The Interview

The Interview is the seventh episode of the first season of Living Free. Directed by Jarrod Van Hauen and Written by star Mike Barkhoff, it co-stars Dylan Van Hauen and will debut November 5th, 2021.

Plot
Mike chats with Jarrod about how I Give It A Year has the lowest rated IMDb score out of anything they've done since launching Barking Vans. During a therapy session, Mike's therapist suggests Mike's true friends will stick to his side regardless of his temperaments, and he will notice it when he needs help in life.

While trying to meditate on the advice of his therapist, Mike gets informed from Zach that someone wants to interview him for I Give It A Year. Dylan hears of this and congratulates Mike.

The Interviewer ends up attacking Mike during their virtual meeting, questioning his methods with actors and pointing to domestic abuse accusation from a prior girlfriend in his hometown. Mike tells The Interviewer to fuck off before remembering his therapist's advice and calling Dylan, thanking him for being a good friend and committing to do more film work in the coming future.

Production
Barkhoff had a troubled time finding an actor to portray the episode's antagonist, as the lines required was total 159, and many actors' pay plans jumped drastically from 150 words to anything above that to 500.

Due to this, Barkhoff's real life girlfriend portrayed the role. This was the last scene filmed for the season. Barkhoff had already filmed the aftermath and references her as a 'guy'. Rather than fix it, Barkhoff decided to keep it, as it adds to the fictional aspect of the show, showing the audience how the fictional version of himself is an unreliable narrator.

A song from Norff features in the episode.

The domestic abuse plotline is inspired by real difficulty in Barkhoff's life regarding real life ex-girlfriend Ashtun O'Rourke.

Reception
The episode received acclaim from the online viewers. It holds a 9.7/10 on IMDb from 18 voters. Clarke Accloades rated it a 9/10, saying: "Barkhoff has nested an efficient, character driven comedy that is sweet and to the point."