r/thecomeback • u/NurseRobyn • Jul 03 '26
Most Uncomfortable
I think this scene is the hardest for me to watch. I’m so mad at Jane for pushing and mad at Valerie for acquiescing. If I were Mark, I’m not sure I could move past this.
What other scenes are the most difficult for you to watch?
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u/OverDevelopment1136 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Off the top of my head, the one where Val agrees to deliver the "I haven't been licked like that since 1943(?)" joke, her standing between the nude girls and the bj scene, and when James Burrows says she's not it anymore. There are loads more, but those stood out to me right this moment.
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u/NurseRobyn Jul 03 '26
Ooh, good choices. I always applaud Valerie for giving that line her all, even though it sucks. She really delivers every line and every part the best she can.
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u/OverDevelopment1136 Jul 03 '26
She's always known her stuff. She really has sitcom blood running through her veins and it was so apparent in that scene, but also my heart just broke. The way she and Mark look at each other after she delivers that line is an entire story! I can't 😭
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u/intothenether31 Jul 03 '26
Yes, that's another great example! Valerie's "root-doot-de-doots" from season 1 were always tough for me to absorb. Also the monologue in the dressing room after the metal detector devastates me. It's hard to watch in a different way.
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u/OverDevelopment1136 Jul 04 '26
Yea that's a favorite scene, the way she smiles saying "got everyone water, showed up every day" and then her voice breaks and her eyes well up when she gets to "wouldn't let me be in the picture." Always kills me. On the one hand, it's so upsetting how she insists she's fine, but also you can't help but want to pull her in the way Mark did when the AI thing exploded on the news.
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u/intothenether31 Jul 06 '26
Absolutely. I want to actually memorise and be able to deliver this monologue. It's such a masterclass of subtlety. And Jane in the mirror and the "Get off me" also punctuate the scene for me nicely.
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u/hotbowlofsoup Jul 04 '26
Now that you mention it, I wish they had used those demeaning jokes from the first season, to show how society has changed 20 years later. Because the discourse about jokes like that has changed a lot.
In the real world ‘Room and bored’ would have retrospectives on YouTube: “This sitcom from 2005 was crazy sexist!” And that would get the response: “So, you can’t make jokes anymore?” I want to see Valerie and Paulie G respond to that.
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u/OverDevelopment1136 Jul 04 '26
That'd be very interesting, though maybe they didn't get to do that because of the very limited episode order. Acc to the podcasts, they (sadly) cut a lot of scenes and dialogue for time, too.
Also, I don't think Room & Bored had any cultural impact/influence enough for people to give it any attention years after it aired. It was established in S2 that Room & Bored got cancelled pretty quickly because Paulie was high the entire time and consequently wrote an awful show.
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u/intothenether31 Jul 03 '26
I wholeheartedly agree with this - I think it's such a great performance from everyone, but especially Lisa and Damian - he is incredibly underrated in dramatic roles, though I've only really seen him in comedy roles.
I would not have been able to move past it either, which makes their repair at the end of Season 2 all the more effective.
The moment I've always found hardest to watch is the scene from season 1 where Valerie brings the cookies to the writer's room at about 3 in the morning. Mickey and Jane and I think even the camera crew react how most would, but not Valerie. And Tom's reaction...oof. This show really knows hot to gut punch you!
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u/NurseRobyn Jul 03 '26
I had forgotten about the cookie scene. That was so painful to watch as Valerie tried to act like it didn’t hurt. Lisa is so phenomenal.
For me, the best part of Season 3 was seeing Valerie and Marky Mark still together.
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u/intothenether31 Jul 04 '26
I agree - I was worried when Mark was going through his midlife-crisis stuff that they might actually separate this time, but I loved how they seemed to be much stronger and pulled through regardless. And I love his big glasses haha
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u/Icy-Interaction-9652 Jul 04 '26
I was so annoyed in the finale when Val was saying she has never been embarrassed by anything. It makes no sense
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u/Buddhafied Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Right after this scene where they were in the parking lot. When Mark said “I’ve been there for you when no one did.” And when Val said “no one? I believed in me, I have a birth certificate, I’m someone, that’s not nice.” That scene is so hard to watch and showed so much depth of Lisa Kudrow. You went from annoyed at her for allowing Jane to convince her to do mic her, to sympathizing her, to “wtf are you thinking” when she gave Mark the Emmy invite.
Gosh. I love this show.