Happy Endings
doesn’t really have likable characters. They’re selfish, self-involved,
co-dependent people, and many of the series best jokes are about them being
oblivious or douchey or narcissistic. This has been a trend in comedies in the
last two to three decades. It grew out of
Seinfeld who’s four main characters did some thoroughly unredeemable things
over the show’s run, but never really felt bad about those terrible things.
Characters have continually been drawn as unsympathetic assholes beyond saving.
The Bluths in Arrested Development
are total jackasses when it comes down to it, and without money or power to
anchor them, they’re worse tendencies come to the forefront. It’s Always Sunny is almost always about
the gang flirting with doing some morally reprehensible thing and not giving a
fuck what other people think. And a lot can be mined from this when done properly.
“Fowl Play/Date” did it much less successfully Sunday, but “Ordinary Extraordinary
Love” is much better about it. Two of the three of this episodes storylines are about the
characters being stupid asses without really realizing it.
In the storyline that stretches plausibility the most, (as well as being the least interesting and entertaining) Penny
and Alex attempt to exploit their knowledge of a popstar being in town to
re-brand Alex’s store. After the singer buys a dress from Alex, Penny sees an
opportunity to stir up publicity. But ultimately, the two of them end up
feeling terrible once they end up ruining the singer’s date. They apologize and
use Dave’s food van to help her secure a quiet, normal date unaffected by the
paparazzi. Despite this typical sitcom fix at the end, Alex and particularly
Penny are awful throughout the episode. Penny is more concerned for her car
than the singer after she has a mental breakdown; Alex notifies the paparazzi
that the singer is in their store when she comes to talk things out with them.
Meanwhile, Brad is in, as Penny describes it, “post-gender
city”. In an also pretty cliched, but still more entertaining storyline, he is no longer the breadwinner of the family as Jane is the one who’s bringing
home the bacon. Brad begins to feels like less of a man, and enlists the help
of Dave to fix a light dimmer, which quickly devolves into displays of
masculinity and competitions of manliness. This includes lifting chairs with plates
taped to them, “arm wrestling, toaster tossing, shark naming”. “What is this a
pissing contest?” Jane asks. “Oh, I already won that,” Dave gleefully responds.
Dave is already sort of the token douchebag of the show and he brings out the
worst qualities in Brad. But Jane lets Brad know that he’s still every bit of
man as he was before he lost his job ("Stupid, stubborn, smelly" = Yep, seems pretty manly).
On the other hand, there’s the one story where Jane tries to
help Max find a boyfriend, which provides the more heartful side of the
episode. Max has hit a dry patch, and can’t seem to get any boyfriends. Jane
enlists the help of their stereotypically gay friend Derrick, who, as Max says,
“You’re ‘Gay Yoda-ing’ me … wait, is that redundant?” Derrick and Jane go to every
gay bar in the city to help Max determine what subgroup of the gay culture he
fits into. But none of them match up. In the end, Max is left to create his own
subgroup which he dubs “Optimistic Red Velvet Walrus”, and there appears to be
promise with another guy showing up who’s similarly unsure of what gay
subculture he belongs to. And the whole Happy Endings gang is there to support
him.
As I mentioned in my review of the last episode, Happy Endings can feel too
inconsequential when its stories don’t focus on the characters. Brad
confronting his manhood and Max confronting his feelings of disillusionment and
loneliness ground those stories in a way that provides them with a sense of
purpose. It elevates the characters above how stupid and mean and petty and selfish
they can often be. Brad is being an idiot throughout his identity crisis, but
it works because it comes from a believable place. The Penny/Alex stuff is
funny at times, but it’s all about them taking advantage of someone for their
own self-gain, which comes off as a little too mean-spirited (on top of being incredibly cliched).
Stray Observations:
-Douchey Dave trying to guess the mystery drink Jane’s
bought him: I smell a hint of liggenberry…” “It’s flat gingerale”
-“My baby could sell snow to an eskimo. And by snow, I mean
cocaine. Which is impressive because eskimos don’t have a lot of disposable
income”
-The whole pizza delivery/prostitution rant by Max is great
showcase for Adam Pally. Even better still, cutting away to see everyone has
left the table by the time he’s finished.
-“I’m gonna go to the therapist to see if we can’t deal with
her control problems”
-“Duh … was the name of her last album”
-After Jane rattles off stereotypical gay bar names, Max
replies: “The gaybar was called Greg’s”
-“I’m a soft, soft, soft, soft butch”
-“I can spin this. It’s why at work they call me the old
spinster”, “That’s why they call me undatable at work. There’s not a date I can’t
put to a PR spin.”, “I went ahead with it like a train. That’s why at work they
call me a train wreck”.
-Best gay bars they go to: “The Chamelion” “Sitcom Gays”
-You’re rock bottom … that’s also the name of the next gay
bar we’re going to”
-“How are we the first people to think of stud finder jokes?”
Grade: B+
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