In this week’s episode of The Curse, production on the (fictional) HGTV show Flipanthropy is underway. Or is it Fliplanthropy? I have seen it spelled both ways; in production notes provided to critics, the reality show is called Flipanthropy. But in closed-captions while watching The Curse, we see Fliplanthropy. Still, the mystery of this title is one of the least-confusing aspects of The Curse, which is really saying something.
Asher (Nathan Fielder) and Whitney (Emma Stone) are shooting the first episode of their TV show, with Dougie (Benny Safdie) behind the camera. A couple that plans to purchase one of Whitney’s passive homes, Dennis (Eric Peterson) and Lucinda (Nikki Dixon), stand outside the mirrored building. The first shot is taking so long that Dennis is swimming in his own sweat, and the pair have soured on Whitney, Asher, and their foolish project.
There’s tension on both sides of the camera. Whit doesn’t seem to trust anyone on the production crew. After goofing around with him, she asks a favor from one of the folks on the team, Remi (Oscar Avila). “Fuckin’ spoiled TV host can film her own TV show,” he responds. “You don’t appreciate us.” Whoa! He plays it off as if he were joking too, which Whitney says should be toned down a bit in front of the rest of the crew—but then she also says she was only kidding. A few moments later, as Whitney and Ash discuss important details about the Pueblo, Whit confronts a PA who she believes was recording her.
Asher tries to cut through that unease by teasing Whitney, telling her he’d also like to record her—in bed! Har-dee-har. Whitney ignores the joke and demands that Asher get Denins and Lucinda to sign a contract about the Pueblo land. Technically, it’s a non-legally binding document that says these folks understand the Pueblo people own this land, and while they won’t reclaim it now, they are reclaiming other land, so it’s just something to be aware of.
No biggie. The situation is definitely nothing like “the Gaza strip,” Asher jokes.
But there are bigger issues here: This couple really doesn’t seem to like the home. They gripe about having to pay $850,000 to live in a house that has so many things in common with a prison. (The water for the toilet comes from the sink, as it does in prisons.) The home takes upward of seven hours to get to the right temperature, thanks to a complicated ventilation system. And Asher can’t quit it with the jokes about incarceration, a side effect of that comedy class he’s been taking. “Prison toilets don’t have lids!” he quips. Yeah, I don’t blame Dennis and Lucinda—I’d be on the road too, stat.
The contract about the Pueblo people that Whitney shoves in their faces is the final straw. Not only do they refuse to sign it, they end the deal with Ash and Whit, too, after Asher tells them off and calls Lucinda a “bitch.”
Now, the Flipanthropy team is down $850,000 and two cast members. Their director, Dougie, is too busy downloading dating apps on Asher’s phone as a prank to care. Whitney calls Cara (Nizhonniya Austin) in as a lifeline—all she has to do is drive over and pretend to love the house on camera, Whit explains. But once filming starts, Cara can’t stop joking about the lack of a security system, since this is “a super-dangerous neighborhood.” Whitney thinks Cara is making fun of her, so she ventures over to Santa Fe to cast another, kinder group of on-air home-buyers instead.
On the way, though, Whit is halted by some action over at the shopping plaza. At the clothing store Whitney and Asher own, the cops were called after Fernando (Christopher D. Calderon) “restrained” a woman who was caught trying to steal jeans. Whitney chastises him and shopkeeper Enola (Rosie B. Molina), who says she feels uncomfortable when people steal such big-ticket items. That’s a lot of money lost on her watch! Whitney offers up her credit card number (???) as a consolation. Now, anytime someone steals something, Enola can let it go and charge Whit’s card to recoup the damages. Those new jeans look great on you, Enola!
Whitney goes back to her search and finds a pair she’d like to cast in Flipanthropy dining at a restaurant—only, they’re not together. The man is sitting with another woman, but Whitney doesn’t want to include her in the shoot. She’d like the handsome (notably non-white, while his girlfriend appears to be white) man to stand beside someone else she spots: a mother with her child. But when the trio arrives on set, the man asks to be filmed with his girlfriend. Fine, Whitney obliges, but can’t they take the baby on set? Her producer pushes back—technically, that would be child acting. Whatever. The couple does a fine job, the guy sings a random ballad for the camera, and the shoot is finished.
In between scenes, Whitney finds herself embroiled in an argument with her parents, who surprise her during filming. They’re planning on throwing a birthday party for Whitney’s dad (Corbin Bernsen) on one of the family-owned properties. Whitney is tired of her family, who refuse to give her the properties they promised she could design and sell when she moved back from California. “Española is mine!” Whit insists. “End of story.”
There’s still the issue of who’s going to buy the passive home they’re shooting in, which would’ve been sold to Dennis and Lucinda before they dropped out. Asher has a new buyer in mind: Mark (Dean Cain), who expressed interest once before. Whitney pushes back. He has one of those stickers featuring an American flag with one blue line, she says. Asher plays dumb, showing her Instagram posts from a recent protest that he believes prove Mark’s a good guy. (But maybe he’s there to support the militia, not the protestors, Whitney argues back.) Blue lives matter, Asher—that’s the kind of person you’re trying to sell to?
But money is money, and Whitney finally obliges to allow Mark into her home. He wants to live “off the grid” but with “style,” avoiding the government in a cool house instead of a shack in the middle of nowhere. He confirms all of Whitney’s (and our) suspicions about him: He donates to the police, UNICEF, and Christian Missionaries (a real interesting mix of folks), and he hates the Pueblo tribes. They take everything, he argues. They squeeze everyone dry. Um, I know a group of people more guilty of such actions, Mark.
Asher offers him the house, and Mark accepts, while Whitney stays silent. He won’t be part of the Flipanthropy project. Regardless, Whitney is pissed. She gives Asher the silent treatment all the way home, which results in some horribly cringe-inducing lines from Asher trying his damndest to win his woman back. Whitney is at her most fertile, according to the app on his phone. They should have sex! She refuses, simply donning her eye mask, turning her bedside light off and rolling away from Ash.
“You’re my angel,” he coos to Whitney in bed. “You know that, right?” Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!
