Liveblogging “Huge” (Ep. 1.3, “Live Action Role Play”)
I’m about to sit down and watch my first episode of Huge! While I was away, I seem to have forgotten to DVR it, so I’m starting with the third episode. But I’ve been hearing good things from you guys and Alan Sepinwall, and I love Nikki Blonsky anyway, so this sounds like a must-see. Hopefully it will all make sense!
The previouslies tell me that Nikki Blonsky’s character is named Will, and there’s also a scene where Will proudly takes off her clothes and struts around in a bathing suit, refusing to be ashamed of her “before” body. She’s got legit fat-girl thighs, too. That’s awesome.
I love the Shiz T-shirt on that guy! I love me some musical theater geeks (since I am one). Oh! And it makes sense since Winnie Holzman is one of the creators of Huge and she wrote the book for the musical Wicked! And Shiz University is from Wicked! Okay. Moving on.
The opening credits are surprisingly deep, yearbook photos with labels like “the perfect body” and “invisible” and “fat is my armor.” Also “willpower,” but you can’t win ’em all.
And speaking of geeks, there’s a LARPing plotline! That’s awesome. I love that the girl who vaguely resembles Mercedes from Glee is not the “sassy fat black girl” but is in fact a shy role-player. Mercedes II, I promise to learn your name at some point!
The Shiz T-shirt guy is named Alistair, and he’s gay. See me, learning things? Also they’re addressing the “smelly fat person” stereotype (and “fat geeks” stereotype too). Which, it occurs to me, is one of the potentially great things about this show–with such a large cast, and so much diversity, they can show all types of fat people–ones who overeat and ones who don’t, ones who are geeks and those who aren’t, athletes and non-athletes, introverts and extroverts… it’s not like in most shows, where if the one fat guy smells bad, it equates to “all fat people smell bad.”
Is this Chris Sligh-looking guy a love interest for Will? Is there a love triangle with the blonde girl? Is the blonde girl named Amber? So many questions.
“That’s my worst fear. That I smell bad and don’t know it.” Oh man. This plotline is breaking my heart.
Interesting scene, campers from another camp coming across Will with a bunch of fat kids. And some straight-up fat mockery. Aw, I already love the Camp Victory campers! I love Will and Chris Sligh and Mercedes II and Alastair! DON’T BE MEAN TO THEM.
Scary Jillian Michaels lady is kind of a B. Hot Buff Guy is Hot. Gina Torres was on Firefly and is awesome. So much for the adults!
Noooo Chris Sligh! Don’t pass Alastair’s showering problem off on Hot Buff Guy! Okay, he’s going to backtrack. Phew.
I love how Will is using her popularity and personality to sell the LARPing thing on behalf of Mercedes II. She’s a great character. Aw man, I only have good things to say about this show! I think I love this show, you guys!
The blonde girl has really pretty teeth. I mean she’s really pretty in general, but especially her teeth. Is that weird?
One of the guys is a football player. See, fat athletes! Plus, Alastair’s sister is doing situps so that’s kind of athletey too. I’m not really feeling Alastair’s sister so far. I like the idea that she’s distancing herself from her brother in a quest to be “in” with Amber, who is the popular girl, but… I’m not finding her sympathetic yet.
Oh, there’s a rivalry between Jillian Michaels and Gina Torres. I’m on Team Torres. Especially if she lets the campers eat s’mores.
Mercedes II is named Becca! Also she’s a fencer, apparently. That rocks. And now Will is teaching Becca how to punch dudes and… oh, poor Alastair looks so sad after getting hit with the water gun.
Hey it’s that guy! He’s was in Waiting for Guffman as the guy who was probed by aliens and finds he has no feelings in his buttocks.
Uh oh, Becca’s LARP universe is in trouble.
“I’m excited to lose weight! I think. I just can’t imagine… what it will be like. If it’ll… if it’ll actually change anything.”
