Nathan Fielder Is at War With Sully Sullenberger Now (Why Not?)

Spoilers for The Rehearsal Season 2 finale below.

The Last of Us wasn’t the only HBO hit to drop a season finale on Sunday night. Nathan Fielder literally brought The Rehearsal Season 2 in for a landing by actually piloting a commercial 737 with passengers aboard. TV’s preeminent trickster found a loophole in FAA regulations that allowed him to use his legitimate pilot’s license to skip a few steps and fly the massive plane with people on board as long as they weren’t paying customers. Fielder never has a shortage of actors on hand who are willing to do anything, including possibly dying in a plane crash in the desert.

The finale also heavily begged a very dicey question that The Rehearsal began teasing in last week’s penultimate episode: Does Nathan Fielder have autism? I’m genuinely surprised this topic hasn’t kicked off a firestorm of controversy because there is a very real possibility that Fielder, uh, pretended he might be autistic. The Rehearsal has been a genius interrogation of reality TV and how easy it is to manipulate what’s shown on screen, but it has also been a potentially personal examination of Fiedler while shielded by comedy.

Or maybe it’s just comedy! In a jarring vibe shift after the inspirational finale, Fielder stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live in a full pilot outfit where he engaged in his trademark cringe routine while also harkening back to the year’s best episode of television. I’m talking, of course, about Nathan’s deep dive into the life of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. The simulation, complete with giant puppet breast-feeding, ended with a dynamite theory that Sully pulled off his “Miracle on the Hudson” after listening to the chorus of Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life” on his beloved iPod. However, Nathan has gone from becoming his subject to wanting to destroy him.

Fielder threw the first barb by referring to his flight in the finale as the “Miracle over the Mojave,” which I mean, it kind of was. But only in the sense that it’s a miracle that HBO and the FAA let it happen. Via The Daily Beast:

“I mean, not to create a competition or anything, but I did put down my plane safely on land,” Fielder pointed out.

“So you’re one up on Sully for sure,” Kimmel jokingly agreed.

“Us pilots, we just show up to work and we’re just doing our job,” Fielder continued. “And, like, I wouldn’t call myself… I’m not calling myself a hero, but if people say that…”

“I would say you’re a hero,” Kimmel said.

“Well, yeah, that’s fair,” Fielder replied.

True story: I’ve been quietly hoping for weeks that Sully would come forward and admit that Nathan was right, and he absolutely got himself keyed up by listening to the hit single from the Daredevil soundtrack. That just went out the window! Also, while writing this piece, I may have stumbled across a look into whether the Evanesence theory holds up, and let’s just say it’s been a very depressing morning. I’d like to be alone now.

You can watch Nathan Fielder on Jimmy Kimmel Live below: