The Curse - Nathan Fielder’s new show on Showtime

Nope. I find him insufferable. He and his cringe comedy affect. Keep it.

I just watched the first episode. I love it... Emma generally picks great roles. Nathan is surprisingly good.

I keep seeing previews for it on Showtime, but I still have no idea what it's about.

So that's why I don't watch it.

R3, I’ve been watching and I’m still not sure what it’s about! But that’s part of why I know I’ll continue to watch.

My 84 year old mother loathes NF and refuses to watch this one. He is a very polarizing person. I’m not sure I like him, exactly, but he is twisted enough to be kind of intriguing to me.

Ha R4, I love him, I wonder why your mom hates him. I guess he is polarizing, he's not a prick like say, Daniel Tosh but he is kind of...yeah.

R5, she thinks he’s cruel to the participants in his various shows, although this one has no “reality” aspect so it’s a bit different. I tried to point out that those who have appeared on Nathan for You and The Rehearsal were willing participants, whether they were “real people” or actors, which is sometimes hard to tell, but she thinks he lacks empathy.

On this show it seems like his own character is as big an idiot as any.

Ok, I’ve watched the first three episodes and I am still not sure what I am watching. I keep watching but am not sure what exactly we’re supposed to be waiting to happen.

That said, I keep watching.

It’s so strange that it could go anywhere.

I keep watching too, R7, but this show is going nowhere fast. You keep hoping for something to happen, but nothing does.

I watched the first three episodes on Showtime yesterday. It hooked me right away.

It's hilarious, bizarre, uncomfortable, sad, and tragic all at the same time. And Emma Stone, someone I've never really been a fan of, is excellent in it.

Can't wait to see where this is all going.

Bored to death and barely made it through Episode 1. Now I know why Nathan Fiedler is so overrated.

The Safdies have always sucked.

I just want to know if that was really Corbin Bernsen's puny cocklet.

He's just too hot a man to have one that small.

I just started it and am already laughing. Putting the water and blowing menthol in the old lady's eyes...the disgust from Emma. I'm on it.

"I don't think you're supposed to eat the turkey."

R12 I read an article that said both Bernsen's and Fielder's penises were prosthetic.

Thank god R15.

Thank god.

No fucking way sex god Arnie Becker has tiny meat!

This show is fucking great. They've really nailed the self congratulatory, yuppie chick, whose parents are slumlords and uses that money to make her dumb eco shit. Her talking to the native guy and talking about how her best friend is native, etc. And him...fucking giving that girl money, "just for being you!" and then taking it back...I'm dying. Oh and the narrative about the "vibrant" people. Vibrant = ethnic. This is great writing.

I tried watching the first episode but only got halfway, it didn't interest me.

R14 That fucking art installment..like Marina Abramovic (sp, don't care) It was great. It reminds me of the Documentary Now art thing. And that artist does not like her, the whole thing..."this summer camp sign was made by a non indigenous creator, that's why she chose to damage it." Ha, ha, just perfect crap that whitey would love.

I forced myself to sit through three episodes. I’m done. It’s not for me.

Emma Stone’s tv career has been lackluster with duds like this and Maniac. She’s does better with feature films but Yorgos seems to be the only one interested in hiring her.

Whoever wrote this is brilliant. They really nail the dialog and microaggressions, also the vague threats the couple make to each other and the gaslighting. Emma being so adamant about them supporting the local tribe and then getting angry when they don't do what she says and saying they don't deserve to live there...it's fucking perfect.

The jeans store and the scene with her credit card are just stunning. I hate these people, they did a good job.

In the show's second episode, where the show's producer is driving in the car with the woman, he turns on the radio and "New York by Night" is playing.

This was a 1979 disco song recorded by Dennis Parker, aka Wade Nichols, 1970s straight-for-pay porn star turned mainstream actor in "The Edge of Night" soap opera. Nichols died of AIDS in 1985.

Talk about obscure!

Yes R25! I've been listening to that and am now reading this.

R26 This was a really great Rialto Report piece. They do an amazing job.

What a short, thrilling, tragic life Wade Nichols had. From porn star to singing star to TV actor.

Did anyone see this week’s episode? I hope Abshir is okay…

This one was extra creepy. The show is satirical and funny but also feels like a horror movie a lot of the time.

Yes R28. I laughed at the $362 Aishoka jeans charge, then I got sad when I saw Abshir getting maimed by that fucking quack. Chiros are a racket. Whitney sure had a ready answer for a new show name. And Cara hates her, even if she shows she can laugh at Dougie's stupid show. Cara will never sign the release and they won't be able to use any of their footage. And Fernando's (Chekov) gun is going to kill someone. Maybe Dougie.

R25 and R26 They played Wade Nichols' other disco song, "Like an Eagle," in episode 4.

I love it!

“I hate this show! It isn’t like everything else on TV!”

I like the show for touching on what garbage state New Mexico is when it comes to casinos.

