The 5 Most Ridiculous Things from Episode Three of Vinyl: “Whispered Secrets”

For the first time, Vinyl actually roped me in. I liked watching the Nasty Bits turn around a pitiful label tryout by abandoning their Kinks cover in place of a snarling original number. I felt every bit of raw emotion that came out of the scene between Richie and Lester Grimes, the blues artist he used to manage. And, as a writer, I loved the rueful comedy that went on between Richie and the head of his PR department as they tried to find a positive spin on his decision to renege on the deal with Polygram. But for every peak on the show, there was an accompanying valley. Here are the lowest of those depressions.

1. Olivia Wilde’s acting

We’ve talked about this already, but it continues to pose a serious problem for Vinyl. Outside of one small, intimate scene between Devon and Richie in bed together back in the early days of their marriage, Wilde constantly looks like she’s trying so hard to wrench some genuine emotion out of her person. But when faced with talents like Bobby Cannavale and John Cameron Mitchell, she looks more often like she’s drowning. To see what I mean, point your DVRs to the early scene when she dramatically, defiantly swigs a bit of white wine, while she stares down her onscreen husband, and see if you can watch it without snickering.

2. Bobby Cannavale’s flashback mustache

The most terrifying thing to air on HBO since Joe Buck’s attempt at a talk show.