TV Review: ‘UnREAL’ S2 Ep. 4 – “Treason”

Preston Barta // Editor

Quinn: "You can't make this show without me."
Rachel: "Watch me."

Last Monday night, UnREAL’s third episode (“Guerilla”) in its second season put more focus on the restrained players, both in front and behind the camera of Everlasting. It caught them all up with the stirring drama that’s been brewing as of late, and it added more fuel to fire with the key players (Rachel, Quinn and Chet).

The ultimate power of this show has always lied within the its fine walls of scheming. However, there’s also a lot of intelligence and clever movement happening around the main attraction.

We saw Rachel (Shiri Appleby) and Quinn (Constance Zimmer) go from being bestie-producers with matching tattoos to enemies playing each other for their own personal gain.

Just when you think you have honest moments between them, or with a contestant and our bachelor Darius (B.J. Britt), there’s a camera lurking in the corner, or a certain look that lets the audience know what they’re seeing is in fact “unreal.”

This show is so carefully calculated and well played, it’s staggering. The talent on and off UnREAL’s field of wizardry sells the series’ manipulative nature with grace. Each performance comes with a grand amount of emotional depth, which enhances the payoff to their individual situations.

In tonight’s episode, the aptly titled “Treason,” new stakes are put in place for our characters. Quinn uncovered the tricks Rachel has been hiding up her sleeve, and this week we see how Quinn doesn’t put up with any of them.

Quinn is damn scary this season, but she remains entertaining as hell to watch. She clearly has plans of her own, and we’re left eager on our sofas to see when the queen will unleash her dragons.

Rachel, on the other hand, is not going down without a fight. So it’s going to be fascinating to see how it all turns out before the Season 2 clock strikes midnight.

Chet (Craig Bierko), like Quinn, has been very unpredictable this season. He lost the custody battle of his child and it’s clearly affecting him and causing him to lose the reins of his life. He continues to create a ridiculous male fantasy— which in last week’s episode, it included an obstacle course completed with explosions. He even went as far as kidnapping his child from his ex-wife, and well, you will see how that turns out for him tonight.

Tonight shows that UnREAL was reserving its sidelined players for bigger things. Darius gets much more game time in tonight’s episode, as was teased before the credits rolled last week. His actions and current predicament speaks volumes and says a lot about the entertainment world we live in.

So expect more great dialogue, acting and hard hitting moments in UnREAL‘s firestorm of fury.

Tonight’s episode, titled “Treason” airs on Lifetime at 10pm/9c.

Feature Photo: Constance Zimmer and Shiri Appleby star in tonight’s episode of UnREAL. Courtesy of James Dittiger.

Related Articles:

• Review of Ep. 3 (“Guerilla”)
• Review of Ep. 1 & 2 (“A War” and “Insurgent”)