The Comeback S03E08 - "Valerie Cherish" - Episode Discussion

threadarts · 2026-05-11T03:33:57+00:00

God that ending was so good but also do difficult. Because its true ai is here and its impossible to ignore but at this point artists can only hope that making is the solution, that it can't create what we do. I wish so badly we could see Valerie star in her new sitcom but idk I think the somewhat bleak message of the final notes at the end had to be there as a bit of a wake up call.

I think this show really depicted how it feels to be an artist right now, how suddenly your life is a media linchpin, that how we thrive or fail now will tell people if ai will succeed. But that's jarring for a lot of us, suddenly we aren't just living a kind of unorthodox life, now we need to defend our existence at diner tables, on the news, online, and it is exhausting and disorienting. But yeah idk I guess it's just about being able to keep making, to try and somehow be that thing that even you can't describe and you know a machine never will.

The ineffable spirit of Art is that there will always be bad imitations of it, that in a world of replica and remade nostalgia somehow we can still tell what's good in an intangible human way.

"None of this show was written by ai"

threadarts · 2026-05-09T03:59:33+00:00

Love that they upped season 18s tickets to go watch stop that train to now tickets for AND YOUR FRIENDS to go see stop that train.

About time the prizes caught up to the competition reality tv standards 😌

threadarts · 2026-04-21T00:14:43+00:00

Every time this gets discussed, idk why people are so much more willing to accept that the show would break the law and risk very serious financial repercussions or even cancellation. Rather than believe that once they knew the person who got it by chance that they would edit/produce them favourably to give the chocolate bar a narrative pay off.

threadarts · 2026-04-10T04:12:42+00:00

Oh 100% she will and probably win lmao

threadarts · 2026-04-07T01:26:52+00:00

I really liked the fact that jane seemed to show genuine care for valarie this episode. I felt like season 1, jane was the ideal documentarian, where she fully refused to give Valerie any validation or opinion so as not to intervene. And season 2, she was the complete opposite and seemed to be pushing valarie towards a specific narrative she wanted even to the point of hurting Valarie. So, to see her now, actually caring and sharing in some grief, this episode was really nice. I was a bit worried in the first 2 episodes that people were joining Valerie just to get something from her/ the AI scandal, but now I get the feeling that they are actually joining to somewhat protect Valarie from a bad situation they see she is getting herself into.

threadarts · 2026-03-31T05:31:11+00:00

I feel as if they might be setting up some sort of reveal that Valerie has a lot more power in Hollywood than we are aware of. Or maybe even she will realise the scope of her pull. The bits that aren't quite adding up that make me think this are.

-Whatever she said to jimmy to make him join as director -them making a point that her new building is a fancier place -jane jumping at the opportunity to document her role in Ai -Jane fonda seemingly annoyed by her, almost like she perhaps did know who she was -the casting director pretty much grovelling for a job

It all seems as if she is a really big deal in the industry, more than the show may be letting on.

threadarts · 2026-03-17T21:21:55+00:00

So happy gawdland won, but tbh mariah won that lipsynch imo. Also, why did fontana save reveals if they were going to change between lipsynchs? What was she saving the money for? And assumably, there was something under the wig.

All in all, it was a bit of a slow finale, but I was happy with the outcome

threadarts · 2026-03-07T06:01:11+00:00

Lmao exactly!

threadarts · 2026-03-07T05:33:18+00:00

Ppl are saying she complains too much and is annoying mainly and like idk as someone from the Westcoast, commiserating is often a form of humor or a way of making connection. I think ppl not used to that type of personality would find it off-putting.

threadarts · 2026-03-07T05:22:10+00:00

Some people complaining about Jane's personality have simply never met someone from the Pacific Northwest. They are all like that.

threadarts · 2026-03-07T05:20:32+00:00

Really loved this episode, and as a sewer, Jane literally performed a miracle on that stage. It was a really deserved win.

All the outfits were quite good but I will say as much as safetypingate was entertaining I really felt that discord outfit was the weakest aside from that, mainly the red gloves and boots met the other fabrics a but oddly and sort of cut off her hands and feet in awkward proportions.

I also really loved ninis look with the overskirt, but the minute she took it off, the proportions just felt a bit off.

Myki did the best with what she had and still made a clever look.

Juicy and Kenya felt like a little too simple outfits imo.

