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UnREAL had a lot going against it in its first season. Between a spot on the Lifetime network and the Bachelor-esque subject matter, many were quick to dismiss the show sight unseen. However, between the sharp writing and powerhouse performances, UnREAL proved that it was here to play with the big dogs. In a television landscape littered with Walter Whites and Don Drapers, UnREAL gave us some female antiheroes the likes of which hadn’t been seen before.
Season two opens with Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) and Quinn King (Constance Zimmer) getting matching “Money. Dick. Power.” tattoos on their wrists as a symbol of their (fraught) friendship and rise to power. After a season of emotional complications and not being taken seriously, Rachel has earned the position of showrunner on Everlasting, our Bachelor stand in, while Quinn is now the head producer. Both women are struggling: Rachel, with harnessing her own dark gift, and Quinn against having her ideas stolen by Chet (Craig Bierko, who feels like he’s on a different, hammier show), the former megaproducer who built his empire on her talent.
While Quinn’s struggle is more straightforward, but no less compelling, Rachel’s is a winding road in search for meaning. She claims feminism as her mantra and seemingly wants to make a difference. But she’s also really, really good at orchestrating horrific situations in the name of good TV. After a season of self-destruction, Rachel appears to see the casting of a black Suitor (B.J. Britt), something that the real Bachelor has yet to do, as her way of changing the television landscape. However, despite these “noble” intentions, it’s still about the bottom line.
The women are selected based on how much controversy they can garner, and in Rachel’s hands, they are reduced to their stereotypes and exploited for ratings. However, while Rachel may reduce the girls down to “wifeys” and “villains,” UnREAL itself is never that cut and dried. The contestants are given fairly rich inner lives, and their exploitation at the hands of the producers (and those who learn how to game the system to their advantage) is never shown as anything but gross. While last season dealt with a secretly gay contestant and one that committed suicide when they tampered with her meds in order to get a more off-the-cuff reaction, this season of UnREAL will be delving into more complex race relations. While Quinn may describe Britt’s Darius, a disgraced athlete, as “not that black. He’s, like, football black,” the inclusion of a Black Lives Matter activist as one of the contestants is sure to challenge the current status quo.
Because, honestly, it all comes down to power. Rachel especially can find a way to exploit any relationship for personal gain, and while she may be looking for a change after getting involved with (and then manipulating) last year’s British Suitor (Freddie Stroma) and having a breakdown on live television, it soon becomes clear that the same Rachel is lurking just beneath the surface. She may have the sheen of “wanting to make a difference with Darius,” but she is still the same talented manipulator. Whether she is encouraging one of the contestants to forgo her education in order to have a shot at winning or encouraging fledgling producer Madison (Genevieve Buechner) to exploit her own mother’s death to get the best reaction from an interview, Rachel is in it to win it at any cost. While there may be exaggerated stakes, UnREAL never loses its edge, and neither does Rachel.
And what is the cost? Despite her feminist drive, Rachel excels at misogynistic television. No one would ever call Everlasting (or The Bachelor) empowering, and yet Rachel and Quinn’s rise to their top of their industry is. These women are manufacturing the fairy-tale ending, and they are damn good at it. It’s not often that women on television are allowed to be such deeply flawed antiheroes, but Rachel is Lady Macbeth in a headset, whispering in ears for her own gain. As we watch her orchestrate the narrative in her own image, it’s hard not to feel a mix of admiration and loathing. She excels at what she sets out to do, but sacrifices a piece of her soul with every decision. If Walter White is the king of the meth business, Rachel Goldberg sits at the unsteady head of a television empire.
Really, this is just compelling television. While it may not have the budgets or the immediate star power of its cable competitors, at the hands of creators Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, UnREAL makes it clear that it’s here to play in the major leagues, especially after winning a Peabody and sweeping the Critics’ Choice Awards. And since it’s been renewed for a third season before the second has aired a single episode, I think it’s safe to assume that this show is only getting started.
UnREAL‘s second season premieres on Lifetime tonight at 10 p.m. ET.
