Main cast: Peter Coyote (Alex Nolan), LaGena Hart (Leda Bedell), and Page Fletcher (The Hitchhiker)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Shouldn’t Last Scene, given its title, be better off as the final episode of this season of The Hitchhiker? Then again, maybe the folks behind this show didn’t want to tempt fate that way, heh. Then again, with the increasing number of appearances of eyebrow-raising names in its credits—Paul Verhoeven and Peter Coyote this time around—perhaps the show is on the upswing and can weather a season-closer with that title, who knows.
This episode opens, appropriately enough given its director, with a sex scene between Leda Bedell and some bloke. Nipples are displayed in close-up view, both his and hers, and there are ugly-funny orgasm faces and nails running down bare skin.
To think I was just saying a few episodes ago that this show was heading toward a more respectable route! Silly me, the whole façade was probably just a scam to get investors to pour more money into the show, and now that the checks have been cashed, the folks behind this movie then brings on the trashy and the sexy once again.
Anyway, the obligatory sex scene done with, Lena then receives a creepy phone call from the usual psycho stalker and… hey, the whole thing is a scene from a movie in the making!
Failed actor turned first-time director Alex Nolan is reviewing the filmed footage with his producer Paul and he isn’t happy because he thinks that Leda’s not giving enough authentic reaction to the frightening scenes she’s in. This movie is going to make him a hot shot, or end his career before it even begins, and he’s determined to ensure that he’d make it big without letting his lead actor drag him and his film down.
Paul is also pressuring him to deliver a money-making film, not some arty-farty crap, and threatens Alex that he’d ensure that Alex will never work again in Hollywood if this movie cost Paul money.
Everything now rides on the final scene, and Alex decides to get creative in order to get Leda to produce a masterclass performance.
Okay, this episode surprises me, because for the most part, it seems to be heading down a predictable route of an asshole treating the woman he’s sleeping with pretty badly, only to be given his comeuppance, but the nature of the comeuppance is actually a most unexpected one. It’s a measured kind of twist that will make perfect sense in a show that is more grounded, but this is show with over the top nonsensical elements fairly often, so my reaction is more of a “Not bad at all… but what is this episode doing in this show?” kind.
Say what you will about Paul Verhoeven’s movies, but the cinematography, lighting, and costumes in his works are usually top notch, and this one is no different. The whole thing screams 1980s, of course, but in a visually arresting way.
Peter Coyote plays a fine asshole, although sadly he doesn’t show any skin, but he only has half the duties of carrying the show. This is where the weakest link is: LaGena Hart. She’s as bad in acting as her character is supposed to be. Perhaps this is a choice, one made in order for the episode to be meta as possible, but if that were to be the case, then the viewer will also be led to believe that Ms Hart got this role by sleeping with Mr Verhoeven, which I’m sure is something she’d appreciate. The poor dear already had a lot to deal with the year this episode came out!
Anyway, this is another decent episode, with a final twist in the, er, Last Scene that I really like. The rest of the episode leading up to that point is gorgeous to look at but nothing really remarkable, story-wise, but still, that ending manages to turn things around nicely.
This season is coming to a close, and if they keep this up, I will actually be looking forward to the next season!
