Anybody who has ever listened to a Jay-Z song, read The Great Gatsby or rightfully chuckled at this album cover knows that fame and fortune come with their own perils. Survivor’s Remorse has flirted with the concept of mo’ money, mo problems for two episodes but the opening minutes of “How to Build a Brand” offer as clear and concise a statement on the matter that the show has offered yet* Cam and company are making their way down a hospital hallway while Cam is voicing his discomfort with having to visit a terminally ill teenager, Johnny, as part of a Make-a-Wish obligation. Reggie tells him that it’s just part of the “new costs of being Cam.” Fame costs and this is just one particular area where he gets to pay up. Cam has some nice words for the coma-stricken Johnny and his mother and feels better about having been able to fulfill his responsibilities despite his discomfort. Then Johnny wakes up…and things take a turn for the slapstick. “How to Build a Brand” is not being as groundbreaking or clever as it thinks it is in offering that Johnny would only care about the baser things in life having confronted death. And asking a young actor to find the humanity in a horned up brat who just got out of a coma proves too tall of an order. It’s also never quite clear what Cam is supposed to be even taking away from this experience. In episode two, “On the Carpet,” Cam really does get a sense of the new consequences of his life of fame when he realizes that parents (albeit weird ones) may be motivated to strike their children in the hopes they’d turn out like him. And still that episode found the time to be quite funny while “Brand” struggles. “How to Build a Brand” is a slight step back for an otherwise strong debut for Survivor’s Remorse. The elements of solid comedy and narrative purpose are both there. The show just needs to find a way to depict the “new costs of being Cam” in a clearer, more concise and ultimately funnier way. Not killing any more teenagers might be a solid move too. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
