and fix everything somehow giving Dan some sort of lesson to learn. God pulling the prank might have worked too or in cahoots with Lucifer.
Part of me thought that this whole scenario was, a la blowing Dan up, another way for God to take his revenge for Dan sleeping with the ex-Mrs. God/ a way to help Dan. In spite of Lucifer being a prankster (and the literal devil), this sort of “prank” seems out of character for him. It’s a pretty far distance between eating someone’s pudding cups and giving him multiple concussions, making him think that he’s going to die, and convincing him that he’s responsible for the deaths of over a dozen people, including his good friend. I was expecting God to walk onstage, laugh at Dan, and then rewind time again but leave Dan remembering everything up until the shootout.
I was fooled throughout the entire episode until the improv guy was shot. But come on, weird things happen on this show… so yeah. But even once the improv guy was shot, my immediate thought was God as well. Made no sense, but I knew it wasn’t real.
I think the idea of God being angry at Dan for sleeping with the Goddess only exists in Dan’s mind. We know the Goddess resented God for not caring about her in the least anymore, so his jealousy at this stage would make no sense.
“Because you fucking shot me, Daniel.”This may be the line-reading of the series, frankly. The way Ellis says it is such a mix of wonderment, bafflement, and disdain that it’s perfect.Also, I started to peg something was off around the time of Lucifer having Dan leave him at the Los Ex’s place (“I am the muscle after all” — which he’d never say), but I didn’t 100% know whether this was just supposed to be a “madcap” episode where it felt off, or if it was really a put-on until the improv guy got shot. And then I was 100% sure the show was not that mean-spirited.
Yeah, with Lucifer’s reveal I was starting to think Man, this is just too mean-spirited on top of everything else Dan was going through. Way to kick a guy while he’s down. Then ‘because you shot me’ just put a perfect bow on it; like, of course.
“I’m not an Uber, Dan,” was another line-reading that killed. Not series-great, but definitely season.
Honestly had me in stitches when he said it.
“Now you see that sometimes when you’re trying to do the right thing, other people who don’t deserve it [such as Lucifer] end up getting shot [by Dan].”
I loved how incredibly specific Lucifer was when he told Dan how much he spent on the prank, $5,oo4, 157, and that it was worth every penny. I bet he even set up everything the Los X “bike” shop just so Dan had to ride that gold bicycle with the spare tire on the back.
Ellis once again proved how great he is at the end. First with how his face changes, including that little blink, when he realizes how much of a compliment he is actually giving when mentioning Dan will always try and do the right thing, leading to the sheer look of horror when Dan thanks him for how much the prank was exactly what he needed.And I can’t decide which is sweeter, Maze, after teasing Dan about how ridiculous the idea that she would take a bullet for him, sees his face then walks it back with, “Well, not in the chest, anyway,” and gives him a little peck on the cheek, or Lucifer pouring him the drink and clinking glasses. No matter how they treat Dan, you can see the affection they both feel for him.
Lucifer tossing off an exact dollar figure of what it cost to do the prank had me wondering if it could be another Easter egg, like maybe the exact budget for this episode of the show. (There’s a meta-joke coming in the penultimate episode about a medium doing a reading for a Fox programming executive which is pretty amusing.)
RELIABLE CREDIT FINANCING OF € 1,500 to € 10,000,000 to a person capable of repaying it with interest has a weak rate of 2%. the interested party contact me in private. I apologize, but I’m serious and honest, you can trust me.contact me via WhatsApp at +337559210 93Thank you waiting to read you.
Also, plenty of people have shot Luci before, and he’s only ever been mildly irritated (“You’ve ruined a perfectly good Burberry” “It’s a good thing the Detective isn’t here or you’d be cleaning my blood out of the carpet”).The fact that Luci was happy spend $5m+ on a prank getting back at Dan shows just how much he actually *values* Dan. He was legitimately offended when Dan shot him (“I’ve never hidden my Devilness from anyone”) so the sense of betrayal obviously stings.
Yeah, it wasn’t about getting shot, it was about being suddenly considered someone who Dan, i.e. the guy who’s now always trying to do the right thing, would want to shoot and kill.
