In this week’s episode of the AppleTV+ satirical comedy series The Studio, we see a new side to the life of the protagonist, Matt Remick, as a romantic relationship becomes the main focus this time around. Having gone through a number of tough situations with regard to his professional position as the head of Continental Studios, Matt now has to tackle a wholly personal problem as he heads over to a charity gala event with his new girlfriend. Along with these uncomfortable circumstances, Matt has to keep thinking about the final edit of a new Continental Studios film being released, as it is facing some issues as well.
Spoiler Alert
What makes Matt feel like a fish out of water?
The Studio episode 6, begins in Matt’s lavish house one morning as he brings two cups of freshly brewed coffee for his new girlfriend, Sarah, who is still in bed flicking through TV channels. Matt’s somewhat awkward and unintentionally funny side is still very much on display, as he has struggled hard to make the design of a palm tree on Sarah’s cup of cappuccino, but it now very much resembles the male reproductive organ, much to her bewilderment. The conversation soon shifts to the film playing on the TV, “MK Ultra 4,” which Matt is immediately excited about, as his studio had produced the film. He tells Sarah that he had made the film, and she naturally assumes that he had directed it but has to be corrected, for Matt says that he had ‘championed’ it, which is really his way of saying that he had helped produce the film.
Matt instantly goes into details of how he had bought the rights to the “MK Ultra” films from the original owners, who had really thought of it as a small-budget science fiction film. It was apparently Matt who had built the one film into a franchise, with multiple films and a confusing chronology, for he himself admits that the “MK Ultra 2” should be watched after seeing the 3rd part but before the 4th part. Either way, Sarah is completely clueless about the films or even the exact work that her new boyfriend does, for she happens to be involved in a starkly different profession. Sarah is a doctor, specifically a pediatric oncologist working at the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, and so she has had very little time to watch films in her life.
But this difference in professions is no matter at all to the couple, as both of them have enough romantic interest in one another to give themselves a serious try. Sarah is genuinely interested in watching all 7 “MK Ultra” films, only because her boyfriend has produced them, and Matt is obviously very keen to introduce her to this new world. They make a plan to watch the films together on the weekends, and then Sarah hesitantly asks Matt if he will be able to make some time the next night, since she has to attend a charity gala event organized by her hospital, but she does not want to attend the event by herself. Both because Sarah has shown so much interest in getting to know his side of the world better and also because he is genuinely interested in her, Matt agrees to accompany her and meet her friends and colleagues, believing that it would be a fun occasion.
Matt’s time at the fundraiser event for the treatment of cancer in children begins quite well, as he gets acquainted with Sarah’s friends, Rebecah and Steve, both of whom are doctors as well. There is a bit of confusion in the protagonist’s mind when Sarah mentions Steve having solid expertise over CARs, or Chimeric Antigen Receptors, which is a specific designation among oncologists. Matt ends up thinking that Steve is into cars, just like him, and he starts mentioning all the prized possessions he has in the form of Aston Martins and Fiats. The doctors find this confusion rather amusing, as they are relieved to have someone among them who has no idea about their profession, but this eventually does not have a positive outcome. Matt is introduced to another couple, Josh and June, and Sarah is initially of the opinion that he will have a better time talking to them, since Josh and June watch more films than the average doctors at the gala event, including herself.
But quite the opposite happens when Josh and June start conversing with Matt, for they have very different opinions about the world of cinema than the protagonist. To begin with, the couple believes that the days of going to theaters to watch films are long gone, and so they have installed a massive television at their home to watch OTT programs and video-on-demand films. Then, Matt is asked the names of some of the films his studio has produced, and none of the titles are appealing to Josh and June, because of which they start ridiculing him. Matt passionately defends his profession and his studio, for they are definitely his first love, as he talks about how almost every film, no matter how crass or bad they are considered by people, is a work of art.
Unfortunately for him, Rebecah and Steve now also join Josh and June in ridiculing this opinion of his, and the situation starts getting slightly hostile. When he tries to show the group a specific scene from “MK Ultra 4,” the doctors accidentally read a message sent to Matt by his team, which details the choices being made with regard to the trailer of a new film being produced by them, and they use this detail to further make fun of him. Thus, within an hour of being at the party among doctors, Matt feels disrespected and truly like a fish out of water, but he is unwilling to give up just yet.
What is the situation with the new film in episode 6?
Amidst the tough situation at the party, Matt also has to deal with the changes being made to the trailer of a new film by Continental Studios, titled “Duhpocalypse.” Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Jonze, the comedy horror film shows the world dealing with an apocalypse in which zombies spread a deadly virus through their projectile diarrhea. While the rest of the group at Continental Studios find the concept very amusing and funny, Jonze is strongly of the opinion that his film is actually a satire on how medical disinformation is spread so quickly and easily in the modern world of social media, and he feels that the diarrhea is a metaphor for this very phenomenon. Matt is also entirely convinced that the concept makes sense and should be backed by his studio, but the project now faces a barrier because of the recently made trailer.
