‘The Resort’s Online Divorce Quiz Scene Is Relatable As Hell

Approximately seven minutes into Peacock‘s original comedy, The Resort, things get a little too real.

The series follows a high school teacher named Emma (Cristin Milioti) who’s vacationing with her husband Noah (William Jackson Harper) in honor of their 10-year anniversary. They’re celebrating in paradise, but within the first five minutes of the pilot it’s clear their relationship is on the rocks.

When Noah falls asleep on the couch before dinner, Emma decides to embrace their slump. Rather than wake him up she puts on a bathing suit, grabs a bottle of booze, and heads out to the hot tub alone. She lights a cigarette, settles into the bubbling water, grabs her phone, and opens an online quiz titled, “How Do I Know If I Should Leave My Relationship?” Ooof.

Like so many online quizzes before it, The Resort‘s divorce quiz kicks things off with a grabby subhed that reads, “Don’t be left looking like a fool. Life is too long to endure a bad relationship. Takes this quiz to determine if you should hit the road.” Emma obeys and answers “No” to the first two questions: “Has your spouse cheated on you and you can’t move on?” and “Have you cheated on your spouse and you can’t move on?”

A third question reads, “When you think of your future, is your spouse in it?” She hesitates, puts her phone down, lifts the bottle of booze to her mouth, and sinks under water to escape reality for a few seconds.

It’s a simple scene, but one that’s simultaneously depressing and comical — in large part because of its relatability. Perhaps you haven’t ditched your partner on a romantic getaway to get drunk in a hot tub and contemplate breaking up, but who among us hasn’t turned to an online quiz in times of distress, boredom, or confusion? Dying to know if your crush likes you back? You’ll take a quiz for that. Trying to decide if you should quit your job? Better take a quiz first just to make sure. Should you move across the country, get a dog, have kids? I don’t know, okay? Just see what the quizzes say!

Everyone knows online quizzes aren’t capable of deciding your fate better than you are, and yet, there’s something comforting about going through the motions and reading your results. Sometimes you’ve already made up your mind before taking a quiz and you’re looking for a website to validate your decision. Other times you’re feeling so lost that you genuinely wish someone would choose for you, and rather than rope a friend or family member into the situation it’s easier to let anonymous online quizmaster call the shots.

If The Resort showed Emma isolating herself in a hot tub while just smoking and drinking, viewers likely would have assumed she was contemplating life, her relationship with Noah, and all the other negatives weighing her down. But the added detail of her taking that quiz emphasized the severity of her marriage struggles while infusing the scene with a humorous “I’m in this photo and I don’t like it” energy for viewers.

The fact that Emma started taking the quiz shows she’s been having serious doubts about her relationship with Noah, but her inability to share if she sees Noah in her future with her cell phone means she isn’t ready to confront the reality of the situation yet. The Resort knows that sometimes you just need to take a dumb online quiz to cope with life’s challenges, and that’s okay.