Review
“Conspiracy Theory”
Season 2, Episode 10
Great men have always made sacrifices.
Forrest MacNeil has never been happy. No matter how much he insists everything is alright, Forrest can never bring himself to real happiness. He lives in a strange purgatory where none of his actions have consequences outside of the immediate proximity to him meaning his loved ones are the only ones affected through his mistakes. His father lost two homes – three counting whatever happened to him once Suzanne moved in with her mother – and he’s seemingly lost his last relative; Suzanne lost out on a new life with an unfaithful fiancée; Eric lost a father (more on that later); and AJ lost her boss. But even through the incredulously dumb antics Forrest goes along with, his friends and family continue to come back to him almost as if someone put them up to it. Tonight’s season finale deals with conspiracies and leads Forrest to believe producer Grant is behind all of the bad things that happened to him.
He has the right to think so because, in many ways, Grant is the culprit behind everything. But can, or rather should, Forrest blame him? Grant is doing his job and he’s good at it. Through clips to past episodes Forrest suggests the show is only used for dangerous reviews from eating hundreds of pancakes to getting shot to murder. Said dangerous reviews are, according to Forrest, meant to kill him. The host figures he was set up to die at least eleven times. A review master list in Grant’s office leads Forrest to believe Grant – along with Josh, Tina and Lucille—are orchestrating these reviews for Forrest’s death. He freaks out and runs away to study the evidence. Watching hours of raw footage from the show reveals nothing but conspiracy theories for the host causing Forrest to go against Suzanne’s wishes and make contact with her. He asks her for help and she gives him the best taste of reality he could ever have telling him he puts the show above everything else. But, of course, Forrest disregards this and concludes that an ex-flame has changed genders into producer Grant in order to get back at him.
Two confrontations tonight solidify Forrest as astoundingly crazy. He screams at his friends “You think you can kill me? Nothing can kill me!” and “you bunch of goddamn jackals are trying to kill me!” Seeing a man break down into a yelling hermit is hard to watch but Andy Daly does great work as the paranoid, tan clad host. But, with all of this said, Forrest is partially right about Grant orchestrating his near death experiences. As seen in the two confrontations, Grant is a master producer. His deft ability to control aspects of Forrest’s life and empty, emotionless face lead him to share similarities with Ed Harris in The Truman Show. When Forrest is consoling in him after the first fight, Grant swerves Forrest in the view of the camera in order to catch the host’s emotional outburst. Grant also correctly predicts Forrest’s route to Suzanne’s house at the start of the second meeting. An interesting exchange of words leads to Forrest and Grant falling to their dooms and AJ ends the season alone yet again.
Should you watch “Conspiracy Theory?”
Forrest MacNeil’s life deteriorated right in front of our eyes over the course of two seasons. Though it’s not entirely sad as the show could go anywhere for Forrest next season. If he and Grant survive, the two are sure to have a story to tell or a friendship to explore. The sad version of the theme music at the end encapsulates a booming season. Review is full of surprises and misdirection. That’s the beauty of this show; you never know what to expect from its characters and story. Perhaps Forrest will grow next season. Or maybe he’ll be even worse. Let’s just hope he’s alright. Oh and if you hear anything, please contact findforrestandgrant@gmail.com.