The Rehearsal season 1 recap: All to know before watching season 2
The Rehearsal season 1 is a mockumentary series that aired on HBO from July 15 to August 19, 2022. Created by Nathan Fielder, the show blurs the line between fiction and reality, much like his previous Comedy Central show, Nathan For You. Fielder serves as a writer, director, executive director, and star, portraying a fictionalized version of himself who helps ordinary people face situations by rehearsing them ahead.
Fielder developed the premise of The Rehearsal season 1 while shooting for Nathan For You. Before shooting, Fielder and his team role-played to prepare how real people may react to his ridiculous suggestions on camera. He discovered that their predictions failed more often than not and was inspired by people’s futile efforts to control their future.
Comprising six episodes, The Rehearsal season 1 was a hit with both critics and audiences, scoring 95% and 86% from critics and viewers, respectively. On the day the final episode aired, HBO announced the show's renewal for season 2, which premiered on April 20, 2025.
Everything that happened in The Rehearsal season 1
The Rehearsal season 1 opens with Nathan Fielder deciding to help Kor Skeete confess to his bar trivia team that he does not have a master’s degree. Fielder creates a replica of the bar and hires actors to play Skeete and his teammate Tricia, the person to whom he has to confess. In the end, Skeete follows through with his mission and even wins the quiz, prompting Fielder to rethink the impact of his work.
In the second episode, Nathan helps Angela overcome her dilemma with motherhood. He sets her up in a rented farmhouse in rural Oregon and, working around child protection laws, brings in new babies for her to care for every four hours, along with a robot baby to stay overnight. Seeking a husband in her rehearsal, Angela begins dating Robbin, who quits midway as a result of the robot baby’s cries.
With no alternative, Fielder decides to co-parent the fake baby with Angela. He accelerates their experiences with a three-year-old and then six-year-old actors playing the child, whom they name Adam. Meanwhile, Fielder also helps a third person, Patrick, prepare to confront his brother over his grandfather’s will. Patrick has an emotional breakthrough midway and leaves the production.
Fielder then opens an acting studio in Los Angeles to recruit participants for his rehearsals. He teaches them the ‘Fielder Method,’ which involves spying on and imitating unaware subjects. Insecure about his own performance, Fielder organizes a rehearsal for himself, hiring an actor to play him while he plays the role of a student, Thomas. For a while, Fielder immerses himself in Thomas’ life and home.
He later returns to his fake family in Oregon to find ‘Adam’ grown into a teenager and being played by Joshua. They decide that Adam should develop a drug problem due to his absentee father, eventually running away from home. After it plays out, Fielder brings a six-year-old actor to play Adam, as he wishes to relive his fictional son’s childhood.
Wanting to practice his assertiveness in relationships, Fielder goes up against devoutly Christian Amanda to bring up their ‘son’ Adam in his Jewish faith. He is unable to sway her and resorts to bringing Adam to a Jewish tutor in secret. Fielder's and Amanda’s relationship continues to deteriorate, and he opens the replica bar to the public to seek solace outside the house.
Fielder sets up a rehearsal for a confrontation with Amanda after they argue over a joke. The fake Amanda criticizes his detachment and questions the ethics of the entire production, while the real Amanda simply quits the rehearsal. However, Fielder is not ready to let go and decides to raise Adam on his own.
A problem arises when Fielder arranges a ninth birthday party for Adam and discovers that Remy, the child actor portraying Adam, has become overly attached to him. When Remy continues calling Fielder “daddy” after the scenes are over, his mother, Amber, explains that he is struggling to distinguish between acting and reality.
Fielder decides to investigate the situation and repeats Remy's scenes with nine-year-old Liam, an adult actor, as well as a mannequin. He also meets with Angela in an attempt to find out what might have happened if she had not left. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the bond between parent and child, Fielder sets up a new scenario where he plays Amber and Liam plays Remy.
The duo recreates the experience of Remy appearing at the rehearsal and becoming attached to the fictitious father, Fielder. The exercise makes Fielder realize that he should not have moved forward with the show, and he breaks the character of Amber and tells Liam’s Remy:
“I'm your dad."
Where to watch The Rehearsal season 1?
The Rehearsal season 1 is currently available to stream digitally on Max, Prime Video, and Hulu.
A subscription to Max begins at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, with ads. Viewers can also watch The Rehearsal season 1 on Prime Video, where plans begin at $8.99 per month, with students eligible for a $1.50 discount. Plans for Hulu begin at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
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