You know a show is good when it manages to keep the tension from start to finish... I was so invested into the episode I didn't want it to end and when it did end it felt like it flew by.. each episodes has added more and more depth to the characters and the visuals are so pleasing its like the cherry on the top
25 Reviews
Most heartbreaking and devastating episode yet
UniqueParticle8 July 2019
Very well filmed, provocative and has few immature moments, yet still necessary. The lighting, along with cinematography is very well done! So much powerful acting while consistently having a great story with every character! Just my thoughts but I appreciate this show a fair bit.
Sam Levinson is a great director
jandy-rollo8 July 2019
I've been a fan of this show since the very first episode. The intense drama, the acting, the cinematography it's just something you rarely see. In this episode however it all exploded. The first 38 minutes, the whole carnival part was shot and edited in the most deliciously way, like a montage or music video, and you just couldn't look away for a second. The tension was building up, frame by frame, not to mention the outstanding score, until Rue walks her sister home and Jules is having that rendezvous by the lake, and finally we're rolled around in a comforting embrace which had my eyes almost in tears. Sam Levinson sure has us in the palms of his hands at this moment.
You're right, I AM SHOOK!
thefendiprint8 July 2019
This show has been absolute perfection from the beginning but this episode amplified that one step further. From the complexities of the characters, to the acting, to the cinematography, to the direction, to the editing, to the soundtrack - this is truly masterful television at its finest!
IT WAS THE BEST EPISODE SO FAR
tamas_szundi28 July 2019
The whole carnival part was so shot and edited in the most deliciously way, like a montage or music video, and you just couldn't look away for a second. Love the way the camera is flowing from one scene to the next.
It was beautifully directed, filmed and edited and the performances.. wow!!!
It was beautifully directed, filmed and edited and the performances.. wow!!!
Beautiful
albertobenavides26 August 2019
Wow. Just wow. This show is one of the best things I've seen in a while and this episode was a clear highlight. You can tell how much effort went into this and that ending gave me the feels. One of the best episodes I've seen in some time.
Probably the best episode so far
funnycommentor1 March 2022
The plot of the fourth episode was really interesting, because we get to know Jules better. The location was amazing. I was rooting so hard for Maddy and Cassie on that episode, because they were ICONIC. McKay and Nate they don't deserve them. In my opinion, the only character that needs more screening time, it's Lexie for sure, she seems such an interesting character and she isn't very well-developed. Anyway, the ending scene was so nice and I'm really happy about Rue and Jules relationship.
If I had one word to describe this episode, it would be Phenomenal
prlinap29 February 2020
It might copy some movies in terms of directing style, but it is so well directed that, i have to say, i got pretty amazed.
Story is one par with the previous 3, it portrays generation Z teenagers as precisely as every series should. It is so god damn realistic, it is unbelievable.
Eupholia
aguvallejo11 December 2023
Tell me Sam Levinson loves P. T. Anderson without telling me Sam Levinson loves P. T. Anderson, and you get this episode.
Anyone who has followed specially the first works of P. T. A., will notice without any doubt, the huge influence this director means for Levinson. The camera work, that is displayed in the previous episodes too, follows on this one, almost identical patterns to the ones we can find in "Magnolia" (1999). They are, in turn, influenced by the work of Scorsese ("Casino", "Goodfellas", even "Gangs of New York" Scorsese). What makes this episode particularly attached to Paul Thomas Anderson's style, but specifically "Magnolia", it's the combination of that camera work with the music and the follow up of parallel stories led by different characters. "Showtime" is the name of the musical piece that in "Magnolia" goes for almost ten minutes straight, which is extremely similar to the one used on this episode.
The whole sequence is so similar that it's, in fact, an undeniably outspoken homage from one director to another one.
PS: I'm a PTA nerd, and I needed to show off having found this parallelism.
Anyone who has followed specially the first works of P. T. A., will notice without any doubt, the huge influence this director means for Levinson. The camera work, that is displayed in the previous episodes too, follows on this one, almost identical patterns to the ones we can find in "Magnolia" (1999). They are, in turn, influenced by the work of Scorsese ("Casino", "Goodfellas", even "Gangs of New York" Scorsese). What makes this episode particularly attached to Paul Thomas Anderson's style, but specifically "Magnolia", it's the combination of that camera work with the music and the follow up of parallel stories led by different characters. "Showtime" is the name of the musical piece that in "Magnolia" goes for almost ten minutes straight, which is extremely similar to the one used on this episode.
The whole sequence is so similar that it's, in fact, an undeniably outspoken homage from one director to another one.
