Apparently, the succession plot twists on the Renaissance Truthful in Todd Mission, Texas didn’t finish with the conclusion of the three-part HBO docuseries “Ren Faire.” In truth, in response to director Lance Oppenheim, it was the airing of the final two episodes on June 9 that really led to the most recent chapter within the saga.
“George [Coulam] watched Episodes 2 and three, and he cherished the sequence a lot that he really cleaned the workplace out once more and he gave Jeff [Baldwin] his previous job again, so now Jeff is the brand new normal supervisor,” stated Oppenheim on an upcoming episode of IndieWire’s Toolkit podcast. “Jeff is again in cost.”
That is the place Baldwin was in at the beginning of Episode 1 of “Ren Faire.” The loyal, devoted worker of 43 years, had risen from being the competition’s long-serving leisure director to its new normal supervisor, answerable for working the day-to-day operations of the multi-faceted multi-million greenback enterprise that Coulam had constructed from scratch. At first of the sequence Baldwin is underneath the impression Coulam, the 86-year previous mayor-owner-cosplay king, plans to steadily step apart within the coming years (in search of the companionship of a yet-to-be-found youthful lady in his Golden years), handing over the reigns to Baldwin and his staff. However on the finish of Episode 1, which Oppenheim coined “Jeff’s Ego Loss of life,” the rug is pulled out from beneath Baldwin when Coulam decides to promote the competition (in a deal that in the end falls aside) to kettle-corn vendor Louie Migliaccio, who doesn’t respect Baldwin.
To make issues worse, Coulam humilated Baldwin by making former elephant coach Darla Smith co-general supervisor, and the de facto boss, earlier than ultimately firing Baldwin in brutal vogue. In Episode 2 and three, Baldwin is crestfallen and depressed, supplying Oppenheim’s story its Shakespearean tragedy. To Baldwin and his spouse Brandi, the competition staff are like the kids they by no means had (one thing he says in his tearful toast on the finish of the competition season), and the fantasy world gave his life that means. By the tip of the three-part sequence Baldwin is a unique man, having misplaced weight (via surgical procedure) and his function in life, he begs Coulam for his old-old job again as leisure director — telling his former employer he was proper, Baldwin himself sees he was by no means match to run the competition.
In response to Oppenheim, in watching the final two episodes of “Ren Faire,” Coulam was in a position to see how merciless and unfair he was to the devoted servant.
“The best way Jeff describes it, he says that the documentary was type of just like the three [spirits in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’], the Ghost of Christmas previous arrived and awoke Scrooge,” stated Oppenheim, describing the have an effect on watching the documentary had on Coulam, who, in response to Oppenheim, apologized to Baldwin after watching the sequence, earlier than firing his workplace workers and rehiring Baldwin to run day-to-day operations as the brand new normal supervisor.
Oppenheim warns in opposition to seeing this newest twist as a hopeful signal of a brand new starting. As Episode 3 makes clear, Coulam won’t ever let go, the identical cyclical patterns will repeat itself till the king dies.
“You’re with somebody who has given 43 years of his life to that cycle, hoping that that sooner or later it can change, it’s virtually like an actual life model of the Don Quixote chasing the windmills, it’s a fantasy that in the end entombs everybody,” stated Oppenheim. “It’s precisely what George needs. He needs to go the best way of an Egyptian Pharaoh. He has a mausoleum on his property, he needs to be buried in it, and he needs to take everybody with him.”
Oppenheim feels sure the identical patterns he noticed repeated the three years he documented the competition will repeat themselves once more, together with Coulam flirting with the concept of promoting to Migliaccio.
“George is sending Jeff to India to go to a chocolate conference, and you recognize what’s going to occur when that occurs, the identical occasions: Louie goes to satisfy with George, and there’s going to be a cellphone name to Jeff,” stated Oppenheim, making reference to Baldwin’s all-expenses paid analysis journey to Germany in Episode 1, which is when Coulam as soon as once more (it occurs yearly) tried to promote the competition to Migliaccio, and he delivers the cellphone name resulting in “Jeff’s Ego Loss of life.”
“The identical factor goes to occur ceaselessly, and I feel there’s one thing extraordinarily tragic about that,” stated Oppenheim.
Look out for IndieWire’s “Toolkit” episode with Lance Oppenheim on podcast platforms (Apple, Spotify) in July.