Nathan For You Season 4

[wooders1978]

Solomon's bits were pure brilliance

[Z]

The first guy in the computer repairs store came across like someone who knew he was in some kind of bit and had no time for it at all. Like a real "ugh, fuck LA... "

[Small Man Big Horse]

...I just feel like this latest episode, rather than being weak, was just being used to set something up which will make a lot more sense later on.

I was thinking along those lines too, but I don't know if I was doing that to make up for it being a weak episode or not. I guess we'll see on Friday, anyway.

[Repeater]

Um, I think I feel slightly differently to you all about this latest episode. 

If you take this episode solely on its own merits, then yeah, possibly I can see how it could be considered weak.

However, there were lines throughout that made me think "Even for this show, those lines are a little forced", and here's why.

I don't think it's an episode that should be viewed in isolation, I think it's going to be an episode that either sets up, or is used as, a vehicle which makes much more sense when it comes to the two hour special.  I think the special might be Nathan making a film out of all of the constituent parts, like they did in the Simpsons with McBain.  Link, if you haven't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzjfrdcN1Z8

"Do you want to use CyberGuy to back up with TimeMachine?" was the last line of this week's episode, which may or may not ultimately provide some context.  I sensed there was a lot happening inside the 'time booth', and there were quite a few other lines which made me think something was more amiss.

I just feel like this latest episode, rather than being weak, was just being used to set something up which will make a lot more sense later on.

Bonkers patter lmao

[Artemis]

Anyone else excited for the finale? I've been looking forward to it ever since I found out it was feature length and centred around 'Bill Gates'.

This really is the best thing on television right now. It's rare we get anything like this these days.

[Pseudopath]

Anyone else excited for the finale? I've been looking forward to it ever since I found out it was feature length and centred around 'Bill Gates'.

This really is the best thing on television right now. It's rare we get anything like this these days.

I was actually a little disappointed that the finale was centred on the Bill Gates Impersonator as, of all the recurring characters, he's by far the dullest. However, I've got unlimited faith in Nathan and if he can persuade a network exec that the two-hour slot was justified, I'm sure it's going to be a masterpiece.

Still would have liked the finale to be something completely outrageous (like the Elon Musk/Boring Company theory or the idea that the entire Trump presidency has been a wind-up), but I suppose there's no reason this finale couldn't include similar jaw-dropping revelations.

[newbridge]

That woman in the store deserves an Emmy for her delivery of "Is that a woman? ...No."

[newbridge]

Out-of-Bill-Gates-character Bill is already amazing.

"Well, I was tryin' to have sex with her..."

"Oh... cool.. Well, is it time for bed now?"

[Steven]

I seriously doubt this is going to end up in a massively latent marriage, but this is Nathan For You, so?

Oh Bill, you fucked up over GLORIA.

[newbridge]

Bill's song at the 57-year Dumas High School reunion was something out of a David Lynch movie.

I have to say, I'm in genuine suspense about what is going to happen over the next hour. (We just got the "Why did she say she doesn't know you?" line from the trailer, so that's not the big ending)

[newbridge]

Oh god, this call. Surely there is a limit to cringe humor where the viewer just outright collapses and dies.

[Steven]

It's Louis CK's fault for making women distrust men, of course they're all gonna go lesbian now. We never heard about a husband of course, only 'grandchildren', which are probably mainly test-tube.

[newbridge]

**SPOILERS**

It's Louis CK's fault for making women distrust men, of course they're all gonna go lesbian now. We never heard about a husband of course, only 'grandchildren', which are probably mainly test-tube.

Well, we heard about a husband she's been married to for 47 years.

That's not a tear in my eye though.. just a bee in my hotel room.

[Steven]

Well, we heard about a husband she's been married to for 47 years.

Never seen. Maybe all part of Nathan's sick game?

The point is you can't imagine the real narrative behind his shows. It's so edited.

It's obviously edited to deliver humour, but what the real narrative is.. you can only guess.

[Artemis]

It's obviously edited to deliver humour, but what the real narrative is.. you can only guess.

In real life, I doubt much of what we're watching is accurate or even a fair portrayal of events. He'll make episodes when he feels he has enough to construct the story he wants to tell.

