Showtime and Paramount+’s latest show starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, “The Curse,” tells us the story of a man and woman in a relationship who wants to do well for the world concerning energy consumption, fossil fuel use, and environmental awareness all within a context of a melange of bizarre entertainment and hilarity. These two are constructing housing developments with eco-friendly materials.
Still, they live their day-to-day life and have lots of challenges along the way. As the story unfolds, this couple whose knack for house renovation with the “green” label —a merchandising strategy to line up their pockets while pitching them to unaware buyers— things begin to happen in their lives as they become more and more involved in the business.
Recap
Asher Siegel and Whitney Siegel are real estate flippers. That differs from other people’s actions, though, because they renovate residences into environmentally friendly alternatives.
They are aware that their actions are exacerbating the problem of gentrification, which drives up property values and makes it harder for residents to remain in the neighborhood where they have lived their whole lives.
They try to make up for their inability to totally eradicate the issue by giving people work opportunities or helping them pay the difference in rent.
Everything seems well done, and all that is left to witness is Whitney and Asher as community-minded philanthropists committed to helping the people of Española, New Mexico. The pair has invited Asher’s college buddy Dougie Schecter to produce a show on their lives because they want the world to know this. The name of the show, “Flipanthropy,” is apt given what Whitney and Asher hope to accomplish, but there’s a catch.
The Siegels would prefer that their work be seen by the public, that they be recognized for designing environmentally friendly homes, and that their reputation be cultivated in this manner.
However, Dougie is worried that the show doesn’t seem like something that people would want to watch in its current format. The duo believes that “Flipanthropy” would just end up as an infomercial. Drama is what the audience needs, and Dougie is willing to provide it in whatever way he can.
Even though it’s a reality show, Dougie is aware that dramatic effect frequently requires staging. The Siegels don’t understand why he needs the subject’s mother to cry happy tears, even though she doesn’t feel that way, or why he needs to say a certain thing in a particular way, but for the director, the most important thing is to make sure the audience isn’t bored to death.
During one such attempt, he instructs Asher to give a small girl peddling a six-pack in the parking lot some cash. Although his intention is to exploit the moment to portray Asher as a benevolent person, his true motivation is to use it as a pretext to continue filming in order to capture the things that the Siegels refused to allow.
Dougie is unaware that Asher possesses nothing less than $100. When the moment is being filmed, he hands it to the girl, but as soon as he believes the camera is not moving, he takes it back.
When he tries to give her $20, the girl becomes agitated and swears to curse him if he doesn’t return the money. “I curse you,” she exclaims when he doesn’t. Though slightly surprised, Asher doesn’t give it any thought. When he manages to acquire twenty bucks, the girl has already left.
It soon becomes apparent that conditions are not as perfect for the Siegels as they would like the public to think, regardless of what they would like to see on the reality program.
They claim to be working to better the neighborhood and that everything they do is for that purpose, but some investigation by a reporter reveals that their efforts are largely insincere. Recently, they renovated a coffee shop and declared that all of the staff would be locals. Obviously, though, that isn’t the case.
The reporter also discusses other topics, namely Whitney’s parents’ harsh eviction practices and their status as “slum lords.” She tries to sidestep the subject when it is asked if she would do everything to assist the residents of the buildings her parents own, and Asher exacerbates the situation by aggressively abusing the interviewer. Giving the reporter another subject to focus on is their attempt at making up for it, but it doesn’t seem like things will work out for them.
In addition to their work lives, they have experienced some upheaval in their personal lives. Whitney is not ready for children, but both of her parents want them to have kids right away.
Additionally, it is disclosed that they don’t engage in sexual activity as frequently and that when they do, it’s not typical. Whitney is likewise uneasy with Dougie’s attitude toward the program. For this reason, she gets even angrier when she finds out that a little girl has cursed Asher.
She finds her husband’s behavior disappointing and questions why he felt the need to request the cash back when he might have just given it away.
Whitney takes the curse carefully, but Asher doesn’t. She begs him to locate the girl and deliver the cash to her. When he returns, the girl is not to be found, as was to be expected.
He then tells someone else that he gave the money to them and returns home to convince Whitney that he has fulfilled her request. Naturally, this is a lie that will be exposed eventually. However, the couple will always be plagued by this. Thus, difficult days are in store for them.
Release Date & Where to Watch
The Curse Episode 2 will be released by Showtime and Paramount + on Friday, 17 November 2023, at 22:00 hrs Eastern Time, United States. The upcoming episode’s title is “Pressure’s Looking Good for You”. Each episode lasts 60 minutes. In the following list, you’ll find the regional time release for this program.
- Pacific Time (PT): Friday at 7:00 PM (7:00 PM PT)
- Mountain Time (MT): Friday at 8:00 PM (8:00 PM MT)
- Central Time (CT): Friday at 9:00 PM (9:00 PM CT)
- British Standard Time (GMT): Saturday at 2:00 AM (2:00 AM GMT)
- Central European Time (CET): Saturday at 3:00 AM (3:00 AM CET)
- Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT): Saturday at 1:00 PM (1:00 PM AEDT)
Catch the latest episodes of The Curse via Paramount+ or Showtime at the times and dates described above. If you have cable, you can log in to Showtime’s website or its app with your cable credentials and watch the show online.
Also, The Curse is available on Spectrum on Demand, or bundled on top of your Apple TV+ subscription. Additionally, the premium plan of Paramount+ gives you access to showtime for $11,99 a month or $119,99 a year without ads and access to the entirety of Paramount+’s rotating catalog of movies, original series, shows plus live CBS access and live sports as well as all the shows that MTV, Nickelodeon and filial networks owned by Paramount Pictures.
Episode Guide
- Episode 1: “Land of Enchantment” – Friday, 10 November 2023
- Episode 2: “Pressure’s Looking Good So Far” – Friday, 17 November 2023
- Episode 3: “Questa Lane” – Friday, 24 November 2023
- Episode 4: “Under The Big Tree” – Friday, 1 December 2023
- Episode 5: “It’s a Good Day” – Friday, 8 December 2023
- Episode 6: “The Fire Burns On” Friday, 15 December 2023
- Episode 7: “Self-Exclusion” – Sunday, 24 December 2023
- Episode 8: “Down and Dirty” – Sunday, 31 December 2023
- Episode 9: “TBA” – Sunday, 7 January 2024
- Episode 10: “TBA” – Sunday, 14 January 2024
