Photo Courtesy of “Patched”
“Patched,” a web series made by UR students and local actors, follows six fictional UR students trying to bring their band off the ground as they struggle through their individual differences and the conflicts in their lives. The show stars senior Lilly Camp and senior Kathryn Loveless, junior Daniel Mensel, KEY student Kedar Shashidhar, in addition to local actors Haley Keeley and Sean Michael Smith. It features subtle humor, slick cinematography and a solid storyline to keep its viewers waiting on the edge of their seats after each episode.
In its pilot, “Patched”’s magic lies in the way it embraces classic character tropes. There is something jarring about the series’ pilot, which introduces characters whose qualities are very relatable and realistic, so much so that it borders on the surreal. In the pilot episode’s opening scene, stoner Max, serious Emma, distant Jessica, good-time Jenn and multilingual Eric are all sitting in a line on a couch. Jessica opens the show with the line, said to no one in particular, “All I’m saying, is the switch to Coke ruined lunch for me.” The trite quote is strange and confusing out of context, but something tells me that’s the point. As the pilot progresses and the characters get lost in banter on buttholes and tentacle porn, one thing becomes clear: “Patched” is out there. In fact, it might exist in an alternate universe. To outsiders, the pilot’s world resembles the dream you have where you’re trying to run but can’t–each character on the show is trapped in his or her stereotype, trying to communicate with the others but getting lost in a prism of “Cards Against Humanity” buzzwords along the way. In this sense, Patched is not just a web series–it is a post-sitcom.
While it has a strange start, thorughout its 5 episodes, “Patched” evolves and changes significantly, as postmodern vibes from the pilot take a backseat to a more solid plot and drama by episode 5. Senior Kathryn Loveless, who plays Jessica, talked to the CT about her character’s developing personality. “On the surface, she seems like a shallow girl who is more interested in texting her friends than the rest of her band. But in the most recent episode, we saw a different side to her, and there are a few other surprises in store. She really loves music and managing bands, which is something we wanted to develop in her character. We, especially the writers, didn’t want her to be ‘just the girlfriend,’” Loveless said. Clearly, viewers will learn more about Jessica, and other characters, as the show progresses. Indeed, “Patched”’s most recent episode, the fifth, is where the show really starts to change direction, bringing more surprises and suspense than dream-like vibes. Loveless says that the “Patched” team called the fifth episode the “Red Wedding” episode for this reason.
The creative process for the show is highly collaborative. Loveless explained how she and the team “wrote the first few episodes and… actually filmed both 1 and 2 before realizing that (they) needed to rework them. Now we have a general character and story arc for the show. Before each episode we give a specific starting and ending point for that episode. Then we let the writers come up with everything else!” said Loveless.
Loveless also explained how “Patched” is partially rooted in the characters real life experience, partially in the people they meet. When asked how many of the show’s actors are musicians, Loveless responded “Kedar is the only one of us who can play an instrument well. We were mostly basing the story off of people all of us know or have met–essentially the types of students that most people have seen around campus. So none of us really play our instruments, none of us have ever been in a band. We also wanted part of the gag to be that the audience never actually sees this band play together. Although, fun fact, the title and credit music is all made from the instruments in the band.”
“Patched” started off as a somewhat abstract and has now evolved into a grippingly realistic comedy-drama. It’s hard to say what’s next for the show; I can’t wait to find out.
To watched “Patched,” search “Patched Web Series” on YouTube.
Howard is a member of
the class of 2017.
