Caemeron Crain
The following recap contains spoilers for Fantasmas S1E6, “The Void” (written and directed by Julio Torres)
As Fantasmas S1E6 begins, Julio (Julio Torres) has a lead on the oyster earring that he’s learned is lost under the sea. He has a meeting with a goldfish named Deidre (Patti Harrison) and her assistant, Bryce (Sam Taggart), and hires them to find the earring. They ultimately do, and Julio heads to Incorporeal to upload his consciousness, despite Vanesja’s (Martine Gutierrez) warnings.
As Julio is being prepped for the procedure, however, he receives a call informing him that the mole on his neck is benign. Then, Oscar (Ikechukwu Ufomadu) informs him that the earring isn’t actually a part of the heirloom they’d previously discussed; it’s just an earring you can buy on Amazon. So, that’s the end of Julio’s plan to shed his body to escape his problems.
Julio is left to seek a Proof of Existence exception by producing How I Came Out to My Abuela, which he pitched to Zappos last week. Susanna (Natasha Lyonne) casts Bibo (Joe Rumrill) to star in the project. But, since Bibo is a robot and can’t get a Proof of Existence, they have to hire him as a prop. Also, Bibo can apparently project a human form now and is cast mimicking Trish (Ana Fabrega). I wonder what she thinks about that, given that we don’t actually see her in this episode.
Dustin (Dylan O’Brien) wants to hold a press conference where he’ll call for wealth redistribution, but he ultimately gives up on the idea after Vanesja informs him that this would make him less rich (and he receives a sweatshirt from a fan that says “All you did today is try and that is enough”). There is a moment during their exchange when a red dot, as from a sniper rifle, appears on Dustin’s forehead and Vanesja seems to wave it off. I’m not sure what that’s about, but Vanesja is shown to have a gun towards the end of the episode, so maybe Fantasmas is seeding something here about her character that could become relevant in a hypothetical Season 2. Or, maybe it’s just a quirky joke.
Overall, I regret to say that the humor in the Season 1 finale of Fantasmas didn’t really land for me. In part, this might be because the episode works to bring together all of the threads of the season in a way that overstuffs it with plot.
Carl (Spike Einbinder) gets hit on the head by a script of Julio’s ideas and ends up putting on a production at an elementary school, which brings Gina (Greta Titelman) and Edwin (Bernardo Velasco) back into the story, along with Michael (Jeter Rivera), the bully who told Amina (Eudora Peterson) he acts out because he wants to be seen back in Episode 1.
Julio ultimately gives Michael the doctor’s note Julio got as a child, telling Michael he’s exempt from doing anything he doesn’t want to do. That makes Michael smile, so I guess it’s a happy ending.
It also qualifies as something of a happy ending that Julio gets the Proof of Existence exception he was after and is able to get a new apartment. Even if Julio isn’t terribly happy about how he achieved this result, at least he’s escaped an apartment that was actively being demolished over the course of the episode and avoided the official process of getting a Proof of Existence.
When Julio takes a Chester, we learn that Dodo (Bowen Yang) lost his lawsuit, which Chester (Tomas Matos) is upset about. This gives us a resolution to another thread that’s run through Fantasmas Season 1. The only thing that’s really left hanging is Julio’s Dream Analysis Kit results, but S1E6 does include a post-credits tag wherein he receives a text message informing him that the interpretation is ready.
“The Void”
The main vignette in “The Void,” which serves as the source of the episode’s name, is an inside look at The True Women of New York. It’s a clear send-up of the Real Housewives franchise, featuring Emma Stone as Genevieve, Rosie Perez as Bianca, Rachel Dratch as Rellany, and Cole Escola as Dina.
Genevieve has helped Bianca design her restaurant, but Dina makes a big deal about how there is negative space in one corner, which the group starts calling “the void.” They take a quick trip away from New York, hoping to leave this drama behind. Of course, that doesn’t work and they keep bickering about “the void,” but the crux of the segment comes into view when production is shut down for the night.
They are actually on a set composed fully of green screens, and while Rellany and Dina seem to power off like they’re robots, Genevieve and Bianca remain conscious, wondering where they are. A man who identifies himself as Brandon (James Scully) enters the room and tells the women that they are being held captive but can escape after the next day of filming. He’ll leave the door at stage left unlocked. Under no circumstances, however, should they go through the door at stage right, as that’s the door to Jared’s office.
When the time comes, however, Genevieve is unwilling to leave Brandon behind, so she and Bianca go through the door to Jared’s office. Here, they learn that Brandon was actually Jared in disguise. He calls himself their creator and explains how he’s been programming their minds through his mother’s disembodied brain.
Genevieve and Bianca beg to be let free and, to their surprise, Jared tells them they can go ahead and leave if they want… to go back to prison! It turns out the women have signed contracts to evade incarceration by appearing on The True Women of New York and subjecting themselves to Jared’s manipulation, so they decide to stay. He did all of this because he thought it would make a good season finale, which implies that the scenes that seem to be behind the scenes of the fake series are actually a part of it. That’s interesting.
All told, though, none of this landed for me. I suppose Fantasmas is providing some commentary on reality TV, but I can’t quite work out what that commentary is. Perhaps the point lies simply in humor, but while I can conceptually get how everything here should be funny, I did not laugh. I can only hope this portion of the season finale worked better for you than it did for me.
As Fantasmas Season 1 comes to a close, there are a limited number of seeds for a potential Season 2. The results of Julio’s dream analysis would be one, though I thought his dream was pretty easy to interpret. Another would have to do with Vanesja as a performance artist who is actually named Martine. Bibo pranks Vanesja towards the end of the episode by pretending to be her sister, and Vanesja pulls a gun on this apparition before Bibo drops the act. Does Vanesja really have a sister? That could be something.
Of course, the meat of Fantasmas lies in its quirky vignettes, and should the show continue I’m sure that Julio Torres has plenty ideas along these lines. Season 1 has been a fun ride, so I’d be happy for it to continue.
