Loot Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards
Loot is more than just a MacKenzie Bezos inspired series. It’s a twist on a classic found family tale and an ensemble show.
That said, Loot Season 1 Episode 6, “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards,” makes a pretty direct reference to MacKenzie Scott-Bezos as Molly donates significant sums of money to charity. This prominent benevolence leads Molly to winning a philanthropy award.
The inspiration for the episode aside, “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards” is a good way to bring all of the characters in Molly’s life into more of her world, now that she’s been in their worlds for awhile. The whole group gets to dress up and go to the “Manny’s” ceremony, which creates some really fun situations.
After several episodes of exploring smaller group dynamics, Loot really benefits from putting the full ensemble (more or less) together. The spilt up moments are fewer and farther between, which makes the whole episode feel more fun.
“The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards” basks in the glory of the full ensemble, but is also a barometer of progress for Molly. Instead of having a full meltdown when John shows up, Molly composes herself. When John tries to rattle her, the full group is there to support her.
The scenes with John are fantastic. For one because Adam Scott is in them, obviously.
But beyond that, Maya Rudolph really gets to show her range in each of the scenes with John. First she’s snarky and cold, but then experiences a full range of emotional responses to John’s different actions (power plays). Rudolph plays each truthfully and deftly navigates between each moment.
Both the ensemble scenes and the scenes with John work to the same end — to illustrate Molly’s growth in just the short time she’s been working directly with her foundation.
When Molly decides to bail on her acceptance speech, and the whole team gets up to go with her, it’s a full circle emotional moment. “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards” shows how far Molly has come, and that she doesn’t need her snobby rich friends or ex-husband in her life anymore — that she’s found her ragtag bunch of people.
Is “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards” a perfect episode? No. It’s funny, but shorter on laughs than normal.
But it’s a perfect showcase for Maya Rudolph and for how far Molly has come in a short time. The sooner she moves on to low-stakes silliness with her strong cast of characters — the better!
A few stray thoughts:
- I hope Howard gets enough tickets at Dave and Buster’s to get his PS3. Hopefully before the PS6 comes out.
- Also – we can all take cues from Howard’s social situation strategy. “Just eye contact and picturing everyone as Santa Claus.”
- This isn’t the funniest episode of Loot that exists, but there are several laugh-out-loud moments that I can’t in good conscience quote here. Don’t watch this one in front of your kids.
- “Your family’s vodka also does great work.”
What did you think of this episode of Loot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Nick Hogan
Nick Hogan is an experienced podcaster and writer (particularly on media topics), who loves discussion and analysis of TV and is always looking for new shows to watch. He is also a parent who loves buffalo wings, blowing raspberries, and his beloved Cincinnati Reds.