In the span of its eight episodes, ‘Reboot’ has created a firm dramatic base while hitting the perfect coming landing. Streaming on Hulu, this comedy TV series is ending its first season this weekend, and it is doing so with sharp writing. What fascinates me about American sitcoms is how they make their goofball characters endearing and make us genuinely empathize with them. Known as the co-showrunner for the popular sitcom ‘Modern Family,’ Steven Levitan has presented a new set of characters with this show that we wish to revisit for the emotional investment we feel in their lives.
Reboot (Season 1) Episode 8 (Finale) Recap
Episode 8: Who’s the Boss
Directed by Chris Koch, the 8th episode titled ‘Who’s the Boss’ begins inside the writer’s room, where all these comedic minds are trying to jolt down ideas for their new episode based on the anecdotes from their lives. The young vs. old writers debate seems to have cooled down by now to a significant degree, where both sides are working on building a strange idea to the next level. That’s when Elaine Kim (Krista Marie Yu) pops in and asks both Gordon (Paul Reiser) and Hannah (Rachel Bloom) to have a word with them in private. They leave the room and go to Gordon’s office when Elaine reveals that the Hulu executive who greenlit their reboot show is getting fired.
While Hannah is in shock, fearing it would risk getting their canceled (which is what many times happens with such administration changes), Gordon tries to calm her down, stating his experience with such things. Soon, they both learn that the executive is getting replaced by Tyler Griffin (Peter Gallagher), with whom he shares a not-so-good history. He gets instantly worried the moment she mutters his name. Meanwhile, on the set, Bree (Judy Greer) is getting interviewed and asked questions about her personal and professional life. The interviewer brings up the subject of Bree’s marriage with the Dutch royalty, where she acts calm and contented for the sake of maintaining a specific type of public image. The interviewer then broaches the subject of his upcoming marriage with another with whom he is having a baby.
That comes as news to Bree, who gets puzzled about how to react to it or tackle this sudden piece of information thrown at her. She panics, says that she knows about it, and says that she is in a relationship with her co-star, Reed (Keegan-Michael Key). She notes that they are also having a baby. While it instantly becomes news, Reed does not know of it. Meanwhile, in the writer’s room, Gordon shares the news about Tyler shares all his bad work memories related to this person. During this, he blurts out a detail of having slept with his wife as revenge for him canceling their original show. Alan (Fred Melamed) and Bob (George Wyner), the older writers, joke about his ‘adventure,’ noting having an idea like that for a movie.
However, this news annoys Hannah, who gets frustrated seeing him cheat on her mother and stepmother. That’s when Elaine pops by again and tells her that Mr. Griffin said both of them to come to his office. On the other side, Clay (Johnny Knoxville) is worried about the prospect of buying a house of his own and, with it, losing his identity and becoming a cliché he always feared he would become. Zack (Calum Worthy) tells his own story of having purchased multiple houses since he was 14 and then renting out them for wealth creation. He pledges to help Clay out of his misery.
On the set, Bree is still worried about broaching the news to Reed. When Timberly (Alyah Chanelle Scott) arrives, she tries to put the difficult task on her shoulders, which she smartly manages to dodge and make Bree do on her own. Bree rushes to his trailer to inform him about it and finds his girlfriend – Nora (Eliza Coupe), sitting there. They get surprised to see one another. Nora mentions coming there as a surprise visit to Reed, whereas Bree can’t explain barging into the trailer without asking for permission. She says it was something urgent that she wanted to tell Reed, but when he comes in, she keeps mum, not knowing how to share the news in Nora’s presence.
Meanwhile, Gordon and Hannah go to Tyler’s office, who goes on to praise Hannah’s talent and mentions that he is not going to cancel the show, which is what both of them feared would happen. However, he mentions casting Timberly in another show, which would require the writers to write her out of the remaining episodes from their reboot comedy show. On the set, Elaine also tells Zack that their show might get canceled soon – after which, he starts panicking. He is mainly worried about Clay, whom he advised to buy a new house. The loss of this job would make it a terrible decision, and he hopes to warn him. Yet, she fears that he would disclose the news to others and orders him against it.
Zack still goes to Clay to warn him about not buying the house. But he uses the reason for their profession’s risky nature to persuade him instead. When Clay presses him if there is any secret he keeps from him, Zack denies it. Not being convinced by Zack, Clay goes on to sign the deal. Meanwhile, when Reed is interviewed, he learns about what Bree said before in her interview about their child and leaves the interview in the middle of it. He rushes to Bree to confront her about it. She mentions blurting it out in panic, and he is pissed at her for ruining his dynamic with Nora because of her rash decision. He presses her to reveal if she is still attracted to him, and she denies it, while it seems pretty clear that she is interested in being with him.
Reboot (Season 1) Episode 8 (Finale) Ending, Explained
Do Hannah and Gordon lose creative control of their reboot?
Gordon walks around on their set and peeps into the writer’s room, having fun on their own. He gets amused seeing a blooper snippet from this new show and becomes sentimental seeing what he and his daughter have accomplished together. He decides to go to Tyler’s office to speak with him. Later, when Hannah comes to his cabin, she sees him packing up all his stuff. While she proposes a solution to work on their issue, Gordon discloses that he is leaving the show, after which Tyler won’t hinder their creative route. He mentions that the only reason Tyler created obstacles was to take revenge on him.
And he had seen Tyler praising Hannah’s refreshing new approach. So, with him gone, the show can continue as if nothing happened. However, Hannah sees history repeating itself when he abandons her without finding a way to work while staying in the situation. He assures her it not being the same, and it becomes clear how far they have come in terms of their emotional bonding. The father and daughter bonding dynamic is maturely developed throughout the season. Meanwhile, having seen the news by then, Nora asks Reed whether the news about him and Reed being in a relationship is true. He notes Bree is panicking during the interview, and nothing is happening between them.
Nora contemplates their bond and feels that their long-distance relationship is not working. Reed tries to comfort her. But from the fear of losing her, he impulsively proposes to her. Nora gleefully agrees and goes on to speak with her mother about it. The very next moment, Reed gets a call from Bree, who reveals still harboring romantic feelings towards him. He gets shaken by this revelation but falls into the conundrum since he just proposed to Nora moments before. He informs Bree that he is engaged, and she reluctantly congratulates her. This particular love triangle would be a crucial factor in the next season of the series.
Meanwhile, Clay goes to his newly purchased flat and sits in its scarily vacant space on his own. He passes the time without knowing what to do with it and the ample space he has just bought. Most of his life has gone into figuring out a place to crash for the night. So, the concept of ‘home’ might seem foreign to him and even a scary prospect. The thought of becoming a grumpy old person frustrates him because that is the precise normalness he could not achieve in his early years due to his addiction. So, even when he is offered a bottle of alcohol, it just sits there beside him in the blank space. Later, his doorbell rings, and while we assume that it might be Zack rushing to help him, it is Bree who joins him in his solitude. As the saying goes, misery loves company.
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