shallowness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shallowness) wrote2025-05-28 08:09 am
shallowness) wrote2025-05-28 08:09 am
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Étoile - 1.3 The Fish
I enjoyed it enough and chortled at Cheyenne adressing herself to Jack’s ‘pride’, though I was also thinking ‘zany’ isn’t an unalloyed compliment. Still, the more I think about it, the more I think I got out of the episode.
Again, there was the sense of Genevieve and Jack’s lives running on complementary tracks of chaos and absurdity. The bull had been a hit, a star, even, in Paris to her ire. Jack was told by the board that he was going to have to change the name of the theatre from Fish, which everyone else found a little silly, to his bete noire’s (I still haven’t taken in the character’s name, so I think of him as Simon Callow’s Character. Imdb says ‘Crispin Shamblee’.) So, we learned about Jack’s family connection to the Fishes through his mother, and learned that his feeling for ballet was connected to his yearning for his mother’s love as a boy. When we met said mother, she was played by Kelly Bishop (yay! One of two new Gilmore Girls alum appearing) and then there was the misdirect that the man I took to be his father was his uncle, (weirdos) and his grandfather insisting the family sued his business.
We also some of Genevieve interacting with her family, with a lot of sisterly sniping going on (honours even, as Genevieve’s sister really didn’t seem to know what was going on with half of her family.) Genevieve at Mishi’s welcome home party worked far less well for me as a comic setpiece.
Mishi continues to be super sympathetic, and by speaking up to Genevieve, arguing that her unhappiness was making her dance worse, gained a bit more agency. I was bemused at Genevieve going to visit Cheyenne’s mother, even though she’s a great character, until it became clear that she was honouring what Mishi had asked for in her own way.
Tobias ticking off the whole of the Parisian ballet company was amusing. He probably needs a full-time handler.
The multiple Crispin Shamblee thing was a bit much – I thought the dinner scene would be a dream scene, but no, Crispin Shamblee is just rich enough to have doubles (but having them all played by Simon Callow, who totally did the phone call as the Cheyenne/Gael stan, went beyond the credible levels of absurdity of this world for me. And I think I have a high tolerance for it.) As he expounded on his history with New York old money, I had the unwelcome thought ‘oh, he’s Trump. UGH.’ (But was casting an Englishman with a plummy accent the right thing to do for what the character is becoming?)
Jack learned that on top of everything the board wanted that hurt his inner child, Cheyenne had brought Gael back, and had a strop about it. I was on Gael’s side about getting paid. Jack then found out about Susu, who Cheyenne was benevolently watching, and had a tipsy strop. Cheyenne had to talk him round in her own way. I tend to think that Gael wouldn’t dare be flaky with her (I expect he will freak out and try to, but...force of nature.) Anyway, Jack folded regarding Gael and letting Susu join the school because he believes in the magic of ballet too.
Again, there was the sense of Genevieve and Jack’s lives running on complementary tracks of chaos and absurdity. The bull had been a hit, a star, even, in Paris to her ire. Jack was told by the board that he was going to have to change the name of the theatre from Fish, which everyone else found a little silly, to his bete noire’s (I still haven’t taken in the character’s name, so I think of him as Simon Callow’s Character. Imdb says ‘Crispin Shamblee’.) So, we learned about Jack’s family connection to the Fishes through his mother, and learned that his feeling for ballet was connected to his yearning for his mother’s love as a boy. When we met said mother, she was played by Kelly Bishop (yay! One of two new Gilmore Girls alum appearing) and then there was the misdirect that the man I took to be his father was his uncle, (weirdos) and his grandfather insisting the family sued his business.
We also some of Genevieve interacting with her family, with a lot of sisterly sniping going on (honours even, as Genevieve’s sister really didn’t seem to know what was going on with half of her family.) Genevieve at Mishi’s welcome home party worked far less well for me as a comic setpiece.
Mishi continues to be super sympathetic, and by speaking up to Genevieve, arguing that her unhappiness was making her dance worse, gained a bit more agency. I was bemused at Genevieve going to visit Cheyenne’s mother, even though she’s a great character, until it became clear that she was honouring what Mishi had asked for in her own way.
Tobias ticking off the whole of the Parisian ballet company was amusing. He probably needs a full-time handler.
The multiple Crispin Shamblee thing was a bit much – I thought the dinner scene would be a dream scene, but no, Crispin Shamblee is just rich enough to have doubles (but having them all played by Simon Callow, who totally did the phone call as the Cheyenne/Gael stan, went beyond the credible levels of absurdity of this world for me. And I think I have a high tolerance for it.) As he expounded on his history with New York old money, I had the unwelcome thought ‘oh, he’s Trump. UGH.’ (But was casting an Englishman with a plummy accent the right thing to do for what the character is becoming?)
Jack learned that on top of everything the board wanted that hurt his inner child, Cheyenne had brought Gael back, and had a strop about it. I was on Gael’s side about getting paid. Jack then found out about Susu, who Cheyenne was benevolently watching, and had a tipsy strop. Cheyenne had to talk him round in her own way. I tend to think that Gael wouldn’t dare be flaky with her (I expect he will freak out and try to, but...force of nature.) Anyway, Jack folded regarding Gael and letting Susu join the school because he believes in the magic of ballet too.