Anyone watching Bad Vegan on Netflix?

[youhadmeatjello]

It’s absolute madness!

It blew my mind! (Binge watched). Soooo many questions. What a fat, bullying, charmless meat suit Anthony is. And how he defrauded the mother too! Sharma just looked dead behind the eyes.

Only seen first two episodes so far. Yet another scam where man claims to be spy/undercover op/on the run from baddies/intelligence officer etc. etc.

You'd think just looking at how out of shape Shane / Anthony is would make you doubt the 'black ops' backstory.
Also, I'm sure lots of secret agents spend time on Twitter trying to chum up with celebs

I couldn’t understand how that barman that Anthony befriended managed to loan him $100,000. No idea how most people would have access to that kind of money. I agree that Sarma seemed kind of detached from it all. I suppose she is probably traumatised. Quite a few similarities in terms of Anthony’s story to the other conman Netflix profiled- the Puppet Master.

I couldn’t understand the barman with the 100k either. I felt for Sarma she really seemed to have it all only for all that to happen.
I think, as a viewer, it’s very easy to watch and think wtf I would never fall for that but I guess it happened very gradually when she was vulnerable and overwhelmed after her divorce.
The link to Alec Baldwin was weird too.

I’ve just finished this and I still think wtf! Why was he filming her in bed in Las Vegas? They were having a row ffs. Everything about it was just plain weird. They also seemed able to get hold of money from all over the place. I don’t think I know any son who would ‘loan’ me £100, never mind thousands.
Sarma seemed very fragile and I think he targeted her, he was just so deranged. But she also had to be sucked in. She said herself that she was left alone a lot of the time while he was gambling and she never left, and she could have.
But then, it’s easy to feel sorry for someone when they’re thin and blonde.
Anthony’s first wife, heck she’d had some work done. I think I found her the most unnerving of the lot. The photos when she was pregnant were so lovely, honestly there are times I despair about people.

*anyone. Ds would give me his last penny but he’s 8 🤦🏼‍♀️

@Cryingbutstilltrying

I’ve just finished this and I still think wtf! Why was he filming her in bed in Las Vegas? They were having a row ffs. Everything about it was just plain weird. They also seemed able to get hold of money from all over the place. I don’t think I know any son who would ‘loan’ me £100, never mind thousands. Sarma seemed very fragile and I think he targeted her, he was just so deranged. But she also had to be sucked in. She said herself that she was left alone a lot of the time while he was gambling and she never left, and she could have. But then, it’s easy to feel sorry for someone when they’re thin and blonde. Anthony’s first wife, heck she’d had some work done. I think I found her the most unnerving of the lot. The photos when she was pregnant were so lovely, honestly there are times I despair about people.

Why is it easy to feel sorry for someone thin and blonde?

Was madness - what is sad is how women seem to drop their guard so much for a relationship

I don't really feel sorry for Sarma, because no matter what bs story Anthony was feeding her, the money was never hers to give to him. She was stealing from the business. Unlike some other victims of these kind of scammers in recent documentaries, she was stealing and defrauding people for her own benefit, even if it was for a spurious one.

I'm 2 episodes in so far and it is wild! Definite Tinder Swindler vibes. Wonder how many conmen are feeling nervous that Netflix might be hunting down their ex girlfriends next?

Yes this was another fascinating watch into the processes of coercive control. Similar to Puppet Master.

@Meh2020
What I meant was it was easy for people to feel sorry for Sarma and view her as a victim because of her appearance. She was very petite and childlike. But she chose to take the money from the business, I guess she (and he) considered it to be hers and not stealing.

I agree that there have been a lot of series like this recently. If it helps to flag to even one person how toxic and manipulative some people can be and makes them think twice about handing over money then maybe it’s a good thing.

I still had a lot of questions at the end. I found Sarma quite frustrating, she just recounted everything in such an unemotional way. It was like she was completely desensitised. It was interesting that some of her staff felt she wasn’t completely blameless. Did she love him? Or was it just a financial arrangement?

The recordings of him demanding and pushing and berating her and then softening his voice to say he loved her, then back to hyper critical. So controlling and dominant. Sometimes she stood up to him quite well but always 'wired' him the money. Got worn down.

Yes I still found Sarma frustrating - how she handled her loyal employees. She lost capacity to care about them in the end - sending emails fobbing them off.

When I got to the end, I felt she was complicit. She 'fell' for it, wanting nirvana, thinking he would be able to make her and her dog immortal, never having to worry about money ever again?? So with that in mind, she went along with it for her own gain in that respect.

She showed no remorse as to what she had done. She had families working for her who suddenly had no wages. She showed no empathy whatsoever.

She is not blameless, unlike the Tindler Swindler victims who were obviously naive. She married him to wipe out a debt she had with her investor in the first place. She was out for herself, plain and simple. The cynic in me wonders if she didn't leg it when they were on the run when she had dozens of opportunities to, was because she knew she was guilty in part.

She showed no remorse as to what she had done

Yes there was no apparent guilt or remorse for the employees situation.

I suppose you have to wonder about the mentality of someone who genuinely believes they could become immortal.

@Madeintowerhamlets

I couldn’t understand how that barman that Anthony befriended managed to loan him $100,000. No idea how most people would have access to that kind of money. I agree that Sarma seemed kind of detached from it all. I suppose she is probably traumatised. Quite a few similarities in terms of Anthony’s story to the other conman Netflix profiled- the Puppet Master.

Yes, he was just a barman so where was he getting that sort of money?

I don't even understand where Sarma was getting all her cash from. Yes, she ran a successful restaurant, but even the most popular restaurants have high overheads and don't have massive profits. Yet she give him over a million in a short time.

I watched about half hour last night.
i suppose I just didn't care enough about them to continue watching.

It's intriguing to me that she was so needy & vulnerable, she had become blinkered and wanted to believe. Sounded like so many people (friends, colleagues) tried to warn her & she wouldn't listen.

i didn't mind her deadpan delivery. She's been thru an emotional rollercoaster & anyway, she's in a legally precarious position. She needed money from the documentary to try to recover. If she's still living in NYC then she's got money from somewhere, I imagine.

Made The Archers storyline about Helen & Rob seem more realistic, I suppose. Or the real life Elizabeth Holmes story & her creepy boyfriend Sonny. I easily accept EH as a very self-deluded full co-conspirator, by the way, but why she found that creep attractive: ugh.

I notice when the interviewers call her out on a couple of things she really tries to downplay her part and acts very evasive, like she really didn't know what she was doing, like it was no big deal not to pay her employees and take off who knows where.

I think we've got half a story here, very gappy with lots 9f unanswered questions. Nuts though, absolutely nuts.

She has reminded me of the woman who,left her children to live with Mr Gaslighter Extraordinaire, the keeper of beagles, in The Puppet Master. She's still with him and apparently chooses to have no contact with her children, she's not seen them for about 10 years. Mind boggling to surrender yourself so completely.

@longwayoff

I think we've got half a story here, very gappy with lots 9f unanswered questions. Nuts though, absolutely nuts.

Yes, we're getting a very slanted view of the story.

Who knows what she's not telling us?

Who knows what she's not telling us?

Yes, I feel this. She's definitely minimising her part. No matter how much he coerced her, ultimately she kept giving him the money.