This review contains spoilers.
Known for creating the New England small-town life in “Gilmore Girls” and the busy New York City comedy scene in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” writers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino have created yet another engaging and entrancing world — this time focusing on two fictional ballet companies located in New York City and Paris.
While Amazon Prime Video’s “Étoile” was a good binge watch, it died off in the middle only to be resurrected in the final episode.
The plot of “Étoile” is set in motion when Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the interim director of a Parisian ballet company, and Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby), the director of a New York ballet company, swap artistic talent to keep their struggling companies afloat.
The show depicts the professional ballet industry with a comedic twist while also showing the pain behind perfection on stage, such as elitism in the art form.
While billionaire Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow) finances the two companies’ joint venture and uses his money to force his way into the ballet world (much to McMillan’s dismay), SuSu Li (LaMay Zhang) secretly dances in another ballerina’s shoes while her mother cleans the New York studio’s floors.
The show’s first half articulated this problem well, however, it is rarely mentioned toward the show’s end. Shamblee disappears, and Li’s financial problems are seemingly solved magically. This juxtaposition of rich and poor needed to be deepened.
Similarly, some characters must be further developed.
One such character was Lavigne, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. While I see how Sherman-Palladino and Palladino try to give her the messy, playful and strong female protagonist traits they’ve previously utilized in TV shows, Lavigne just felt off-putting. Her character lacked meaning beyond her decision to swap artistic talent.
Yanic Truesdale’s role as Raphaël Marchand reminded me of his work in “Gilmore Girls” as Michel Gerard. While he plays his part as deputy director of the Paris Opera and Ballet in a similarly funny way to Michel, I would have liked to see him more on screen.
However, the creators did utilize other actors from their previous series well.
Kirby, who played Lenny Bruce in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” convincingly took on his role as the passionate ballet lover McMillan, offering the comedic timing and expression that Gainsbourg’s character often lacked. The fact that Kelly Bishop, who plays Emily Gilmore in “Gilmore Girls” and Benedetta in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” is his mother in the show, is just the cherry on top.
Lou De Laâge, who played the Parisian company’s star ballerina Cheyenne Toussant, stood out the most. Laâge’s interactions with various characters brought back the quick, joke-filled banter that Sherman-Palladino and Palladino are best known for. Every scene with Cheyenne came alive — whether accompanied by McMillan, Li or others.
While “Étoile”’s character development was debatable at times, the dances were not.
The show did not slack off when casting real dancers for their scenes. Familiar faces like Tiler Peck, principal dancer with New York City Ballet, and Alex Wong, who viewers may know from “The Greatest Showman” and TikTok, are seen in the background and interacting with the main cast. Mishi Duplessis (Taïs Vinolo), one of the swaps from New York, is played by a former ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada.
The final episode illuminated the show’s investment in beautiful dances, especially through the piece choreographed live by Tobias Bell (Gideon Glick), another familiar face from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
While Bell is mostly lost in his own life, his final piece in the show illuminates how he finds himself through dance, ending with a bombshell first kiss between him and dancer Gabin Roux (Ivan du Pontavice).
The show’s final episode was by far the best, as the characters came alive through plot, banter and dances. I can only hope that the second season of “Étoile,” which has already been announced, continues that trajectory.
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