Other Doctor Lives: Staged: Series 2, Episode 8 – “Until They Get Home” (2021)

And that’s another season of Staged on the books. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the expanding layers of meta at first, but ultimately, I enjoyed it just as much as series 1 and think it’s just as successful at capturing the particular stage of the pandemic in which it takes place. For the sake of society, I hope we won’t find ourselves in need of a third season, but the two seasons we have gotten have really hit the spot “in these unprecedented times.”

In the season finale, the goals and plans that David and Michael set out at the start of the season look like they might finally be about to come to pass. Not in the way they at first envisioned them, but still, it seems like something’s going to happen at last. And they’re not sure how they feel about it. Meanwhile, Georgia, Anna, and Lucy get ready to perform their charity sketch.

No guest stars this time around, just the “characters” we’ve come to know and love. As with the season 1 finale, it gets a little sweeter and more sentimental, but without sacrificing the laughs in the process. I like seeing Michael and David both feeling hesitant now that the momentum they’ve been waiting for so long finally appears to be on their doorsteps. It’s a combination of feelings that I think a lot of people have experienced now in 2021, that mix of, “Is this real? Can I trust it this time?”, “Can I still do this? Who am I after this past year?”, and, “What does ‘a return to normal’ even look like anymore?” As always, the show hits the nail on the head with the characters’ frustrations, anxieties, and existential crises – the boys admit they’ve only made it through with their sanity “intact-ish,” and that’s a very relatable sensation.

I once again enjoy the Georgia-Anna-Lucy stuff. Georgia gets the most material, since she’s balancing a Zoom call with the ladies while also trying to get David to stop dawdling with Michael and get a move on, but all three of them get in some fun lines in their scenes together. As much as all three of them have needed to lean into the “strong women helping fragile men” trope (which the episode explicitly acknowledges,) I like that this season has given them more moments that are just for them.

A very satisfying finale for David Tennant. He plays David’s swirl of conflicting feelings very well, both in the scenes where he’s trying to hide his uncertainties and in the ones where he’s being more honest and open about them. I’ve said it before, but I really admire how delicate and needy Tennant has let himself be portrayed throughout this series. The show plays constantly on David’s insecurities, but in a roundabout way, it actually takes a pretty secure person to to portray a fictionalized version of themselves in that manner. And it pays off big time – petty, fragile, not-all-that-intellectual David is really funny and at the same time oddly compelling. This is a character that’s resonated with me a lot through the pandemic, and I appreciate the honesty that goes into Tennant’s performance.

Other Doctor Lives: Staged: Series 2, Episode 7 – “The Loo Recluse” (2021)

We’re rounding toward the end of series 2 here, with another romp of an episode. Tons of great bits, judicious use of guest stars, and delightful David Tennant-Michael Sheen interactions. And really, isn’t that what you look for in an episode of Staged?

Michael and David have come to an understanding after recent events, but the path they took to get there left some wreakage in its wake. Now they’re trying to salvage what they can, making one last hail-mary effort to stay involved in the project or, barring that, to simply rubberneck at what’s going to be happening without them.

Once again, the choice of guest stars is right on the money. I don’t know how the show manages to keep finding such inspired “Michael” and “David” choices, but we get another terrific pair here, and they bring plenty of their own laughs while also providing an excellent focal point for David and Michael to riff comedically off of them. The big scene with the guest stars is rife with in-jokes about everyone’s careers, callbacks to bits from earlier in the season, and plenty of wild industry tidbits, all done through Zoom.

On that last point, it’s a little remarkable how normal it now feels to me to see a bunch of actors performing over Zoom. When I watched series 1, even though I didn’t get a chance to see it until much later in the pandemic than when it was originally made, it still felt novel, fragile, and a little awkward. But through a combination of actors getting much more used to acting in this medium and society as a whole incorporating Zoom much more into their everyday lives, it barely even feels like a hook. It’s still very obviously a pandemic-set show with the references it drops and the themes it explores, but the fact that it’s on Zoom doesn’t really jump out anymore. When I first started watching, I thought, “Whoa, this is different!” But now, I just think, “That’s Staged.”

Both Sheen and Tennant were fantastic in playing out Michael and David’s feud separately over the past couple episodes, but clearly, the natural pull of the universe is for them to be together, so all is right with the world again. In addition to bouncing jokes off the big-name guest stars so well, they also get another fun scene with Ben Schwartz’s Tom, the head honcho’s over-eager assistant. There’s been a running gag throughout his appearances that he’s completely gaga over David while Michael barely registers for him, and that joke is brought to a great resolution here. And then, of course, there are the random banter scenes between just the two of them. I love the sequence of them doing a crossword puzzle together. It’s hard to explain exactly what makes it so funny, but it builds to a 100% quintessentially-Staged joke that might be one of my favorites in the whole series. There are other moments in the show that I think have made me laugher harder, but I feel like this one is the most well-earned.

Not much to say about Tennant that I haven’t already said throughout my Staged reviews. He’s fantastically funny, quick-witted and yet somehow still just a tiny bit dim, slightly ridiculous, and delightfully petty when he wants to be. I have such a great time watching him and Sheen in every episode.

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Reason #4,729 why I’m glad Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s Hollywood debut is going to be in an MCU movie? Wenwu action figure. The only other toy figures I own are a few sets of non-posable Star Wars figures, but I needed this miniature plastic Leung in my life. So help me, this movie is still 4 months away. I am so ready!!

Other Doctor Lives: Staged: Series 2, Episode 6 – “The Warthog and the Mongoose: Part 2” (2021)

The second part of this two-parter is wrapped up in a really terrific way, carrying the plot of part 1 through to a fine resolution. Series 2 of Staged has eight episodes, not six, so we’re not at the finale yet, but this episode is hugely satisfying.

David and Michael are still under strict orders to have rehearsal/prep sessions separately with prospective “Michaels” and “Davids” for the American remake, and they’re still using these meetings largely to work out their own personal issues with one another. Their own conflict has bubbled over and hit a grim stalemate, and David eagerly tries to get his “Michael” on his side while Michael’s “David” is urging him to engage more than Michael is comfortable with.

Another great pair of “Michaels” and “Davids” this week, more out-of-the-box choices that I wouldn’t have thought of but are weirdly fitting in context. What’s been a real treat of this storyline throughout the season is that each “Michael” and “David” has multiple roles to fulfill. We need to see each actor’s take on the character of either Michael or David, as well as their opinion about that character, for good or ill. We also need to see their own individual processes as actors and how they work, which mixes in new flavors of comedy, along with how they interact with/bounce off of actual Michael and David.

Those separate scenes with the “Michaels” and “Davids” lead to some great character momentum for both David and Michael. Like I said, both are using these Zoom sessions with the actors hash out their feelings about each other, and it’s just really well done. Michael in particular has a really strong, cathartic scene near in the end in which Michael Sheen gets to just lay everything on the table, and it’s fantastic to watch.

I can’t get over how well David Tennant does playing this version of himself. That might seem like a weird observation and a really backhanded compliment, but it’s true. While this is the sort of thing that’s often hilarious as cameos, sustaining it over the course of two seasons, with an actual character arc, is a very different animal, and I appreciate Tennant’s willingness to depict himself as petty and needy, or a less intellectual than Simon and Michael, or self-centered and just slightly useless. He needs to be recognizably David Tennant while also delivering consistent one-liners and following the path of a specific character journey, and he needs to be a self-absorbed celebrity with a propensity for “whining” (to quote another “David” from earlier in the season,) but at the same time, he needs to resonate that familiarity and relatability with what so many have experienced in quarantine. It sounds funny to say he’s giving a great performance as himself, but it’s true.