Note: This story contains spoilers from “Platonic” Season 2, Episode 5.
In this week’s episode of “Platonic,” Luke Macfarlane’s Charlie gets the opportunity of his dreams when he is selected to compete on “Jeopardy!,” subbing out the Apple TV+ show’s typical Los Angeles backdrop for the set of the legendary game show.
“There was no backup to ‘Jeopardy!’” co-creator Nick Stoller told TheWrap. “It had to be a skill-driven game show, and that basically starts and ends with ‘Jeopardy!’”
Since “Platonic” and “Jeopardy!” are both produced by Sony Pictures Television, orchestrating a crossover episode was a relatively light lift, with the “Jeopardy!” producers and host Ken Jennings on board for the collaboration. “Jeopardy!” welcomed the “Platonic” team to use their set for the day, though Stoller admitted he was “quite nervous” to shoot in the iconic location.
“I’ve directed a lot at this point [but] I was very weirdly, quite nervous that day because I didn’t want to mess anything up on their set,” Stoller said, with co-creator Francesca Delbanco adding the team was conscientious not to waste their time. “It was really fun to shoot, and Ken Jennings was hilarious and totally game to try anything.”
Jennings got a front-row seat to the meltdown experienced by Charlie when he freezes on stage, overcome with panic after botching an easy question. The realization that one of the worst moments of his life would soon be broadcast onto national television — and TikTok — sends the character into an existential spiral that the co-creators say offered a comedic way into exploring a universal theme that prompts even the most stable, secure people to re-evaluate their life.
“Events in your life can jar you into re-examining everything, and I think that’s an experience a lot of people have … throughout life, but certainly in middle age, [with] a death or a divorce … but we wanted something that would be funny,” Delbanco said. “What if that is the event in his life that causes him to open up the question of, ‘what does it all mean?’ “
With Charlie off of work for the week for “Jeopardy!” while Rose Byrne’s Sylvia gets her event planning business off the ground, it’s now Charlie that has time to pal around with Seth Rogen’s Will, which leads to a wild night out for the pair as Will unknowingly helps Charlie out with his plan to convince a “Jeopardy!” producer not to air his episode — by breaking into his home.
The night not only offers a chance to utilize Rogen and Macfarlane’s chemistry — Stoller said “it just doesn’t totally make sense when they share the screen in a really funny way” — it also shakes up dynamics between Will and Sylvia as Charlie shares a moment of honesty with Will about feeling boxed in in his life and career.
“The show also works when both Will and Sylvia are honest with one another about their own lives, about each other’s lives, and to have Will observe something kind of crazy about Charlie and confront Sylvia with it, and Sylvia would be like, ‘You don’t know anything about my marriage,’ but Will kind of does … was important also from storytelling standpoint,” Stoller said.
“Platonic” releases new episodes Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
