Fosse/Verdon Review: Glory (Season 1 Episode 4)
After a string of strong episodes, Fosse/Verdon Season 1 Episode 4 “Glory” falters. While the show is still just as visually stunning as ever, the episode feels far too inside-baseball.
Viewers who are not familiar with Pippin‘s music, story, or themes, or who are not familiar with Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical film, All That Jazz, will likely find themselves somewhat bewildered.
It’s one thing to cater to the core of your fanbase — theatre and musical fanatics — but it’s another to make the story somewhat inaccessible to those that are not “in-the-know.”
For the uninitiated, Pippin centers on a man weighing whether it’s better to be content with a normal, ordinary life or if he should go out in a blaze of glory. Without that context, you’ll miss a lot of the metaphor on this episode.
The episode’s last act features a fantastical hallucination/musical interlude that attempts to draw direct comparisons between Bob Fosse and Pippin, the character.
It’s undoubtedly the most controversial and daring creative choice the show has made thus far and will draw fans and critics alike.
When Bob wakes up in a mental institution at the conclusion of the episode, it’s still not wholly clear what pushed him there.
His friend, Paddy Chayefsky (a fantastic, blustering Norbert Leo Butz) posits that Bob understands that “Success is bullshit, love is bullshit, everything is bullshit.” Is it ennui that’s torturing Bob? Is it the pressure of his reputation? Is it the emptiness of success? All three?
The relationship between an artist, success, and failure is a really interesting one, and the exploration of this feels somewhat shortchanged for another breakdown so typical of biopics. Cue the rumpled post-coital bedsheets, drugs, and booze.
The final musical scene plays like a taunt and will likely draw some comparisons to a scene from All That Jazz where tertiary characters urge the film’s protagonist (modeled after Bob) to kill himself.
On Fosse/Verdon, those doing the taunting are hallucinations of his wife, Gwen, his Pippin cast, and friends from the business.
In the spirit of the devilish Leading Player of Pippin, they attempt to lure him to jump from his hotel balcony, exclaiming that the ones who die young live forever, that ovations will greet him as he falls. The lone voice contradicting them is that of his daughter, Nicole. Ultimately, it appears she is the reason he calls 9-1-1 for help.
The whole section feels ambitious but not earned. I appreciate the effort and the vision but perhaps not the full execution.
It seems the show is trying to suggest that Fosse’s work consumed him and that, like Pippin, Fosse’s self destructive nature was a result of his feeling overwhelmed but it doesn’t do a great job of actually showing that. Mostly, he simply comes off as a jerk.
Bob’s relationship with Nicole also feels underdeveloped, so her being the one to essentially prevent him from going through with hurting himself does not have the emotional weight that it should.
Alex Lacamoire’s masterful use of Pippin music to score the moment is the only reason that moment’s dramatic weight is salvaged.
The surprise highlight of the episode is Joan Simon (Aya Cash), Gwen and Bob’s friend who is slowly dying from cancer.
Joan, the wife of Neil Simon, has been in other episodes, ever the sharp and astute cheerleader/best friend/counselor to Gwen, but her appearance here is the highlight of her run thus far.
Cash has extraordinary chemistry with Williams, and while the two have shared scenes before, this is the first time I took real notice.
Her moment in the hospital room where, in a very matter of fact way, she explains she knows she’s dying and addresses her concern that Gwen may be an absentee parent to Nicole.
The conversation between them is both subtle and layered, truly a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of greatness.
For weeks, it’s felt like Fosse/Verdon needs to address and explore Bob’s mental illness as well as Bob and Gwen’s roles as parents — roles that are as equally important as the ones they do in a theater or on a set. Hopefully, it is on the precipice of that
What did you think of this episode of Fosse/Verdon? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Fosse/Verdon airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on FX.
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Cristina Iskander
Cristina is a Broadway enthusiast, book lover, and pop-culture fanatic living in New York City. She once won a Fantasy Bachelor contest (yes, like Fantasy Football, but for The Bachelor), and can banter about old school WB (Pacey + Joey FTW) just as well as Stranger Things and Pen15. She's still upset Benson and Stabler never got together and is worried Rollins and Carisi are headed down the same road, wants justice for Shangela, and hopes to one day walk-and-talk down a hallway with Aaron Sorkin.