𝟭𝟬𝟬 Best show of the past few months. Fuck it, best show to come out last year. A masterclass in directing. I’ve never seen something so uncomfortable, so wildly disgusting, so unsettling. A show whose characters make me want to blow my brains out every time they interact with someone. Fielder proves himself to be an incredible actor (and a fantastic director), but if there’s anyone that truly shines, it’s Emma Stone. Her fake smiles, her deliveries; she is the embodiment of the hypocritical nature of do-gooder liberals. Asher and Whitney spent so much trying to incorporate themselves into another culture, to “fix” it, even if they’re incapable of it, for “the good of community”. They see “fixing” Española as a way to atone for their sins, never willing to actually put the effort into helping those who need it. It’s all about feeling good for yourself after doing “God’s work”. One of my favorite lines in the show comes in the fifth episode when Whitney is arguing with her parents, and screams “Española is mine” like an spoiled brat. If the previous episodes weren’t enough for someone to see her true colors, this line does an incredible job at portraying her real self in the most unsubtle way possible. Whitney doesn’t really see the people of Española as equals, even if she tries to make it look that way every second. She sees them as subhumans pawns in her fucked-up chess game to prove herself that she is better than her parents. Asher’s fixation with curses, besides coming from his ridiculously internalized racism, is incredible. Through his eyes, a curse becomes the lies we tell each other to go to sleep. A excuse to justify the things out of our reach. It’s not until he gave in to the delusion, when he genuinely believed he was a good person that he was truly cursed. In fact, they’re all cursed.