The following post contains spoilers for Loot‘s first three episodes.
Loot‘s leading lady Maya Rudolph may enjoy parodying the popular hot wing YouTube series Hot Ones, but when it comes to taking the heat herself, she’d rather be miles away from the kitchen.
“I told [host] Sean [Evans], ‘No, don’t ever ask me because I’m not coming,’” Rudolph tells TVLine. “I’d be happy to go sit with him and talk, but I refuse to put any of that inside my body!”
In Apple TV+’s latest workplace comedy (three episodes are now available to stream, with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays), Rudolph plays Molly Novak, a woman whose rich tech exec husband (Severance’s Adam Scott) very publicly cheats on her, leaving her with an $87 billion divorce settlement. When she learns she’s the head of her own charity organization, she vows to do some good for underprivileged Americans, starting with her (failed) attempt at some character rehab via interview spots on shows such as Hot Ones.
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After bailing on Anderson Cooper, Molly decides to partake in interviews that are more her speed, hence, linking up with Evans and his wildly popular interview series in Loot‘s third episode. But in true Molly fashion, the hot sauces are far more than she can handle, and after chugging copious pitchers of beer (some of them with milk in them — yuck!), Molly gets beyond sloshed. Instead of detailing the difficulties of the cost of living in Los Angeles, she yells at Evans to “shut the f–k up,” and rants about how her “a–hole husband” is the only reason she’s getting her “f–king face melted off” by “these little tiny spicy pieces of s–t.” Her drunken tirade (which of course goes viral) ends with her telling Evans she could buy and shut down his entire show, while also killing everybody and getting away with it.
It’s an absolute meltdown that allows Rudolph to flex every comedic bone in her body, with help from slurred speech, hysterical physicality and grandiose entitlement. And while things didn’t go too well for Ms. Novak in the show’s “hot seat,” how would Maya Rudolph have handled the situation?
“Maya might do worse!” says Rudolph. She’s smiling, but is undoubtedly dead serious. “I was talking about it with Sean, and he was explaining all of the sauces and the [Scoville] numbers they go up in, and I realized: I don’t think I could even get past one! I don’t think I’d make it. I would internally combust or something!”
She also confirms that Evans “really, truly” eats his full platter of wings during each and every interview. (We didn’t doubt ya for a second, Sean!)
“I was like, ‘Do you have a spit bucket, like I do?’ And he was like ‘Nope!’ He eats that stuff! Isn’t that crazy? He does go to the doctor to make sure everything’s fine. I mean, if you eat too many Takis, isn’t it going to strip your stomach lining or something? I love Takis, don’t get me wrong, but they’re scary. It’s a lot!”
Elsewhere in the premiere episodes, Molly attempts to fly the foundation’s employees to Miami for a bonding retreat, but a lightning storm forces them to make an emergency landing, derailing all of her good intentions. Despite her overeager attempt to wine and dine everyone, she’s also able to smooth things over with an important council member upon her return, proving to Sofia that she really does want to use her status and money to positively help the foundation.
And later, Sofia apologizes to Molly for pushing her too hard during her interview prep, despite the fact that Molly fully accepted the blame for her Hot Ones fiasco. But rather than coming down hard on her, Sofia gives her a pep talk instead, telling Molly that if she wants to help, she needs to get her ex-husband out of her head. The next day, Molly tries her hand at another interview, only this time with calmer energy and a renewed focus.
And absolutely zero hot wings.
Will Molly be able to do some charitable good after all, and how’d you enjoy Loot‘s first three showings? Grade them below, then let loose in the comments!