Spoilers below for the latest episode of The Chair Company, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on HBO or via HBO Max subscription.
Never before have I watched a TV show feeling so equally torn between wanting answers to big character mysteries and wanting to cease existence within my own skin. Yet every episode of Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin’s genre-distorting The Chair Company constantly crams those two feelings into a centrifuge and tosses the whole shebang into a washing machine set for a “confuse” cycle. I love it, and the fifth installment “I won. Zoom in.” took my desperate discomfort to new heights/depths.
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As just about anyone who’s experienced Daron Aronofsky’s 2000 drug-addled drama Requiem for a Dream (which has somehow reached its 25-year anniversary) can attest, it features some of the most deplorable and emotionally debilitating scenes in all of cinema, largely from character arcs delivered by Ellen Burstyn and Jennifer Connelly. It’s also my go-to comparison for quality live-action fiction that makes me feel filthy and destroys my faith in humanity. Which is precisely the dot that connects both of these addiction-fueled narratives, so let’s wade through this flash-flood of awkward despair.
Mike’s Living Situation Gives Me SO MUCH Anxiety
Joseph Tudisco deserves some kind of award recognition for his seemingly effortless work as Ron’s right-hand weirdo Mike, who exudes sleaze-covered optimism with every breath. He’s the kind of person who’s incapable of normalcy, and Ron’s two-minute visit to Mike’s apartment quite possibly inspired as much anxiety as hanging out in a dentist’s waiting room having a meal I don’t want with every living relative I’ve avoided in the past ten years. While also riding a unicycle or something.
It initially just looks like a messy home spot, with lots of junk everywhere as Mike polishes his shoes to the nerve-grating audio of his beloved Jerky Boys-esque…comedy…album? But things immediately get more hive-inducing due to the shocking loud noises coming from the surrounding apartments. There’s no way I could stand living there for even a day without being taken over by feelings of menace and lunacy.
And that’s before Mike tries to give Ron something to eat, despite everything resembling sustenance in the apartment being well beyond recommended best-by dates. Tudisco absolutely nails this reading, making it seem like Mike really does want to feed his friend, but lacks the ability to realize how nightmarish that would be for an outsider.
Oh, what the hell? There’s barf in the sink. Goddammit. [Opens refrigerator] Let’s see….here. You want some….uh….some…uh….chicken? You want some fried…uh… [shakes head and puts takeout container back in fridge]
I’ve never in my life heard someone fake surprise while announcing vomit in a sink, so thank you, The Chair Company, for such treasures unforseen. Also, even though it’s outside of Mike’s apartment, his follow-up convo about gray beef — “You know, gray beef,” — was as disconcerting as anything. That said, props to Mike for showcasing his “True Friend” merit badge by the end, for all the ickiness that comes with.
The Bar Bully Sequence Is One Big “Nope, I’m Out”
As much as I adore The Chair Company‘s many left-field swings and twists, I can’t even imagine how the writers room arrives as a concept like Douglas Bennett’s shit-stirring bar patron Dale Brennagan getting offended by Ron’s low-key attempt to stop the dude from unwittingly dunking his elbow into a stray bowl of soup. As soon as the dude expressed anything but appreciation for Ron’s warning, I wanted to dive under a moving vehicle.
There are few things I hate more than dipshits who smile their way through unjustified antagonism, but I have to give it to this show for giving Dale a gigantic head dent that only exacerbates feelings of despair while grasping out desperately for proper exit strategies. So even though its inevitability was telegraphed in full, I still allowed some audible signs of anguish out when Ron decked Dale right in the dent. It should have felt wrong, but no…
Ron Has To Kiss A Woman On Camera To Save Another Man’s Broken Marriage
Viewers didn’t have to wait long for something that should have felt wrong and absolutely DID feel wrong. While chasing after the info-filled tablet that could feasibly help his mission to understand Tecca, Ron unwittingly stumbles upon an illicit affair and immediately has to suffer consequences for it, as do viewers. Because OH MY GOD, how is this situation even happening in a fictional sense?
It’s possible the picture of Ron’s passion-less back-office kiss with Gretchen could come back to haunt him with Lake Bell’s Barb, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if we never heard from these people ever again, and this was just another way to put Ron on uneven ground the deeper he gets into the Tecca mystery.
While none of these characters had to give up their sexual independence to score heroin in this episode of The Chair Company, and Keith David didn’t pop in to make intimidating comments about the size of his genitals, the HBO comedy still managed to elicit the kinds of feelings that only Requiem for a Dream can usually deliver. And that sure is something.
With only three episodes left to go before the entire 2025 TV schedule is overrun by Tecca seating options, The Chair Company airs Sunday nights on HBO at 10:00 p.m., following new episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry.