Main cast: Kate Micucci (Stacey Chapman), Martin Starr (Keith Chapman), and Dan Stevens (The Alo Glo Man)
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Watching Guillermo del Toro awkwardly mouthing his lines in the opening segment, I am struck by how devoid of screen presence he is. Of course, this just means that he’s better at other things, which do not include being a charismatic film star. Whose bright idea it is, therefore, to put him in front of the camera like this? He’s no Alfred Hitchcock, that’s for sure, as every line is delivered in a painfully stilted manner.
Velma Dinkley doesn’t fit in with her office colleagues, and this upsets her. She wants to be beautiful and popular so bad, and she may get what she wants when she receives a lotion called Alo Glo for her office Christmas gift exchange.
The lotion gives her a rash, but soon, mysterious happenings begin to compel her to order and use more of the lotion. Yikes, what will happen to the poor dear now?
I don’t know what The Outside is trying to tell me.
Is it telling me that the world is mean to ugly people? If yes, then it could at least cast someone genuinely unattractive by anyone’s standards as Stacey. Velma here is actually gorgeous, so when she finally transforms into a more gorgeous person, it’s the equivalent of an “ugly” chick removing her glasses to be finally considered beautiful. Hence, this message is superficial and disingenuous.
Is it telling me, instead, that it’s perfectly okay to murder a spouse that keeps talking down to you? Considering that Keith’s patronizing attitude ends up being 100% valid—his wife is nuts—the episode isn’t doing a good job in selling me that message?
Oh, perhaps it is telling me that women are catty hags that are cruel to those that don’t fit in? Considering how this show has Velma going through extremes to fit in and is rewarded for it, I am not sure if that message had been transmitted loud and clear to me.
Kate Micucci does a great job carrying this show all on her own, with her comedic timing nicely balanced with vulnerable moments, but Dan Stevens’s hideous hair almost negates all my goodwill.
Still, there’s only so much Ms Micucci can do when the episode doesn’t seem to know what to do with itself.
