directed by:
Wes Clark, Heaven Clark written by: The Clark Brothers genre: Drama |
Lucy is just doing what comes naturally to her, and it continually gets her deeper into trouble. While trying her best to get auditions and land a part in a major production, she encounters a whole mess of misogyny, drugs, and debauchery. As she spirals out of control by taking her situation in the direction she assumes it's supposed to go - living the life of an actress, it seems like she's stumbled her way into a complete dead end and that her career ends up over before it really even started. Then we're introduced to the ironically named Chastity, who is the quintessential groupie, looking to connect with rockstars of all kinds - married or not. In fact, it seems like she prefers it if they are – life is a bit of a game to Chastity, and she's happy to play it as the main character.
Sleeping with the famous has provided her with many perks, from free alcohol to hush money and, of course, stories that'll last a lifetime. After being invited to a party where she realizes she's just one more pretty face among many, she considers leaving for a moment - before giving into her primal urges. Instead of getting the free stuff she's been accustomed to getting, Chastity gets looted and booted, learning life lessons the hard way. Much like Lucy's situation beforehand, Chastity's life is becoming a mess; and of course, we sympathize and hope that they figure out a better path. As it turns out, that's what we're really watching – these are the backstories of a larger reality-style show they're a part of. At least, I think so? This being a pilot and all, that's still a little bit unclear by the end of the first episode – they're either a part of a new show, or they're legit learning about how to be financially successful by becoming a full-time groupie. Perhaps both – stay tuned, and we'll find out in later episodes. The makings of a decent show are here. Ultimately, I'd think the right combination of revealing the backstory of the women attending these groupie classes and showing us where they go from here could definitely be entertaining. It's always tough to completely wrap your mind around where a pilot will go with the whole story, but the key element, to me, has always been - does or does it not have possibility and potential to go on from what we see? In the case of "Groupie: The Blueprint Of A Self-Made Millionaire," there are lots of avenues they could take from here, and if they play their cards just right, it might go on to be something as clever as "UnREAL" was, where they lampooned what reality TV was all about from both sides of the camera lens. I could see this going in that kind of direction. Or when it comes to the classroom aspect, there's a whole lot that could be done with that and showing how people would learn the craft of fleecing the famous for their money in all kinds of creative ways. This show could go into some really dark places, choose to keep it more light and comedic, and/or switch it up between both of those directions and I'm confident the audience would go along with them.
What's always been paramount, above all things, in considering a pilot is whether or not we'd keep watching from here. I'm pretty confident in saying "I" would. As things progress, actors dial into their characters more, writers know how to play to the strengths of their cast, and the directors know how to get the most out of every moment they want to include – and it's very rare, if ever, that we come out of a pilot feeling like that's all already in place. So again, that leaves us to judge a pilot by future potential and what we can imagine a show might go on to do next; but that's hardly based on any kind of factual information; it's more of an instinct. As a writer myself, I can tell there are endless possibilities for multiple twists and turns and some incredible stories that could be shared about the women attending this groupie school and/or being on the reality show that I "think" is coming along with it. Now it's up to The Clarks to continue on from where they've started with what they've written and see where they can take these characters from here. We'll no doubt revisit the ones we know, like Chastity and Lucy, and I'd imagine we'll meet several more; the possibilities, in that regard, are limitless. As far as my notes on this show go, apparently, what we're seeing is inspired by true events…and you know what they say about truth being stranger than fiction. That's certainly going to play to this show's advantage as it progresses from here, I'm sure. If it's just the one dimension of being a school thing - where these ladies learn the craft of being grifters and groupies, that could work on its own, but I have the feeling this show's setting up to become more than that. I'm interested, though, and I'd watch more from here to see where it goes and what "Groupie: The Blueprint Of A Self-Made Millionaire" becomes with more time and experience – it's got good ideas to get it going, but we definitely need to see more to really get the full scope of what this show's looking to accomplish. Right now, I'm comfortable giving it three stars out of five – for now. But make no mistake, this could also be a show that goes on to be wildly addictive. |