“My Controls”

• Creator: Nathan Fielder
• Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A

Warning: This review of episode 6 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

Episode 6 of The Rehearsal is the most audacious episode of television I’ve ever seen, transcending its premise to become a profound meditation on loneliness, while also being hysterically funny. I did not always view the season 2 finale this way; my first reaction was more apprehensive, more confused about what Nathan Fielder was trying to achieve. But after reading reviews, and listening to a podcast or two, of last week’s episode, I saw it from a different perspective.

“Washington”

• Creator: Nathan Fielder
• Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: B+

Warning: This review of episode 5 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

How dramatic do we need a comedy show like The Rehearsal to be? To take it one step further beyond episode 5, what happens when a comedy show, or a comedian, suddenly takes things seriously? This week’s installment is easily the least humorous of season 2, but it shows Nathan Fielder’s genuine efforts to affect real change. Remember in episode 1, when Fielder first approached former NTSB member John Goglia, and his voiceover narration said that he would need to work extra hard to get someone to trust a comedian, working on a comedy show, seriously?

“Kissme”

• Creator: Nathan Fielder
• Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: B+

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.

“Pilot’s Code”

• Creator: Nathan Fielder
• Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A

Warning: This review of episode 3 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

Here’s what makes The Rehearsal so special and so funny amongst its television peers: episode 3 could have contained the same premise and found ways to tell jokes and get its point across. But in the hands of Nathan Fielder, the episode becomes transcendent in its silliness, willing to go to depths that no other comedian would think to go to. I had written last week that Fielder was painting on an almost entirely new, sillier canvas, but episode 2 feels positively straight-laced in comparison to what we see in “Pilot’s Code.”