By Spencer Coile
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Each year, Amazon releases a handful of their pilot episodes for Prime members to stream. This is a unique twist on determining the worth of new series -- viewer feedback factors prominently into Amazon's pickup decisions. Recent Amazon hits such as Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, and recently The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have all weathered Amazon pilot season to become full fledged series.
Yet while this trend is potentially on its way out the door, we were still offered a fresh batch of pilot episodes to help get us through fall of 2017: The Climb, Love You More, and Sea Oak. But which of these three (if any) have the most potential for receiving a full series pickup?...
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Do not be mistaken. The Climb is not an adaptation of the Miley Cyrus song. Created by Diarra Kilpatrick (who also stars) and directed by Chris Robinson, The Climb follows Nia and her best friend Misty (Broadway's Alysha Umphress). Living in Detroit and stuck in a dead-end job as an office assistant, Nia longs for becoming a bona-fide social media star. She incessantly scrolls through her phone, lapping up the social media presence of Copper Lewinsky, a woman who made a fortune off of doing nothing.
In many ways, The Climb feels like a sibling to HBO's Insecure. Both leading characters talk to themselves in the mirror, neither really know how to situate themselves in their actual jobs (Nia still has no clue what she does), and both find themselves daydreaming to the point where their dreams become a jarring reality. Unfortunately for The Climb, there is nothing (yet) unique about these characters' experiences, nor is the plot inventive.
Two big reasons for this are its script and its message. It's difficult to depict friendships in a realistic way on television. The dialogue might run the risk of being either too generic or too niche. The Climb is, oddly, a mix of bothl Kilpatrick tries to infuse slang and jargon to the Nia and Misty's interactions, but they never feel wholly real or relatable. And although it is a pilot and exposition is crucial, this episode feels too context driven -- as if Kilpatrick is trying to answer any potential question about the plot in the pilot.
In one pivotal scene, Nia attempts to explain to her stepmother why she wants to become a social media star, claiming that it is smart business move. But is it? The series never reconciles that, nor does it indicate that Nia investing so much energy into thinking of the perfect caption on Instagram is worth her time, or ours. Will she make it big? Probably. So then what else is there to explore?
The Climb's Chance for Full-Season: Slim
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In Love You More Karen (Bridget Everett) acts like so many women we've seen in movies and on TV. She has an affinity for wine, has sex with random men, and is currently entrenched in an affair with a married man. Sound familiar? Perhaps that's because it was co-written by Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King and Bobcat Goldthwait (who also directs the pilot). However, the show takes a turn for the sentimental when we also learn that Karen works full-time at a house for adults with Downs Syndrome. It is here we learn that she is not always the mess she presents herself as. Instead, she is full of compassion and love.
Tonally, Love You More is all over the place. Scenes of Karen at her job are drastically different from scenes of Karen anywhere else. Perhaps this is an intentional move, to show the compartmentalized sides to Karen's life. But for a first episode, it feels inconsistent. For instance, in one scene halfway through the episode, Karen simply starts singing into the mirror about trying to find a bra that will fit her, leading into a lengthy muscal number celebrating breasts of all shapes and sizes. To my knowledge, this is not a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-esque series. It is not a musical. Will music be a mainstay on the series, or was this a one-time quirk?
While Love You More still needs to find its footing when it comes to developing its story and some of its characters, there is one beacon of hope and that is Bridget Everett as Karen. Despite the series' shortcomings, Everett sells every single moment. She is often hilarious and unafraid of looking silly. Still, she is most effective in her quieter moments. There is a scene near the end of the pilot where she confronts Andy, a new resident at the home she works at. Their conversation is not heated, but instead, tender and full of heart.
Love You More's Chance for Full-Season: Likely
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Sea Oak is the strangest of the three pilots. Based on the short story from George Saunders and directed by Hiro Murai, it tells the story of Aunt Bernie (Glenn Close), a timid woman who lives with her two nieces (Jane Levy and Rae Gray) and nephew (Jack Quaid, yes he's Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid's son) in a poverty-stricken subsidized housing community called Sea Oak. After an intruder breaks into their apartment, Bernie suffers a heart attack and dies. Little do her nieces and nephew know that she will shortly return as a zombie to seek revenge on those who had wronged her.
Let's address the zombie in the room: Yes. Glenn Close is excellent. In one phenomenal scene where she goes to speak with her boss at the 99 cent store where she works, she overhears him telling a coworker that he plans to promote her to cashier and demote Bernie herself to a greeter. The camera is fixed on Close's face the entire scene and her heart breaks before your eyes. Years of working hard and achieving nothing flashes across the actress's face. And this scene proves to be vital for the remainder of the episode, and potentially, series. Once she returns as a zombie, Bernie is unhinged and brutal; after years of being taken advantage of, she is ready to come back, badder and more vicious than ever. It is a delicious role and Close is sinking her rotting zombie teeth into every juicy morcel.
For the most part, everything around her works, too. Grae and Levy's roles are not realized characters quite yet, just stereotypes, but there is definitely room for growth. Quaid, on the other hand, is just as sympathetic as Close and they have good chemistry. Quaid's Cole works at a bizarre business called "Posers," where he stands in revealing Egyptian garb and poses with statues. Very little is known about where this subplot might take us, but with James Van Der Beek playing the owner and ethically dubious directions for the workers, we are surely in for a treat. There is so much about Sea Oak that remains a mystery, but unlike the other two pilots, this one builds enough intrigue that you want to investigate further.
Sea Oaks' Chance for Full-Season : Very Likely
If anyone else has watched (and enjoyed or disliked) any of the pilots, sound off in the comments below. And let's brace ourselves for the return of Amy Sherman-Palladino with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (now streaming)!