The Missing Reel

This is an episode which pushed its limits after a strong run.

I've loved the series to date, the satire and observational comedy up til now has been spot on. But this became a parody of genre within a comedy of satire, and the two just don't hold up together. I have been able to suspend belief so far for Matt and his calamitous crusade to carry his position, as it flows perfectly with the nonsense the industry is. But once you ask the audience to go further and push the parody with your character being a character within their own story but just for visual nods and gags? I felt it cheapened the quality and integrity of the series to date

I really hope to see more of the realism and grounded satire of this ludicrous industry The Studio originally portrayed going forward.

There's your note.

With the show as a whole being entertaining and even educational at times, I felt like this episode missed the mark. Just like a cliche mystery, I predicted the way this episode was going to play out from the very beginning. I feel like the plot of this episode started to get a bit corny. I didn't like how Seth Rogans character was so easily fooled or how they tried to create an old school detective narration aspect. I just feel like this episode stands out from the rest in the worst way. With the understanding that film making with actual film is become obsolete, I think they could have delivered this concept more creatively. I like the idea but the execution was too predictable.

Know that many are ga-ga about this series, but I found this episode simply ridiculous and didn't even finish it. The entire time Rogen (as head of Continental Studios) is rummaging through Zac Efron's trailer looking for a missing film reel was simply ridiculous, and idea that a head of studio would do that was beyond belief. Sure, he didn't want to become known as "the man who killed film" but seriously?

And no explanation why he is now driving a classic Corvette whose license plate is STD HEAD, even if it was once owned by a billionaire in Dubai.

Not sure how much longer I'm gonna hang in as viewer. Ted Lasso this is NOT!

I am in love with this show and this episode until the very end was no different.

The kinetic energy of the shooting is revolutionizing comedy for me. The metahumor about Hollywood has been sharp as a tack. I am laughing and laughing.

What is bothering me is that Apple should be giving these guys as much time to breathe as they want too. The ending was so abrupt. If I was going to do it, there would be a slow motion camera roll with the Chinatown song enrapturing the viewer, and instead of a vulgar voiceover, there would be text on the screen saying what happened ala a 1970s movie. Instead of the Chinatown thing being an insult, why not just have that be the final line? This could have had that perfect tone that really sticks with a person and haunts you.

In my opinion the previous episode missed a huge opportunity for poignancy too. Imagine if Seth Rogan talked to his younger self to mirror what happened in the Ron Howard film? Looking at the moon and imagining himself giving Young Seth a hug, finally forgiving himself for what he did with Ron. Imagining in my head the perfection this scene could have aspired too, that really tugs at the heartstrings. It makes me disappointed that the writers don't have that sentimentality gene that could turn great to masterpiece. Because for some reason they are capable of bringing us all the way there but not sticking the landing. Maybe if the writers see this on the 0.0001% chance they should think about upping the heart. I think if you do that Emmy's are guaranteed.

At the end I was still very satisfied with what I got, it was fun as heck and really engaging to find out the secret of the mystery in real time. This show doesn't hesitate to show you how fun it must be to work in Hollywood every day does it?

The Studio's latest episode, "The Missing Reel," satirizes the Hollywood movie industry by focusing on the cost and technical finickiness of filmmaking. Olivia Wilde is working on Rolling Blackout, a Chinatown-style neo-noir about the California solar panel racket. As her increasingly dictatorial directing style drives her cast and crew crazy, the final reel of the film goes missing. If Matt reports the reel missing, the insurance payout would cover the reshoots for the movie's climactic shootout sequence, but his premiums would go up. Matt sets out to find the reel himself, recruiting Sal as his second-in-command. As they search L. A. for the missing reel and interrogate their suspects, "The Missing Reel" becomes a noir of its own. Every episode of The Studio so far has gotten delightfully meta in its construction, using its own cinematography and structure to reflect the aspect of filmmaking being covered by the episode. Episodes 2, "The Oner," and "The Note" have all gotten delightfully meta in their construction, using their own cinematography and structure to reflect the aspect of filmmaking being covered by the episode. "The Missing Reel" also gets meta in its filmmaking, telling the story of Matt's investigation into the missing final reel of a detective noir in the style of a classic detective noir. However, it's a bit too on-the-nose in the ways it apes that style. The search for the missing reel is surprisingly engaging mystery story full of unexpected twists and turns. In its fourth episode, The Studio continues to nail its satire of the Hollywood movie industry by lampooning the hypocrisy of studio heads ruthlessly cutting costs on their film productions while giving themselves shockingly large bonuses. Wilde portrays herself as a diva driving her cast and crew up the wall, poking fun at the rumors she was difficult to work with on her last directorial feature. The Studio is not afraid to be traditionally episodic, each episode introduces a new conflict, escalates the stakes of that conflict, and resolves it in time for the end credits, all while exploring the show's characters and their relationships. The Studio, a series by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is not just about the movie industry but represents it. The show is a mix of neurotic, delusional, and unreasonably costly, and can mock itself in the mirror before turning back into a dreadful scream about the aspect ratio. The series gained momentum with "The Missing Reel," which introduces its love for film noir and fourth-wall-breaking comedy lines. In this episode, a real film roll is nowhere to be found, making it seem like a film roll made of celluloid. Olivia Wilde, in a satirical version of herself, is now getting behind the camera to direct a cool Chinatown-style neo-noir shot only on celluloid. The tenth and last reel, which includes a hard-hitting showdown and Wilde's own personal cameo, disappears suddenly, and panic attacks start. The exec, Matt, is portrayed as the perfectly wrong guy with crazy ideas and manners, as Seth Rogen is an expert in. When the hair-raising tenth reel shockingly disappears, Matt doesn't have to say that he should notify the studio or phone the insurance company. He goes full-on noir private detective, wearing a trench coat, recording hard-boiled voiceovers on his phone, and dragging his second-in-command, Sal, to have a good old-fashioned L. A. investigator's session. The show exposes the full meta, including fedoras, slow pans, back-alley interrogations, and Seth Rogen channeling Bogart by way of Seth Rogen. The question of whether this is the saturation point of the parody depends on the audience's humor tolerance. Leading reviewers opined that the show had been so promising in the elaboration of the minutest details of the episodes; mainly radioactive notes, awkward moments of creative feedback, and wrap-party rivalries. However, the show is turned along the path of being a full-on pastiche, which is no surprise. The groundless and inconclusive nature of the mystery is slowly introduced, and the eventual unmasking still has its own charm. Wilde and Efron give performances filled with biting satire that fully matched their public images while subverting them.