Episode Review: The Studio 1x6 - "The Pediatric Oncologist"

Welcome back to the blog readers. Now we are past the halfway point of this season of The Studio (2025-) and there is nothing else I can say other than I am loving this show so far. While the comedy may be borderline cringy at points, that is the whole point of the story in my opinion. Especially because the performances have all been stellar, especially from the star-studded guests we have had so far. Would we be able to continue the momentum with this episode, titled "The Pediatric Oncologist," written by Alex Gregory, and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg? Stick around to find out.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.

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I do want to briefly mention that when I saw the title of this episode I got a very different idea of what this episode was supposedly going to be. But thank goodness it was not involving anyone's insides being exposed, because I would have been off this show faster than you can say Kool-Aid. But thankfully, this episode made me uncomfortable in a different kind of way, a good way. Because while the internal drama between the characters was engaging as hell, this was a really great look at a bunch of things.

Before I get into the story of this episode, I do want to talk about the performance of Seth Rogen as our favorite guy Matt Remick. This is the sixth episode that I have seen him in, and the fifth in which he is the main player. And getting this kind of a sample size is absolutely what has led me to say Matt is one of the most genuine characters that is on television right now. Not only that, but it is the fact that Rogen gets this character so well that makes him that genuine to me. You can feel all of him in this character and I definitely expect an Emmy nomination for him in the fall.

Now we get to the story. To start the episode, we are introduced to Matt's new girlfriend Sarah (played by Rebecca Hall), who is a pediatric oncologist. She is not really into films like Matt is, basically shaking off his MK-Ultra franchise. She mentions she has a fundraiser for her job at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center at the Ebell, and Matt is enthusiastic about attending with her. Later in the day, the crew is together in Matt's office with Johnny Knoxville and his team watching the newest trailer for Knoxville and Josh Hutcherson's newest film Duhpocalypse! (which is a zombie film listed as a satire on medical disinformation and directed by Spike Jonze). The trailer is beloved by the crew, but when a zombie diarrheas on Hutcherson, it is deemed too graphic. Matt reveals his taking part in an event that night despite the 10:00 deadline for the trailer to be submitted. He then tells the team to send him the finished trailer for his approval.

Him and Sarah make their way to the Ebell and he notes how Oppenheimer (2023) was filmed there. She runs into her friends and colleagues who discuss their jobs, but Matt is dismayed when they basically brush off and dismiss his job. After he tries to influence their decision, the group take part in an auction. In a power move, Matt outbids everyone to win a prestigious golf trip that Sarah and her group wanted, and then tries to blackmail them with the trip into saying film matters. When that does not work, he gets another call to monitor the Duhpocalypse! trailer and winds up tripping over and breaking his finger. He returns to the table and winds up passing out. While getting loaded into an ambulance, he tells Sarah there will be a screen in his hospital room, alluding to a previous argument they had. Sometime later, he hooks up with Johnny Knoxville's agent Leigh, who is more into film than she is into him.

The Studio continues to excel with its uncomfortability and has something to say about how important film is to the culture nowadays. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.