Gina Torres has the hots for the rival camp director! And there’s… really no family resemblance between her and her dad. (Says Mo Pie, the adoptee.) Awkward phone conversation between Gina Torres and rival camp director. Is it too much to hope that rival camp director will be played by Alan Tudyk? Please?
Yes, love triangle between Chris Sligh and Will and Amber! Chris Sligh, Amber has pretty teeth and all, but Will is so clearly where it’s at.
So within the context of the LARP universe, Becca is able to stand up for herself to Will. Love that.
In addition to Amber’s teeth, I also love her feather T-shirt.
Oh, the cute asshole tennis guy thinks Amber is pretty! Oh, he also thinks she’s a tennis camper. I guess she’s fat but not *that* fat to be obviously a fat camper. Interesting. Also they like her top. Me too!
Becca is able to stand up for herself in character to the tennis people too! And the cute asshole tennis guy seems to have figured the whole Amber thing out but still, there’s a thing. Interesting.
The Hot Buff Guy told Alastair very nicely about the showering, and it turns out that he has issues taking a group shower. Well as he’s both a fat guy and a gay guy who seems like he has been teased a lot before, it makes perfect sense. Would he really be the only one, though? In a whole camp full of fat kids?
The rival camp director is not Alan Tudyk. Instead, he seems to be a little bit of a D.
Aw, Hot Buff Guy is going to protect Alastair and keep his secret! He’s nice! I hope Will has an affair with him! Maybe that is not the direction this is going? Also, his name is George.
“Who needs marshmallows when you’ve got…sticks.” Hee.
The takeaway is “stop attacking people and ourselves.” And Will refuses to surrender. Never give up, never surrender! And… that’s the end.
Well, I find this show and its cast and its writing to be pretty delightful. I’ll definitely be watching next week… I might even post about it, if there’s any interest. Did you see this episode? Do you know Chris Sligh’s actual name? Did I miss anything important in the first two episodes? Let me know your thoughts!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Celebrities, Huge, Nikki Blonsky, TV
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Maybe I’m exposing my ignorance here, but what is LARP?
Oh God. I am an idiot.
Hee. Noticed the episode title, I take it? But yeah, that’s LARPing.
Chris Sligh’s name is Ian! You should watch the first two episodes, you get to see more of Hot Buff George and Will’s awesome striptease.
I’m wondering what is Will a nickname for, Wilamena is the only name I can think of, oh and of course there’s also Wilma.
I think it was Wilhelmina. Good guess, if so!
“Chris Sligh” is Ari Stidham (Ian) who I totally have a crush on.
I don’t think Alistair is afraid of getting teased in the shower. He says he has a problem the other guys don’t have. I thought he was referring to getting turned on by the others in the shower. Possibly dangerous situation for a young gay guy, more serious than just teasing.
Ohhhhh of course, Alistair is gay! Can’t believe I didn’t realize it myself!
I thought he didn’t want to shower with them because his “stuff” was smaller than everyone else’s lol
But your guys’ theory makes much more sense now that I think about it.
Ok, I was a film and TV major in college, so I read a lot more into stuff than normal people.
That said the Amber interaction wtih the tennis campers was interesting as it seemed that she was “passing” for “normal”. I wondered if it was a social commentary, in that now it isn’t necessary for people of color to pass as white, but to be accepted, it is necessary for the fat girl to be able to pass as thin.
Or maybe it is simply a comment that the popular kids are always popular no matter what context they are in, but I really think it might be more of the first.
I hope the recaps continue! Thanks for reminding me to grab this on Hulu – I kept forgetting, but am eager to see it after reading about it in various places.
Haha, I’m a LARPer, actually.. it comes with the territory. :) It’s where we dress up and act like characters we made up from some fantasy universe. Then we use foam-core weapons and beat the hell out of eachother.
The whole Amber obsession is killing me. D:
She’s so pretty, and thin-ish, and has great teeth! Let’s all obsess about Amber! <<
I guess I'm just a bitter fat camper, but I'd like Amber better if people around her stopped treating her like the best thing since chocolate dip.
