Streaming on Hulu, Reboot is an American comedy series created by Steven Levitan. While telling the story of rebooting an old sitcom, the series boosts a refreshing blend of its edgy writing with incredible comic performances. Season 1 has established its characters along with their present circumstances with its first four episodes. It has also started working on its central father-daughter relationship, besides the romantic ones happening in the backdrop. The new episode navigates this established relationship while introducing a new friendship arc. The romantic angle takes a back seat to show some genuinely dramatic moments of bonding and growth.
Reboot (Season 1) Episode 5 Recap
Episode 5 – What We Do in the Shadows
Episode 5, titled ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ begins with a rehearsal for the reboot show. Reed’s (Keegan-Michael Key) father character gets upset over his wife and son for bringing the neighbor’s dog to their home. They enact a bit of him getting a call and realizing that the dog has eaten his phone. There’s a callback to the older show, where the scene gets cut. After this enactment, Hannah (Rachel Bloom) praises her father, Gordon (Paul Reiser), about a particular bit from this scene where his minor change in the script made it funnier. Reed interrupts their interaction to share an insight about the script. However, Gordon leaves after saying he is looking for his pen.
While Hannah doesn’t realize it, Reed picks up the subtext of his behavior that he wanted to avoid an interaction with him which is why he made up an excuse so that he could rush out. He mentioned his feeling of being ignored and how Hannah wouldn’t get it while it was her for all these years getting rejected by her father! Through the same chat, Hannah understands her father’s issue with having to speak with his cast and crew, which makes her want to take some action. The writing picks up on Reed’s self-absorbed nature and pokes fun at it without letting it ruin the flow of the interaction or the narrative.
In the makeup room, Bree (Judy Greer) tells her makeup person and Clay (Johnny Knoxville) about her plans to go to some random stranger’s house for a strange experience in the name of self-discovery. From what she mentions, it sounds like a quintessential L. A. thing that people get crazy about just because everyone else is doing it! Clay objects to her adventure, stating how shady it sounds and calling out this pyramid scheme. She still entirely agrees with taking drugs as some cleansing process. After getting made fun of for her plans, she leaves the vanity van.
Hannah goes to Gordon’s room and speaks about the incident involving Reed. He stands firm on his view of how it is right not to stand for the tantrums of actors for how needy they are. That’s when Zack (Calum Worthy) walks in and starts speaking about his problem involving his ex-girlfriend regarding custody issues of their dog. Gordon being Gordon, leaves the room the very next moment, looking for a pen while holding one in his hand! Hannah understands that but listens to Zack’s complete story and decides to help him herself. After getting out, she tells Gordon that she understands his frustration with the actors and goes on to plan a dinner with him. She mentions her wish to learn from his experience some lessons to deal with the cast and crew, and delighted by her openness, he agrees to the plan.
Meanwhile, Bree calls Clay from her night voyage through an empty forest road while she seems high on drugs. She also mentions that she has taken some mushrooms and praises her adventures that he had earlier mocked. When Gordon reaches the restaurant, he gets surprised to see Reed sitting there. He expected to meet Hannah, and so did Reed. They realize it to be her plan to make them speak with one another and resolve their issue. When the waiter comes in and gives Gordon a pen ‘since he always runs out of them, he cannot help but sit for dinner with Reed.
On the other hand, Hannah goes to Zach’s ex-girlfriend’s place along with him to resolve the pet parenting issue. She gets spooked seeing the dog and by the fact that they wear mittens to hold it! Nevertheless, she manages to convince her to share custody of their dog with him and goes on to offer her writer’s room to keep it. Bree and Clay, meanwhile, continue with their video call. Since she is high, Clay asks her to drop her location pin so he can go find her. However, she can’t understand what he says, which derails their interaction. He manages to find her in the deep forest, but considering that to be his savior complex as a man, she doesn’t want to go back with him.
Meanwhile, Reed and Gordon try to connect with one another while starting on an awkward note. Gordon praises Reed for his comedic talent that he admires despite being annoyed by his holier-than-thou attitude. Reed gets pleasantly surprised by this and even shares some genuine laughs with Gordon, who cracks him up with one joke. He then praises his writer back and mentions how he rarely expresses it. And, then shares how awkward he gets arguing with Gordon, considering how brilliant and sensitive he is. He asks Gordon to dig deeper to make use of this site that he has. Gordon reluctantly agrees.
Reboot (Season 1) Episode 5 Ending Explained
Clay takes Bree along with him in his car and stops at a place. He tells her to lock the door and not get out until he returns. She doesn’t listen to him and peeps into the house to find him in an AA meeting. Reed and Gordon walk down the Hollywood streets after getting drunk and seem to get along much better. They share some laughs and reach a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for Chuck Laurie. Gordon gets angry since he doesn’t like Chuck and thinks he doesn’t deserve it. To convey his friendship, Reed decides to pee on this star! Just the next moment, a police car stops next to them.
The next day, Clay and Bree catch up and speak about his path to recovery and her path to enlightenment, needing polar opposite methods. They have a moment of bonding based on these paths. He mentions that he would have gotten interested in her if she had been high 15 years ago, and she says that she would have let him if she had been high! (Such clever, sharp dialogue writing!) Meanwhile, the father-daughter duo of Gordon and Hannah meet at the office and speak about their experiences. She feels sorry to have sent Gordon to meet Reed. On the contrary, Gordon thanks her for doing so, which surprises her. She then asks him to go for dinner themselves sometime in the future. He agrees. However, the moment he turns around, a crew member comes in asking for her assistance with his chore! It seems like she is stuck in this cycle due to her empathetic nature.
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REBOOT (SEASON 1) EPISODE 5 LINKS: IMDB, WIKIPEDIA
CAST: RACHEL BLOOM, JUDY GREER, KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY, PAUL REISER, JOHNNY KNOXVILLE, CALUM WORTHY
Where to watch Reboot Season 1
