[8.6/10] This was a real treat and structural tour de force for the show. The mystery of who got Dee pregnant creates a fun excuse to have The Gang reconstruct their Halloween night and try to piece together what happened. The results are a delightful riff on Rashomon, a mystery with plenty of twists and turns, and some outstanding comedy that came from the “game of telephone” progression as the group slowly but surely recalls what took place that fateful night.
What tickled and impressed me the most were the continual setups and payoffs as the distorted ways one person would remember these events would either be clarified or re-insanified by the next person to try to crack the case. The nesting doll reveals of Charlie’s case of mistaken identity with The Waitress, of who was a “hero” and who punched whom in the encounter, and the different ways our heroes viewed themselves in the midst of these theatrics was outstanding.
Best of all were the subtle builds and escalations, like Dee acting more and more like a bird in The Gang’s memories until she’s a full on Ostrich, or a scene going from The Waitress declaring that Charlie is so masculine, to Artemis making the declaration, till the final truth that she actually announced that she was high on mescaline. It’s an exercise in clever absurdity that absolutely worked.
On top of the “That’s not how I remembered it” hijinks, there was a nice progression to the mystery itself, with switched costumes, mistaken identities, and appearances from tertiary characters like the McPoyles, The Waitress, and Artemis to spice things up. Plus the show’s usual funny banter was particularly on point, like the discussion of Mac’s new term “brown out” or the McPoyles’ reaction to The Gang’s recollections.
Overall, this is a definite high water mark for the series, with some really well-done and well-structured comedy adding unique form to the show’s usual out there irreverence.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-12-22T11:41:29Z
[8.6/10] This was a real treat and structural tour de force for the show. The mystery of who got Dee pregnant creates a fun excuse to have The Gang reconstruct their Halloween night and try to piece together what happened. The results are a delightful riff on Rashomon, a mystery with plenty of twists and turns, and some outstanding comedy that came from the “game of telephone” progression as the group slowly but surely recalls what took place that fateful night.
What tickled and impressed me the most were the continual setups and payoffs as the distorted ways one person would remember these events would either be clarified or re-insanified by the next person to try to crack the case. The nesting doll reveals of Charlie’s case of mistaken identity with The Waitress, of who was a “hero” and who punched whom in the encounter, and the different ways our heroes viewed themselves in the midst of these theatrics was outstanding.
Best of all were the subtle builds and escalations, like Dee acting more and more like a bird in The Gang’s memories until she’s a full on Ostrich, or a scene going from The Waitress declaring that Charlie is so masculine, to Artemis making the declaration, till the final truth that she actually announced that she was high on mescaline. It’s an exercise in clever absurdity that absolutely worked.
On top of the “That’s not how I remembered it” hijinks, there was a nice progression to the mystery itself, with switched costumes, mistaken identities, and appearances from tertiary characters like the McPoyles, The Waitress, and Artemis to spice things up. Plus the show’s usual funny banter was particularly on point, like the discussion of Mac’s new term “brown out” or the McPoyles’ reaction to The Gang’s recollections.
Overall, this is a definite high water mark for the series, with some really well-done and well-structured comedy adding unique form to the show’s usual out there irreverence.