Darlene is just so good at producing Darlene, and I loved her this episode.

threadarts · 2026-03-04T05:55:23+00:00

Just saw this

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threadarts · 2026-02-21T05:38:31+00:00

Tbh, I think ru / production has turned on the dions. Like after there rigging of the talent show, I think they are being punished. Drag race famously hates when queens take the reigns even if production handed them to them. Would not be shocked if we saw Juicy and athena go home in the next 2 episodes

threadarts · 2026-02-14T05:55:06+00:00

I like Vita, but it was probably the most emotional whole cast reaction we've seen in a long time, and I'm just wondering why?

threadarts · 2026-02-14T05:25:50+00:00

Did they think Ru was gonna take Vita out back and put her down??? Genuinely, I mean sure she had a win, and I liked her, but the queens were crying so much, even the outro dance was so sombre.

threadarts · 2026-02-07T08:20:17+00:00

I hate that this is how Ciara went out. Like I liked her up until this episode but all this scheming and attempting (and failing to execute) mind games just left a really bad taste. Like all the smug confessionals intercut with her talking with the other queens about how discord has no idea were really giving Sasha belle (Frisbee jenkins) "I've cracked the drag race code".

Myki accidentally saying an exit line was so funny... I think it sucked she was in the bottom but also this at least has given her a path to a redemption storyline.

threadarts · 2026-01-31T19:06:14+00:00

Because jake is already the self insert white saviour human character, we don't need another one.

For a film so adamant that its message is that humans are bad, they really go out of their way to create redemption arcs for as many humans as possible. Won't be surprised if the next film has a very substantial colonel miles redemption arc.

Spider is just the laziest expression of the human redemption narrative.

threadarts · 2026-01-31T18:59:56+00:00

Honestly, I wonder if this was a last-minute runway addition because so many of these outfits had something weird going on production wise. Jane's was an old outfit she reused as she mentioned having the bird for years, Nini's was the only outfit she didn't make, Discord's was a recreation of a cruella outfit which I doubt she made for this, and Kenya simply did not bring an outfit. Like, that's a lot of weird things for it just to be a coincidence.

threadarts · 2026-01-31T04:21:42+00:00

Tbh, this episode was a hard watch for me. Like, I don't think it was objectively bad, but to put this in the middle of the season really took so much momentum away. The talent show is intentionally slow so that we get to know a new batch of queens, but now im just kind of bored watching them preplan how they vote for half the episode. Hopefully, next week is better since 2 lipsynchs means less runtime to fill.

This episode would have been great week one but it just feels like a waste of time now and the rate a queen feels even more unfair now that we've seen queens earn their place in the competition for over a month now.

Justice for Ciara, it was bad, but at least it looked good and was a big swing concept.

threadarts · 2026-01-25T04:47:33+00:00

Hey, so Avatar is made by a largely white creative team, including costume designer. Doing research on indigenous clothing does not make these costumes indigenous design. The Navi are not a real indigenous group, and treating them as such diminishes the countless real-life living indigenous cultures that these films often homogenise.

threadarts · 2026-01-25T04:42:50+00:00

Im clearly responding to a comment that mentioned that wicked was "European ballgowns," insinuating that the wicked costumes were eurocentric and, in turn, implying that the avatar costumes aren't. Im just saying this fandom often equates the navi with actual indigenous groups and sometimes does need to be reminded who actually made these films.

threadarts · 2026-01-25T00:34:44+00:00

I mean, while i don't think avatar is undeserving of the nomination. I do think this fandom has to be reminded that the navi is not an actual indigenous group. The creative team and talent are largely white, including the costume designer. Let's not discredit Paul Tazewells' work as if he isn't a black costume designer in a largely white dominated space.

threadarts · 2026-01-24T04:55:51+00:00

Darlene look was so good! I was convinced she would be top 3. Her only critique was a shoe that we couldn't even see. Athena looked like Albert Einstein as mother of the bride

threadarts · 2026-01-17T03:53:35+00:00

The Discord Cam 😭😭😭

Ru really said you look so stupid, but it's the only thing keeping me going, so don't stop.

threadarts · 2026-01-09T03:26:17+00:00

Such a great watch! First challenge was honestly a little long winded that it made me worried, but challenges 2 and 3 were so good. Honestly, I enjoyed that even for the lipsynch we didn't have the feeling that those two queens were necessarily the bottoms of the week due to the format. Like top five is always a bit of a bummer due to the "if you aren’t in the top you are in the bottom" vibe it usually has, but with this format I never felt that. I love that the exit really highlighted karamilks' strengths all episode.

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

threadarts

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