5x02 Love Letters

[6.5/10] Every story in this one was some mix of good and bad, or in one case, outright bad.

Let’s start with that one. Alexis is the worst here. So not only does she lie to Ted about keeping things from their former relationship, but then she plays a convoluted game of take-backsies with Twyla over a locket that Ted had given her, after insulting her appearance, no less. Sure, I guess Ted calls her on the lie eventually and Twyla ends up with a bunch of expensive jewelry because of it, but it’s a bad case of Alexis being shitty and there’s hardly a laugh to be had in it.

The biggest mixed bag is Moira’s story. Her going crazy after taking a host of Bosnian pep pills is the sort of broadest of broad humor that makes me roll my eyes. That said, Catherine O’Hara is a champ and manages to sell at least some of it. But the whole “Johnny’s secret love letters” bit hitting the gossip train is just a dumb storyline. That said, I like where they end up with it, with Johnny explaining that Moira wrote them herself while injured and on painkillers, and Johnny had taken them out because he missed her while she was filming in Bosnia. It’s still a dumb subplot, but it at least ends in a sweet place.

The really weird storyline is the one where David and Stevie get robbed. For what it’s worth, I thought the scene where the actually get robbed is hilarious. The two of them being caught like deer in the headlights and not knowing what to do, scrambling around to try to placate their would-be attacker, is a nice bit of comedy, especially with the performers’ reaction to the whole thing.

What’s strange, though, is how “Love Letters” follows that up. Apparently they “did it wrong” somehow? Apparently attempting to mollify a potential robber with luxury goods when you don’t have cash to hand over is bad for some reason? And they should have challenged him on not having a weapon despite the fact that they had no idea what was or wasn’t under his jacket? When someone in a mask threatens you and tells you they’re robbing you, you don’t have to risk bodily harm, especially if you’re someone like David who, let’s face it, probably isn’t much good in a fight. It’s really bizarre to me how both Patrick and the cop give him and Stevie shit over it. The two are very funny in their scenes, so I’m inclined to give it a pass on laughs alone, but it’s a really weird setup.

Overall, this one has a few funny and/or nice moments but a lot of problems on top of them.