Andrew Robinson
Well, episode six has come and gone; we are now four episodes away from the end of the season for Rise. A lot happened on Tuesday night’s episode; the musical is just three weeks away!
*As always, minor spoilers may be present
Summary
Opening night is just three weeks away, and the cast, particularly Lou, starts scrambling. Lilette deals with the fallout of her mother’s decision from last week, which could greatly impact the musical. Robbie has a major decision to make regarding both football and the play. Simon grapples with his feelings and sexuality. Gwen and Gordy grow closer. Sasha speaks to Tracey about a life-changing event.
Analysis
Rosie Perez really gets to star in “Bring Me Stanton.” Tracey’s conversation with Sasha is perfectly handled, and Perez shows why she has garnered an Oscar nomination (1993’s Fearless), as the actress brings a level of pure love that we haven’t seen from Tracey before. As Tracey has always been a bulldog, rarely showing her emotions, her extreme care and tenderness when helping Sasha through her life-changing event is something that could have come off as a bit unrealistic had a lesser actress been cast. Perez, however, makes the scene entirely believable and loving.
Erin Kommor does an equally impressive job as Sasha. We had not really met Sasha, other than in passing, and Kommor does a great job at making the viewer feel for a character that we haven’t had quite as much exposure to as other characters. Her subplot is one of my favorites of the show, and Kommer is one of the main reasons why. I hope things work out for Sasha.
As I have theorized since about the third episode, Lou’s perfectionism will likely come back to bite him in the butt. In “Bring Me Stanton,” this perfectionism threatens to ruin the play and chemistry between the actors, but his willingness to lower his impossibly-high standards by just a tad is a huge sign of Lou’s development as a character. The final scenes of the episode are beautiful to watch, and even give the viewer chills (well, at least it gave me chills). Without Lou’s willingness to adapt, these scenes wouldn’t have been possible, and the play likely would have crashed and burned (of course, it still could crash and burn. A lot of stuff is going on with a lot of different characters).
Initially, I hated Coach Strickland with every fiber of my body. He seemed to be a character included in Rise simply to act as the tough-guy football coach who cares about absolutely nothing besides football, and only acts with himself in mind. However, my opinion has changed over the past few weeks, and that comes to a head in “Bring Me Stanton.” Strickland’s relationship with his daughter and willingness to help her even when he doesn’t believe in the cause is noble. Of course, he is still a bit of a jerk, especially when it comes to Robbie, but it is nice to see Coach develop a bit as a character, and rise above the stereotypical high school football coach. It’s also nice to see a television show stray from this usually-set-in-stone stereotypical character. Hopefully it continues.
Robbie is given quite the dilemma in “Bring Me Stanton.” Honestly, I don’t know how he reaches the decision that he does, given his family life and possible life beyond high school. I’m a bit irked by how Lou handles the situation – here, he seems to only act with his best interest in mind. While it would have taken a lot of courage and selflessness to say something different, it still comes off as a bit selfish. Hopefully things don’t go south for Robbie, despite his gigantic decision. I do believe, however, that things will work out.
Also faced with a difficult decision, Simon reacts rather poorly to his dilemma. I know that he is afraid to embrace himself (especially given his parents), but the way he handles that is extremely selfish. Annabelle (Stranger Things’s Shannon Purser (BARB!)) seems like a really kind girl, and she clearly likes Simon. The way he handles things with her is very selfish and shortsighted. He has certainly been damaged by his parents’ (mainly his father’s) ridiculously (and horrifyingly) strict and unforgiving nature, but Simon really needs to work to not hurt others by his actions. I’m really rooting for him to figure it out, but I’d rather him not emotionally harm others due to his fear to acknowledge himself.
Lilette and Vanessa are living through a situation that should never occur; Vanessa’s actions from the previous episode were drastic, but it’s simply wrong that they result in her being punished, with nothing happening to the other person involved. Unfortunately, this is largely the world we live in today. I think Rise does a great job at portraying societal tendencies through Vanessa in “Bring Me Stanton,” however wrong and ugly they may be. Many shows shy away from making statements about society, but Rise is willing to go there – I think this is very important. What Lilette and Vanessa are going through is unfair, unfortunate, and morally incorrect, but it is very realistic. This can also create tensions in the household, as we see throughout the episode. However, the ending to the episode certainly provides hope (although seeing the way Vanessa looks at one of the hotel guests is less-than-inspiring for her immediate future) that their relationship will survive and, in fact, be strengthened.
I really don’t think that Gordy and Gwen are a good match. Not at all.
With that said, Gordy’s actions at the tail end of the episode are very, very courageous and seem to point to him improving himself, which is always great to see.
The final fifteen minutes of the episode are inspiring and beautiful – this is why we watch shows like Rise. While there is a lot of heartbreak and many rough situations throughout the show, moments like those are what make the show worth it all.
With this in mind, I have seen a surprisingly high amount of online comments that people stopped watching Rise because it’s too depressing. I don’t think this can be further from the truth. While the characters go through various difficult situations, it’s just life. Life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns; there are (many) hardships. While I can understand this point of view if the viewer wants to tear away from their own lives for an hour (which, let’s be honest, is the purpose of much of entertainment), I see it like this: there are a ridiculous amount of happy, go-lucky, laugh-out-loud shows out there. There aren’t many shows like Rise.
Wrap-Up
I enjoyed “Bring Me Stanton.” I think the episode does a good job at mixing the difficulty of life with the joys of life, and ends on a very high note. Perez really stands out, and the subplot involving Sasha is both realistic and heartbreaking, and is pulled off quite well. It is nice to see Lou’s perfectionistic attitude decrease ever so slightly, to the benefit of everyone around him.
One minor concern is the fact that just about everything that can go wrong play-wise goes wrong throughout the entirety of the entire show. It may be a tad unrealistic to assume that every main character is going to experience potential play-changing, and life-changing, events over the course of a few months, but that is what seems to have occurred.
8.25/10
