Maron S1E05 - "A Real Woman"

Review

This was an excellent episode. A nice, taut, unexpectedly emotional story with a nice dose of comedy.

The episode opens in Marc's living room. A younger girl is with him and they've just committed the act. She puts on her clothes, says she could really do wonders re-decorating his place, and then leaves when her ride shows up. Marc is aghast. Why would she want to change how his home looks and why is she leaving without a hint of any desire to stay?

Pretty funny in it's own right, the big pay-off to this scene is actually the contrast between it and the interaction Marc has later on during his date with Alexa, played by the always beautiful Gina Gershon. She's an older woman and, unlike the younger girl, able to appreciate the "lived-in-ness" of the place. The suggestion is that she is this way because she's more experienced and in a stage of her life where a place that feels like it has a history also feels like a home. Also, she isn't so casual about the experience. She shows a desire to stay but leaves because she has a commitment.

What's really neat about these scenes - to me, at least - is that they do a good job of highlighting the complexities of later adulthood. The desires for youth and for settling down are conflicting ones and for someone Marc's age it's entirely believable that they could be issues that you would fight with day-to-day.

So, Marc decides to help out Alexa's son who is trying to get a podcast going by allowing the kid to interview him on his podcast. The kid, Zachary, is a huge Marc Maron fan. He isn't the greatest interviewer, though, and - as you'd expect in a podcast involving Marc Maron - they end up talking about Zach instead. It turns out he isn't such a popular kid.

Then we see his father, and he is negative and unsupportive of his son. This is where it all clicks into place, for both us and Marc. In Zach's sadness as an adolescent in a world where he feels like he doesn't belong, he's decided to identify with Marc. That's why he's such a huge fan of Marc Maron.

And why wouldn't he identify with him? Marc often speaks with a candid honesty in his podcasts that makes him easy to relate to. The whole purpose of "WTF With Marc Maron" is to interview the guest and for them to reveal as much about themselves as possible in the same candid, honest way that Marc does. Why wouldn't a kid like Zachary be drawn to it?

For some reason, I really connected with that kid when I understood his relationship with Marc's podcast. It feels all too real.

8/10

Odds and Ends

• Coffee shop girl leaves with Tony to go get shabu shabu. After she leaves, Maron asks aloud "What's shabu shabu?" 
• I don't know what shabu shabu is, either.
• Mark Duplass stops by to talk to Marc about how Marc has never met a child.
• Liked this line: "That was unreal. The bed has so much more traction than the couch" 
• Gina Gershon... Even the coffee shop girl would "totally hit that"
• Old people, on tapas: What next? A plate of crumbs? A plate with 4 lentils of some kind? Microtapas? 
• Marc's jeans are not vintage. He broke them in himself.