14x05 Bully-ieve It or Not

[7.5/10] I liked this one, even though it took a little bit to win me over. It’s nice to get a Zeke story! I’ll admit, I saw the first twist coming, but the second one totally caught me off guard, in a good way.

The introduction of Will, a new kid at Wagstaff who knew Zeke at his old school, is an interesting money wrench to throw in the proceedings. Zeke’s obvious distress at seeing him does a creditable job of making you think Zeke was bullied by this tall, no-nonsense kid, and Louise and Gene stepping up to defend Zeke’s honor is admirable on their part.

But I like the fact that Zeke isn’t worried about that; instead he was the bully. His effort to defend Will makes him admirable as well. And even though you find out that he bullied Will, there’s a good explanation for it. The idea that Zeke’s family always moved around and so he was constantly the new kid, struggling to make friends, gives him a sympathetic edge. The idea that he had a nervous energy that would lead him to try to wrestle people fits the character we know. And the fact that his mostly innocent horseplay got the attention of other bullies, and he did what he needed to in order to fit in is regrettable but relatable for a misfit. You can both understand why what Zeke did was wrong, but also understand why he did what he did, and how it connects to the sweet person he’s become at Wagstaff, which is a mark of good writing.

There’s also some good laughs to be had as part of it. Tina’s guide to Wagstaff for Will is full of Tina’s usual dry humor and corny jokes (“algebra = al-ga-bring you there” was a laugh for me.) Lousie, Gene, and Rudy as the Greek chorus leads to plenty of laughs. And Jimmy Junior talking about “tank bottoms”, i.e shorts without pockets to “improve airflow” is a solid chuckle.

But at the same time, I like the second twist a lot -- that Zeke wasn’t just a bully to Will, but he made fun of Will’s lisp, a revelation that would compromise his friendship with Jimmy Junior. Suddenly, you get that Zeke isn’t just regretful of his actions as a bully, but afraid of jeopardizing his relationship with his best friend. The second reveal, coupled with J-Ju’s reaction to it, adds some nice emotional stakes to the whole thing.

Granted, I don’t love the resolution. Zeke proving himself by licking the booger wall is gross, and it’s supposed to be gross, but it doesn't have much to do with the central issue between him, Will, and Jimmy Junior. At base, it does show how sorry Zeke is, and how far he’ll go to show his contrition. It’s nice that Will and Jimmy jr. forgive him and understand how he’s changed and is truly remorseful, especially about something that hits so close to home for Jimmy Jr. But I dunno, booger wall, man -- just not my speed. Even so, it’s a surprisingly nice story with some solid twists.

I like the B-story a lot as well. It also took a bit of a wind-up to get going. It’s not like we haven't seen Bob and Jimmy Pesto spar over the years. The idea of Pesto stealing Bob’s “ball pit” idea and going viral with it, much to Bob’s chagrin, is solid, but the type of thing we’ve seen plenty of. Still, I like that for all Bob’s angst at his rival stealing his idea and having tremendous success with it, what gets him through his anger is heeding Linda’s advice and recognizing that he doesn't need this particular idea, because he has the idea machine in his brain, something Jimmy Pesto will never have. The notion of that confidence, and the strength to tell Jimmy Pesto that the fact that one of Bob’s lesser ideas was the biggest hit for Pesto’s restaurant is a red flag, is a real nice psychological win for Bob. While his story took a while to get going as well, it ended in an unexpectedly rousing place.

Overall, this is an episode where both stories take a bit to get going, but find interesting and even heartening places to go the further they go along (give or take a booger wall).