Somehow, someway, Joe (Penn Badgley) finds himself in trouble again. Joe already has a difficult time avoiding trouble on his own. Getting framed for murder will certainly make life more difficult. We know Malcolm is off the table, so it’s time to start the guessing game. Early money would be on Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), who had plenty of reasons to be mad at Malcolm. If Joe falls for another killer, it would make a lot of sense.
At the same time, pointing the evidence toward Kate is a bit too obvious. Rhys (Ed Speleers) is a man of the people, but the actor has played the baddie in the past (Outlander). Maybe old habits die hard? Do not discount emerging star Lukas Gage, who not only has Euphoria in his back pocket but is premiering a film at South By Southwest in March. Curious timing, indeed. Let’s jump into You Season 4, Episode 2 – “Portrait of an Artist,” directed by John Scott and written by Kara Lee Corthron & Neil Reynolds.
Recap – “Portrait of an Artist”
“Portrait of an Artist” begins with a short recap of Joe’s situation. Playing back to the last minute of “Joe Takes a Holiday,” he’s at dinner with the socialite crowd he’s come to know. After getting a text from the actual murderer, Joes realizes the killer is among them. Rhys (Ed Speleers) asks if Joe feels okay, just as Adam (Lukas Gage) gives Simon a toast. Adam makes a snide comment about murder, and Joe grows uneasy.
After returning from Simons’s party, Joe finds a note on the ground. He’s invited to a whodunit, Joes opinion is they’re the lowest form of literature. As he walks into work, he sees (Charlotte Ritchie) calling Malcolm.
Once in the library, he runs into his student Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman). Nadia lays out the rules of the whodunit. “There are no coincidences.” Joe thinks it’s Elliot (Adam James) and FaceTimes him to accuse him of setting him up. However, he has no idea what he’s talking about. Immediately after ending the call, Joe begins getting messages from the killer, who reveals he knows that Joe is not Jonathan Moore.
Joe visits Phoebe (Tilly Keeper), who is getting laser hair removal. Adam drinks in the corner while convincing a friend to invest in a nightclub. Phoebe reveals that she’s the one who sent the invite to Joe, and they’re excited about the night. Phoebe expresses some distrust in Malcolm, while Adam makes negative jokes about Kate. They also tell Joe he’s dressed “too poor” and have their bodyguard Vic (Sean Pertwee) take him to get fitted for a new outfit.
Joe gets fitted for the new jacket while other members of the social club make cracks at Malcolm. Simon (Aiden Cheng), Gemma (Eve Austin), and Connie (Dario Coates) express their distrust of Malcolm.
Joe searches Malcolm’s office at work, where he finds a book of racing bets. On the way out, he runs into Nadia. In the conversation, he realizes that he’s not using his stalker skills to his benefit.
He begins checking out his new friend group. He starts following Adam, and Joe realizes that Malcolm refers to the trust fund kid as “the Sun King” in the gambling journal. Joe follows Adam to the back of a restaurant, where a waiter gives Adam a golden shower. Just before Joe leaves, Vic catches him and roughs him up. Vic tells Joe to forget what he saw and lets him go.
Joe sneaks into Simons through the back of the venue. The woman who lets him in seems uneasy, but they sneak in together. After giving Kate a compliment (which she rejects), Joe meets Roald (Ben Wiggins), who seems intrigued by Joe’s presence. Joe steps out to discuss Malcolm, who warns about Malcolm’s propensity for blackmail. It makes Joe rule out Adam, as it would not make sense to give out his potential motive.
Joe and Rhys question their role in the group while looking at a painting of a cat. The woman that let him yells at Simon and throws red paint on the canvas. After Simon tries to pass off the event as part of his show, he threatens Kate. Joe realizes he knows where the saboteur went, and he brings Kate with him. The saboteur goes by the name Blue (Abigail Hardingham) and reveals that Simon stole her art. Simon also hooked Blue on drugs to discredit her.
Joe thinks that Simon is potentially guilty of killing Malcolm. Joe realizes Blue is in Malcolm’s journal, so he begins to watch Simon. However, he falls asleep on a bench, and when he wakes up, he has texts from the killer on his phone. He rushes upstairs and sees Simon dead and missing an ear.
Joe shows up at Phoebe’s house, where half the people make jokes about Simon’s death. Rhys and Joe commiserate on the balcony, where Rhys reveals he knew that Simon was a fraud, but he hoped he’d come clean. Joe checks in on Kate and eavesdrops on her sending Blue to rehab.