I loved how incredibly specific Lucifer was when he told Dan how much he spent on the prank, $5,oo4, 157
How rich is Lucifer actually? Does he pay taxes? Is the IRS run by one of his mignons?
So many questions…
Do you mean minions or steaks?
I made the mistake of not rewatching 5A before my first watch of 5B thanks to work and the whiteboard episode seemed SO LONG to me that I didn’t pick up on the setup until way later than I should.
I think this is the first time in the entire series that someone said “fuck”. It’s been a long time coming.I actually didn’t pick up on what was happening until Maze got shot at the end. Because this series gets so wild at times I just figured that this was Dan’s No Good, Very Bad Day. Nice to know that Maze would take a bullet for Dan though.They were bonus episodes but they did intend for Boo Normal and Once Upon a Time to air during Fox’s season 4 so it does make sense for them to be canon. I don’t know where you fit Boo Normal in timeline but I guess it happened somewhere.Also nice to see the Vida actors show up in other works. We got Mari here and Lyn’s actress is in that musical that’s coming out soon.
RELIABLE CREDIT FINANCING OF € 1,500 to € 10,000,000 to a person capable of repaying it with interest has a weak rate of 2%. the interested party contact me in private. I apologize, but I’m serious and honest, you can trust me.contact me via WhatsApp at +337559210 93Thank you waiting to read you.
All the bonus episodes were filmed for season 2; they fit in between seasons 2 and 3 (Season had a 22 episode order, it got cut down to 18, thus, 26 episode season 3)
No, the season 2 cut episodes were “Mr. & Mrs. Mazikeen” “Vegas with Some Radish” “Off the Record” and “City of Angels?”. “Boo Normal” and “Once Upon a Time” were filmed during season 3 and then cut with expectation that they’d air during a season 4 on Fox that never came.
I consider myself a pretty perceptive viewer but I actually did not see the twist coming at all. Maybe because I was in the throes of a binge fest, I wonder if I had paced my first watch through if I would have caught on earlier.
One thing I did think about after is that I was more accepting of the almost comical blood bath at the end because of God ‘blowing up’ Dan in the prior episode. As you mentioned in your other review, that was dark. Very dark. It really threw me and made me somewhat willing to believe anything. The more I think about that scene, the more I think God did it on purpose and it wasn’t his powers going haywire…yeesh.
Even Maze taking a bullet for Dan… I thought this would be a piece of her ‘soul’ story arc, her willingness to save Dan as a pillar of her redemption, alla Charlotte saving Amenadiel in Season 3.
I love how this episode is an ode to the superfans. The easter eggs definitely work in the broader context of Dan navigating his mistakes of the past, but as someone who has rewatched the series more times than I would like to admit, I have loved analyzing this episode to try and catch all the call backs and parallels. Excellent directing on Beeman’s part. This one was a rollercoaster.
Also, I love the absolutely perfect only f-bomb of the show. That may be the hardest I’ve laughed in the whole series.
I had a feeling that something was being set up when Dan was drinking at the bar with Luis. I commented to my watching buddy that it seemed like a way to blackmail Dan into helping Luis with something shady, and then again when his old improv buddies showed up on the side of the road. It turned out I was thinking WAY too small! This episode was fantastic, and I’m so glad the whiteboard wasn’t just a throwaway sight gag, as I had assumed on my first viewing of that episode.
Honestly, my mom thought there was something off at the beginning itself when Lucifer was talking to Dan at the station. She thought he was grinning way too much for no proper reason, but I just brushed it off as the actor maybe overdoing it a bit. We didn’t guess the ending tho, I actually thought it was a hell loop. Great episode!
RELIABLE CREDIT FINANCING OF € 1,500 to € 10,000,000 to a person capable of repaying it with interest has a weak rate of 2%. the interested party contact me in private. I apologize, but I’m serious and honest, you can trust me.contact me via WhatsApp at +337559210 93Thank you waiting to read you.
I hated what this episode did to Dan’s character. Say what you want about Detective Douche, he never came off as such an incredibly gullible, clumsy moron before. Like, did he not wonder why no one questioned the fact that he came back from Mexico without his prisoner? Or his car?
did he not wonder why no one questioned the fact that he came back from Mexico without his prisoner? Or his car?That actually happened, though, it wasn’t set up, since Chloe wasn’t in on the prank. Dan simply never reported back to the precinct the next day and probably declined all of Chloe’s calls.Or you mean that the prisoner transfer was also part of Lucifer’s setup that Chloe herself fell into?
