SHOW NOTES: S02E06, "In Place of Anger"
This first thing producer Alison did in her research for this week's show notes is search for "Is Holden Caulfield a Salinger stand-in?" We're here to report to you that we could find absolutely no writing on this topic, so we're going to go with what we already thought—no, he is not, and Nate knows absolutely nothing about literature. (At least he didn't ask if Brenda's character was her Humbert Humbert? Maybe it's better that Nate doesn't have the full literary canon to draw from when attempting to formulate metaphors.)
This episode is chock full of glorious guest stars. Let's begin with national treasure Harriet Harris—we wish we had resident Frasier expert Anita Flores with us this week, as Harriet is well known for playing Bebe Glazer, Frasier's talent agent. The Frasier fandom Wiki describes Bebe as being "essentially the series Mephistopheles, repeatedly offering Frasier all sorts of material advantages if he will compromise his ethical standards." Here's a picture of her in that role:
Our other brand-new, supremely talented guest star is the incomparable Patricia Clarkson. You all know who she is already, but given the opportunity to stare at some pictures of her, wouldn't you gladly take it? We thought so. Here she is in Sharp Objects, The Green Mile, and The Station Agent, respectively.
Sarah gives Claire some tips on the feng shui of her room and indicates that she needs something green and growing in her knowledge corner. (Later she buys her a bonsai tree for this purpose, which is a terrible gift to spring on someone unexpectedly—bonsais take a great deal of time to care for.) In case you're curious about where Sarah's coming from, here's a video of a feng shui expert (?) helping her friend reorganize the entryway of his home, which is in his knowledge corner.
Jenna talks about how much Ruth's monologue to Sarah near the end of the episode resembles a monologue that Blanche DuBois gives to Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Both are indeed about how one sister stayed at home caring for ailing relatives (like RUTH'S LEGLESS GRANDMOTHER!) while the other went out and "had more fun." Here's the full text of the monologue if you'd like to read it for yourself! (Please picture teenage Jenna doing this monologue at theater camp. Or you can picture Vivien Leigh, who also played Blanche and is pictured below.)
And finally, Jenna says that Nate smothering Brenda with a pillow in her dream sequence reminded her of an incubus... but the mythological creature, not the band. Just in case you weren't clear on the difference, here's a picture of each to help you keep them straight.
