Forrest reconnects with an old flame on his first foray into catfishing and discovers different kinds of ghosts while sleeping in a haunted house.
Forrest has insisted that he has gotten over his ex-wife Suzanne. And yet, he likes to bring that up a lot. He's only back at the show this season because she rejected him for the fourth time following their divorce. He has had plenty of girlfriends this season. Sure, none of them have lasted for very long because of his commitment to the show and the outrageous things he's asked to review. But he has been very appealing to woman. That's important for the character. Despite the show, he can be seen as a decent and charming guy. When under the influence of the show, he is destructive in the most tragic and dangerous way possible.The first review Forrest is tasked with tonight is catfishing someone over the Internet. First of all, this episode really plays into the fact that Forrest really doesn't understand technology at all. That does lead to some elongated jokes that don't play as well - like him writing down the google url or asking repeatedly what Skype is. But there was so much to enjoy from the story as well because of just how personal it got for Forrest. He found a way to talk to Suzanne again in a way that was void of all the tension from the way things ended between them. He still thinks he was justified in divorcing her and wanting her back. That means he hasn't really gotten over her. That's apparent to everyone but him. The catfish experience made very little sense to him and his father when they first learned what it was. But as soon as Forrest spied Suzanne's picture on the dating site, he was completely into the experience.
The two were able to bond over their love of Agatha Christie. Forrest knew exactly what he could say in order to appeal to her and her interests. He does know what Suzanne likes. But it's still very manipulative of him. He doesn't fully understand the manipulation of it though. He becomes so obsessed with this relationship. He spends all day and night talking to her. He loses sight of what he's suppose to do. He has to reel it back in once he realizes that he is not Ace Shrift but needs to Skype with her. He's very lucky to have the real guy whose picture he stole be so cooperative. He's just a baseball shortstop who is willing to do anything for the right price. Of course, that leads to a line where Forrest mentions he just spent the last of the money he had saved for retirement. But that's a problem for a future episode, I would imagine.
Forrest gets the thrill of a relationship with Suzanne again, but doesn't hurt her in the way that most catfish stories end. Joe, the baseball player, really is the kind of cool charmer that Forrest was pretending to be. Forrest worries about the call but he has nothing to worry about - except for him trying to talk while it's happening. Joe is able to end things amicably with Suzanne. So in the end, everything surprisingly works out. No one really got hurt - which is a huge step up from the last few episodes. Though Forrest was awfully anxious during the final bit.
Of course, things are never destined to continue going well for Forrest. It doesn't take long into the second review of the episode for Forrest to have some delusion about what he can truly accomplish. It's those twists that make this show so enjoyable to watch. Sleeping in a haunted house can be seen as fun and daring to some. Forrest and his father go to an actual house that has allegedly been haunted by ghosts for a century. That gets them out of his office for a night - where they have been staying alongside Josh and his girlfriend, Tina. It's a pleasant experience too. They just break in, find a place to sleep and then lay down.
Everything was going well enough for this to be the easiest and most pain free review for Forrest over the course of the show. Instead it ended up bringing back the painful memories of the past in a way that led to even more injury for Forrest. He wanted to make this experience personal just like the previous review. Suzanne and his previous life have been on his mind as of late. He has been hanging onto the past. And now, that externalizes in a very literal way with him actually visiting the old house and dealing with the ghost of what his life used to be.
His life has changed so much since he was last happy in that house. Sure, he doesn't mention all of the good times he had as a family there. He just remembers all the memorable moments where he was doing a review that also effected his family. That's the place where he destroyed his family. No amount of alcohol could get him to forget that fact. He was no longer the person seeking out ghosts. He was the ghost himself. He was haunting this house. He crept around and eventually got the new family's matriarch so unnerved that she stabbed him in the stomach and pushed him down the stairs. As Forrest points out, he has a new threshold for pain thanks to everything that has happened to him on the show. And yet, he continues to get physically hurt for a reason as well.
Some more thoughts:
- Forrest's reviews are: Catfish - 3 Stars, and Spending a Night in a Haunted House - 1 Star.
- AJ: "What a weird intro." It really was. Forrest was referring to himself as a sailor. He was really amused and playful for someone who just got a bunch of people killed last week.
- It was fantastic seeing Forrest walking around the office and telling a story about the popularity rankings of his 4th grade classmates while trying to pick the name for his dating profile only for the story to be completely meaningless.
- Another fun tidbit, Forrest apparently knows all of the zip codes.
- Forrest: "Catfish? I don't know what that is, but I'll go find out and review it."
- Forrest: "Many times in my life, I've approached a woman, broken the ice, and been told to go away. But this with the chance of no reply at all is maddening."
- Forrest: "Ghosts may or may not exist. But in our world, they do not."
- Forrest: "This house holds the ghost of what my life used to be."
