The Curse Had One Of The Weirdest Endings In TV History
Matt Baron. Shutterstock Images.(Spoilers ahead about The Curse. I am going to talk about the last episode and how it ends. You've been warned.)
I watched all ten episodes of The Curse which concluded last weekend. I enjoyed the series more than I probably should have because Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone and Benny Safdie were so compelling. They had no shame being very unlikable characters. It was an acting masterclass. The downside of the show was that the first nine episodes felt very meandering as the show went on. By the end of the last episode, I wondered how much of it was pointless. I think the answer is almost all of it?
Let's get into that bizarre last episode. It centers around Asher (Nathan Fielder) becoming weightless overnight. He thinks it's the passive house they have that is creating a vacuum of sorts that pushing him up. When he is finally able to leave the house, he is able to cling to a high tree branch as a last resort before being sucked into the atmosphere. Meanwhile during all of this, his wife Whitney (Emma Stone) is about to give birth to their baby.
The episode ends with the baby being born at the exact same time Fielder is sucked into space after the tree branch he is hanging onto gets cut away. We see him floating lifeless in space and Whitney is tearing up looking at her newborn baby. It's a fascinating episode that also does seem to make rest of the series irrelevant.
It's left unsaid but it's clear that Asher was indeed cursed. But because he was cursed by two different people, it's unclear who actually is responsible. So much of what seemed important (Espanola, Green Queen, the casino stuff, the angry security guard, the cultural appropriation and how it affects Cara the Native American artist and much more) gets pushed away.
That's the problem with The Curse. It's a show that had a lot to say and seemingly ran out of time to say it. Fielder is an absolute genius but I appreciated what he did with Nathan For You and The Rehearsal more than this. Nathan For You was speaking to all the stupid things we encounter in the workplace and as consumers. The Rehearsal challenged our thoughts on dealing with other people and domestic reality. They were pretty clear messages.
The Curse was different also because there was a script and people acting. Emma Stone was incredible but you'd expect nothing less. I love that someone as talented as her (could win her second Oscar soon) completely "gets it" when it comes to Nathan Fielder. It's uncomfortable comedy that a lot of other actors might not fit into every well. I was also really impressed with how well Fielder can act. His monologue at the end of the 9th episode was great television acting regardless of who was doing it. We already knew Fielder could write, direct and be incredible funny. He can be a dramatic actor too?
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While The Curse was uneven and left me pretty unfulfilled, I'm still I glad I watched it. If you take the last episode by itself, I suppose it did stick the landing. It was very effective but when you have so many unanswered questions from the rest of the series, it all feels incomplete. I am glad I watched the series though and very excited to see what Nathan Fielder does next.
The Curse: B