Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Obliterated’ presents a cocktail of genres, delivering an explosive time to the audience as they follow an elite dark ops team, all of whose members are intoxicated while trying to save the world. The show gets rather weird at times, but it also keeps its one foot planted in reality so that the things that the audience sees on the screen somehow reflect things in real life. Considering that the show takes place in Las Vegas, the viewers might wonder whether certain people and places in it are real or based on real people.
Candycorn is a Play on Popular DJs
Vegas is known for its parties, and there is no party without a DJ. In ‘Obliterated,’ Candycorn is the coveted DJ whom everyone wants to be around. The DJ, though a side character, has significance in the story, especially as he is present in all three marks— beginning, middle, and end— of the show. He gets his name from the candy corn mask he wears, which adds to the mystique around him. While there are no real-life DJs who wear candy corn masks, the idea of Candycorn wearing a mask befitting his name seems to be inspired by real-life DJs.
Wearing masks to keep their identities a secret is not an unfamiliar concept for artists, especially when it comes to DJs, the most famous of whom is perhaps, Daft Punk. The French electronic music duo, which split in 2021, was known for wearing helmets that made them look like robots. However, a closer comparison for Candycorn would be with another DJ, known as Marshmello, who wears a white helmet resembling a marshmallow. Candycorn is most likely inspired by him, which explains why the show’s creators used a type of candy as an inspiration for the mask.
Ladimer and Big Willy’s are Fictional Clubs in Obliterated
The entire story of ‘Obliterated’ takes place over the course of twenty-four hours or so, in which Ava Winters and her team scour the city for the nuclear bomb that is set to go off the next morning. They comb through many bars and clubs, most notably Caesers Palace, but Big Willy’s and Ladimer also appear in two episodes. Unlike Caesers Palace, Big Willy’s and Ladimer are fictional.
Both clubs are important in the series because they set the stage for the things that would impact the plot down the line. In Big Willy’s, Maya Lerner gets drunk out of her wits with a woman who turns out to be with the enemy and almost dies. Her being intoxicated also has an impact on her judgment, which eventually leads to the biggest twist in the show. Similarly, in Ladimer, the events unfold in a way that leaves breadcrumbs for the audience, leading to a greater mystery.
The filming of the show took place in Los Angeles and Albuquerque, apart from Vegas. Even in the Sin City, the show’s cast and crew employed several locales to give the story a seamless look. Apart from Caesers Palace, places like Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub, Flamingo Las Vegas, The STRAT Hotel, and Tropicana Las Vegas, among others, were used for filming the series. With a mix and match of so many places, it makes sense that the show opted to make key locations like Big Willy’s and Ladimer fictional.
Read More: Who Voices Paul’s Gremlin in Obliterated?
