The Franchise (2024) – Season 1 Episode 7 Recap & Review

Episode 7

Episode 7 of The Franchise starts with the team doing a location shoot in Armenia. Eric wants to shoot a goat walking out of a portal but said goat refuses to cooperate. This sends Eric into a frenzy and brings his hiccups back.

The team is actually here to shoot an ending scene during which a bridge blows up. And they are going to blow up an actual bridge. Additionally, Bryson announces they are hosting a local Armenian sick boy on set and a sustainability officer warns the crew to not injure any brown-furred Armenian bats in the area as they are endangered.

Meanwhile, Pat tells Anita about a Deadline article in which Martin Scorsese said franchise films are killing cinema. Apparently, the data backs this up and the ever-mysterious Shane is also up in arms about it.

Steph tells Dag that she and Rufus (Mollusc Man) slept together and she doesn’t feel bad about it even though they’re both married. Eric soon hears about the Deadline article and decides he can’t be responsible for the death of cinema.

He decides to scrap the bridge-blowing-up to a new subversive ending where the superheroes take off their capes and have a conversation in normal clothes. He even has a very exhausted VFX artist make a clip of what the scene would look like. Daniel tries to explain they flew 300 people to Armenia, so they have to blow up the bridge but Eric is set on his decision.

Daniel passes the news on to Anita who says they need to fix things fast. Daniel decides to ‘Truman Show’ Eric by feeding him a fake video on loop while he’s inside his trailer. In the meantime, they will complete the shot outside. Since Daniel becomes acting director, Dag proudly takes up the mantle of First AD.

In an awkward conversation with Rufus, Steph tells him she’s in love with him. Rufus is not on the same page which makes Steph mad. Meanwhile, Bryson meets the local sick boy who happens to be a really tall Armenian teenager who is more into YouTube than movies.

Daniel takes on the director’s role more and more as he gives the actors notes and changes some of Eric’s blocking for the scene. Pat makes a vague comment where he says he likes how Daniel does things as opposed to Eric.

A problem arises when an employee named Jaz finds an Armenian bat nearby. Daniel tries to ignore the problem by throwing it in the water. He heads back to the trailer where Anita starts getting flirty. She recalls Pat’s comment from earlier and asks if they should just keep Eric stashed in his trailer and direct the movie themselves. She kisses Daniel’s hand and he pulls back from her advances, before telling her he just touched a bat.

As Anita is frantically washing her mouth, Jaz informs Daniel that Eric wants to go for a walk. To stop him from seeing the active set, Daniel engineers sprinklers to make it look like it’s raining and keep Eric inside.

Just as Daniel is about to shoot the scene, the sustainability woman finds two more bats in the area. She’s running towards the set and Daniel and Anita decide to shoot the bridge blowing up before she can reach them. They go for it and…the wrong bridge blows up. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding with the explosives guy. As the wrong bridge goes down, a horde of Armenian bats fly out of the chaos and the crew has to run for shelter.

The bridge turns out to be a historical site which is also marked on the Armenian currency notes. Anita and Daniel agree that protecting the studio’s reputation is the most important thing and they need to destroy all evidence. Also, Pat and Shane can never know.

When Eric finally comes out of his trailer, he tells Daniel that he’s changed his mind again. He doesn’t care about Martin, he wants to stick to the bridge blowing up. Daniel says they are out of time but they can blow the bridge up via VFX, to the exasperation of the VFX artist.

The Franchise Episode 7 ends with Bryson breaking the sick boy’s phone because he took a video of the whole thing. Of course, he’s been promised tickets to the premiere and a new phone in return.

The Episode Review

The Franchise Episode 7 takes on franchise films doing location shoots and having adverse effects on the environment, endangered species, and historical sites. It’s not particularly nuanced and there are a few loopholes but the statement is made. These films often take away rather than add to the things around them and the way they function doesn’t allow for much adjustment.

This episode hints at a deeper look at some of the characters, particularly with Daniel enjoying taking charge of the set more and more. Dag shows more ambition and Anita gets cheeky grabbing at an opportunity as well. Ultimately, there is a lot of charm and humour in the episode but the series seems more intent on being snarky and sarcastic about franchise films than on exploring its characters.