Five Questions: “The Friday Night Slaughter”
Five questions that popped into my head while re-viewing “The Friday Night Slaughter” (and in honor of this flashback-heavy episode, that’s 1999-era Matthew Perry pictured, with vintage guest host Neve Campbell):
1. Who was that singer? She’s so unknown, she’s made up. According to IMDb, the character of singer/pharmacist Diana Valdes was played by actress Gina La Piana, who I see from her IMDb page has previously played characters named Hot Friend and Hoochie. So apparently she has some experience acting with her chest.
2. Was that supposed to be Danny on the couch? At one point, Flashback Matt nudges a sleeping figure and calls him Danny, but the voice that responds didn’t sound like Bradley Whitford’s to me, and we didn’t really see enough to tell who it was. Was Whitford not available when they shot those flashback scenes, or not interested in pretending to be younger? Maybe he saw how little a baseball cap served to de-age Matthew Perry, and decided to pass.
3. Are there no vacant offices in the NBS corporate building? I guess it’s cute that Jordan wants to work out of Danny’s office while hers is being de-flead, but it seems kind of impractical. Now, if it had made it impossible for Hallie to find her, that would have had some value.
4. Where’s Jack this week? Sure, it’s not unusual in such a big cast to lose someone for a week at a time. But he’s made such a strong impression in these last few FCC-related episodes, I kind of miss him when he’s gone.
5. Is Danny being a bad friend? He’s distracted by Jordan, and I’m all for that. But it’s pretty bad timing. Just when Matt needs someone attuned to him and able to pick up on every mood and delusion, Danny’s not really all there to do the job. He’s taking this break-up too lightly, for sure — and not realizing, maybe, that Matt can’t tell Harriet “I can’t live without you” because it’s true, and if she still rejects him, then what’s he supposed to do? Right now, if Matt and Harriet were stuck on the roof, he might have to jump off.
Studio 60, NBC, The Friday Night Slaughter, commentary
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