[6.2/10] We’re in bizarro land from the early seasons of the show. It used to be, Alexis’s storylines were the one element of the show I really didn’t like. Now they’re the only thing I’m really liking in episodes like these. Shows how things change.
Hers is, in fact, the only interesting one in this. Alexis’s totally deliberate, not at all accidental PR stunt with her mom’s film gets her all kinds of plaudits and offers from various outlet that could use a publicist like her. That creates a conflict when she’s a week away from going to the Galapagos. With pressure from ehr mo she seems ready to call off the trip, because she feels like she can’t pass up that opportunity.
Then Ted effectively calls it off for her. It’s low-key devastating, even though it comes from a well-intentioned place. After spending the month there, Ted just knows that Alexis would hate it and doesn't want to subject her to that. It’s the result Alexis wanted, but in a way where it was somebody else’s opinion/choice rather than hers. Suddenly, she’s the one being hung-up on a beat too soon. It’s an interesting challenge for her to face, and I like the emotional complexity of it.
That’s something the other two storylines are utterly devoid of. I think the collective “brain trust” of Johnny, Ronnie, and Roland trying to get Bob a date is meant to be comic relief, but it utterly fails at it. I’m a broken record, but Roland just drags things down. Even without him “getting back in the game” gags are just so tired, and this episode has zero new tricks up its sleeve. It’s an insubstantial subplot, with no laughs and nothing to show for it.
But I suppose I’ll take boring over bizarre, which is what we get in the David/Patrick storyline. They run into Jake, David and Stevie’s mutual ex who invited the couple over for an implied polyamorous encounter. That the two of them even consider it is utterly baffling, especially considering how both of them felt when another man tried to take Patrick out on a date. I don’t know that I ever cared to see Jake again, and his reappearance does nothing. Again, David feels like he’s regressed, and really only the punchline of seeing Stevie entangled with Jake yet again does anything for me here.
Overall, the Alexis storyline is quality and the only thing holding this season together right now, with the other two plots being total duds.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-21T03:01:14Z
[6.2/10] We’re in bizarro land from the early seasons of the show. It used to be, Alexis’s storylines were the one element of the show I really didn’t like. Now they’re the only thing I’m really liking in episodes like these. Shows how things change.
Hers is, in fact, the only interesting one in this. Alexis’s totally deliberate, not at all accidental PR stunt with her mom’s film gets her all kinds of plaudits and offers from various outlet that could use a publicist like her. That creates a conflict when she’s a week away from going to the Galapagos. With pressure from ehr mo she seems ready to call off the trip, because she feels like she can’t pass up that opportunity.
Then Ted effectively calls it off for her. It’s low-key devastating, even though it comes from a well-intentioned place. After spending the month there, Ted just knows that Alexis would hate it and doesn't want to subject her to that. It’s the result Alexis wanted, but in a way where it was somebody else’s opinion/choice rather than hers. Suddenly, she’s the one being hung-up on a beat too soon. It’s an interesting challenge for her to face, and I like the emotional complexity of it.
That’s something the other two storylines are utterly devoid of. I think the collective “brain trust” of Johnny, Ronnie, and Roland trying to get Bob a date is meant to be comic relief, but it utterly fails at it. I’m a broken record, but Roland just drags things down. Even without him “getting back in the game” gags are just so tired, and this episode has zero new tricks up its sleeve. It’s an insubstantial subplot, with no laughs and nothing to show for it.
But I suppose I’ll take boring over bizarre, which is what we get in the David/Patrick storyline. They run into Jake, David and Stevie’s mutual ex who invited the couple over for an implied polyamorous encounter. That the two of them even consider it is utterly baffling, especially considering how both of them felt when another man tried to take Patrick out on a date. I don’t know that I ever cared to see Jake again, and his reappearance does nothing. Again, David feels like he’s regressed, and really only the punchline of seeing Stevie entangled with Jake yet again does anything for me here.
Overall, the Alexis storyline is quality and the only thing holding this season together right now, with the other two plots being total duds.