Summary
Out of all the episodes in Losing Alice, you can tell the creator truly had the audience in mind in this chapter.
This recap of Apple TV+ series Losing Alice season 1, episode 7, “The Scene”, contains spoilers.
Out of all the episodes in Losing Alice, you can tell the creator truly had the audience in mind in this chapter. After the previous episode, which built up the anticipation for the start of film production, “The Scene” was always going to be the one that peeled away the masks.
“The Scene” opens with the following text:
“There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins” – Frank Capra.
Episode 7 opens up with Sophie in the bath playing Eleanor. She’s asked when the games are going to stop and she states that this is the way she is. It’s a scene between her and David (playing Amir) — the production has begun for the film. Alice is amazed by the take — she tells David she works well with Alice.
Does Pnina show up?
During lunch break, Alice is convinced that the homeless woman Pnina has walked by. A production team member reassures her that she wouldn’t have travelled this far but she’ll ask security to keep a lookout. Alice’s paranoia remains, but is it her imagination? At this point, it’s unlikely.
Sophie is scared of Alice’s reaction to an upcoming scene
Before the main part of the episode, Sophie and Alice enjoy a conversation that was probably the elephant in the room for a long time, especially with the nature of some scenes in the script.
In private, Sophie tells Alice that she’s struggling with a scene. It’s the first time characters Eleanor and Amir get very physical, and she’s nervous about it because of Alice. She saw how she reacted with Tamir and doesn’t want the same with her husband and doesn’t want to compromise her character. Alice reassures her not to be afraid and that’s she’s been amazing so far. Meanwhile, David is masturbating in the shower before the scene — this turns out to be key.
The scene begins
And so it begins…
A production member prepares Sophie for a sex scene and the safety measures in place so that it’s not inappropriate between cast members, i.e. skin pants. As part of the scene, Eleanor walks into the hotel bedroom after a bath and sits next to David on the bed with her gown and a towel wrapped around her head; he tells her he wants her badly and they kiss. Alix asks them to cut as something doesn’t feel right and asks them to restart. Before the restart, Sophie whispers in David’s ears, and Alice tries to listen in.
The restart
The anxiety builds with the audience; Alice keeps the audience at bay to what’s she’s truly feeling — it’s hard to understand what her problem is; as the viewer, we make countless assumptions.
The scene restarts and as they kiss, Alice cuts again and enters the hotel room. She tells Sophie and David that this is the moment where there’s a lot of tension — Amir wasn’t sure if she was going to join him, and Eleanor is not used to intimacy — she tells them to be more “technical” with the scene.
As a viewer, it’s still difficult to understand what Alice wants at this stage. Is she jealous? Paranoid?
Take 3, 4, 5…
The scene restarts and as they kiss again, Alice tells them to stop. She’s reminded that there’s not much time left. Take 4 begins — it’s difficult to understand if Alice is bothered by the scene or bothered by them both kissing, but she wants another take and this time David loses it and smashes a lamp. The production is now three hours overtime and Alice is told they need to rewrap and change the schedule.
Alice just didn’t…feel it
Losing Alice season 1, episode 7 brings a fascinating scene between David and Alice as they drive home after a difficult time on set.
On the way home, Alice tells David that it was intense and apologises; she feels she didn’t explain herself properly. David says that Sophie suggested that she wasn’t there for that scene — apparently, that’s what Kate Winslet’s husband did with her sex scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio. Alice reiterates that something wasn’t working and the couple argues about the scene. Alice doesn’t want David to fake it in a scene like that, which is close to the truth as he masturbated beforehand.
The fact that David masturbated beforehand and Alice sensed a lack of tension is telling; she knows her husband better than anyone; she will know if he’s truly into an intimate scene.
Harsh words are exchanged
And then their argument reaches a boiling point…
David talks to her about her insecurities and says he isn’t surprised she hasn’t done a film in years; Alice talks about the difficult pregnancy and her looking after their daughters, and David sarcastically states he was wondering when she was going to bring up the pregnancy and asks if she regrets having Dori. Alice is disgusted that he suggests that. Suddenly they hear a commotion near their house; Keren is in her underwear sobbing as there are a load of rats in her pool.
Inside the house, Keren tells them both that she’s pregnant. Tamir comes over and reassures her wife before thanking David and Alice.
Separate until the production is over
The next morning, Alice tells David that she thinks they should separate until the production is over. David agrees. Alice agrees to stay at the hotel. She tells her family at breakfast that they will be back to normal soon but she’ll be away for a few days until the film is over. Alice heads to the hotel, and lays on the bed and takes in the room. Pnini is lurking in the corridors.
The ending
The ending of episode 7 seals a brilliant instalment.
It’s “The Scene” again. David (playing as Amir) seems more restrained this time; likes he’s bursting to kiss Sophie (playing as Eleanor), who takes the towel off her head as David tells her he wants her badly. This time the scene plays as it gets more intimate — Alice does not cut. It’s an extremely physical and sexual scene. Alice is completely transfixed on the cameras as David strips off for a naked Sophie and they have sex. It looks real and the production team sit in silence as they take in the raunchy and breathy sex. The scene is cut, and Sophie looks into the camera to look at Alice. Afterwards, one of the production team members picks up the skin cover underwear that Sophie was meant to be wearing — it was real sex. As Alice walks down the corridor, she holds in her emotions — is she crying? Is she laughing? As she hits outside and takes in the air, it’s revealed that Alice is laughing.
Losing Alice season 1, episode 7 has many layers, but it shows a character willing to do anything to get the craft that she wants from her film; as the director, she played into husband’s temptations to sleep with another woman — she played the paranoid wife and needlessly pushed David away, despite wanting him to be in the film. She flipped roles and used her empowerment in a manipulative way. Alice was sexually awakened in the last episode — she broke the rules of marriage, and in this chapter, she pushed David to his sexual awakening in the most audacious way. This episode proved she’s willing to lose her marriage for that one scene — that’s a true director’s cut and is indicative of how far creators will go for art.