Joe goes to work and speaks with his student Nadia. She appears to have been more involved with Malcolm than she lets on. Nadia reveals that Malcolm had agreed to read pages for her book. While Joe suspects a potential affair, he agrees to read Nadia’s pages. When Joe returns home, he sees a wall of articles about all the people he’s killed in the last few years. A text rolls in. “Hello Joe.”
The Breakdown – “Portrait of an Artist”
Welp, it seems the Lukas Gage theory could not even make it through the recap. However, there are a few new contenders. Amy-Leigh Hickman‘s Nadia seems to know a LOT about the murder mystery. Considering she might have been involved with Malcolm, she has to be considered. Using her as the killer would also lend a Scream vibe to You, which certainly would not be a bad deal. Regardless of who the killer is, we finally get an antagonist that puts Joe on his heels. The wall of newspaper articles was also a nice touch, actually adding tension to an episode that really needed it.
Meanwhile, others certainly continue to stand out. Again, Charlotte Ritchie stands out for her cold performance. However, there seems to be more working beneath the surface of the character. Again, it seems too obvious, and this might be one of the few actresses capable of breaking through.
One fundamental issue with the episode stems from its focus on Simon. He’s never fully developed in his two episodes, and while it’s still tragic, he did not bring much to the table. It’s unclear if that’s on the writing or on the teleplay, but Simon was simply too milquetoast to say anything new about the world he occupies. It’s a shame because there’s a lot to pull from the art world, and most of it felt too basic here.
Additionally, the episode never earns the idea that Simon is the killer. We’re told reasons by Joe, but its a stretch in the best of circumstances. These characters are either oblivious, or they’re chess players. The powerful do not believe they’re touchable, and that proves true for Simon. However, Joe knows this and would not fall for the red herrings. Someone like Simon never feels like a real threat, and our attention would never turn that way if not for Joe’s wild theory.
Additionally, this one leans a little too hard into making Ritchie an ice queen. It’s actually upsetting to see a series with several complex femme fatales seemingly go to the laziest tropes. There’s certainly going to be more for this character to do, but the first two episodes are quite disappointing on that front.
Alan’s Rating: 5/10
What did you think of You – Season 4, Episode 2 – “Portrait of an Artist?” Let us know in the comments below! Stream You on Netflix.
Check out our other recaps You here!
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Loves movies, TV, and other Pop Culture happenings. He is a Rotten Tomaotes certified critic. He is a Board Member and the Poll Officer of the Critics Association of Central Florida. Alan received his BA from Florida State University in English Literature and Sport Management. Got his MA from UCF in Mass Communication.
Staff writer Josh Walbert looks at the Ant-Man trilogy from director Peyton Reed. A rocky start to the franchise led to one of its most exciting trilogies. To fully get the picture of the little guy, Josh revisited the three films in the franchise, culminating in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania release on February 17th, 2023. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas headline the franchise.
Ant-Man
Ant-Man was a high water mark to close out phase two of the MCU. After several entries with super-powered heroes and brilliant billionaire weapons developers, we were treated to a relatively simple everyman. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) was tricked into stealing a special suit. Soon, he’s enlisted to help steal from the suit’s owner’s former company. What set the first film in this new character’s franchise apart was Marvel’s choice to mash up genres beyond the “superhero/comic book” genre and action films. In this case, Ant-Man embraced the heist film. While Guardians of the Galaxy played with the space opera, it was not far removed from the fantastical realm of the comic book flick. Ant-Man was more grounded and fresh.
After years in development and a very public walkout by former writer/director Edgar Wright, there was little expectation for the film. However, anchored with the always charismatic Paul Rudd and bolstered by fun and fresh visuals – replacement director Peyton Reed employed macro-photography to help visualize an ant’s world – Ant-Man injected a new energy into the MCU that was needed. Months earlier, Avengers: Age of Ultron existed merely to set up future stories. Ant-Man was a stand-alone story that seamlessly fit into the larger universe. The humor was top-notch. The cast was loaded with great, if underused, stars like Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly.
Ant-Man further set itself apart from the rest of the heroes through Lang’s relationship with his daughter Cassie. This became the highlight and thread of each of his appearances. Besides the surprise reveal of Hawkeye’s family, few of these characters were provided with stakes the audience could connect with. Nobody will need to stop an alien invasion or prevent the destruction of entire worlds. Everyone would move heaven and earth to protect and provide for their children. The film brought the human element back to a franchise that had just gone cosmic. It did so in a way that was still distinctly Marvel and fun.