I was fooled up til his improv troupe showed up as tough guys. Then I started to suspect, but I honestly didn’t really know til Lucifer said what he did from the balcony, right before that one improv dude breaks.The chain swinging. One girl just had a knife held in the Rosie the Riveter pose. It was great.
I wasn’t sure exactly what was up until the end, but all the guest stars who were in on the conspiracy were playing things just a little too “big” for me not to suspect some sort of twist coming. Especially Arthur Darbinyan as Alexei the Russian mob captain — he was mugging like a silent movie actor in most of his scenes, especially the climactic shoot-out. (I also have to give a shout-out to Chelsea Rendon as Camila the born-again Los X banger — I loved her in Vida and she’s great here too.)
One thing that bugs me is Luci letting his eyes glow red as he is about to ‘muscle’ the Los Xs in the bike shop.He wouldn’t need to terrify them, as they’re in on the prank, and Dan’s not as accustomed to suspects suddenly screaming in terror in Lucifer’s presence as Chloe is.I didn’t guess the ending, although when the Improv friend and Maze ‘died’ I was thinking there had to be a way to wind this all back.I feel so awful for Dan. He’s never allowed to be happy in this show. He remembers being blown apart by god, manipulated by Michael, experienced the loss of Charlotte in 2 different ways, and most of his regular acquaintances make him feel inferior, either by accident or design. Then you add a 24-hour escalating prank where he is genuinely in fear for his life and more than a bit concerned about the possible implications for Chloe and Trixie.The man needs a boatload of hugs from Ella and Trixie, a recurring appointment with Linda, and a mutually supportive relationship (platonic or romantic).
I knew *something* was up from the start because even Dan’s luck is only so bad. I didn’t think ‘Lucifer Prank’ until around the time of the Russians as well.
Dan saying, “that’s a Tuesday” is another fourth wall break. If memory serves, Lucifer aired on Tuesdays on Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did the same gag, “Dawn’s in trouble, must be Tuesday.”
If memory serves, Lucifer aired on Tuesdays on Fox.Memory fails, it was on Mondays.I think Buffy originated the phrase, by the way.
I was pretty much on board with the prank until the bloodbath started. And then, when Lucifer appeared and gave his speech, I was just like holy shit this was revenge for shooting him.The single funniest moment (in a very funny episode) for me was, when Carlos is threatening Dan in Dan’s apartment, the big guy is just standing there with the box and the head is just perfectly peeking out of it. Every time they cut back to that freaking head I laughed.
I was too busy laughing at the farcical build-up to realize that it was an elaborate prank until the guns started going off. I was like “okay, they’re not going to kill Dan’s improv group.” “Okay, they’re definitely not killing Maze.”Only at the very end did I slap myself in the face for not remembering Operation Payback Dan. The episode was just so, so glorious. Naq gura rcvfbqr svsgrra unccrarq.
I know I shouldn’t think about it too hard, and obviously it will likely never come up in future episodes, but: I can’t imagine Dan not suffering very real, extensive, permanent damage from all of those head hits. I’m no medical expert, so someone correct me otherwise—but like, how can that just be written as a harmless part of a prank?Otherwise, a really fantastic and entertaining episode, one of the series’s best. It definitely read like a mini-movie and culmination of Dan’s arc up to this point, so overall it felt really special and epic, with plenty of humor to boot.I only figured something was off by the end, when the Los X people showed up to the gunfight and I just thought “LOL why are they here”; at that point, I basically viewed it like the Anchorman fight scene and simply enjoyed the escalating ridiculousness. And I also became more skeptical when Maze “died”: if she were to die, I figured there was no way the writers would have it happen like that (especially not before wrapping up her soul-searching arc). However, I more supposed the whole scheme to be another act of God, so I didn’t see the prank reveal coming at all.
RELIABLE CREDIT FINANCING OF € 1,500 to € 10,000,000 to a person capable of repaying it with interest has a weak rate of 2%. the interested party contact me in private. I apologize, but I’m serious and honest, you can trust me.contact me via WhatsApp at +337559210 93Thank you waiting to read you.
