Nine Perfect Strangers finally shakes things up just as the drugs kick in
Nicole Kidman's Masha takes the group on a welcome trip in "Earth Day"
TV Reviews Nine Perfect Strangers
I have to agree with Masha that this Nine Perfect Strangers group definitely needed a shove in the momentum department. We finally get that in episode three, “Earth Day,” as the group spends the day outside, broken down by gender and forced to fast except for what they can forage on the Tranquillum grounds.
As the day drags on, emotions are released, secrets are opened up, and it seems like food deprivation is causing our fractured little groups to finally gel, whether they’re bonding over swimming naked in a river or tracking down some livestock. But people seem really chatty and eager to overshare: It’s one thing for everyone to figure out that Tony is a former professional football player who blew out his knee, or for Ben to finally admit that he has that Lamborghini because he’s a lottery winner. It’s quite another for Heather to suggest that one of the women sleep with her husband on the retreat because she’s just not ready yet. There are some welcome slanted camera angles during the men and women’s gatherings, along with some ominous music, which begin to introduce the possibility that perhaps there’s more than hunger pangs going on here. A lot more effective than close-up blender footage, anyway, and just the dose of mystery that Nine Perfect Strangers was sorely lacking.
Lord knows, this series has its issues, but from the start the stellar lineup of performers in this series compels it toward “must-watch” status. Just one case in point: Michael Shannon’s performance in Napoleon’s one-on-one with Masha, in which she tries to get him to picture his son, Zach. As he’s unable to do so, it’s clear that Napoleon’s “good-time dad” facade is as thick as steel, a fortress he’s built to protect himself from the unimaginable pain of actually facing his son’s death. It’s really, really hard not to like a character that’s that nice without being cloying (like the way he happily welcomes Carmel onto the Marconi potato-sack team), but Shannon’s glimpses into Napoleon’s actual anguish are heartbreaking. Those cracks open wide by the end of the episode, as it’s revealed that he’s the one who killed the goat with his bare hands, not Tony, culminating in his drawn-out, painful monologue at the celebration dinner, which is out-of-character enough for Heather to finally realize that yes, they’re all being drugged.
I’m still trying to get over Nicole Kidman’s Masha accent, but she also displays those Emmy- and Oscar-winning skills several times this episode. Just the scene where Tony dumps the dead goat at her feet is incredible: Masha is attempting to be proud of her guests, effusing praise and promising a banquet, but behind her eyes, there’s clear devastation over the loss of her animal friend. At least Yao gets it, but the reveal that it was actual Napoleon’s grief-struggling, Biblical-inspired self that resulted in the goat’s death somehow makes it even more devastating. Masha’s startled expression after being called out at the end of the episode, which she quickly transforms into a beatific smile, is also effectively unsettling. But the decision to end each episode with a closeup on Masha’s beaming face is a… choice, let’s put it that way.
Also have to give it up for Regina Hall’s frumpy Carmel. Hall is always a standout, even in standard fare like Girls Trip and About Last Night, but it’s fun to see her play against type as a dowdy mom who’s all sweet on the surface and nothing but rage underneath after getting ditched by her husband for a younger model, especially after he insisted that she give up her career to be with the kids. (Although her snarl behind Jessica’s back was a bit on the nose.) It’s a character that could fall into a one-note ditch if not for Hall’s portrayal, as she pisses off nearly all of her fellow inmates in turn—Frances, Lars, Tony, now Jessica—but somehow still elicits sympathy, as she so desperately wants to be taken seriously, even more than she wants to be liked. It’s why Carmel’s character communicates much better than Luke Evans’ Lars’, who at least is rightly identified as the shit-stirring dickhead he is this episode.
Napoleon equates entering Masha’s care at Tranquillum with “jumping in a river and see where it takes you.” Heather responds that “rivers just take you downstream from wherever you are,” yet she herself winds up in a river this episode that takes her farther than she even expected. Yes, the guests undoubtedly got a lot out of opening up to each other, like Jessica’s insecurities and Frances’ inability to be present—but to get there, their trust in this mysterious spa was violated, as they were medicated unknowingly. That’s a spooky suspense-filled shot at the end of the episode, a slowly dawning realization among the nine that Tranquillum—and Masha—may turn out to be more diabolic that they could have ever imagined. Also, as “Earth Day” proved, they are wholly dependent on their keepers for basic survival—for sustenance, say—and, thanks to loss of their phones, are basically cut off from the outside world. It’s like the lab rats becoming cognizant of the fact that they are, in fact, lab rats: So what do they do now?
Stray observations
- Yes, Masha is far from the ideal guru, but isn’t serving wine at a dinner with at least a few substance abusers on board a bit irresponsible?
- Between The White Lotus finale and Tony peeing this episode, I really don’t need to see the bodily functions of any more of my TV characters.
- Related: Napoleon, please stop with the scatological metaphors, I beg of you.
- Was Delilah actually flirting with Lars with that puppy training rolled-up newspaper bit? Odd if so.
- “I’m not participating. I’m here socially.”
- At the top of the Nine Perfect Strangers list this episode: Have to say Heather again, for being the first to figure out that the group is being drugged.
- Next week: The episode is titled “Brave New World,” which seems overly optimistic, all things considered.
