I am attracted to men in suits, but not at all to the corporate world, the heterosexist trajectory of job, house, wife, kids that was pushed endlessly through my childhood. I want a world of art and beauty.
So at first I wasn't interested in The Chair Company on HBO MAX, starring Tim Robinson as Ron Trosper, a "job, house, wife, and kids" guy whose chair collapses during a Very Important Presentation, leading to more mishaps that threaten to destroy his Very Important Career.
Trying to track down the Chair Company responsible for the defective chair, he ends up at an empty warehouse. Later a guy assaults him, telling him to "Forget about the chair company."
He doesn't. He tracks down his assailant, Mike (Joseph Tudisco), a security guard at a local cafe. But Mike says "I was hired by a guy I'd never met. He didn't show his face."
Maybe they could work together to find him?
Wait -- why is Mike so interested in helping? There must be some gay-subtext buddy-bonding going on. I'm reviewing the next episode, 1.3: @BrownDerbyHistoricVids Little Bit of Hollywood? Okayyy.
Try putting that in the Works Cited section of your research paper.
Scene 1: Family Man Ron is at Game Night with his daughter, her fiancee, and her fiancee's parents. Hey, Daughter is gay. What a surprise -- I figured this show would be entirely heteronormative. Ulp, he gets a text: "No way out!", with a photo of him taken at that moment from the hall closet.
He pulls open the closet door, and a little person pushes him aside and runs out. Family Man Ron gives chase, but Partner Mike rushes up and explains "He's my guy, LT (Joe Apelian). I had him watching to make sure you weren't setting me up."
LT meant that there was "no way out" of his hiding place. He sent the text to the wrong guy.
Scene 2: The enraged Ron wants to end the partnership, but Mike has intel: he tracked down the guy who paid him to scare Ron, but that guy was hired by someone else, and paid $50,000 for the job. That's quite a lot -- usually scares go for $400.
LT interrupts, yelling that Partner Mike isn't his friend, he's no good. He begins kicking boxes.
Left: None of the three have beefcake photos online, so I'm posting 1990s heartthrob Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays the CEO of Family Man Ron's company.
Scene 3: That night, while asleep, Ron keeps imagining LT staring at him. He checks all the closets.
In the morning, he asks his wife if they can install a security system today. A reasonable plan, but he makes it sound crazy by imagining someone with a gun bursting in and forcing them to kill each other.
Scene 4: At work, Ron is discussing something about square footage with a client (Mike Britt). A literal bug crawls into Ron's phone. Now we're getting surreal.
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When he has a spare moment, he tries to find out who owns the empty warehouse -- ulp, you have to make your request in person. But before he can duck out, he is dragged into the atrium to watch his tv interview about a shopping mall the company is building: "The way you think about Canton, Ohio is about to change: you're about to step into a bit of Hollywood." Thus the title.
The whispering is about a Mistakes Party -- where you admit your mistakes-- that Ron isn't invited to, because he's the boss.
The guy being whispered to is Cal, played by Joshua Pangborn, who starred in Skeleton Crew (2015-22). It sounds like a drama: In every season, a bear couple and their straight friends host a Halloween party that goes terribly wrong. They have to deal with the tragedy and figure out how to go on with their lives. Every friggin' year? I'd stop hosting those parties. But there also seems to be ghosts, mad scientists, and time travel.
And frontal nudity. After the break. Caution: Explicit
Scene 5: At the County Courthouse, Ron signs another name to his request. The Clerk heads back, buzz buzz frantic whisper. Oh no, something's wrong!
What's wrong: The Clerk smells bad, so her boss told her to go home, take a shower, and come back. You're so used to everything being significant. I think in this show, nothing is significant.
The property is owned by RBMG or something. Ron also sneaks a peek at the name of the last person to inquire about the property: Steven Droyco. He must be investigating the same thing.
Scene 6: Back at work, Ron encounters more quirkly coworkers and looks up RBMG: "We provide strategic oversight and operational support across a diverse portfolio of businesses." I have no idea what that means, and seasoned corporate guy Ron doesn't either. There are pie charts that don't make sense. The board members have bios on the website, but he can't find any other mention of them. When you call the customer service number, you're put on hold for hours (that's not unusual).
He meets with Mike to go over the findngs. Everyone on the board must be part of the conspiracy.
Mike: "What about her? She's so beautiful, she can't be part of is." Heterosexual identity established at Minute 13, and since when are beautiful people incapable of evil?
They buddy bond. Mike reveals how his ex-wife tried to kill him by putting sexual stamina pills in his food. Maybe she just wanted you to have more stamina.
Ron reveals that his father was a great man -- they named a bridge after him -- so he's under tremendous pressure to be equally successful.
He finally gets through to the Chair Company's voicemail, and yells: "I saw your whole board online. You're dead!" Mike adds: "Fucking pussies!" That's going to backfire.
Uh-oh, the security system his wife installed reveals someone outside the house. It's his son, drinking beer. Ron rushes home, but Son is already asleep. He leaves a note: "We gotta talk tomorrow."
Scene 7: Ron awakens to a return call from the company he threatened, and a text from his son: "Had to go. Meet me at the Runyon Cafe at 2:00."
At work, more quirky coworker stuff, and townspeople are upset that there will be no football at the mall his company is building. "We need to address this." But he has no time, it's off to lunch with his Son (Will Price).
They discuss his drinking. He's not depressed or in pain; he likes beer because in moderation it makes him less self-conscious, more fun. Is he under age, or what? The actor is 25.
"Sometimes I'll drink beer and put on Abbott and Costello. It makes me feel good that these guys found each other." They weren't a couple, buddy: their act was based almost entirely on being hetero-horny.
Scene 8: The guys interview Steven Droyco (Bardia Salimi), the last guy to ask about the warehouse. He used to work for the Chair Company but he quit. "I'm not going to do it anymore! I'm thowing out all the papers. You don't need to worry about me!" He slams the door.
The Chair Company and the Red Ball company are connected in some esoteric corporate way. This guy probably understands how, but I don't. But I can read Baudelaire in the original French:
Back home, Ron's wife is drinking and upset because she saw the Jeep Tours box in the basement. "Are you doing the Jeep Tours again?" I don't know why that's a bad thing.
"Maybe you're not psychologically ready for a high-pressure corporate job. You can quit, and I'll go back to my high-pressure corporate job" So Ron is too excitable, or too paranoid? Is this all about his delusions?
"No, I'm fine."
"You're hiding something. What is it?"
"I caught our Son drinking." Hey, you promised not to tell Mom!
Scene 10: At work, the CEO (Lou Diamond Phillips) calls Ron into his office to watch a famous football player being interviewed on tv: "Canton is about football! No football at the mall -- this is ridiculous!"
"We need to add football to the mall project," CEO says. "Maybe a mural."
Uh-oh, Steven Droyco, whose house they invaded last night, appears at the door. "I'm going to f*cking kill you!", he mouths.
Ron leads him to an empty office, apologizes for the home invasion, and promises to return his papers.
More details about the Chair Company: he worked there for four days, taking parts off chairs and putting on other parts, but he quit because he didn't like being forced to work nude. Could we get a flashback?
Back to the meeting: Ron refuses to "compromise his vision" by adding football. It's a shopping mall, a dyiing institution. Who cares?
Boss: "No, we're doing football."
On the way home that night, the security system shows him a man in a hockey mask sitting outside the house. He shakes his head maniacally. The end.
Beefcake: A lot of men in suits.
Gay Characters: The daughter has a girlfriend. Son acts like he might be gay, but it's probably not canon.
Buddy Bonding: Minimal.
My Grade: After you get used to the complex corporate-speak, and stop trying to analyze clues in scenes that are weird for its own sake, this was actually rather interesting. Maybe the whole conspiracy is the product of Ron's paranoia? Plus queer representation, men in suits, and a ginger chub. B+
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