Such a huge laugh at the end when Lucifer reveals he wasn’t trying to bring Dan out of his funk or to teach him some special lesson. He was just doing it all as payback for Dan shooting him. The fact that it did actually help him was just a happy accident.
When the improv guys showed up in the middle of nowhere, I suspected something was up.
This was a ride. Wow. I didn’t actually know something was up until Dan himself basically announced something was up, in that rah rah speech in the bar. Then as soon as the shooting started, I just laughed as the bodies started cartoonishly piling up. I admit, I didn’t know Lucifer was behind it (because I have a really bad memory and had forgotten the payback whiteboard from earlier this season) and just thought it was God having a laugh. My favorite detail was Dan getting spray painted in the face when they tagged his car, and also of course that box had a head in it, it was precisely head sized. Barton Fink taught me that much, at least.
I didn’t suspect something was up until the improv guy started antagonizing the Los Xs, just before the shootout and after he said they were hired to look tough. This show has done some weird stuff before, so nothing really triggered my suspicion until that moment.
Wilmer Calderon was also well cast as Luis, and it did a great job subverting my expectations. He’s very recognizable as one of the (many) crooked cops from Bosch, so I was already expecting the first turn for the character.
I didn’t get it until Dan said “none of this makes any sense” at which point I realized he was right. I was also wrong about the motivation, I thought Lucifer was just annoyed that Dan refused to be teased anymore and had decided that “giving Dan shit” needed to be stepped up a notch. Obviously the idea of putting the whole thing together in an afternoon is absurd, but I would have let it slide.
I started getting a hunch something was off around the time Dan was running around supposedly drugged with X hours to live, and I figured Luis was bluffing. I fully figured it out the moment Dan’s improv friend was shot in the standoff – Lucifer as a series doesn’t shy away from death, but randomly killing a comedy relief side character seems too mean-spirited for this show. I didn’t catch nearly as many easter eggs as I probably should’ve – blame all the episodes for blurring together when you do a Netflix binge. I’m a little confused how Lucifer got the ball rolling since the prisoner ride-along order came from Chloe, originally – did Lucifer set that up, or did he intercept the real transfer and set up his own with Luis?Love how at the end there’s a shot of the dog at the bar when Dan asks if “everyone” was in on the joke.
Lucifer “The Game”d Dan. Fucking awesome.
I’m surprised that there are still sentiments that Dan as a character is supposed to be insufferable and the audience has only started to warm up to him, since I’ve always thought he was already a great character and “redeemed” by like Season 2, Season 3 at the latest.That is to say, I don’t agree with the notion that he’s the punching bag of the show, since I feel like his character has always been on a steady, constant development ever since the start, and while Lucifer keeps dunking on him, the show itself doesn’t really make him the butt of the joke any more than it does everyone else.
Yeah, that’s what I was saying: People started to warm up to him in S2. And it was surprising and impressive considering how unlikable (corrupt and cowardly) he was in S1. I’ll discuss it more in a future review, but based on some season post-mortem interviews Kevin Alejandro has given, I am fascinated by the fact that he seems to think people still haven’t quite warmed to Dan.And in calling him the “punching bag,” I wasn’t criticizing his development. But he is the one who eats poison pudding and gets boxes of heads and/or bombs and has to do impromptu stand-up about micro-penises and [every petty thing Pierce said to him, despite having bigger fish to fry] and gets exploded by God and gets three concussions while being pranked.
Yeah, I’m not directing that solely at what you said in the review specifically, but it does bring to mind what I read from those post-mortem interviews with the EPs and Alejandro, which I find a bit surprising.Fair point on the second part, though. I guess I didn’t agree because I don’t think the show intentionally paints him as the butt of the joke, but more that he’s been taking more shit than any other character exactly because he’s always trying to do his best to help. I didn’t think you were criticizing his development, but I took the term “punching bag” as if the show itself was ‘being mean’ to him on purpose.P.S. I appreciate it anytime you reply to people in the comments(as you’ve been doing for years!), it’s always nice when reviewers take the time to do that.
The golden hue to the cinematography for the scenes in Mexico I thought was a nice nod to Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.
I guessed it would end the way it did when his improv team showed up at the bar. Not earlier in the car, when I should have.