I think I preffer Amber because Will is such an anoying bitch. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was a fat teen too. In fact, I think I resembled Will in terms of size, but I was never THAT angry. I was teased and tormented and blah blah blah.. but Will does it so much that it feels like she’s trying too hard.
And gaddamn it, why did the one Latino chick have to be the superficial one? :/ Ugh. This show still annoys me, because I want to like it, but I feel like there is way too much drama for it to be even remotely believeable. That and the dialogue.. so ridiculously cheesy. People don’t usually talk like that, in real life. Not that I remember, anyway.
But man.. an entire camp full of fat kids? It would have been absolute HEAVEN for me.
Ugh, I just read a horrible recap!
“Nikki Blonsky, the Golden Globe-nominated star of the acclaimed movie Hairspray, plays the part of Will. Feisty, quick-witted, and sarcastic. She doesn’t want to be at Camp Victory and doesn’t understand why her parents can’t accept that she’s happy with the way she looks (watching Will, you wonder if she truly does accept herself or if she’s in denial and just tells her parents that to get them off her back). In episode 1, Will is mortified at the thought of posing in front of her peers for the mandatory “BEFORE” bathing suit photo. Confronted by Dr. Rand, the camp director, Will says she lost her bathing suit, but then bites the bullet and proudly peels off her clothes, layer by layer, generating cheers and applause (not to mention a few disapproving stares) from campers and staff.
Amber, the blond bombshell played by Hayley Hasselhoff, soon becomes Will’s nemesis. Will (not to mention many of the other girls) are clearly jealous of the beautiful Amber (in episode one, some of the girls say she’s the thinnest one there and question why she’s even there). Amber tells Dr. Rand she suspects Will is selling smuggled food to some other campers. Dr. Rand once again confronts Will to warn her about the consequences for anyone caught selling food. To retaliate, Will shrinks Amber’s shorts in the laundry; when she wears the shorts, she’s embarrassed when they rip in public. When Amber’s best friend Caitlin is sent home after being “caught” throwing up (after eating the contraband food Will sold her), Amber angrily asks Will “What did you think would happen?” Will then ran away, but was lured back to camp by Dr. Rand.”
Man, not only did she get the first episode wrong in some parts, she makes Will seem so weak and petty.
She’s a snappy bitch, but she’s not weak. If I had read this, I wouldn’t of watched the show.
DuchessOfDork: “But man.. an entire camp full of fat kids? It would have been absolute HEAVEN for me.”
Oh how I agree…that’s all I keep thinking though the 1st episode lol
I know, I was like, am I too old for this? Can I go there now? Camp BFD!
Not to nitpick, but I don’t think we should peg Alistair as gay because one character refers to him as “the gay kid” and he has a thing about not wanting to group shower, (Did any of us really want to group shower as a teen? I’m 33, vacationed at a nude resort, and STILL wouldn’t want to group shower.) Alistair may very well turn out to be the one gay character on the show, but until he says he is, I don’t think we should assume. It’s pretty hetero-privilege of us to assume Alistair’s gay because he’s different from the other, more traditionally masculine guys on the show. So he doesn’t play sports or lust after Amber. Doesn’t mean he’s gay. Just sayin’.
I figured he was gay because I missed the first two episodes, and when someone else referred to him as gay I assumed it had been established somewhere in those episodes that, in fact, he was. I don’t think anyone was waving hetero-privilege around.
re: Alistair’s sexuality…
http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Television/Large_and_In_Charge/
That’s for posting that Jack; it was an interesting read. I was referring more to jess’ comment above than to Mo’s recap (I know Mo didn’t see the first two eps). Jess took it directly to “He’s gay so he’s afraid to shower with other dudes because he might bust a chubby.” That very well could be his issue, but the evidence so far is still pretty vague and I think we should wait and see what happens.
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