Whatever

"Is that Whatever the stunt double, or Whatever the character?". There may be other articles on this wiki with similar names. Always be sure to check you are on the right one! You may be looking for the song featured at the opening of the episode.

Spoiler warning! This article contains plot/ending details.

"This is a guest comic, so it's non-canon." Elements of this article may be declared to be non-canon and not a part of the series' official timeline.

Whatever
Information
Written By:	Akitoshi Yokoyama
Length:	27:27
Series:	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Release Date:	17 November 2023
Season:	1
No. in season:	4
Previous:	Ramona Rents a Video
Next:	Lights. Camera. Sparks?!

That was the day I decided who I was gonna be. The best skater, the highest paid actor, the biggest star. That day made me who I am. So I guess, in a way, I have to thank you, Ramona. — Lucas Lee

Whatever is the fourth episode of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. It was released on 17 November 2023 on Netflix along with the rest of the series.

Synopsis

Ramona heads to a film set to see Lucas, her movie star ex, whose role in a major Canadian motion picture attracts media attention - and the paparazzi.

Plot

"'Cause this is my United States of Whatever!"

Lucas Lee wakes up in his mansion. It is a sunny day in Glendale, California. Lucas goes to his skateboard collection, picks out a board, rides it out and rides it around the grounds of his mansion, whilst the ninja-like paparazzi scramble for photos. Lucas rides the board off the mansion grounds and through the city, attracting the public, taking a short break at a tanning salon and a pool party. The sequence ends with Lucas on the streets with fellow skateboarders in pursuit. Whilst hanging out with some friends, Lucas gets a call from his agent. She tells him that, aside from a string of box-office bombs and toxic "skater-boi" behavior, the public is almost ready to kick him out of California, and one mistake could send him to movie jail. She tells him that there is a role open for him in Toronto, and it could be his last one for a while. She reminds him to be professional at any given moment, or he will lose his fame. Lucas hangs up the call and name-drops the episode's title "Whatever..."

"You wrote a Lucas Lee movie?"

Ramona dyes her hair, before rollerblading off to the Torontowood Studios. She gets past the guards, and goes into Studio Lot 25, where she finds Young Neil. He compliments her hair, before offering her a seat to watch the shoot. She notices that the set looks exactly like the Rockit, so he tells that the director, Edgar Wrong, felt sets more atuthentic than shooting on location. The actors are all called in. Ramona is shocked when she realizes that her part is played by none other than Envy Adams. She asks Neil the title of the movie. On cue, Take 1 of Scene 12 of the movie, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, commences. It is a re-encatment of when Knives meets Ramona at the Rockit. The actress playing is confused, saying that they're both dating Scott Pilgrim but don't know it, so a man off-screen says: "Yes! Our character is flawed." Ramona asks Neil who Lucas Lee is playing in the movie.

"Oh my God."

"I heard they hired a notorious heterosexual to play me. Needed to see this debacle up close."

Young Neil takes Ramona to Lucas' trailer, and it is revealed that Lucas is playing Scott. When she tells him they need to talk about Scott, he replies "I'm Scott." She tells him she means the Scott that the movie is based, to which he replies "I didn't know this was a biopic." She soon finds that Lucas actually has no idea what the movie is about, as the only he read from the script was the title of the movie. Lucas prepares for his first scene and closes the trailer door. Not long after, Ramona meets the (straight) actor playing Wallace Wells, and he tries to hit on her. The real Wallace Wells arrives on-set after hearing the actor playing him is straight and not gay like him, so he wanted to see his performance up close.

The scene begins shooting. Lucas Lee wakes up, saying "I had a dream about that girl again." "Wallace" tells him that does not care at all. The scene then cuts. "Wallace" asks Wallace if his performance was "gay enough" and for any notes. Wallace tells to build a time machine, go back to the past and never audition or the part. Edgar Wrong asks who said this, so Wallace says it was him. When Edgar asks who he is, the room dims, lights blast on, and Wallace, bathed in the light, says "I'm Wallace Wells." Edgar Wrong loves Wallace's delivery, and recasts the role, giving it to Wallace, while "Wallace" is escorted off-set.

