LOS ANGELES, April 15 (UPI) -- Season 2 of The Rehearsal, premiering Sunday on HBO, takes Nathan Fielder's social experiment to exponentially deeper levels. The extent of his study makes the season absurdly funny, yet the conclusions he comes to are poignant.
In Season 1, Fielder hired actors and built sets to allow real-life people to practice difficult confrontations. The sight of people practicing on doubles played by professional actors was funny, but it did sometimes help them.
Fielder begins Season 2 with a bold task: rehearsing interactions between pilots and co-pilots to prevent airline disasters. The season must have filmed before this year's spate of airline accidents - there have always been plane crashes.
All six episodes of the season focus on this broad topic, but within that Fielder still conducts sub-experiments that are equally relevant. He exposes reality TV shows as examples of forcing people to be assertive and tests theories on dating before applying them to more consequential cockpit decisions.
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia actually proposed role playing exercises for pilots, because accidents often occur when the pilot overrules the co-pilot's warnings. The FAA didn't go for it, but Fielder had the resources to put them to the test himself.
In one scene, Fielder has a cockpit surrounded by an LCD screen to simulate flight. Watching Fielder stand on the ground just outside the cockpit window to observe is comically jarring. Still, this season may be hard to watch for some, as fear of flying is a common phobia.
He also builds a replica airport to simulate pilots' arrival to work. Sending actors to shadow crew members and even food court cashiers is a hilarious application of method acting to mundane characters. If Fielder questions something, the actors who studied the real pilot confirm it is how the person did it.
The problem solving itself is fascinating. Fielder has to get permissions from airlines, and find workarounds when he can't. His commitment to accuracy was hilarious when applied to one person's life in Season 1, and it is even funnier on a grander scale now.
Humor also comes from Fielder letting scenes linger just long enough to become uncomfortable as he observes and processes the results of testing a hypothesis.
Breaking the pilot issue down into categories becomes a fascinating study of any human interaction. Fielder is exploring why people may be afraid to assert themselves and ask for something, and how to deal with rejection that could become a personal disappointment or an overall safety issue.
Fielder really digs into the nuance of power dynamics, how a suggestion could threaten perceptions of power and lead to poor decision-making. Gender dynamics are also relevant, as female co-pilots face different issues with male superiors.
Fielder looks back on Season 1 to understand exactly how his experiment works, becoming a self-reflective way of holding a mirror up to his own show. He also addresses his previous series, Nathan for You, and issues with its streaming home Paramount+. which is quite something for HBO to allow a project from a different network to be a major discussion in their show.
Many of the experiments Fielder attempts in subsequent episodes would be considered spoilers, so they should not be ruined ahead of time. In general, the scientific method he applies makes the situations funny while still maintaining insightful analysis.
One recreation of a past environment includes subtle details that confirm it cannot be a modern scene. Fielder goes to surreal extents to experience other people's lives, but it's not just a performance. He commits to following through no matter how ridiculous it looks.
The way Fielder studies human interactions and thinks of different angles with which to approach them is fascinating. Most people in any situation just react, and most interactions are worth giving a little bit more thought to than that.
Fielder's methods may be excessive but that is the comedy. It's still smart and thoughtful, and leads to realizations that could benefit viewers and participants, whether they continue the experiment or just speak up more often in public.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
