Dietland Review: Plum Tuckered (Season 1 Episode 5)

Dietland Season 1 Episode 5, “Plum Tuckered,” is a Plum-centric, tumultuous episode that ups the mystery.

I have been saying that the best part of Dietland is Joy Nash as Plum, and “Plum Tuckered” delivers quality Plum content. I marvel at Nash’s range on every episode, and this one is no different.

Much of the episode focuses on Plum’s journey through the dating stage of Verena’s New Baptist Plan. From bad dates and therapy sessions with Verena (Robin Weigert), Nash’s Plum portrays a variety of real and complex emotions: fear, disappointment, hope, anger.

She makes the emotional roller coaster thrilling rather than exhausting, and provides heartfelt moments throughout the ride.

The show sprinkles in surreal scenes via animation or theatricalized fantasy sequences. Sometimes they are heavy-handed and sometimes they work. They haven’t quite found the balance of it yet, and this inconsistency has been a major drawback for me.

“Plum Tuckered” does it well, but only after it gets past my skepticism that it will fail. Plum’s last date is with a man that fetishizes Plum. It gets so weird and uncomfortable that I expect it to be Plum’s imagination getting away from her, but it turns out to be a real part of the story.

Her horrible night ends with a violent altercation with a man on the street. Then she finds out about the lies that Dominic (Adam Rothenberg) has been feeding her. Plum is used and abused at almost every turn.

And I can’t quite figure out if Verena is in the same category as all these people who are using and exploiting her. The therapy sessions that Plum has with Verena are exasperating, made bearable by Plum’s reactions to all of it—in the room and when she’s considering the method outside of it.

Nash makes the viewer feel Plum’s emotions acutely with her nuanced performance. On this particular episode, this effect is heightened by stellar writing and thoughtful direction.

An example are the two scenes of Plum riding the bus. The first is just a brief push-in/pull-out camera move, but the emotion evoked makes it dynamic and an important storytelling tool.

Plum is riding the high of getting praise from Kitty. We feel her hope and pride as the camera pushes in on her. Then she gets a text reminding her of her next date—the camera pulls back—and that deflated feeling is felt just as deep.

The whole episode is comprised of these ups and downs, and expectations turned on their heads both for the characters and the viewers. It makes for an engaging hour of television.

Which is good because the show up until now has been riding the line between engaging and frustrating. Whereas Plum is an intricately developed character, almost all of the others are not, turning their subplots and motivations into farce.

Plum seems to be carrying the whole story, which is detrimental because she is just a small part of these other characters’ lives. They are made interesting by their interactions with Plum, and struggle in scenes on their own.

Kitty (Julianna Margulies) is an example on this episode. Her scene with Stanley (Campbell Scott) is dull. Her scene with Plum following her demotion is fascinating.

More evidence of this is the character Dominic. Learning about him and his deception on Dietland Season 1 Episode 4, “F… This,” is boring even though it should be a compelling reveal of the plot. (I didn’t even write about it in my review.) But, Plum finding out that he’s been lying is a gripping scene.

A lot of the subplots are tethered to Plum, and I think that is why this is a more successful episode than the others. Having Plum watch Kitty’s appearance on Murphy’s Law from her phone while waiting for her date connects her. Also, Plum seeing the news about Stella Cross break brings her into the mix of the Jennifer storyline.

Plum is the key.

I hope the show continues to focus on Plum like they have on this episode. It elevates the entire story which up until now has been spotty, at best.

What did you think of this episode of Dietland? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dietland airs Mondays at 9/8c on AMC.

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