The new episode was pretty depressing…

Is this a television remake of the 1987 horror film starring Will Wheaton and John Schneider? The one where the meteor contaminates the water and the people who drink the water and eat the crops turn into zombies?

Whitney is such a cringey bitch. Putting that statue on Cara's porch and then paying her 20k to be her friend. And how much has she spent on shitty jeans now? 700 bucks? No biggie, slum lord Arnie Becker will always give her more. I hope Abshir isn't going out like Chris Reeves after his aggressive quack appointment last week. And wow, never even invited Dougie to Shabbat? He'll pay for that.

I was quite disappointed to see that MAGA fuck Dean Cain in a recent episode.

He basically played himself.

I loved the scene where they had to find people for the show to pretend to want to buy one those shitty houses, and while filming the one fake couple, the guy starts singing "Stand By Me."

R28 I thought Abshir was dead, but they keep showing his daughter, so I'm assuming the neck cracking didn't kill him...yet.

I predict in a future episode, he'll end up paralyzed as a result of that chiropractic session.

14K worth of shitty jeans, and it's fucking rich kids in Navigators doing the stealing, ha ha. Arnie Becker can always pay Whit's credit card bill though. I really hate Emma now, she's doing a great job. And fucking Cara realizing too late she was gonna earn that 20k. This is getting so good. I can't wait till Fernando kills someone.

The irony of the rich kids being the ones stealing the jeans. Not what Whitney was assuming, I’m sure.

The show does a mostly accurate job of portraying Espanola. I wish the show would touch on the drug addiction issues more.

That Dougie character is one fucked up, sadistic piece of shit.

I loved that character Eddie who was spewing all that fake Native American bullshit to Emma Stone, then she says, "Can I give you a hug?"

Ha, R43, that was pretty awesome. Emma is so cringe, and such a bitch. Nathan is too good, he grosses me out now.

R44 That whole scene where she kept trying to get the artist to say good things about her.

God, she's such an awful person. Emma Stone does an amazing job at portraying such a loathsome woman.

R45 Yeah that scene was brilliant. I don't like Cara either and that's what she gets. Take the white devil's money and now you're in bed with them and have to go along.

I wonder if Asher is going to kill himself, or kill Whitney…

R47 I don't think Asher will kill himself. I can see him killing Whitney or Whitney's parents.

I hope he kills everyone, except Dougie. I could see him killing himself in front of Whitney but actually Fernando will probably kill him first. Chekov's gun and all.

Another storyline scenario I could see is Fernando accidentally killing Abshir and Asher. Whitney adopts Abshir's daughters and with help from Dougie sets up a reality show to focus on her new life as an adoptive single mother while selling the ugly passive homes.

Ugh abshir's ugly daughter with the shit attitude and the errant front tooth. Are we supposed to dislike her? Cause I do. I can't see Fernando accidentally killing those two though, why would they be together in a way that threatens Fernando? I hope Fernando sets Iosheka jeans on fire, but not until Whitney has paid for 100k of jeans for rich white kids.

I realised when watching Laura Dern in Enlightened, a decade ago, that there is a genre of series made in California but knowing, rich people that is extremely cynical, that condescends to all characters and their miserable experiences. It's supposed to be black comedy and biting satire but it's just nonstop cringe.

It reminds me of Enlightened too! Although The Curse has horror elements.

I can’t stop wondering why they included the girl’s hair/hair extension falling out in the scene where Whitney is asking her about her uncle that was kicked out of Bookends.

Asher is a freaking idiot. He should've left Whitney right then and there and never come back.

He deserves all the rest of the bad things that are surely going to happen to him.

I loved the scene in the spa with the "renowned artist" working as a massage therapist.

The acting on this show is so good. Emma Stone does such a great job of creating a phony, selfish, two-faced bitch, you just want to punch her. And Nathan Fielder's Asher is so incredibly dense, you wanna punch him, too. And Benny Safdie makes Dougie kind of terrifying.

Benny Safdie is low-key hot without the wig and glasses.

Beautiful eyes.

R57, he's definitely sexy.

Emma Stone should have won the Golden Globe for her performance in this.

I liked Benny Safdie as the geeky dad in Are You There God It's Me, Margaret?

That was him R60? Shit I didn't know that! I think he has sexy hands, despite all the dopy rings and leather bracelets. There's only one more episode, so I assume it will have another season. Unless Asher just goes sniper on the whole town. I hope Enola's rich white boyfriend steals her some Iosheka jeans before the store is molotovved.

Did anyone watch the finale? Don’t want to spoil it but definitely want to talk about it…

Yeah, I just did. I don't know what to think or say. I guess Whitney got what she wanted...but wtf? And no one even got murdered, boo!

Yeah, I’m trying to decide if there is a particular statement being made by the ending or if it’s just meant to be a complete non-sequitur to shock the audience?

To me, it’s not good storytelling if I’m not sure of your intent.

That finale was too fucking weird.

It was terrifying though. I have a falling asleep dream where I'm flying like that, I don't like it. I guess Asher is the curse after all and is just sucked out of the whole thing. Fucking Dougie inadvertently did it.