22 Comments
Does this show, which critics are calling mediocre at best, deserve three separate articles in one day?
I thought, from watching “Into the Wild” that if you killed an animal in the wild, you have mere seconds to …err… “process?” it, before it gets spoiled. So, would that goat still be edible after they walked all the way back to camp?
Eh, I don’t think so? It usually takes a few hours to dress a deer, so I can’t see that cooking a goat a few hours after killing it would be dangerous.
mere seconds to …err… “process?” it, before it gets spoiledUhm, what? If that were true, I don’t think the human race would be a thing. 🙂
The only part of the book that ever affected me was Napoleon’s speech and it got me here too. I was sobbing. Shannon did a great job with that scene.Maybe I’m misremembering (probably. I have a goldfish memory.), but I feel like in the book the secrets came out much slower. Like, I’m pretty sure we only found out that Zach had died by suicide from Napoleon’s speech and that Ben’s lotto reveal came even after that? Obviously allowances have to be made for TV when it comes to plotting, but it seems like all the secrets and twists have been delivered already (saving that one particular twist which haunts my nightmares). What are they planning to do for the next however many episodes there are?
You’re right, it was all much slower in the book. Plus we got inner life stuff so we knew things about the characters that none of the other characters did (or did know, but much much later). And the other inner life component that we got a lot of in the book was due to a certain rule at the spa that they’ve not had in the TV version. (I’m trying not to spoil it in case they just moved it to later, but I think it’s why this particular book wasn’t the best to adapt.)
About serving wine being irresponsible because there are “at least a few” substance abusers… Who? Tony we know downs his pills with vodka. But who else? They’ve been making jokes about Frances liking her wine, and Lars brought wine that was confiscated but, and maybe I’m just taking this too lightly, in both cases it just seemed like they thought at this retreat, like at a resort, they would be able to unwind with some wine. Or am I totally forgetting something?
The pee scene kinda confused me—it was yellow but the reaction was like it was horrible (I was expecting to see blood)—again I feel like I’m missing something.
I appreciate that Gwen has read the book and is trying not to give away reveals from it, but I think that’s making her avoid questions in her reviews. Is it too obvious to suspect that Lars could be sending the texts? (Doesn’t he still have something hidden in that tree we saw him on the security cam) and maybe even is there because of something that happened in the past to someone he knows? It seems like if the texts to Masha were sent by a character we haven’t seen by the third episode, it wouldn’t amount to much.
I’m enjoying the show, but largely for the acting. I do think it helped watching all three episodes together… (Not a whole lot of discussion here though. I’m only posting now because in Canada we’re getting it late on Thursdays on Amazon Prime since there’s no Hulu here)
I’m enjoying it too! I think everyone is wonderful, Kidman included. I’ve done breathwork retreats, and I find Masha is similar to lots of gurus(aside from whatever schemes she has). They are often amazing at cracking you open and helping you release things but never people you’d want to know day to day. there’s something that always made me uneasy about how some gurus could calculate people so well, and they really will push people to their breaking point. Also she was obviously approaching Cannavale’s character with a harm reduction approach, so I think the wine is fine. I’m sure she’s aware substances are for emotional pain, and she’s here to help cure that pain and therefore any substance issues that were hinted at.Also I’m enjoying Samara Weaving, but I feel she’s doing an imitation of Annie Murphy in Schitts Creek lol.
I’m enjoying Samara WeavingThat’s a sentence that doesn’t require any “but”. 🙂
I was coming here to say exactly that about Weaving – she really seems to channeling Alexis Rose.
Yes, especially the hand acting. Aya Cash is a hand actor too, but Weaving seems like she lifted Alexis completely in this. She’s still good tho.
Re: Tony’s piss (what a topic!), I think the scene was implying he’s having prostate problems of some sort. It was just one short burst, and then it stopped, and Tony moaned.
Oooh. Yeah I didn’t catch on to that at all, but I’m also completely unaware about signs of prostate cancer/problems. Thanks!
I’m quite enjoying the amusing interplay between Tony and Frances. I can’t be sure that it isn’t just Melissa McCarthy’s prodigious comic talent rubbing off on Bobby Cannavale or if he’s actually bringing some of his own sweet humor into their scenes, something I’ve never seen from him before. Their scenes are often a welcome break in the intense and tense drama.
I kinda remember Bobby being sweet and charming playing a not so bright cop (?) boyfriend of Will on Will and Grace for a season or so… My point is I think he can handle charming comedy.
Won an Emmy for that.
They played romantic leads in Super Intelligence so they have had time to work on their chemistry. Their relationship was the best part of that not very good movie. And Bobby was a real sweet heart in it.
They were also together in 2015’s Spy. (For a minute I thought “Superintelligence” was some alternative title for that one).
I believe I’ve seen Cannavale in comedic/light roles as often as I saw him in non-comedic roles. The Station Agent (which is a true masterpiece) comes to mind.
I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately it’s been surprisingly awful so far.
“Next week: The episode is titled “Brave New World,” which seems overly optimistic, all things considered.”
Considering the novel the title comes from uses the term ironically, I’m not sure why it would seem optimistic 😛
I’m finding myself wishing that this was a Netflix show so that all the eps would drop at once. I can see myself spending a day on the couch watching the whole series, but I don’t know that it’ll be able to hold my attention from one week to the next.