"We're not really evil. It's just branding."

Ramona visits Lucas in his trailer. He asks if she knew he was in this movie. The script states that there is a "Lucas Lee" character, whom Scott tricks into grinding to death. Ramona informs him of what happened with Scott's battle against Matthew Patel, and the movie. She tells Lucas that Scott is not actually dead. Lucas asks why she would he'd do it, so she points out that he willingly chose to join the League of Evil Exes. She has to find out how evil he really is. She tells him that she knows his reputation as a "quintessential Hollywood bad boy." Lucas points out to her that she is looking for a guy who was dating a high-schooler, saying is career would end if he actually did that. Ramona points to a news reporter coming from the trailer's TV, saying Lucas Lee is dating the actress playing Knives Chau.

"We have you surrounded, actor scum! Show yourself!"

"What do you mean? I always helped you."

Suddenly, the trailer is mobbed by paparazzi, scrambling to get photos of the scandal. Lucas tells Ramona to go, while he handles the paparazzi. Before leaving, she gives him his skateboard. Lucas creates an explosion, allowing him to get out and fight the paparazzi. Lucas traverses the studio, with the paparazzi in hot pursuit. With help from his god-level skateboarding skills, he is able to quickly dispatch them all one-by-one, even when skateboarding paparazzi appear. Lucas' skill earns him $999.99 in coins. Lucas wakes up to find Ramona standing in front of him. When he asks why she would help him, she replies that she always has. He replied that it all stopped when she started dating another guy. On that day, he decided what wanted to do the most, and thanks Ramona for making him who he was. She accepts this and helps him escape the rest of the paparazzi by hiding him inside her Subspace Suitcase.

"Watch out, guys. Vegan coming through."

Coming to the conclusion that Lucas did not kidnap Scott, she crosses him off the list. Suddenly, a portal opens behind her, and out steps Todd Ingram. Ramona concludes that Todd used his vegan powers to create a "vegan portal". Todd introduces himself to the security guards and announces that he is there audition for the role of Scott Pilgrim.

Cast

• Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers
• Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells
• Mark Webber as Stephen Stills
• Alison Pill as Kim Pine
• Ellen Wong as Knives Chau
• Chris Evans as Lucas Lee
• Satya Bhabha as Matthew Patel
• Brie Larson as Envy Adams
• Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram
• Johnny Simmons as Young Neil
• Stefan Johnson as The Announcer

References

Scott Pilgrim references

• Lucas mentions Winifred Hailey the actress he co-stars with in You Just Don't Exist.
• The movie Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is not only a reference to the title of the first book of the graphic novel series but also, considering it being an alternate universe retelling of what would have happened had Patel lost the fight and not Scott, it is a reference to both the graphic novels as a whole and the 2010 movie adaptation.
• When Straight Wallace asks how his performance was in the production, Wallace Wells heckles him and says "why don't you build a time machine, go back in time...and never audition in the first place". Wallace would later sarcastically tell Future Scott Pilgrim to do the same thing when he and Future Ramona Flowers are going through a rough patch in the marriage, something which Future Scott would actually do in "2 Scott 2 Pilgrim".

Pop culture references

• The title card font is modeled after Skate ur Die.
• A line from Lucas' agent, "This town is on the verge of saying "see you later, boi."" references the Avril Lavigne song, Sk8er Boi.
• Another line, "The stardom you love so much will slip through your grasp" seemingly references Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope, where Princess Leia tells Governor Tarkin that "the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers".
• Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, known for collaborating with Edgar Wright (director of the movie, executive producer on the show) on the Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End) cameo as studio security guards.
• The character of Edgar Wrong is a play on Edgar Wright's name.
• The film set contain references to Little Shop of Horrors, Jurassic Park, Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmare, Alien, King Ghidorah from Godzilla, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jaws.
• Lucas skates through a poster which bears resemblance to the poster for The End of Evangelion.
• When Ramona watches Young Neil crash his golf buggy after dropping her off at Lucas' trailer, her posture and facial expression poses resemblance to Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo franchise.

Quotes

Click to view quotes said by Whatever.