FrankTheTank wrote: ↑09 May 2025 10:03 am
Episode 3. Maybe the most bizarre episode of television I have ever watched in my life. I laughed out loud numerous times, and was shocked at what I was watching. If you haven't watched it yet, and you are reading this, stop what you are doing and go watch it. I can't wait to hear your opinions/feedback.
It is wild in every way imaginable and Fielder is at the top of his insane, wild, tripping on acid, game.
During that one 2-3 minute section - you know the one - I laughed harder and more continuously than I have at any television show maybe ever.
We've gotten a response from Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence:
todd-parker wrote: ↑25 May 2025 22:56 pm
Did this show's season finale just pull off the greatest rug pull in television history?
Quite possibly... what a reveal. Might have to watch it again just to process. Talk about commitment to the bit, that's probably the most I've ever seen.
todd-parker wrote: ↑25 May 2025 22:56 pm
Did this show's season finale just pull off the greatest rug pull in television history?
I think what you’re referencing is Spoiler
Nathan got HBO to pay for his pilot training without following through on the initial premise of the show?
Spoiler
He led the audience to believe his main concern was flight safety but it was really about his personal angst over maybe being autistic.
To a degree, yes, but none of that came up until later. once he got the training completed he just deleted the voicemail from the doctor. Getting the training certainly validated him, putting those concerns to rest. But also being a pilot seemed like his end game all along. At least, that is what the epilogue suggested to me, showing he’s really working as a pilot.
DJ Davis wrote: ↑28 May 2025 14:42 pm
once he got the training completed he just deleted the voicemail from the doctor. Getting the training certainly validated him, putting those concerns to rest.
I didn't read it that way, I understood that as him just leaning into his denial for laughs. I found it funny anyway.
Spoiler
Like his proof to himself that he's not autistic is that he became a pilot, which he only did by signing off on his mental health form before he got his autism diagnosis back and then just deleting the diagnosis before reading it... that's pretty hilarious. He's basically pointing out how big the mental health loophole is for becoming a pilot, which may ultimately have been one of the main points of the season?
DJ Davis wrote: ↑28 May 2025 14:42 pm
once he got the training completed he just deleted the voicemail from the doctor. Getting the training certainly validated him, putting those concerns to rest.
I didn't read it that way, I understood that as him just leaning into his denial for laughs. I found it funny anyway.
Spoiler
Like his proof to himself that he's not autistic is that he became a pilot, which he only did by signing off on his mental health form before he got his autism diagnosis back and then just deleting the diagnosis before reading it... that's pretty hilarious. He's basically pointing out how big the mental health loophole is for becoming a pilot, which may ultimately have been one of the main points of the season?
I probably could’ve phrased it better. I think he was definitely leaning into that. But also, he could be doing something else too.
Going back to what I said earlier in the thread, I truly wonder what Nathan is like if you knew the real him. After re-watching some For You episodes and past interviews, as well as an interaction he had with fans outside of the finale screening, I’m now further in the camp that the character is totally an act. He’s not that weird. I don’t think he’s autistic. I don’t think he thinks that he is. But of course, I don’t know for sure.
He also mentioned the budget of the show several times this season. Take it for what it’s worth, but I saw someone online commenting that the amount of flight training he received would cost a couple hundred K. It would be downright hilarious if he if his plan all along was to get HBO to pay for that. If his intent wasn’t to be a pilot, then I wonder why he included the epilogue at the end.
But I also certainly agree that mental health loophole the aviation industry was a main point as well.
Since he didn’t get a congressional hearing, did HBO set up this interview with a news outlet owned by the same parent company? Maybe getting more bang for their buck to promote the show? I don’t know, but it’s fun to think about.
Since he didn’t get a congressional hearing, did HBO set up this interview with a news outlet owned by the same parent company? Maybe getting more bang for their buck to promote the show? I don’t know, but it’s fun to think about.
Whatever it was it was great with pretty unbelievable moments... countdown of my favorites:
#3: reluctantly revealing that the senator he interviewed didn't actually know much about airplane safety
#2: calling the FAA "dumb" three different times
#1: repeatedly referring to his 2 hour flight loop as "The Miracle Over the Mojave"
Since he didn’t get a congressional hearing, did HBO set up this interview with a news outlet owned by the same parent company? Maybe getting more bang for their buck to promote the show? I don’t know, but it’s fun to think about.
Whatever it was it was great with pretty unbelievable moments... countdown of my favorites:
#3: reluctantly revealing that the senator he interviewed didn't actually know much about airplane safety
#2: calling the FAA "dumb" three different times
#1: repeatedly referring to his 2 hour flight loop as "The Miracle Over the Mojave"
All great stuff and beyond that … his messing with both of the anchors. Trying to goad the woman into admitting that she’s afraid to express her opinion in front of Wolf. And also, clearly they were told what to say at the beginning of the segment to reference the show. I get they’re not writing their own copy in the prompter, but still, that was blatant.
He might just be a genius. Andy Kaufman master class.
My take is that the entire purpose was that of all careers/industry's, etc. being a pilot you are told, even encouraged, to not talk about, get tested, or do anything concerning your mental health or any kind of health related issues. IF it was an act, to set up the fact that he might be on the spectrum, then that to me is somewhat a low bar. I think that part was real, and at the end, he doesn't want to proceed because he answered the questions to the best of his knowledge at the time, and that is all the industry, and he is, concerned about. He wants to fly, he obviously likes it, but he doesn't want that to be interfered with IF he has a diagnosis on the spectrum, or anything else. It was a wild final episode, and pretty shocking if you think about it, that has never been done before. He's a genius, and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.
I'm late to this, but I laughed harder at the Evanescence stuff than I have at anything else in a very long time. The 23 second thing? Who discovered that? Amazing episode.
