Picture: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ just lately renewing The Studio for a second season makes it simpler to be forgiving of this season finale, which performs like an oddly inconclusive technique to finish a primary season slightly than a puzzlingly bizarre technique to finish a collection. Scripted by the present’s full inventive staff of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, “The Presentation” brings the primary section of Matt’s tenure as Continental’s studio head full circle and picks up the place penultimate episode “Cinemacon” left off. However the season’s shortest episode typically performs prefer it might simply have been integrated into its predecessor, and the ultimate scene leaves plenty of unanswered questions that finish the season with a collective shrug.
That’s to not say it isn’t humorous. Even The Studio’s weakest episodes have a crackerjack vitality and memorable gags, and “The Presentation” isn’t any exception, beginning with the slightly unsettling picture of the still-high-as-hell Continental CEO Griffin Mill performing a intercourse act on a statue of Aphrodite as Patty seems to be on encouragingly. She’s unaware of how a lot is driving on Griffin not making an ass of himself in public. In actual fact, she’s even summoned Matt Belloni to witness the second, unaware that this may very well be all of the excuse Continental’s homeowners must go ahead with the sale of the studio to Amazon. Information of this makes Patty be part of the panic and support the Continental gang’s cover-up.
The issue: Griffin is, in Sal’s phrases, now solely “form of respiratory.” Quinn, seemingly impressed by her journey via the “traditional” movies of Matt’s youth, decides they will “Weekend at Bernie’s” the state of affairs by treating Griffin like a corpse they should fake is alive. “It’s a horrible film,” she clarifies, “however the conceit is genius.” Matt agrees, including, “It’s time for some film magic.”
Their try at recreating stated film magic hits some pace bumps. The primary arrives within the type of Dave Franco, who’s nonetheless fairly excessive and has gotten an added enhance by successful huge at poker towards some opponents who haven’t taken the loss effectively. (Franco doesn’t understand this to be an issue however he’ll quickly see in any other case.) The second pace bump is the final individual they wish to see: Belloni. He’s heard the sale rumors however in some way isn’t perceptive sufficient to see via the semi-ambulatory Griffin’s disguise.
Again on the resort, Griffin’s a bit of extra responsive however nonetheless not able to dressing himself, a process that falls as an alternative to Sal, who runs into some bother as a consequence of his boss’s generously sized genitals. (That Griffin has, as Matt places it, a “huge dick” comes as a shock to nobody.) Griffin’s not the one one feeling the results of the earlier night time’s consumption. Zoë Kravitz can also be nonetheless within the technique of coming down. Actually: Matt and Patty discover her perched on a nightstand laughing on the absurdity of descending. (For some purpose, all this chaos leads Matt and Maya to start making out, briefly however heatedly.)
Returning to Griffin, everybody agrees to try a unique kind of film magic to get him in ok form to take the stage. Impressed by the film Flight, they determine to counteract the impact of all these shrooms with some cocaine. This, at first, appears to have the specified impact, if just for a couple of seconds. Griffin rallies as Patty returns with Kravitz. However then Kravitz grows confused about how she may be each Zoë and her film character, agent Blackwing. As she screams, “The place’s Zoë?!,” Griffin collapses. This may not be coming collectively in any case. The late-arriving Tyler’s “Oh no” provides the scene a well-placed punctuation mark.
Then it’s time for the presentation itself. Backstage, the state of the Continental staff is sufficient to scare Nicholas Stoller into trying to bail earlier than taking the stage. He rapidly modifications his thoughts, nevertheless, when Sal threatens to exchange him with Shawn Levy on the Kool-Support sequel. Stoller is perhaps locked in, however Franco’s one other story. He arrives coated in blood having been crushed up by his poker opponents after they started to suspect he’d been dishonest utilizing magic tips from the Now You See Me films. (Matt: “Had been you. Franco: “Oh yeah!”) Nonetheless, Franco insists on taking the stage to introduce Alphabet Metropolis, which he then proceeds to do in character. As soon as completed, he collapses.
Now it’s Kravitz’s flip, and she or he’s in temper as a result of she’s found out that nothing issues as a result of we’re all “pores and skin sausages.” As Quinn factors out, she’s advantageous, simply experiencing a bit of “ego dying.” This alarms her staff and evokes Matt to ship Patty out first to supply a preview of The Silver Lake and vamp for time. Patty is perhaps an awesome producer however she’s a awful raconteur, whose try to inform the story of going to her first film retains falling aside due to her hazy reminiscence. (“I’m undecided it was a kids’s film. There was an terrible lot of consuming.”) Whereas Matt debates with Kravitz’s staff about whether or not she’s match to take the stage, Kravitz slips previous them and, to everybody’s shock, does simply advantageous earlier than handing the mic over to Stoller. (She even waits till she will get backstage earlier than wetting her pants.)
As Stoller talks about Kool-Support it turns into obvious that Griffin can’t be trusted in entrance of a crowd. So, after some phrases of encouragement from Patty, Matt goes it alone to ship what he hopes shall be a state-of-Continental tackle so optimistic that nobody might dream of promoting the corporate. Matt takes the chance to thank all his co-workers and ask them to affix him on stage the place he calls them the “absolute most essential issues in his complete life” and provides them hugs. Then Griffin descends on ropes, hits the stage exhausting, and appears a bit of surprised. He manages, nevertheless, to get out the primary phrase of his ready speech: “Films.” This prompts Matt to get the gang chanting “films,” and the episode ends because the digital camera pulls heavenward earlier than returning to the stage for a decent close-up on Matt’s face, a last technical flourish in a season stuffed with them.
And that’s that. Once more, “The Presentation” would make for a deeply unsatisfying collection finale. As an alternative, it’s an solely mildly unsatisfying season finale. That’s partly as a result of it’s exhausting to not think about it working higher as a part of “CinemaCon”; it owes a lot to its predecessor it might probably’t assist feeling a bit of slight and coda-like by itself. However it’s additionally as a result of Matt’s flood of emotion seems like too neat a technique to tie up his relationships with the others earlier than the season ends. It additionally feels a bit too neat as an ending to Matt’s personal realization of how remoted and alone he’s turn into by pursuing his job with such ardour, although the expression he’s sporting within the last shot introduces some notes of ambiguity. Whether or not or not we’re purported to take this sentimental second severely is among the many episode’s lingering questions. Nonetheless, on the entire this has been a humorous, profitable season and it’s straightforward to sit up for the Continental story persevering with — assuming there nonetheless is a Continental in season two.
And … Minimize!
• One strand that any future seasons must decide up: the Matt-Maya relationship. What beforehand appeared like a secret between the 2 was a minimum of identified by Sal.
• Quinn drawing inspiration from Matt’s trashy film suggestions has been a enjoyable recurring gag.
• In the event you take into accounts that every movie is, to 1 diploma or one other, a satire of a sort of Hollywood movie, Continental’s upcoming slate seems to be fairly good! Sarah Polley directing Greta Lee in a ’60s romantic drama? Anthony Mackie and Dave Franco in a gritty New York crime film? Zoë Kravitz in a supernatural motion film? These sound good. And, hey, a Kool-Support film might not sound interesting, however Stoller has a reasonably good monitor document. Films! Films!