The Big Door Prize – Season 1 Episode 8 “Izzy” Recap & Review

Izzy

Episode 8 of The Big Door Prize starts with us following Izzy this time around. Jacob speaks to Izzy about the machine and points out something odd. Jacob was goofing around and put in the wrong social security number and he actually got the exact same card.

Jacob tried different body parts too instead of fingerprints and it seems like the machine is not using conventional methods to come up with its solutions. Jacob is high so that could be part of it, but Izzy is sober and she too realizes the machine is operating this way.

Now, her card actually reads “Ghost”, not “Dancer” as she initially told us, and she believes she’s invisible in town and isn’t being seen. She doesn’t want this to escalate so she and Jacob agree to keep this under wraps for now.

Cass shows up in the morning and confronts Izzy about her lying regarding Martha. Izzy ignores Cass’s pleas and decides they should go out for lunch before they talk this over.

Elsewhere, Trina speaks to Dusty and believes that Giorgio and Cass are having an affair. He points out their clumsy encounter that night and how Cass looked super guilty before they almost kissed. Trina believes he should man up and confront the restaurant owner and give him a piece of his mind. So Dusty does just that, marching up to Giorgio’s, banging on the door and demanding they talk.

In his mansion, Dusty finds Giorgio passed out on the floor with his wig gone. He points out that Cass rejected his advances and he just wants to find love. Dusty tells him he’s got a lot of lovable traits but Giorgio wants him to list five… which is a bit of a struggle!

Dusty changes his ways and helps Giorgio out, getting his wig back on and deciding to try and help the guy get his mojo. As for Cass and Izzy, guess where they go for lunch? Yep, it’s Giorgio’s. Izzy gives her point of view, including how she’s always wanted Cass but she was bored in this small town and that’s why she decided to run for Mayor after giving up her dancing dreams.

Cass doesn’t want things to always be a competition between them all the time… at least not a horrible one anyway. A bit of friendly banter is always good, so Cass suggests they play Dance, Dance, Revolution together.

When Trina shows up, Izzy reveals the truth. Her card reads Ghost, so Cass decides to do her a favour and find a blank one to rewrite it to say “Dancer”. This, of course, comes from Trina meeting Jacob and when they shake hands they can’t pull away, as Jacob realizes he wants them to be together.

Giorgio and Dusty head off and find “sole survivor” Urie, and they have tea together. The three guys sit together and discuss their fears. It’s a nice chat and eventually leads into the evening, where our store clerk is now transformed to the great Morphini. He decides to do magic and Dusty is called up to the stage to recount a moment where he was happy. This includes a mountain which he whizzed down, careering off the beginner’s track and down Black Diamond. However, this mountain happened to be called Whistler. And of course, his card read Teacher/Whistler.

In the middle of the magic show, Izzy stands up and decides to face the music. She admits to the entire crowd that she’s faked her Morpho card. Not only that, she points out that there are blank cards that they’ve been using, with Cass the perpetrator for faking them, while the machine itself seems to be a fraud and nobody is standing up and taking accountability.

Izzy goes on to rip into various different people in town, but in the time it takes Dusty to get up on stage and defend his wife, Izzy heads out into the street and notices a deer in the middle of the road.

The Episode Review

Izzy’s chapter in The Big Door Prize is arguably one of the most significant. We do learn more about Izzy but at the same time, her character has fatal flaws that will almost certainly cause repercussions to occur with this machine. It wouldn’t surprise me if all the townsfolk start turning on her now after this – or against the machine.

The fact that it’s Izzy who happens to stand up and drop all these bombshells is fitting, and perhaps even more ironically to do so right in the middle of a big performance like that, stealing the limelight from someone else and spreading misery around.

This has been a drawn out show though, no question, and the series has struggled to justify its 10 episode run-time. However, with two more episodes left it seems this one is gearing up for an intriguing two-parter to end things on a bang, and it’s anyone’s guess how that will play out.