The controversial trailer shows a zombie literally blast its projectile diarrhea towards the camera and towards a character, who is soon killed by the protagonist in order to stop the virus from spreading. But some of the theaters are now refusing to show the trailer on their screens because of its unappealing and gross content, asking the makers to cut out the diarrhea explosion. However, both Jonze and Matt want the specific scene to remain in the trailer, for it would best describe the kind of film they are making, and they are supported by Sal and Quinn as well. The others present at the meeting see logic in the point made by the theater authorities, for such a shocking scene might require certain certifications, and it might even negatively affect the sale of brown liquids, such as Coke, at the theaters. Some express how releasing the film on OTT would have been a far better choice, since there is hardly any censorship on streaming platforms, but the director argues that his genre works best on the big screen. Thus, the group finally decides to make some changes to the trailer without cutting out the diarrhea explosion scene, which confirms that the producer is putting his complete faith in the director’s vision.
Since the change needs to be done and submitted by 10pm on that very night, there is a great urgency to get the work done by the end of the day. However, this becomes slightly difficult for the studio executives because Matt has to be away at the charity gala, and he asks them to consult him about any and every change through phone calls and text messages. It is one such text message, in which he is told that the trailer will no longer have the zombie excrete directly towards the camera, that is seen by the doctors, and they use it to ridicule Matt and his profession. Ultimately, the studio submits a cut version of the trailer, in which the diarrhea explosion is definitely present but is not as direct as earlier, and it is finally approved by the theater authorities. Thus, Matt can be happy about saving the ‘shitsplosion,’ as he calls it, but he still has to go through a very awkward situation at the event.
Why does Matt make an enormous bid at the charity event?
As Matt grows frustrated about the sort of dismissal and disrespect that the doctors show towards his profession, the topic of conversation changes to how important one’s profession is for the world. Matt naturally wants to prove that, being a film producer, and particularly the head of an esteemed legacy studio in Hollywood, is as important and significant as being a doctor who is tasked with saving lives. The doctors do not take this statement well, as they evidently feel disrespected for having been compared to film producers, and so they describe how they have to save kids from cancer, which is surely, according to them, a much more important and reputable job.
Matt refuses to admit this, and his counterargument is that although doctors are the ones saving the lives of people, artists and filmmakers are the ones making life worth living, and that the world would have been an extremely boring place without their contribution. It must be mentioned that both sides are quite petty in not accepting that the other deserves respect and honor for all that they do. Therefore, as the doctors, now including Sarah, refuse to take Matt seriously, the protagonist pulls out a really petty move after realizing that no matter what, those working in the top brass of the film industry definitely have much more money and recognition than doctors can ever have.
While this might be seen as a flaw in our society, Matt takes full advantage of the situation by stating how even the venue of the gala fundraiser has mentions of the films that had been shot at the place, including the 2003 stinker, “Gigli,” which is considered one of the worst Hollywood films to have ever been made. Matt proudly points out how even the worst and most unworthy works of the film industry are still more remembered and regarded than the best doctors and medical professionals. In a major move to flex his money, and therefore his associated importance in society, Matt makes an enormous bid of 200,000 dollars for a golf trip that Steve and Josh had been bidding for. Although Matt has no interest in golf as a sport whatsoever, he outbids Steve and Josh only to flaunt his money in their faces and to remind them to take him seriously.
Does Matt have to concede defeat in the end?
Seeing that the situation is getting out of hand, Sarah asks her boyfriend to apologize to her friends for being so ill-behaved with them, and Matt eventually agrees. He admits that he had made a haughty mistake and had disrespected the others in the process, and he states that he wants to gift the golf trip to Steve and Josh as a continuation of his apology. However, Matt has just one demand—that the doctors agree that the work of a film producer is as stressful and important as theirs and that he deserves to be given the same respect as them. The doctors, including Sarah, simply refuse to make such an admittance, and this leads to Matt angrily walking away from them, having had too much.
But as Matt carelessly walks while speaking to Maya on the phone, he trips and falls, causing one of his fingers to break. In one last-ditch attempt, he tries to return to Sarah and her friends’ table, clearly seeking help, but she drives him away without noticing his injury. Matt evidently does not want to concede defeat, and so he starts walking away, even with the extreme pain, and soon passes out in the middle of the room. Thus, he has to be put into an ambulance soon after, and Sarah arranges for his treatment at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Even at this moment, Matt refuses to concede defeat, and he states that there will still be TV screens in his hospital room that will screen films and make the patients believe that there is a point in going through the tough treatment.
At the end of The Studio episode 6, Matt is seen with a different woman at his house, meaning that his brief relationship with Sarah is obviously over, which confirms that neither he nor the doctors had ultimately conceded defeat to one another. This time around, Matt’s new date is much more well-versed with the world of cinema, but she naturally has opinions of her own, which do not impress the protagonist, since she calls “MK Ultra 4,” the film he had apparently ‘championed,’ the worst of the franchise. As he tries to fix another date, the woman turns down his offer, meaning that this relationship (if we can even call it so) is not about to last long either.