Josh’s Rating: 8/10
Ant-Man and the Wasp
After a tremendous opening that highlighted both the originality of director Peyton Reed and the enchanting relationship between Scott and Cassie, this film very quickly became a mess of tone and pacing. After being placed under house arrest following the events of the oft-mentioned fight at the airport in Captain America: Civil War, Scott is unwillingly dragged into a quest to save Janet van Dyne (nothing more than a cameo by Michelle Pfeiffer). Whereas he was motivated into action in the first film because of his daughter, the reverse is true here. He spends most of the film yearning to return home and sit out of the action. Cassie is almost entirely side-lined, much to the film’s detriment.
The main villain, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), remains one of the most forgettable in the MCU. While John-Kamen plays her well, she only serves to make returning cast member Douglas’ character less likable. As a result, the film became a low-stakes game of keep away. With only one great action scene, a spectacularly dynamic car chase through the streets of San Francisco, audiences cannot be faulted for wanting more of the originality that made the first film’s action exciting.
That’s not to say the film is without merit. Again, the main cast shines, with Rudd, Lilly, and newcomer Randall Park being particular standouts. The first proper introduction into the Quantum Realm is thankfully not overplayed. The writers opt to present it as a universe beyond ours, a place of limitless potential and fodder for future stories. The humor, again, is strong throughout, but this time it distracts from the emotional storylines of Hope’s lost mother and Ghost’s tragic story.
Ultimately, Ant-Man and the Wasp would be almost entirely forgettable if not for its end-credits scene. This is the first we see the true effects of the Avengers: Infinity War snap and the ramifications ultimately propel the overall Marvel story forward. However, overall, even for a film whose heroes are based on insects, the impact is very small.
Josh’s Rating: 6/10
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
After nearly sitting Cassie out of its predecessor, this third entry smartly brings her front and center. This allows her dynamic with Scott takes center stage. Though the third actress to portray Cassie after Abby Ryder Fortson and Emma Fuhrmann, Kathryn Newton gamely steps up to bring the same level of zeal and energy as Rudd. Although this dynamic forces Lilly onto the sidelines, the Ant-Man films have always been centered on Scott’s relationship with his daughter. It also illustrates the lack of chemistry between Rudd and Lilly throughout the trilogy. This, however, is more the fault of the writers delegating Wasp to a side-kick role than what the actors bring to the characters.
In this third outing, Ant-Man is faced with his biggest stakes yet, a wise decision to up the ante to match the size the hero can grow. After two films of being an everyman, Scott finally embraces his hero status following the events of Endgame. The cinematic introduction of Jonathan Majors as Kang, following the actor’s Marvel debut in season 1 of Loki, is gripping and immediately riveting. Majors turns a terrific and electrifying performance through a presence that looms large.
The film has already been criticized for its exposition-heavy dialogue. However, returning director Peyton Reed doesn’t allow the slog through the past to bog down the present. When your main villain is a man outside of time, the lines between what was and what is are blurred. Instead of slowing down the film, the exposition propels it forward, upping the stakes even further. Flashbacks are not everyone’s cup of tea. However, when done well (as they are here), they add a tension that a linear storyline might lack.
Where the film does stumble, as has been the case with several of Marvel’s past movies – as was brilliantly pointed out in She-Hulk – is in the CGI. While arguably the best environmental visuals of the recent MCU releases, M.O.D.O.K. (Corey Stoll) is laughable. He’s seemingly pulled straight from a poorly rendered video game of the early 2000s. Fortunately, Reed leans into the ridiculousness of the character’s appearance with the inclusion of a very funny exchange late in the film. However, the quality of this character fully illustrates the main problem Marvel has been facing. Too much content is being produced too fast. This spreads the visual teams too thin. Uber-producer Kevin Feige is seemingly aware of this criticism and has vowed to course correct. This promise regrettably comes too late for Quantumania.
Ultimately, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a great film, well-constructed with high stakes and exciting action. The laughs are honestly earned, and the cast gives franchise best performances. Newcomers Newton and provide further support. While it was clear this film is meant to set up the threat to come, that does not distract from the story. This results in a memorable addition to the larger MCU, a satisfactory conclusion to the Ant-Man trilogy, and an exhilarating start to Phase 5. That is a tall order that only a man with the relative strength of an ant can carry.
Josh’s Rating: 8/10
What do you think of the Ant-Man films? What did you think of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Read Alan’s review from earlier in the week. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Please check out other Sunshine State Cineplex reviews here!
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