History YMMV / TheRehearsal

** Joshua Benard[[note]]The son of ''Series/GeneralHospital'' star Maurice Benard; the younger Benard also plays a RecurringCharacter on ''GH''.[[/note]], the actor playing teenage Adam, received rave reviews for his performance. The fact that he was able to conjure up a backstory for who he was playing and portray a convincing performance of a drug addled teen living without a father figure shows his talent despite being in his late teens. Many viewers likened him to Creator/TimotheeChalamet, an acclaimed young actor who has a similar appearance to Joshua.

** Joshua Benard, the actor of teenage Adam, received rave reviews for his performance. The fact that he was able to conjure up a backstory for who he was playing and portray a convincing performance of a drug addled teen living without a father figure shows his talent despite being in his late teens. Many viewers likened him to Creator/TimotheeChalamet, an acclaimed young actor who has a similar appearance to Joshua.

** With ''Series/HowToWithJohnWilson''. Both star awkward but endearing creators as themselves as they meet wacky characters and find themselves in bizarre situations. This is helped by the fact that Creator/NathanFielder is the producer and advertised the series

* NightmareFuel: The very premise of the show is creepy to some viewers, with Nathan disturbingly but perfectly recreating situations and locations. This gets creepier as the show goes on and the rehearsals become even more of a MindScrew.
** Episode 4 features a dark and shockingly realistic storyline within the rehearsals where Adam turns to drugs due to Nathan's neglect. Adam's drug overdose and Nathan's reaction were also scarily realistic.
*** It gets even darker in retrospect once you read a profile of Fielder done to promote the show in which it becomes apparent the breakdown he suffers eerily mirrors a real-life incident in which Fielder- then going through a divorce- had an actual nervous breakdown during a meeting with Comedy Central execs. Meaning that Fielder put into motion a series of events for him to re-live his own traumatic experience on national television.

* BrokenBase: Fans of Fielder's are split over whether he crossed the line in his use of inexperienced child actors, resulting in one- Remy- becoming traumatized by his time on the show. Some fans argue that it was Remy's mother's job to ensure her child was prepared for the experience and HBO's responsibility to vet the actors, while others don't feel Nathan did anything wrong and that the child simply had a normal attachment response akin to what develops between some kids and favorite teachers or camp counselors. Further, some people think that Nathan Fielder intentionally orchestrated a situation where one of the children would become traumatized, either for the sake of a bit or to help draw attention to the mistreatment of child actors; others believe that Nathan had no way of predicting how Remy would respond and that he just decided to roll with things and incorporate it into the show. The fact that the audience is uncertain to what degree Remy was really "damaged" by the experience, and that the show intentionally blurs lines of reality and fantasy, only makes it more difficult to assess if anything wrong was done, and if so, who's responsible.
** Some fans of the show are split on whether the show should’ve been mostly episodic like ''Series/NathanForYou'', as the first episode made it seem like it would be, or whether it is better off with its continuing storyline.

* HarsherInHindsight: Kor comparing Nathan to Willy Wonka becomes this in episode six, when Nathan regrets hurting a child by accidentally making him believe Nathan is his father.

* EvenBetterSequel: Some fans see this show as even better than its predecessor, ''Series/NathanForYou''. While the show was a hilarious comedy, some prefer this show due to its deeper meaning and complexity, reflecting on complicated topics.

* RealLifeWritesthePlot: Fielder has gone on record saying the pilot was shot before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving it unclear whether he always intended for the show to become serialized with himself as the central participant, or if the original concept was meant to be more episodic and follow the format laid out by the first episode.

** Similarly, Anna LaMadrid, the actress from Nathan's acting school who plays Angela for Nathan's rehearsal of a confrontation with her, has become loved for her emotional and effecting performance.

** In episode 5, Nathan is clearly hurt at fake Angela's claims that he is selfish and incapable of feeling connections with other people. His reaction is heartbreaking, and seems to genuine rattle Fielder, causing him to momentarily break character.

** Similarly, the actress from Nathan's acting school who plays Angela for Nathan's rehearsal of a confrontation with her has become loved for her emotional and effecting performance.

** How seriously did Angela take the rehearsals? Her first episode shows her treating them seriously, but episode 5 shows that she broke character with the actors playing Adam when Nathan wasn't there, and another episode finds Nathan reviewing footage of her dancing in her room when she's supposed to be caring for "Adam," himself questioning if she was just using the show as a free vacation. Did she actually think that the rehearsals would help her? If she didn't take the rehearsals seriously, then why did she get into so many arguments with Nathan over how to raise Adam? Did she just start these arguments for the sake of the show? Does she even understand her own actions, or did reality and fantasy begin to blur for her the way it has for Nathan?

** Similarly, the actress from Nathan's acting school that goes on to pretend to be Angela for Nathan's rehearsal of a confrontation with her became loved for her emotional and effecting performance.

* RealLifeWritesthePlot: Fielder has gone on record saying the pilot was shot before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving it unclear whether he always intended for the show to become serialized with himself as the central participant, or if the original format was meant to be more episodic and follow the format laid out by the first episode.

* ParanoiaFuel: In many episodes, participants in rehearsals interact with people they don't know are actors, including complex simulations involving performers posing as everyday people such as police officers and construction workers. Could you be inside a rehearsal right now?
** Taken up to 11 in 'The Fielder Method,' in which Nathan instructs his acting students to spend one day surreptitiously following someone, then introduce themselves to the person another day and try to learn as much about them as possible so they can mimic that person in a future acting class. As one of the students points out, this technically constitutes stalking.

* ParanoiaFuel: In many moments, the episodes' participants are taking part in a rehearsal without even realizing it. Could you be inside a rehearsal right now?
** Taken up to 11 in 'The Fielder Method,' in which Nathan instructs his acting students to spend one day surreptitiously following someone, then introduce themselves to the person another and try to learn as much about them so they can mimic them in a future acting class. As one of the students points out, this technically constitutes stalking.

** In episode 5, Nathan clearly is hurt at fake Angela's claims that he is selfish and incapable of feeling connections with others. His reaction is heartbreaking.

** Angela holds fundamentalist religious views and is controlling, anti-Semitic, and quick to judge others, but she had an extremely difficult childhood, as her parents were abusive and she became addicted to alcohol and drugs. She also shows a surprisingly mature and sensitive side to herself when she [[spoiler: decides to end the rehearsal, genuinely thanking Nathan for the opportunity and parting on good terms with him]].