I felt Dougie was crying for his wife, not for Asher.

Still have no idea what the fuck to think about that finale.

[quote]I felt Dougie was crying for his wife, not for Asher.

I did too.

I think Fielder and Safdie were inspired by Twin Peaks. But, I don't think their angle worked all that well for the finale.

Definitely the weirdest ending I've seen. I wish I knew what was meant by it, but it was riveting TV. I'll give it that.

What I learned:

1. Emma Stone is damn amazing. This was a master class in acting.

2. Nathan Fielder is beyond creepy and totally strange. But I will watch whatever he does next. I didn't love everything about this series, but man did it intrigue the fuck out of me.

Didn't Dougie say in an earlier episode that he was the cursed one, not Asher?

I got the impression he was crying at the end because he realized he was cursed, which caused another person close to him to be lost tragically.

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell that finale was all about.

Since this episode jumped forward in time, maybe Asher was already dead and Whitney, in her Caesarean haze, was dreaming that Asher had floated away. The way the camera lingered on her face toward the end made me think that maybe Whitney was coming to terms with the fact that she had lost Asher, but that she was finally finding peace in the knowledge that he was living on in her new child.

Such a bizarre episode - surreal and scary, but at the same time, almost slapstick funny.

Watching Emma Stone waddling through the house, then crawling across the floor trying to avoid being sucked up into an air pocket was pretty hilarious. Then watching Moses try and pull Asher down, but losing his grip, and watching Asher slam into the tree branch - I couldn't help laughing.

R72 I think you may be onto something there. Whitney had to have a C-section because her baby was breech.

When she woke from her sleep toward the beginning of the episode, she saw Asher upside down on the ceiling.

No comments on the utterly insane finale?

R75 Uh...check the comments above yours.

R72 yeah maybe, but I don't think Whit would care too much about losing him. R73 It was funny and weird but oddly terrifying when she first wakes up and notices he's on the ceiling, they nailed the creepy.

I was glad to be reminded of this song again. And Ash and his "n word" singing along.

In the episode before the finale, when Asher found out Whitney hated him and had his "I love you" melt down, he said he would do anything she wanted to make their relationship work, even going away.

So maybe Whitney subconsciously willed him to go away, and that's why she looked serene and peaceful at the end of the show.

When Asher is soaring up into the air, he keeps shouting, "Wake up! Wake up from this dream now!"

So I'm wondering if this wasn't all a dream of Asher's, because he really did fear becoming a father like Dougie was saying.

I thought he was screaming “if I come down” or something along those lines. I think we are supposed to believe it literally happened in the world of the show, which okay, but it’s very different from what was going on previously and didn’t resolve any of the open plot lines.

I enjoyed it but it’s a little frustrating that they set up all these ideas and then never paid any of them off.

R81 I watched a few times, and he was saying, "Wake up from this dream now!"

I'm hoping they do a second season.

I know someone who actually grew up in Espanola, and she says that hideous glass-walled house is real. She lived just a few blocks from it.

Did she go to Iosheka and steal jeans? I wish they showed us what happened with Fernando.

R82, I think he could have been screaming both. I turned on the captions to try to figure it out and that’s what it said.

I liked all the little mysterious elements that they added and was convinced they had a plan to tie them up (they seemed smart and self aware in their construction of the show) so while I am good with him flying off into space, I just wish there was some grand unifying explanation.

Two episodes was enough for me. Seems to just be about humiliating people. I think I got the jist of it.

This show was my introduction to Nathan Fielder and Benny. These guys are geniuses. Loved this show and the finale is still freaking me out and it was like almost 3 weeks ago now. 🤣

R87 Watch Nathan for you, on hulu. It's fucking hilarious, he's not acting though.

R88 I have! lol. Since. Started going down the Nathan rabbit hole the past few weeks. lol. Have you seen some of his super earlier projects pre-dating that? Hes got some crazy funny old skits on YouTube and that are floating around from back during college or right outta college. Brilliant. Venturing into the Rehearsal right now.

The rehearsal is good too! I don't know, he was so good and creepy on this, I could use a little break from him. I hate Emma too, I won't be watching that movie she just did. All the characters were assholes. Cara was one of the worst ones.

R90 they were meant to be assholes.

Good and creepy on Curse or Rehearsal? I loved the good, weird, and creepiness of both. lol

Oh I didn't think he was creepy on the rehearsal, it was kind of a natural extension of Nathan for you. But man, on the curse...his blowing up at women, and his crying and obsessing over Emma...I thought, wow, maybe he's really unhinged like that. He did a good job. I thought he seemed fun on Nathan for you. Even just the opening where he said he attended business school in Canada, "where I got really good grades..." (cut to his report card with C's on it. He seemed fun and funny. On the Curse he was fucking weird and broody.

R92 I love his unhingedness. he's got a big range than just comedy. he's kinda sexy.

R92 that was the point on The Curse.

R86 You talking about The Curse? You really got the show wrong then. Or didn't watch far enough or.... watching a totally different show??