"You Need a Tequila and a [BLEEP] In You Right Now"

Sage life advice from RIVALS, episode 4.

This week, I clutched my Kleenex for Charles, my pearls at Maud, and my face when I realized Monica might be the instrument of Venturer’s demise. There were a few overly repetitive beats in this episode, which I also think tried to fit in a bit too much, but its deliciously soapy merits are still undefeated. I mean, just look at this smoke work from David Tennant:

We are also SPEEDING through story: We go from Tony offering Maud A Midsummer Night’s Dream last week, to the table read AND rehearsals AND the full live televised production all in this episode. Just how much space and time are we hurtling through here? I don’t actually think I mind, because I don’t need to see any more of it than I already have; the play is a means to an end, and boy, do we get to that end (Bottom pun certainly intended), so it’s nice that they are comfortable blowing past the nitty-gritty. But we are racing. I guess the passage of time itself is a loose concept in Rivals anyway. Was last season one month, …