Warning: This review of episode 4 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

So far in season 2, The Rehearsal has dodged most of the ethical concerns that came around the edges of the show last season. Episode 4 will likely bring those conversations back to the forefront, with Nathan Fielder acting at his most manipulative so far. The ethics in question concerned Fielder’s real-life subjects, how aware they were of the show’s purposes before signing on to appear, and how manipulative Fielder was being with what they were asked to do. With “Kissme” – another hysterical outing overall – I don’t feel icky or uneasy towards Fielder or his methods, but I won’t entirely begrudge those that do.

Fans of The Rehearsal‘s cringe comedy will be in for a treat right off the bat, when episode 4 returns to “Wings of Voice”, Fielder’s fake aviation-themed singing competition show. It’s been well established that Fielder has his bona fides when it comes to reality TV, but the way the show skewers American Idol and its ilk, while its contestants sing “Amazing Grace” in various musical genres – each more ridiculous than the last – is pitch perfect. It’s refreshing to see the show get back on track (a relative term, I know), but the focus in episode 4 is in pilots and their loneliness.

Nathan sets his sights on Collin, the one pilot who’s struggled more than any other to connect with the actors posing as “Wings of Voice” crew members. I’m not sure why he feels that a romantic connection is the one to fix Collin’s ills, but “Kissme” sees Fielder implementing a new, hilarious method to “fix” them. What exactly the Pack Method seeks to achieve, from a practical standpoint, remains a mystery to me, but I have to admit it cracked me up every time it came up. The “Pack” in question is a group of actors, dressed like their subject, who huddles around the target and mimics and repeats everything he or she does in order to make them more comfortable (despite it very clearly having the opposite effect).

Collin’s Pack rehearsal date goes about as well as you’d expect, so Fielder tries a different tactic by picking out three of the actors who are attracted to him to start up a real(?) relationship. Of course, Fielder says he can’t ethically request that any of the three women try to date him, but he says this with a wink and a nod. The middle portion of episode 4 sees Fielder going to borderline nefarious methods to try and bring Collin and Emma together, and quickly morphs into having his actors learn more about each of them, so they can pair off and rehearse Collin and Emma’s potential relationship.

It’s fascinating to see Fielder almost driven to madness by Collin’s awkwardness, and it provides this week’s installment with so much humor. There’s several moments throughout episode 4 where Collin’s social ineptitude befuddles Nathan, even when he’s just trying to ask simple questions about what he thinks. As far as “characters” introduced in The Rehearsal season 2, Collin is at or near the apex simply because of his inherent sweetness that simply can’t be faked.

What can be manipulated is where Fielder goes with the fake Collin and Emma rehearsal actors, as he notices that many of them have become much more intimate than their real counterparts. It’s smart of Fielder to make sure he covers all his basis, by spotlighting the hiring of an intimacy coordinator, allowing the actors to back out if they are already in a relationship, and giving them the green light to be as intimate as they want to be. But does he have to invite their significant others to come in and watch them making out? Much like the reality television that Fielder has clearly studied, it’s easy to argue that this was a conscious decision to try and stir up drama.

This is where the magic of The Rehearsal episode 4 comes in, because we get to revel in some genuine cringe comedy to see how real people are reacting to these developments, but it miraculously backfires in Nathan’s face. Surprisingly, the significant others have relatively chill responses to watching their actor partners go to some truly bizarre places. Though, unfortunately, we have to use our imaginations to find out what transpires between them off-camera.

Does Nathan need to concoct another rehearsal with Collin and Emma, where he plays “Captain Powers”, with the superpower of requesting a kiss at the end of every date? By this point, I found myself almost wishing Fielder would simply leave him be, free to be his fish-loving, Irish drum-playing self in peace. Much like Moody or Dara or Jeff, only time will tell if we ever see Collin or Emma again to follow up on Fielder’s success. With only 2 episodes to go, season 2 is feeling much less serialized than season 1, often going in random and unexpected places without the certainty of a follow-up. Episode 4 never reaches the delirious, depraved highs of The Rehearsal‘s previous episodes, but it contains enough humor and creative ingenuity on Fielder’s part to not be uninteresting.