B.J. Novak’s anthology series The Premise has premiered on Hulu with two episodes. And I’m going to skip episode one to get to the episode I really want to talk about. It’s not a secret that gun violence is very much a hot button topic in this country. And it seems that The Premise is going to be full of topics that are just as emotionally charged as this one. Not only did I want to watch this episode due to its subject manner, but I wanted to see two of my favorite actors on screen together.
Mentions of Gun Violence Ahead
I never thought I’d see Jon Bernthal and Boyd Holbrook acting alongside each other, but I’m glad that I did. In episode two of The Premise, Bernthal plays a grieving father who has lost his daughter due to a school shooting. After the death of his child, his character gets a job in PR at the National Gun Lobby. Holbrook works there already and the two hit it off in a genuinely organic way. Holbrook’s character is the friend that Bernthal’s character needs – the unfortunate thing is that, you know at some point it’s going to end. You just don’t know how.
Spoilers
Due to the episode being out, I’m going to delve a little into the spoiler territory. I think that the episode makes it known from the first moment that Bernthal’s character is at the NGL because he plans on exacting some sort of revenge for the death of his daughter. While Bernthal’s character has never had any experience in Public Relations, he’s very adamant on getting a job there. He’s extremely precise in his shooting, he’s a “beast” at a Call of Duty-type video game, and if you notice, he’s wearing four magazine clips on his belt every time he goes to work. It’s pretty obvious what his plan is.
Bernthal and Holbrook Did Well Together
Holbrook’s character serves as a very positive person and the best parts of the episode come from their casual interactions. I think the episode does a decent job in building the suspense, all leading up to the climax. While the end of the episode comes to a bit of an abrupt and almost anti-climatic stop, I believe the “moment of silence” that ties the episode up says more than most of the episode did. I wondered at times who this episode was for – what kind of audience. In a lot of senses, this episode is very political. How could it not be? However, the end was very personal – very human. No matter what side of the fence you’re on, I would hope that anyone could see not only the pain that came from Bernthal’s character’s loss, but also the friendship between Bernthal and Holbrook.
Rating: 4/5
I have not watched the first episode of The Premise but I think the second episode did what it sought out to do. I don’t want to gloss over the larger issue just to praise the actors, even though realistically the only reason I watched the episode was to see Bernthal and Holbrook together. Honestly, I’d love to see them together again and their interactions alone make this episode worth it. Still, from a message standpoint, I think episode two did a good job in really tackling one of the biggest issues we have here in America.
What’d you think of episode two of The Premise?
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A girl with too many fandoms to count.
