Saget was great.
I was really intrigued by the ending, with Eric sitting alone at the bar, wondering how the hell he’s going to make this gig work, obviously feeling out of his depth, but also with some strength and creativity to draw on.
If I were writing this show, I would have Eric call Vince: “How bad do you want to be Aquaman and work with Cameron? Are you willing to play hardball? Will you back me up if I do it?”
Then Eric confronts the Queens Blvd director: “Here’s the deal. You’re going to send a print to Cameron. If you don’t, Vince will start bad-mouthing your production. He’ll start talking about the fact that you won’t let anybody see it, that he’s seen only bits and pieces, that you must have something to hide. No, this isn’t our preferred option. We’d prefer you to play ball. But I’m his manager, and his career comes first. If your movie is good for his career, then I’m a fan of your movie. If you and your movie get in the way, then you’re expendable. We’d prefer not to go this route. If we go this route, it means we don’t have a chance at the studio deal, and all we’re looking for is to get Vince into the trades talking about how shitty your movie is, because all publicity is good publicity and we will take putting his name in front of everybody to the alternative of disappearing. The bottom line is this: If you try to fuck with us, we will fuck you back, and harder. And if you need me to get Vince on the phone to tell you this personally, I will. Here’s Cameron’s address. Have the print there by tomorrow morning.”
Followed by a scene of Eric alone getting the shakes from an adrenaline crash.
And then the rest of the season would be about Eric realizing he’s taken the first steps on going down the road to turning into Ari, because often that’s what’s necessary just to get things done in that fucked-up industry, and trying to decide whether or not he’s okay with it.
That’s how I would do it. Because for me, the show is good, but it isn’t great yet. It’s teetering on the edge of greatness, and it needs to do something aggressive and audacious rather than continuing to putter along as a good-natured cousin to Swimming with Sharks. They can keep the comedy up, but they’ve got an opportunity to do something really interesting with the Eric character and his relationship with Vince, and I’d like to see the show sink its teeth into the possibilities.
