Enlightened‘s first season took a bit to get going – but once it did, it delivered some of 2011’s finest television with episodes like ‘Consider Helen’ and ‘Burn It Down’. It’s not a show many people watch (the first season averaged in the neighborhood of 250,000 viewers each episode), but the few of us who do enjoy it were welcomed with a fantastic episode in ‘The Key’, which ties together both the smaller and larger questions of life, fitting them neatly into the context of Amy Jellicoe’s life and quest for vengeance.
When ‘The Key’ opens, Amy’s talking to her mother and Tyler about fate, golden swords in rocks, and being the chosen one. A self-fulfilling moment, yes, but as we find out in the last few minutes of the episode, are more than just a desperate grasp for attention: its Amy seeking validation for her life, trying to find the reason why she’s on the planet. She brings her stack of building evidence to Jeff (Dermot Mulroney), a whisteblowing reporter working for the Los Angeles Times, who isn’t as impressed or excited about the material as she is – partly because he’s got something much bigger on his plate about Abbaddon (which is the Jewish word for ‘destruction’, if anybody didn’t catch that in the first season). But as Jeff hints to, there’s more to this mission than Amy doing it for the little guy: as anything we do in life, it’s self-serving. She wants revenge on the ignorant people around her, former friends, colleagues, and lovers who ridicule her at every turn.
Throughout the episode, Amy constantly refers to the key – a metaphor she applies to herself, emails, Jeff, and Tyler through the course of the episode. For me, ‘The Key’ is a reference to Tyler, whose slow emotional journey continues to become more of a plot line on the show – and rightfully so. It takes him a bit to get back on board with Amy, but when he finds out he’ll be out of a job in two weeks no matter what, he hesitantly gets on board to help Amy (although there’s some suggestion that he’s just doing it because he likes her).
Most of the episode is spent with Amy convincing Jeff and Tyler to become players in her quest for life fulfillment, but it culminates in a moving scene in Tyler’s car, where they reconcile their friendship over a shared desire to find something more in their life. Tyler is reluctant, yes, but you can hear it in his voice when he tells Amy he’s used to being nothing – and although she is manipulating him to help her, Amy’s conversations with Tyler are her most honest moments – even when surrounded by narcissistic moments of her ‘needing his help.’
One thing I was worried about through the episode is that the takedown of Abbaddon would get preference over the show’s other themes, but ‘The Key’ does a terrific job intertwining Amy’s internal and external quests into one narrative, both displaying her at her best (in the car) and her worst (manipulating Tyler, being grandiose with her mom’s paper, bragging about getting 100 class action lawsuits). Amy isn’t a very easy person to sympathize with – with her narcissistic idealism and general lack of understanding how other’s perceive her – but her continuing desire to want to bring change to herself and the world around her is so refreshing to watch on TV, no matter how uncomfortable her character’s ignorance can become at times.
Grade: A-
Other thoughts/observations:
– I won’t lie: Laura Dern is so fucking good as Amy, I could care less what happens with the mysteries of Abbaddon’s secrets and other characters on the show.
– Jeff and Amy will probably have sex by the end of the season, yes?
– speaking of: no sign of Levi in this episode. Hopefully we’ll get an episode diving into his trip away and his current state of mind soon – his jarring entry and subsequent departure in last season’s finale was a little unsatisfying.
– Tyler: “I’m a happy mole.” Amy: “No. You’re not. You’re miserable.” Nobody said she was easy to love.
– my other favorite exchange was one of Helen’s only lines: “Do you believe in fate?” … “no.”
– Tyler’s reactions to himself about Amy are hilarious: when he sits in the car as she runs into Jeff’s apartment, he mutters “you fucking kidding?” to no one in particular.
– beautiful cinematography from Nicole Holofcener throughout, especially with camera movements. The combination of music and imagery on this show is beautiful.
– the turtle returns to the sky, reminding us all of nature and how fucking peaceful it is not to have human problems.
Good review. I’ve only recently stumbled upon this gem of a show, truly one of the most underrated and under seen shows currently airing.