Review: Elsbeth, “All About Eats” | Season 4, Episode 5 / Cupertino, "YUNGWOOD" | Season 1, Episode 7
We're all trying to find the guy who did this
“What kind of psychopath murders by donut?”
It’s rare that, as I write these reviews, I am tempted to use a quote from something outside of the episode in question. While not every episode of Elsbeth has the most sparkling dialogue (or, frankly, the most appropriate to use in a review), there are typically a handful of options I can pick from. But this time around, with an episode titled “All About Eats,” a story about a young up-and-comer in pop culture trying to supplant someone older and more well-known, I was tempted to just put in “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
Hopefully you, too, caught the references this week to the 1950 classic All About Eve, starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, and George Sanders, among others. All About Eve is the kind of film you will always see on TCM, the type of classic film that has aged like the finest wine in its cutting satire of how desperate people in the arts can be to stay relevant. The basics of the story work no matter the facet of popular culture. There is always someone younger on the way up to take the place of an elder statesperson, and that young turk is typically willing to do just about anything to get ahead. So instead of the world of Broadway, what if you told such a story in the world of modern competitive eating?
As I watched “All About Eats,” I did make the easy connection between the aggro-male Desi Orr (Steven Boyer) and real-life brash competitive eater Joey Chestnut. Seeing as Desi is looking ahead to the annual hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, before he bites the big one after successfully eating 51 donuts in under 5 minutes, the Chestnut connection is unavoidable. But I was actually thinking of a different real-life competitive eater with the YouTube channel Beard Meats Food.
