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The Price of Fame. Review: Episodes – Episode 207

  • By

  • August 12, 2012

  • 7 mins to read

Air Date: Sunday, August 12, 2012, 10:30 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

 

“Episode 207” gives us a good mix of comedy and drama as Beverly (Tamsin Greig) deals with her new life, and Matt (Matt LeBlanc playing himself) has to face up to his weight problem. Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins) pretty much sums up the issue—“We need hot Matt, not fat Matt.” She and Merc (John Pankow) charge Beverly and Sean (Stephen Mangan) with discussing this with Matt, much to their chagrin. Merc thinks Matt has too much time on his hands to eat, now that his role on Pucks! has been reduced. Or is this Matt’s way of dealing with Labia (Sophie Rundle), the stalker who’s popped back into his life and now staking out his kids’ school?

Thoughts and Observations:

Matt and Morning rehearsing a scene from “Pucks!”

To be honest, I agree with Sean that it doesn’t look like Matt has gained weight. He looks exactly the same as he did when Episodes began. Although, every time we see Matt, he’s got something fattening to eat in his hands. We all know how sensitive Hollywood is about stuff like this. Gaining even a few pounds could shut a set down until the actor in question loses the excess weight. I wonder—is this Merc’s lead-in to cancelling Pucks!? It’s really not doing well in the ratings even with the changes that have already been made.

The term “stalker” fits Labia perfectly. Besides camping outside Matt’s kids’ school, she also waits outside his vacation home to see him in case he goes there. And, in “Episode 207,” she climbs into a basement window so she can bake Matt cookies. What a surprise he gets when he arrives home and Labia is naked while baking! She is definitely one crazy bitch. Kudos to Matt for turning her away; I thought for sure he’d tumble into bed with that hot bod. (As an aside, it’s nice the casting director chose an actress who doesn’t have breast implants. I’m tired of seeing all the perfect bodies that regular guys consider the norm, especially because they’re not!)

Sean and Beverly can’t believe their eyes at what they see on the monitor

One of the funniest parts of this episode happens when Beverly points out (both figuratively and literally) that Matt’s “crotchal area” is visible through his clothes on camera. Not only is it how she gets her point across to Sean and the director (Demetri Goritsas), it’s the dialogue among the three that cracks me up! They never once call it what it is, instead using “umm” and “it.” Even funnier, though, is what the shadow on the camera turns out to be. No wonder Matt is gaining weight!

Meanwhile, Morning’s (Mircea Monroe) brother Rob (guest star James Purefoy) drops by the set, much to Sean and Beverly’s surprise. They had no idea Morning had a brother. I’d like to know why she’s been hiding him but the writers don’t tell us. I thought Morning might have been embarrassed by Rob’s profession, which is something I can imagine happening in real life. Shame on the writers for passing up a perfect opportunity to give Monroe’s character some depth. Even so, Morning encourages Beverly to go on a dinner date with Rob. I don’t blame her for accepting; after last week’s disastrous attempt at patching things up with Sean, I suppose it’s time to move on. I hate the thought that Sean can’t get past the…well, past. I will say, though, Purefoy is one very good-looking guy! Did you see him in John Carter or Resident Evil?

Greig is at her comedic best during her date with Rob. From the olive eating to her confession that she’s “the worst date ever,” I laughed throughout. She really is horrible at dating! I mean, who takes a call from their estranged husband and leaves the phone’s speaker on so the date can hear the entire conversation?! And what about Rob? Do single men like him actually exist? Can anyone tell me a story where your date was as kind as Rob? Maybe I’m jaded, but I don’t think so.

Matt starts drinking heavily when he sees “Matt LeBlob” splayed across his computer screen

“Matt LeBlob” is the headline on an internet entertainment blog Morning tells Sean to read in the hopes they can prevent Matt from seeing it. Too late—he’s already seen it and is having a full-blown pity party for himself. I can’t help but empathize with him as he sits watching film of himself in his younger days while stuffing his face with cake. I think most of America will relate to this storyline as the majority of Americans are overweight, many times caused by emotional eating. It’s not easy to reflect on yourself as a young person and realize how much you’ve changed. I did just that while on vacation at the beach last week.

Poor guy is so dejected, he’s eating cake right out of the box!

But it’s the phone call Matt places that surprises me. Doesn’t he realize what a can of worms he’s opening up? How in the world is he going to get rid of Labia now that he’s admitted “I need you” to her. Leaning on someone like her is the wrong thing to do, both for himself and Labia. Doesn’t he realize this is just a temporary fix? But Matt isn’t known for doing the right thing, is he? I can’t wait to see where this goes.

Tune in to Episodes Sundays at 10:30 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

Check out the show’s homepage at http://www.sho.com/sho/episodes/home. Like Episodes on Facebook, and follow the show on Twitter using hashtag #Episodes. Tweet star Stephen Mangan @StephenMangan.

All photos courtesy of Jack Barnes/Showtime. © 2012 Showtime Networks/CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!

Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!