Reaction: The Studio, "The Missing Reel" | Season 1, Episode 4

Not every episode of The Studio is built around high-profile director cameos, but it’s conspicuous that its first four episodes have relied on them.

Notably, the style of each episode has been distinct enough that the show hasn’t necessarily fallen into a rut. “The Missing Reel” descending into noir satire ensures that it’s not repeating the same patterns as last week’s installment, despite being similarly built around the interplay between a troubled production, its name director, and its star. But although we get a reunion between Neighbors co-stars with Zac Efron, I’d argue that this is still primarily about Matt’s relationship with his directors, as evidenced when he arrives on the set of Rolling Blackout to investigate the missing reel: Olivia Wilde lays it on thick that she’s so happy to be working with “a studio head who’s also a friend,” a recurring exploration of the relationship between the studio and the filmmakers they work with.

What’s different about “The Missing Reel” is the intertextuality hits much harder. Scorsese’s cameo was a light parody of the director, but it mostly stayed fairly grounded; the same was true for Sarah Polley, who has less of a public profile and was able to craft more of a distinct story as a result. The Ron Howard cameo is more about playing against type, revealing a dark side to an infamously friendly director and undercutting our expectations. But in this case, casting Olivia Wilde as a difficult director in conflict with her cast and crew can’t help but evoke the very real controversies surrounding Don’t Worry Darling and the tabloid aftermath.

There’s actually not a lot of Wilde in “The Missing Reel,” but when the episode reaches its climax, she leans into the manic energy. This is clearly not a “realistic” performance, and there’s no suggestion that she is the kind of person who would steal a reel of film in order to force the production to reshoot the scene to give Zac Efron a machine gun. But the way the episode plays into her vanity—with her cameo being the only reason she didn’t destroy the film outright—can’t help but connect to the way she was perceived following Don’t Worry Darling, and there’s some extra bandwidth in that for an episode that otherwise leans into the silliness of the situation as the “investigation” gets sidelined by a wrap party red herring.

Even more than in “The Oner,” The Studio narrows its focus here, with only Matt and Sal involved in the narrative. This would theoretically make it easier for this particular altercation with A-List talent to connect to ongoing character development, but we don’t get a ton of that here. There’s a moment where it feels like their relationship is coming to a head: we learned in the premiere that Sal also believed he was being considered for the Studio Head gig, and Matt leaps to “jealousy” when it seems like Sal has been conspiring with Efron behind his back. And while some of that tension remains even after the two men reconcile to hunt down Wilde and the reel, there’s no sense that tension is going to build to anything, as the episode has to detour back to the zaniness. The ending is similarly abrupt, a fable-esque button that directors are king in Hollywood as the film reel spools out down the hill.

There’s simple pleasure in the interplay between Wilde’s character and her real-life reputation, and in the noir trappings layered over the mystery. It’s a fun way to spend a half-hour, and that’s true of most The Studio episodes from my experience. But if the show is going to repeat the same pattern like this, those variations are going to be crucial, and there also needs to be a sense that the dynamic between the characters has to be evolving in the process. There’s less of that here, I’d argue, and it’s something I’m curious how others are responding to it as the season progresses.