Mr. Corman Review: Many Worlds (Season 1 Episode 7)
Mr. Corman Season 1 Episode 7, “Many Worlds,” takes us on a sliding doors, pop-up storybook tour of Josh in different timelines with a bit of Inception-esque style.
Wondering about all the different paths a life can take is a theoretical idea that plays well in a visual medium. Mr. Corman likes to play with all kinds of artistic methods, so it is no wonder—yet still fascinating to watch unfold—that the show approaches this concept artistically.
Backgrounds and landscapes look as if we’ve wandered into a pop-up book or someone’s collage come to life, people and objects looking like they’re cut-outs from magazines and put into stop-motion. Some things are portrayed as fantastical or exaggerated for aesthetic effect.
It is all very whimsical, sometimes nightmarish, with music video and video game elements used with creative flair.
Luck, a choice, someone else’s decision, accidents, chance events—they all can change the path of a life in drastic ways, and that is what Mr. Corman examines on this episode.
The last episode, Season 1 Episode 6, “Funeral,” gave us some backstory of Josh (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Megan (Juno Temple) and their relationship. Here we get to see a version where they stay together and find success as a band and a couple.
The stage is set for a romanticized concert scene where we get to listen to more of that original music written by the show’s composer, Nathan Johnson. “So Long” is a beautiful song and Gordon-Levitt and Temple exude chemistry singing it together.
Many iterations of Josh’s possible lives follow. There’s one where he is an obnoxious, arrogant businessman. In another, he’s a hapless husband expecting his first child. One version reimagines Dax’s funeral as if Josh was the one to have hit his head and died.
Hypothetical situations play out and what-ifs are explored. What if Josh and his sister, Elizabeth (Shannon Woodward), had an intervention with their mother, Ruth, played by the incomparable Debra Winger, to try and convince her to leave her husband, their father.
Ruth: It would’ve been worse if I was a single mother. Both of your lives would’ve been totally different. It could’ve …sucked!
This ties back to the mother-son episode, Season 1 Episode 3, “Happy Birthday,” when Ruth says she’s been unlucky with men and Josh responds, “Was it luck or was it your choices?”
Going down the path of paths untaken can lead to a whole slew of emotions. Dreams and fears, regret and relief, wounds healed or reopened can manifest in these imaginings. Playing the Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda game takes one out of the present to either dwell on the inalterable past or to fixate on an unknowable future.
Megan sums it up at the beginning:
There were a million steps that could’ve gone differently along the way. Either because you made a different choice or some other reason that was totally out of your control. You could be somewhere else right now. You could be someone else. But you’re not. You’re you.
“Many Worlds” plays out like a series of trippy, what-if fables with a Black Mirror-type vibe, showcasing, once again, Mr. Corman’s versatility and uniqueness.
What did you think of this episode of Mr. Corman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.
One thought on “Mr. Corman Review: Many Worlds (Season 1 Episode 7)”
When Ruth says “It would’ve been worse if I was a single mother. Both of your lives would’ve been totally different. It could’ve …sucked!” – it’s ironic because she is a single mother in the previous episodes. In episode 7 she dresses frumpy in that oversized grey sweater and jeans. Life didn’t go well for her, staying with the husband, but she says Josh is a professor, successful and married. In previous episodes, she dresses so pretty, with those white pants and colorful blouses, and is confident and funny (not hiding in the bathroom) while Josh is a failure due to her decision just as she predicted in episode 7. Funny!
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