It’s no secret that television is one of my life’s great loves. Like, I have episodes I watch to help me through difficult times, kind of like self-perscriptions. Now, they won’t make much sense to anyone else. You might ask yourself, “How does an episode where a lady hires a prostitute to shoot at her while she wears a bulletproof vest help Jacki figure out if she should put up with that at work?” or “WTF? Ava being a self-centered ass helps Jacki figure out intricate problems that aren’t related at all?” or “Umm, I can kind of see how this reminds Jacki of where she grew up, but why does watching this rapper perform nude at a strip club make it easy for her to figure out her next creative steps?”
Or you might ask me, and I would still not have an answer that makes any sense whatsoever to you. And that’s okay. Cause there are other episodes that make total sense, like this one that I watch whenever I need to be reminded that there are good people left in the world (and in the entertainment industry in particular).
Or the one that I’m about to talk about that changed me on a fundamental level.
The episode in question is Season 1, Episode 9 of the biting HBO comedy The Other Two. It’s called “Chase Drops His First Album,” and the first time I watched it, it slapped me in the face.
It was during the pandemic. Mickey was working overseas on an extended trip, and I was pretty lonely. This was before I felt comfortable enough quarantining with regular TV dates, so I was also very isolated. It was a weird time in my life, when I felt both separated from the world and got to know myself really well… and found that I actually liked myself.
But that’s a blog for another time. This one’s about TV.
I discovered many wonderful shows during this time. Search Party is my favorite (and the best work in escalation on television), but The Other Two is a close second.
I watched The Other Two initially because it was a comedy, I needed something light, and this one was produced by Lorne Michaels. I’ve always been a huge SNL fan, so the decision was easy.
2 minutes into the first episode, I knew this show was something special. The writing was so tight, and the jokes came so fast, I couldn’t catch up sometimes. The comedic timing of the entire cast is impeccable, and by the third episode, I’d fallen hard in love with the entire Dubek clan.
And Streeter.
And Lance. Lance more than anyone, tbh.
For eight episodes, this show is a bop. Chase Dreams, a youth, gets famous from a YouTube video. The show focuses on his siblings, Brooke and Cary, who are actually trying to make it in the NYC entertainment world. We learn about their relationships with each other and with their mom, Pat, played by Molly Shannon.
It’s so funny, y’all. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say this might be the tightest written comedy of the past 10 years. It’s clever, smart, and relevant and irreverent and HYSTERICAL. And it absolutely skewers the Hollywood fame machine. Really holds a mirror up to itself.
This is Molly Shannon’s best role. So good that I wrote her a formal apology. And her best episode is episode 9 of season 1.
Now I will warn you that there will be spoilers for the show. So, here’s my plan for you:
- stop reading
- watch The Other Two episodes 1-9 on HBOMax
- come back and finish reading
- ask me if I want to watch the rest of the series with you (I do)
- thank me
ONE OTHER OPTION:
If you’re not interested in watching the entire show, could you just watch Season 1, Episode 9? I have a theory that it could stand on its own as a short film, but I can’t test that myself. Thanks!
SPOILER ZONE: BE WARNED
Leading up to this episode, we learn that the patriarch of the Dubek family passed away within the past year. Chase (the youngest) has been told that his father died from cancer. The audience learns that this is not the case through conversational tidbits between other family members, but no cause of death is explicitly given.
The setting: an airplane filled with preteens and their moms celebrating the release of Chase’s first album (3 songs, each with 3 remixes). It also happens to be Chase’s dad’s birthday.
This is a bottle episode, with all the action taking place inside the plane, with short jaunts of duos and trios into the tiny airplane bathroom. All of this ramps up the tension incredibly well.
I feel like I am putting this off because I know typing it will lessen the impact for everyone who hasn’t seen it yet. The emotional punch of this episode in this ridiculously funny comedy is one of the things that makes it so impactful.
So, throughout the episode, Chase keeps donating percentages of album sales and tour proceeds and the like to the American Cancer Society in honor of his dad. This makes his siblings panic, because this is not how their dad died, and Chase basically just lied to the rest of the world. They take turns taking their mom (Molly Shannon) into the bathroom to figure out how to tell Chase the truth.
The AC in the plane breaks, Chase keeps donating percentages to a cancer charity, the (not-great) album plays the whole time, the fans are yelling, and it is just pure chaos. Until something breaks… and that something is Molly Shannon.
With seven minutes left in the episode, Pat Dubek busts out with this:
“Fine, everybody wants to know the truth about my husband. Great! Here it is. He didn’t die of cancer. He was a fucking alcoholic and he froze to death on our roof. I wouldn’t let him drink in front of Chase, so he climbed up to the roof, and he blacked out, and he froze to death.
And I found him the next morning and it was one of the worst things I’ve seen in my entire life. And since veryone is so despareta to know all the detailsof our family’s life, how bout this?
He peed himself, too! And since he blacked out on his stomach, his dick froze to our roof. That’s right everybody! That’s right! My husband died with his dick frozen to the roof!”
It sounds funny to type it out here, but it’s a heartbreaking scene/speech/all of it. And so perfectly performed by Molly Shannon. Up until now, everyone thought Pat was fine… she was helping Chase with his new career and starting one of her own… and even doing a little molly. We see her mask of bravery fall away completely. It’s heartbreaking.
“I just, I spent the last 30 years of my life taking care of an alcholoic. Am I not allowed to have a little fun? (to Brooke and Cary) You two come home for the holidays. You two come home for the funeral. And you go back to New York City to your big, fancy life. And you leave me there. You leave me there.”
The viewers are watching pre-teens around the world watch this breakdown in real time on the livestream. We see Lance getting teary-eyed, sitting at his own computer, learning new truths about this family that he so obviously loves.
The first time I watched this episode, it hit me so hard, y’all. I’d already done a lot of work on my own drinking, because of another television show (Brockmire – if he could do it, so could I), but there were people around me who still used it as an escape…. and I didn’t want to do a Pat Dubek.
There’s always been someone like that in my life as long as I can remember. My grandpa, my dad, my husband, me… And watching Pat’s breakdown about taking care of an alcoholic for her entire adult life made me want something different for myself. This is how TV helps me. Seems dumb and trite to some, but it is what it is.
Then the tears keep coming in this episode, as a few other folks on the plane bond over their dad’s freezing, up to and including the hashtag #mydadfroze (i made a tshirt so I could have one).
As Shuli (Chase’s agent, played brilliantly by Wanda Sykes) says:
“Everyone talks about cancer. But no one talks about alcohol abuse or dicks freezing to roofs. But your family has brought both issues to light.“
I know when I was in the throes of heavy drinking, I didn’t talk about the embarrassing stuff that happened to me or those I loved. I’d tell the silly things, but not the dark ones. And I think that’s how booze wins.
Now, the entirety of The Other Two is fucking fantastic, and I wish there were more seasons. However, I also want all artists, technicians, and office folk on a television set to be treated well. And if the showrunners couldn’t do that, I’m fine with its cancellation.
Like always, I feel like I didn’t do this justice, but this is one of the most impactful episodes of a comedy series that has ever existed in my brain.
Do you have an episode of TV that changed your life? I’d love to hear about it!
