Post Holiday Blues Streaming 25' - The Rehearsal - Season Two

The Rehearsal is one of the most random shows on TV right now.

The docu-comedy series created, written, directed by and starring Nathan Fielder. 

Streaming on HBO's Max platform, the second season came almost three years after the first season. This time around, Fielder studies airliner black box transcripts in which the first officer feels too intimidated to challenge the captain, leading to fatal crashes due to pilot error. 

Yes this season is all about flying, pilots along with a random singing show thrown into the mix. A fake singing show, bringing back Fielder's past work on Canadian Idol to life.

In episode one, Fielder discusses this with John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member, who had once recommended role play simulation to improve pilot communication. Nathan considers the dilemma of balancing his "somewhat sincere" effort to improve air safety against expectations that he is making a comedy show. 

Nathan meets with Moody, an airline first officer who is willing to participate in simulations. When his film crew is denied entry at a terminal while shadowing Moody at work, Nathan builds a partial re-creation of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport terminal, staffed with actors who use the Fielder Method to imitate real employees. 

There, Moody role-plays interactions with an actor playing a captain. To test Moody's assertiveness, Nathan arranges a conversation between Moody and his girlfriend Cindy, a Starbucks barista whom he worries is being hit on by customers. They confront their relationship issues in a simulated cockpit with Cindy dressed as a captain, an exercise which ends awkwardly.

Over the five episodes we see the life of pilots examined, then in episode six we see what has happened in the years since season one.

Over the course of two years, Nathan obtains a commercial pilot's license and trains in a simulator to fly a Boeing 737. Though he is not experienced enough to work for an airline, Nathan finds a loophole that allows him to lease a 737 and fly it with a full cabin of actors as fake passengers. 

Because pilots must disclose mental health conditions, Nathan undergoes a fMRI brain scan to potentially detect anxiety and autism. Fearing that his flight might be cancelled, Nathan claims to not have those conditions before learning his test results. To document problems with pilot communication, Nathan films himself in the cockpit with his first officer Aaron, an experienced pilot with aspirations to be a TV producer. 

Nathan successfully pilots the 737 from San Bernardino International Airport to the Nevada border and back, emerging to applause from the actors.

Later, Nathan occasionally works as a pilot for an aviation transport company relocating 737s around the world, while declining to learn the results of his brain scan. He claims to be fine because "no one is allowed in the cockpit if there's something wrong with them."

This is a very random show. It looks at something we all know little about. The pilots who fly us from Sydney to our Euro summers. The men and women who have our lives in their hands that we briefly see at the departure gates.

I wasn't sure about this season when it first started, however the six episodes, I grew to like the season way more than the first.

Will it be back for a third run? At the time of hitting publish, no news from HBO as yet. Which is weird as HBO almost renews everything ahead of streaming or ahead of the finale. We are still awaiting a decision on Fantasmas, however The White Lotus, The Last of Us and other 2025 HBO titles have either been renewed or cancelled.

Until next time, another big finale period incoming, MobLand, The Cleaning Lady (is it going to be the last ever episode) and possibly local series Strife. The episode release dates confuses me. 

See you then.