The Rehearsal

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

Don't let other reviews confuse you - this show is a 10/10 masterpiece, and there has never been another show like it. Nathan Fielder is a genius and has my undying support - from Nathan For You to producing How To With John Wilson to this, the Nathan-Verse is consistent in its programming and unflinching in its view of the world.

Nathan has always been about putting random people in unusual circumstances, and this show is no exception - what if you could rehearse all the most difficult moments of your life? The first episode is amazing, introducing you to this guy that gets a chance to rehearse an upcoming confrontation to get some guilt off his conscience. The planning is more elaborate than you can possibly imagine, down to reconstructing his trivia bar in a warehouse with an insane level of detail.

Very quickly we move on to another woman who wants to rehearse being a mom. We move her to a fake ranch with fake gardens and give her a son that is an actor that ages and grows, all while following strict child labour laws. Honestly, I could go on and on about the attention to detail they follow. This specific rehearsal becomes the main part of the show, and eventually Nathan inserts himself as the father to this child.

I could talk forever about all the amazing rehearsals, a couple of which actually brought me to tears in how touching they were. But its the themes of the show that really get me, and in the finale when Nathan is so far into the looking glass that a child thinks he is actually his dad is where this show becomes something else entirely. The idea of having a rehearsal to prepare is one thing, but Nathan starts tampering with time and giving himself redoes, breaking the rules for the people in his experiments and examining his own mistakes along the way. It is some truly off-the-rails stuff, a ride I could have never imagined. I found myself super emotional over the bonds that these unsuspecting actors in his experiments form and the closure that is brought to some people, while always laughing at the desperation Nathan has to understand how people work. Him, or his character, or whatever he is, somehow makes me understand humanity better, and I can empathize with a dorky aging man who sometimes feels like he doesn't know how to interact with people.

This show is beyond explanation and needs to be experienced. It has already been renewed for another season (I wish Joe has included (Season 1) in his review title to reflect this), and I can't wait to see how much deeper he can still go. I thought the finale of Nathan For You, Finding Frances, was Nathan's magnum opus, but this is essentially that on steroids.