With every project, Nathan Fielder has cemented his role as television's trickster god. Throughout his career, he has created series that have incited uproarious laughter and poignant introspection about human communication.
With season 2 of his HBO docu-comedy series The Rehearsal, Fielder pushed the boundaries of his genre-defying comedy further than ever. The result was jaw-dropping, cringe-inducing, and profoundly thought-provoking.
Nathan Fielder walked a fine line between comedy and sincerity
While familiarity with Nathan Fielder's comedic style might add helpful context, season 2 of The Rehearsal features a fresh premise: commercial airline safety. Using the justification of improving communication between pilots in the cockpit, which Fielder repeatedly cited as the "number one contributing factor to aviation crashes in history," Fielder threw pilots through a variety of bits and experiments, each more humbling and embarrassing than the last.
In one episode, Fielder encouraged a pilot to sit in a cockpit replica and confront his girlfriend about his (completely vindicated) insecurities in their relationship. The one-sided hug at the end of the painful, emotionally charged experiment spoke volumes. Elsewhere, Fielder initiated a romantic relationship between another pilot and an actor, engineering every detail behind the scenes. The botched kiss at the end of their staged date was excruciating to behold.
Of course, Fielder saves the most humiliating experiences for himself. To emulate the heroic qualities of Captain Sully Sullenberger, Fielder orchestrated elaborate reenactments of key moments from Sullenberger's memoir, from infancy to his legendary emergency landing in 2009. The sheer lunacy of Fielder's commitment to immersion and his conclusion about the crucial role of "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence must be witnessed firsthand.
The Rehearsal season 2 strategically masked its true purpose
Of course, none of these gambits had any chance of enacting actual change in Congress or the FAA. However, despite The Rehearsal's goal as comedic entertainment, Fielder used his persona to accomplish something deeper.
Throughout season 2, Fielder made casual observations about pilots' hesitance to seek therapy or diagnose their mental health, for fear of the FAA grounding them. Sullenberger mentioned this concern in his memoir, and Fielder disclosed that pilots who auditioned for The Rehearsal spoke freely about personal problems outside of their careers. These threads culminated in Fielder undergoing an fMRI to determine whether he had autism. Why? To fill out a medical questionnaire before he flew! An! Airplane!
In the finale, Fielder revealed that he had been secretly earning his commercial pilot certification. After attending flight school, buying a retired plane from a private broker, and convincing 150 actors to fill the passenger seats, Fielder made history as the "least experienced person licensed to fly a 737 in North America." The climactic sequence of the actual flight was both terrifying and oddly inspiring. Preserving the ambiguity of his fMRI results, Fielder, in-character, concluded, "No one is allowed in the cockpit if there's something wrong with them. So if you're here, you must be fine." The implications there are chilling.
The Rehearsal season 2 is streaming on HBO Max.