My Review of Hollywood's: "(Screen) Tests"

Written by Ian Brennan & Janet Mock & Ryan Murphy
Directed by Janet Mock

Avis (re Claire): "I am not going to take that risk when we have a perfectly fine alternative who is going to become so goddamn unbearable, you have no idea."

The thing is - Claire could definitely play the role of Peg but she sabotaged her own screen test out of guilt but still got the part because Avis didn't want to rock the boat with casting Camille, who gave the better audition. Essentially that was the crux of this episode but as the last scene seemed to indicate, Avis will most likely have a change of heart.

While subtlety hasn't been this show's thing when coming to having conversations about race in Tinsel Town, this episode seemed more determined to drive that point home some more. We had Camille encouraged but also the odds set against her while Archie himself also suffered a setback  as well.

I wasn't surprised that Ace wanted Archie's name removed from the script and while Dick could have fought a bit harder for Archie, I do like that both him and Ellen fought for Camille here. I don't doubt Archie will gain the upper hand sooner than later though but I enjoyed the scenes he shared with Jack, Raymond and Camille here.

Speaking of Jack, he seemed tempted by Claire but chose not to get closer to her. He put in a far better screen test than Rock and got the boyfriend role fairly and in spite of Henry's attempts to resort to blackmail to give Rock the upper hand with Avis. I like that the latter didn't allow Henry to get the better of her.

However the scenes with Eleanor Roosevelt (Harriet Sansom Harris) definitely felt like the point of Camille deserving the role more than Claire did feel a bit much at times but I enjoyed the performance and I also thought Avis showing kindness to Jeanne after learning of Ace's affair with her was an interesting plot twist. Nice to see Avis can acknowledge her own hypocrisy too.

As for Rock, well we didn't get as much here with him as previous episodes or salt any scenes with him and Archie but his moments were good. His bad screen test with Jeanne was amusing enough but again I do want to see him get away from Henry before this miniseries concludes.

- Ernie had dreams of his own and nearly got an acting gig with Vivien Leigh. He seemed to have mixed emotions about Jack leaving the business.
- Standout music: The Ink Spots Slap That Bass, Johnny Mercer's  Personality and Glenn Miller's King Porter Stomp.
- This episode was also co-written and directed by Janet Mock, who has worked on both Pose and The Politician.
- Chronology: Not long from the previous episode's ending.

(Screen) Tests went hard with it's central message this week, more so than it's previous episodes and while it had some great moments, it was the weakest part of the miniseries so far. Still though, the screen tests were the best part with this episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10