We’re
taking another break from The New Normal,
a more extended one this time, to make room for a new series co-starring Andrew
Rannells. With the pilot now under my
belt, I’m still getting into the rhythm of the show, but I’ve seen enough that
I think this could be pretty fun.
One year
before the infamous “Black Monday” crash of 1987, Mo, who heads up a
“chop-shop” trading firm on Wall Street, sets his sights on stock from a
low-value company housed in extremely-prime Manhattan real estate. To the apprehension of Dawn, his
friend/second-in-command, he goes after the stock in a big way, spending
massive amounts of money he doesn’t have to attempt a controlling
interest. Along the way, he meets Blair,
a young novice with a hot new trading algorithm and very little real sense of
what he’s getting himself into.
My
clearest impression of the show so far is that it has a very big
personality. So far, that’s mostly
coming down on the side of being a good thing, but it could potentially tip
into irritating if it keeps hitting everything so hard. The ‘80s references are copious, the jokes
are raucous and self-impressed, and the characters are loud and flashy. There are times when the commotion of the
scene gets overwhelming (and I’m not even talking about the floor-trading scenes
themselves,) others where I get into the flow of what’s happening and am able
to ride it.
For the
most part, I enjoy the story in the pilot.
It has takes some nice twists, at least one of which I admit I really
didn’t expect at all. Some of the character-development
stuff doesn’t quite land – with Mo in particular, I feel like the final
sequence gets too introspective too fast after all that’s come before – but I’m
willing to see where the show is going with it.
The cast is definitely a plus.
Don Cheadle is an out-of-the-gate force of nature as Mo, and Regina Hall
holds her own in the firm’s boys’ club as Dawn.
Casey Wilson (formerly of SNL)
also has a featured role.
Rannells
plays Blair, who’s taken on something of a roller coaster already in the
pilot. His first few scenes vacillate
starkly between highs and lows, and that’s before
he meets Mo and basically has his entire world upended. I see some hints of Elder Price in this
character. For one, he’s the square in
the middle of a lot of outrageous personalities, and even though he finds ways
to stand up for himself as the episode goes on, he doesn’t have the same easy
talent for in-your-face braggadocio and insults as the other characters. He’s also someone who goes into this new
situation with a certain image of how it’s going to be and has that image
rudely/repeatedly shattered over the course of what has to be a dizzying day
for him.
I’m
excited to see Rannells take on this part.
Even though the framework between Blair and Elder Price is definitely
there, Rannells plays them differently, and Blair is very different from the
more typical archetype Rannells often plays.
It’s more of a straight-man role compared to Mo and Dawn but still very
funny, and it looks like there’s a lot of potential in seeing how Blair is
affected and/or changed by his new circumstances.
I do have to smile, though, at everyone
calling Blair “kid.” Obviously, Blair is
pretty green and naïve, but it also speaks to Rannells’s enduringly-youthful
looks.
Recommend?
In
General
– First impression, I’d say I think so.
It feels like it might still need an episode or two to gel, but things
seem to be lining up, and it does a good job dropping you into this very
specific world in which it’s set.
Andrew
Rannells
– Go for it. I’m really interested to
see where this goes.
Warnings
Language
(including the N-word,) drinking/smoking/drug use, sexual content (including
nudity,) violence, and thematic elements.
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