[7.1/10] So I didn’t really get two of the three storylines in this episode. Both seemed not to really have a conclusion or punchline, or at least endings that were so low-key they barely counted as endings.
Let’s start with the easier one. Was Alexis trying to break up Mutt and Twyla, or was she genuinely trying to save Twyla from embarrassment sensing (hoping?) how Mutt felt about their relationship? My inclination is to go with the former, considering how shameless she’s been about her intentions thus far. But my wife, who’s a good judge of these things, thought it was the latter. I’d consider the ambiguity here a plus and a sign of complexity, but for the fact that the show’s been so broad about this plot so far, which makes me leery about giving it credit rather than just considering it muddled. Either way, Twyla and Mutt are broken up by the end of the episode and we’re hopefully headed for a conclusion to this uninteresting subplot.
The harder one is Moira and Johnny’s interactions with Moira’s titular little sister Deedee. There’s a solid enough conflict to it, with Moira thinking her sister is a bloodsucker who’s only here to gloat and Johnny wanting to take her offer of some money, a way to return the favor from when they lent her money in the past. I guess the gag is that they go through all this rigamarole just for Deedee to write them a piddling check anyway, but it’s a weirdly paced and told story. I suppose the message is that Moira’s pride really was worth more in the end or that they shouldn’t have trusted Deedee or something? Again, just ends on a kind of weird note. But the interactions among three pros (including Slings and Arrows’s Jennifer Irwin!) still keeps it funny.
But my favorite storyline, and the one that bumps this into solidly “good” territory, is David and Stevie dealing with their “friends with benefits” awkwardness. The two of them engaging in snark-to-snark combat over Stevie’s attraction to Grant, the hunky electrician, is funny as hell and their dynamic together is the best thing about this show (give or take the dynamic between Moira and Johnny). Almost as good was David getting dressed down by a gay sixteen year old who successfully turned the tables on a life coaching situation. David and Stevie resolving to just be friends given the understanding that the benefits side leads to ruin is destined to fail, but it’s amusing to watch them snark and otherwise skirt around their obvious attraction, and provides good comedy to come.
Overall, two weird subplots and one strong one, that still comes out well in the end.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-15T03:22:29Z
[7.1/10] So I didn’t really get two of the three storylines in this episode. Both seemed not to really have a conclusion or punchline, or at least endings that were so low-key they barely counted as endings.
Let’s start with the easier one. Was Alexis trying to break up Mutt and Twyla, or was she genuinely trying to save Twyla from embarrassment sensing (hoping?) how Mutt felt about their relationship? My inclination is to go with the former, considering how shameless she’s been about her intentions thus far. But my wife, who’s a good judge of these things, thought it was the latter. I’d consider the ambiguity here a plus and a sign of complexity, but for the fact that the show’s been so broad about this plot so far, which makes me leery about giving it credit rather than just considering it muddled. Either way, Twyla and Mutt are broken up by the end of the episode and we’re hopefully headed for a conclusion to this uninteresting subplot.
The harder one is Moira and Johnny’s interactions with Moira’s titular little sister Deedee. There’s a solid enough conflict to it, with Moira thinking her sister is a bloodsucker who’s only here to gloat and Johnny wanting to take her offer of some money, a way to return the favor from when they lent her money in the past. I guess the gag is that they go through all this rigamarole just for Deedee to write them a piddling check anyway, but it’s a weirdly paced and told story. I suppose the message is that Moira’s pride really was worth more in the end or that they shouldn’t have trusted Deedee or something? Again, just ends on a kind of weird note. But the interactions among three pros (including Slings and Arrows’s Jennifer Irwin!) still keeps it funny.
But my favorite storyline, and the one that bumps this into solidly “good” territory, is David and Stevie dealing with their “friends with benefits” awkwardness. The two of them engaging in snark-to-snark combat over Stevie’s attraction to Grant, the hunky electrician, is funny as hell and their dynamic together is the best thing about this show (give or take the dynamic between Moira and Johnny). Almost as good was David getting dressed down by a gay sixteen year old who successfully turned the tables on a life coaching situation. David and Stevie resolving to just be friends given the understanding that the benefits side leads to ruin is destined to fail, but it’s amusing to watch them snark and otherwise skirt around their obvious attraction, and provides good comedy to come.
Overall, two weird subplots and one strong one, that still comes out well in the end.