PS: I'm a PTA nerd, and I needed to show off having found this parallelism.
really good but why
rcga-4886020 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Like the script, acting, cinematography are all really good but i have no clue what this show is building to. I like what's happening, but i don't know where it's going, so it's weird. It's getting me to keep watching, but i am left a bit confused about the final destination.
1x04
formotog20 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Very good episode. The start with Jules in the "unit" was yet another example of this show being very good at dealing with tough subjects. This episode did have more of a focus on Jules but to be honest, she is an intriguing character along with Rue, so I didn't mind. The first half of the episode was fairly meh, purely because the show was dramatising a whole load of nothing. The most insignificant events were being shown. But as it went along, the tension started to build. The music and the shots were fantastic, and the way the episode travelled seamlessly between characters was so well done. Episodes like this where most characters converge on one location open up a lot of possibilities and this one certainly took advantage. Seeing the convergence of various characters here paid off nicely, and I also enjoyed the end meeting between Jules and "Tyler". I do still think the show could be much better if Rue was the centrepiece and had the majority of focus every episode but we still see a lot of her I guess
Low 8
Low 8
Love is in the air.
khaliid_rahiim7 August 2021
And by love, I mean an amalgam of fleeting and illicit feelings. There comes a point where everyone switches up on their past or current love interests, and engages in behaviour that those love interests would...not approve of. A wild episode, most of which aptly happens at a carnival.
Best episode of season 1
carinalynn9827 May 2022
Everything about this episode is perfection, the cinematography, acting, tension and pacing. Having all the characters in the same place at the same time allowed the camera to float so effortlessly between characters and storylines. It was just beautiful to watch.
AMAZING, the best episode this season !
Iamthatbitch16 May 2022
First off, the way the camera panned from one character to another at the carnival, was great and added a lot to the show, it made it more dramatic and everything in the show more connected. The script was phenomenal, the outfits and makeup are amazing in every episode but in this episode it was especially amazing . I loved how a few of the characters getting treated in questionable ways by their boyfriends/guys and having a bad time in general, led them to engage in high risk behaviors, which is common among teens in real life. And there was a lot going on with Jules, and she found out a lot of things which was interesting, and tbh great to watch her realize that she's an idiot. The aesthetic is also just amazing.
FINALLY
mindyourbiz-6185710 July 2019
Finally an episode with no shock value nudity. This episode actually focused on a story line and not gratuitous the male frontal nudity or partial female nudity found in each of the 3 previous episodes.
Building a show using a strong plot is the best way to go and it was finally achieved in this episode.👍🏻
Building a show using a strong plot is the best way to go and it was finally achieved in this episode.👍🏻
MAGNOLIA stylistic copy
tonyshanks25 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I wanted to love this episode. Then I wanted to hate it. It was CLEARLY "inspired" by Paul Thomas Anderson's BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA. The continual score even sounds like a low-rent Jon Brion. Loved the rest of the season, but I think the director is above this copycatting of others directors' stylistic touches. Be better.
Jules and the others
AvionPrince167 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The episode was mainly focus on Jules. We see her past and how she get into a psychiatric facility and how she was abandon by her mom. So in this episode we basically see them all during a carnival where see the different characters have problems ( Rue with her sister, Jules with a guy she slept with, Jules again with Nate who blackmailed her, m Maddie get rejected because of her vulgarity and her behavior because of drugs, Cassie feel that Chris dont assume their couple.). I love also the sequence with Jules and Rue when they are in bed and the transitions was pretty fabulous and work very well. We find also that blue and orange tone during all the episode and i didnt really mind. It was pretty great visuals and landscapes. I enjoyed it anyway even if it was pretty superficial (sex, drugs, love)
Disappointing
mdrewcaffin13 January 2020
Best episode so far
smithzed11 March 2022
Again, I dislike how much this show relies upon an "aesthetic" or "cinematography" to convey it's story, rather than acting, situations, or dialogue. However, the plot had some nice conclusions and expanding of the world in this episode, and it was much more passable than previous episodes.
Magnolia did it better...
Fry-TheMovieReviewer14 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Plain and simple- this is a rip-off of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999); a copycat of one of the best films to ever exist. A film that, surprisingly came out at the end of the last century, and is thus, without question, one of the best films of the last century. Shook One: PT II lacks creatively and originality by using important attributes from Magnolia, from the way the multiple story arc is presented to the use of music and fast camera movements toward characters during character revelations (and therefore as we also first see them) and character developments. Save your time and watch Magnolia (1999). You'll thank me later.
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