BUENOS AIRES, June 2016—We filmed this episode in the summer, perhaps not the best time to make a show in Buenos Aires.
Porteños, as residents of the city are called, generally head out of town if they can, either to Patagonia, or other country homes, or to invade the beaches of neighboring Uruguay.
So the city feels empty. Which was, in fact, just right for us.
There is already, to my mind, a mournful quality to Buenos Aires, a gorgeous background track of melancholy. You see it in the architecture. You hear it in the tango music. You feel it in the air.
There’s a bittersweet aspect that I find singular and enchanting—and the city’s slowed-down pace during its summer months are, to me, perfect.
Using Wong Kar-Wai’s beautifully shot film “Happy Together” as inspiration, we set off to make a really, really, good-looking, well-crafted episode that captures a mood, a feeling—and, of course, a place.
One odd and endearing feature of Argentina is how common it is to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. It seems nearly everyone’s got one, so I saw one too. Welcome to the dark crannies of my skull.
We use an extended therapy session as a narrative device so you will end up knowing much more about me than you ever cared to, believe me. I apologize in advance.
Did we “get” BA? I don’t know.
Whether we succeeded I leave to you, dear viewers. But I am very proud of this one incredible-looking show with a painstakingly-crafted look.