With the episode title as telling as “Video Killed the Radio Star”, it’s “appropriate” that Carole & Tuesday this week is entirely about the duo making their DIY music video. While many of my previous issues remain the same, this is one of the joyous week we have with the team so far. Episode 4 is also the first time where I feel it brings the aesthetic of the titular song to life, and we have some more insights to Gus’s former life. In fact, it’s the supporting characters who pretty much steal the spotlight this week, particularly the scam AI robot IDEA, Gus and his ex-wife, Marie. If there’s one thing that I appreciate this episode attempting to address, it’s that the queer baiting going rather strong this week. Not only Carole & Tuesday doesn’t shy from confirming Marie’s current lesbian relationship (thumb up!), the bartender where Gus frequents seem to have a hot for him as well. That not to mention about Ertergun’s affection to Roddy. I believe this factor works for the show’s benefits as it adds some layers to the world culture (which, in case you haven’t catched up, is in the same universe as Space Dandy as well).
So after the failed plan last week, the group has another idea: making a music video, to a disastrous result. The moral of this story: read the goddamn reviews before buying a product. It got only 1 star out of 2058 reviews. The star here is of course the self-proclaimed robot director who drinking beer, taking a shower while drinking beer and bullying other robot while taking a shower because yes, why the hell not. The trick here is to give character a personality, and it’s all the funnier when it’s a robot. All the scenes revolving around the shootings are fun, especially the gags aim at Roddy. Poor Roddy has to dance more than 120 times by himself, has his mint-edition figures destroyed, and the luxury car that he borrowed is ruined in a flash. I have a good laugh watching the intentionally-bad CG models music video that robot creates at the end. It would’ve been fine if they upload the video just based on how unashamedly dreadful it looks.
Meanwhile, in order to fulfill the unreasonable request from our director, Gus seeks out help from his ex-wife, Marie. They share a good, albeit conventional, chemistry together, but I suspect that now that she has her “happy ending”, she might not appear that often anymore. We see how she still has high regard for Gus, that he used to be a big shot in the industry, and that he still has an eye for talents. Despite the supporting cast that are fun to watch, it’s the titular characters who actually are too plain and need more development. It feels like they are blending into the background right now. As the last note,It’s neat to catch real life inspiration on the way these characters prefer their music video to bel: Carole wants Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Roddy (being a nerd) prefers something along the line with A-ha, Gus likes a Marvel’s copycat and a romantic Tuesday wants something too generic that to even tell the real inspiration, maybe this one?