[Artemis]

Just finished the finale. Wow, that was something. It was lovely to watch something so lengthy, which didn't try to deliver laughs constantly but let them fall where they were found. I chose to believe more of it was real than deep down I suspected it was - the problem with re-using previous cast members is that they know the nature of the show and they'll play along to an extent. But enough of this felt real to allow me to suspend disbelief.

One thing I wasn't sure about was Maci. She seemed lovely but not remotely attached to Nathan, so investing in whatever was supposedly happening from his perspective was a stretch.

I finished it feeling this was probably the perfect end to 'Nathan Fielder'. I hope he does something new now.

EDIT: I find myself laughing most, after watching, at the rehearsal for meeting France. Bill letting himself into her home. "SURPRISE!"

[Moribunderast]

That left me in a an absolutely giddy state. I have very little to offer in terms of analysis right now other than thinking he can never make another episode. How can anything top that as a finale? That being said, I thought that after he took over another man's life and walked a tightrope, so...

[newbridge]

One thing I wasn't sure about was Maci. She seemed lovely but not remotely attached to Nathan, so investing in whatever was supposedly happening from his perspective was a stretch.

I interpreted that as the joke, i.e. (in-character) Nathan's big emotional ending is him hiring an escort to hold his hand while they stare out at dump trucks in a drained river bed.

The more I think about it, I think that was a very sophisticated (even inspiring?) way to end the season. For at least the first hour it seemed like the overarching point was to poke fun at Bill and his weirdness/creepiness, but by the end of that call with Frances and his decision to just go home he's almost a heroic/tragic figure. And since it's still a comedy show, Bill's ending is contrasted with in-character Nathan's faux attempts at intimacy with an escort.

[garbed_attic]

The more I think about it, I think that was a very sophisticated (even inspiring?) way to end the season. For at least the first hour it seemed like the overarching point was to poke fun at Bill and his weirdness/creepiness, but by the end of that call with Frances and his decision to just go home he's almost a heroic/tragic figure. And since it's still a comedy show, Bill's ending is contrasted with in-character Nathan's faux attempts at intimacy with an escort.

Nathan's inability to tell that Maci (who, I agree, seemed like a good sort!) was absolutely disinterested in him parallels Bill's inability to see things from Frances' perspective. I'd agree that Bill's finally letting home would be optimistic, almost inspiring, were it not got that fact that he ends up falling for the actress who played Frances like he's effectively re-staging his lost love [curious Vertigo parallels].

As someone who has only ever felt in one with the one person whose behaviour towards I relentlessly regret and who, from our email exchanges since, doesn't especially differentiate our relationship from others she had at that same time in her life (10 years ago now - fuck) the episode had me in tears (sad ones not laffy ones).

[garbed_attic]

Interestingly, an A.V. club commentator has almost exactly the opposite reading regarding Nathan and Maci...

When Maci(?) asked about turning off the cameras and said "You're filming something, that's the reason, right?" I found myself telling Nathan out loud to say "No, that's not why I'm here, turn the cameras off." There seemed to be this legitimate hope this funny, weird comedian actually liked her radiating from her that I found kind of heartbreaking. Like she was in on the joke but wished she wasn't.

[newbridge]

I'd agree that Bill's finally letting home would be optimistic, almost inspiring, were it not got that fact that he ends up falling for the actress who played Frances like he's effectively re-staging his lost love [curious Vertigo parallels].

It's always hard to pick out the truth from fiction on this show, but that ending scene with the actress seemed to me like it may have been the product of a bit more behind-the-scenes coaxing, whereas a lot of the earlier Bill storyline felt 100% genuine to me. As if this very strange old man really did come to Hollywood 60 years ago (he looked like Marlon Brandon in that old photo!), was obviously never successful, and now lives a lonely life in which he has begun to idealize a relationship he had in his youth and a different path he might have taken in life. Meanwhile, his lost love has been married 46 years and has several grand children. Then he shows up at her doorstep in a deluded attempt to win her back, realizes during the course of a filmed conversation how deluded his idealizations have been, and tells Nathan he's ready to go home.

Fucking hell, has anything more tragic (and real) ever aired on television???

(Plus, then he kills a bee.)

[brat-sampson]

That was fucking brilliant. The rehearsals were an inspired idea, and watching 'Nathan' show an escort episodes of his own show was surely one of the most impressively meta things I've ever seen. At turns hilarious and heartbreaking, heroic and tragic. I know it can't all be 100% real but considering the fact they were able to wrangle (and fully earn) a 4x length special from the time investment and resulting footage there's no doubt a lot of sincerity and effort went into this, even if right up to around the 1hr point I was expecting him to pull back, and describe how he felt N4Y needed a feelgood documentary style episode as a finale, so he went and watched a few, figured out the format and re-hired his old friend Bill the Bill Gates impersonator to play the main role...

EDIT: Question: What happened to the HazMat windshield smash clip from the trailer? It's the main thing that I don't remember seeing all series..

[checkoutgirl]

Then he shows up at her doorstep in a deluded attempt to win her back, realizes during the course of a filmed conversation how deluded his idealizations have been, and tells Nathan he's ready to go home.

Nathan basically said what was going on with Bill all along. He's an old man with nothing better to do and this wild goose chase is just something to do for him. There's obviously a kernel of truth to his lost love but deep down he knows the score and is just happy to have a film crew following him around, his expenses paid and Nathan paying attention to him.

As for the Maci side story, it was nicely edited with touching music and Maci's giggles but the idea that that whore would be genuinely interested in Nathan or that Nathan would be genuinely interested in her is laughable. As a piece it was expertly put together but I really saw through Nathan's schtick in that hotel room with that cringeworthy extended snogging session. Classic Nathan.

I agree it was so well put together and final feeling that it's as good a place as any to finish the show. The character Nathan is awkward, lonely and weird and what better place to end it that him holding hands with Maci. I assume that it's nowhere near an accurate reflection of real life Nathan Fielder's life but that's hardly the point.

[selectivememory]

Not a lot to add really, but after a slowish start, I found that pretty breathtaking stuff. As others have said, it would be the perfect place to leave the Nathan Fielder character, if this indeed turns out to be the end of this show.

I will say that I found the kissing scene quite uncomfortable and unnecessary. I just hope that Maci was properly informed of what was going on with the show.

[newbridge]

I read that entire plot line much different than others, it seems. Maci is probably the most aware non-Nathan person to have ever appeared on the show. She was very happily being paid $350/hour to act flirty with in-character Nathan on camera.

[garbed_attic]

I read that entire plot line much different than others, it seems. Maci is probably the most aware non-Nathan person to have ever appeared on the show. She was very happily being paid $350/hour to act flirty with in-character Nathan on camera.

Yeah - absolutely agree! I mean, she was essentially corpsing at how ridiculous Nathan was being and that he knew she knew this was the case. Worth remembering that she also watched several episodes of the show!

[selectivememory]

Yeah, I mean I do agree that she seemed very bright and perceptive, and could probably figure out for herself what was going on. And you could argue that there is no difference between hiring an actor and hiring a sex worker to kiss you on camera, and I suppose I have my own reasons for finding the latter uncomfortable. I say unnecessary as well, because for me you could lose that scene and the episode would be just as good. I dunno, I just had a very strong reaction of "this is weird" when it cut to him snogging her. The rest of their scenes together were great.

It's really only a minor issue for me. Did love the episode a great deal.

[brat-sampson]

I was waiting for a reaction to the *two* cameramen in the hotel room when she walked in, which was edited away. That they kept filming, along with her having already seen the show, and this being their, say, 4th 'date' all at least made it pretty clear that she was by no means under any false impression that he was just another John. Likewise for the ending, which still managed to work perfectly in-Universe and in reality.

[colacentral]

This is the first episode that I considered pausing and watching the rest later as I couldn't stand the cringing anymore. The stuff with Maci made me really uncomfortable.

The transition to Nathan writing a letter at the end caught me really off-guard. Masterful transition.

Biggest laughs for me were the moments that were edited to make Bill seem more sinister than what was clearly the reality, such as some perfect sinister music stings at particular lines of dialogue, etc. I had to rewind the reveal of his sketch of Frances, and the moment with Bill dipping back into the barrel of peanuts where Nathan was dying not to laugh.

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the age guy coming back, and his rationalisation for finding it harder to age someone by 50 years being that there's been alot more gravity.

[checkoutgirl]

I read that entire plot line much different than others, it seems. Maci is probably the most aware non-Nathan person to have ever appeared on the show. She was very happily being paid $350/hour to act flirty with in-character Nathan on camera.

yeah