Apple TV+ ‘Still Up’ Episode 4 Review - An Emotionless Rollercoaster

A lot has happened in this episode of Still Up and for just a small recap, in the third episode, Danny had a date set with Amy. Just as we get out of one mess, there’s another one ready in this one. Many things go wrong with Danny and Lisa in the fourth episode of Still Up.

Danny learns that not only Chloe was cheating on him, but she also was involved with three men. On top of this, Lisa knew about this through a crazy group chat which means that everyone except him knew. No one told him and he made a fool of himself. It was disappointing for him because he considered Lisa a good friend and she didn’t tell him about this when the whole world knew. The man holes up in despair and misses his interview with Rolling Stone which could have been a great push for his career.

Lisa, on the other hand, was pushed out of the sleep clinic because of the alleged commotion she created. This shattered her hopes of getting a diagnosis and treatment for her insomnia and sleepless leg syndrome. She already had to worry about upsetting Danny, their probable change of time zones (which now isn’t happening), and the poor girl can’t even get treated for her insomnia. Her hopes of having a good sleep get shattered because of a mistake that she didn’t commit.

Still Up smoothly shifts to a new situation and that helps in making the serious have a smooth flow. We barely recognize the gradual changes, and even if the characters are in a messed up state right now, the series maintains a static graph. There are no heightened emotions or actions shown.

When Danny was angry or when Lisa was banned from the clinic, no fits were seen. If there had been some other people in their place, an emotional or physical reaction had to be expected. Lisa didn’t even try to explain herself before she was removed from the property.

Still Up lacks in the field of depicting human emotions. The sole focus of the series is the late-night talks between Danny and Lisa. A reasonable explanation for this can be that these individuals were too exhausted to show any reaction.

Why are all the lead characters in Still Up so calm? There’s no drama whatsoever. This 24-minute episode is a roller coaster ride without those frightened expressions one tends to make. The only emotion I could pick up in this was from two scenes. The first one was when the realization hit Lisa about him not being able to talk to Danny if he lands a job at Rolling Stone. The second one is when Danny cuts Lisa’s video call after learning about the deception.

The unresponsive attitude makes Still Up somewhat hard to believe in. The story of Still Up in this episode can be compared to a situation. Assume that you are on a very smooth road that has bumps, but even if you hit a tree, you’ll still have that straight face. Lisa and Danny talk in the same tone and pitch no matter what happens. A lot has been shown in this one which makes us worry about the relationship our sleepless leads will share. 

Final Score – [5/10]