Unstable (Season 1): The father-son duo of Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe, along with co-creator Victor Fresco, has created a cleverly zany humorous series in Netflix’s “Unstable.” The series, dealing with the serious topic of grief, does not take itself too seriously.
Although not profound, “Unstable” often wears its heart on its sleeve amidst the fast quips and jabs. All of those, if I may add, land exceptionally well. Propelled by a top-notch performance from the entire ensemble cast (led by the Lowes), Netflix’s “Unstable” is a smart comedy that demands continuation.
Unstable (Season 1) Recap:
Ellis Dragon (Rob Lowe) is the charismatically eccentric founder-owner of the biotechnology company that goes by his name. A quick montage of some of his achievements establishes him as one of the pioneers in the league of entrepreneurial billionaire inventors.
Sort of like Elon Musk, but likable. This hitherto overachiever’s life suddenly comes to a standstill when his wife of thirty years, Katie, dies. Understandably, Ellis’ life starts to spiral down (there is an actual bit in the first episode focusing on ‘spiraling’).
When two months go by, and Ellis still could not focus on work, his closest aide, the CFO of the company, Anna (Sian Clifford of “Fleabag”), has to pull the big gun out. She fetches Jackson (John Owen Lowe), Ellis and Katie’s son. Jackson himself is coping with the death of his mother in his own way.
His attempts to establish himself as a professional flutist was not going well when he gets summoned to pay a visit to his dad. Anna hopes that Jackson’s presence might spur something in Ellis, which in turn could save the company.
Because, if not, there are slayers on the board of directors who would want nothing more than the head of Ellis Dragon. The most notorious among them in that aspect are the twins. Two petulant juvenile man-child brothers who despise Ellis and, consequently, Anna. For Ellis to keep the CEO position, he would need to show some results. Ellis’ entire reputation is based on creating eco-friendly, earth-saving products.
His scientists are driven by the same passion and ideology. The primary project, creating concrete out of carbon, would be the project to keep the board of directors happy. But Luna (Rachel Marsh) and Ruby (Emma Ferreira), the two scientists responsible for this project, are struggling. And there has been no input from Ellis to guide them.
The show has plenty of other colorful characters. We have Malcolm (Aaron Branch), who is Jackson’s friend and also an employee at Ellis’. He idolizes Ellis, so much so that he considers badmouthing the boss a massive red flag when it comes to dating coworkers. We have Leslie (Fred Armisen), the board-appointed therapist for Ellis.
Ellis locked Leslie in his basement for days when Leslie blackmailed him with the threat of giving an ‘unfit/unstable’ report to the board. Jean (Christina Chang), a friend of the late Katie, seems to be the only board member with sympathy toward Ellis and Jackson.
Unstable (Season 1) Ending, Explained:
How did Jackson manage to turn Leslie?
Despite the best efforts of everyone, especially Anna, Ellis’ expulsion from his own company seems inevitable. Especially after the twist reveal that Jean is another conspirator who wants Ellis gone from the company. It all starts when Jackson unintentionally reveals to Jean (with whom he was having a jam session with Jean playing the harp) that Ellis kidnapped Leslie for a couple of days.
Now, Leslie himself has become quite the friend of Ellis. After the kidnapping (where Ellis and Leslie mostly bonded and hung around together), Leslie started to live with Ellis and Jackson. Leslie even starts to throw his own parties.
These parties are raucous and loud. So, Ellis and Jackson try to get rid of Leslie. Leslie finds that and leaves the house. Jean, who had previously offered Leslie to go against Ellis and provide testimony to the board about the ‘kidnapping’, finally lands Leslie.
Jackson, with help from Malcolm, tries to stop Leslie by trying to rebuild Leslie’s relationship with his ex-wife. But that backfires. Jackson realizes that Leslie is a lonely man in search of a ‘home.’ And Leslie always loved staying in Ellis’ basement. The basement, with the blanket fort that Leslie and Ellis built together, has become Leslie’s home. Jackson simply offers that again to Leslie. As a result, Leslie does not go against Ellis.
Why Does Ellis Burn Jean’s Car?
The last episode sees Ellis finally embrace his ‘Unstable’ side when he learns about Jean’s betrayal. Ellis has been mostly sane throughout the series. He has been eccentric and borderline narcissistic but he isn’t fully unhinged. Even his kidnapping of Leslie was done more in jest than with malice. However, Jean’s betrayal changes something in Ellis.
Throughout the whole series, Jackson tries to make his own name, disassociated from that of his father. Ellis did not understand that at first. But, as the pair spends more time together (also thanks to Eduardo), Ellis gets Jackson.
Now, Jean not only just betrayed Ellis, but she betrayed Jackson too. She pretends to be a friend of Jackson with an ulterior motive. This was the last straw for Ellis. That is why he takes the can of gasoline and lights Jean’s favorite car on fire.
Will There Be a Season Two of “Unstable”?
It is intended, and there should be another season. Ellis’ team finally gets the win with their concrete project. As a result, it does seem that Ellis’ position is safe for now. The season does provide closure to its main arc, which is the relationship between Ellis and Jackson, after the death of their closest person. But, there is plenty of scopes to build on. Jackson’s blooming relationship with Luna, Jean harboring vengeance, and The twins doing their twins things; there are plenty.
With Netflix’s recent history of cancellations (The Midnight Club, 1899), we would have to be wary though. So, currently, there is no confirmation that there will be a future installment of this series. I, for one, would be looking forward to some positive news in that regard.
Unstable (Season 1) Review:
“Unstable” is a cleverly written show. The dialogues are the show’s greatest asset. The Aaron Sorkin-like fast dialogues (Rob Lowe was a part of “The West Wing,” created by Sorkin) are not easy to craft. Unless you hit the right balance of wit and humor with just the right amount of pretension. Fresco and the Lowes are able to create plenty of such quirks through the dialogues and the characters.
The actors also soared with their quirky characters. Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe bring raw father-son chemistry to the table. The show massively benefits from that. The Lowes are the heart of the show. Along with them, Clifford’s Anna is top-notch.
All the cast members have their own character eccentricities, and all of them deliver. The show relies a lot on fast conversations. And every combination of the actors facilitates that synergy to make the banter-filled interactions totally natural.
