You're the Worst 2x13 "The Heart is a Dumb Dumb" (A Sunday Crossword Puzzle) [Contributor: Laura Schinner]

"The Heart Is a Dumb Dumb"

Original Airdate: December 9, 2015

You’re the Worst is a show whose premise is literally about how awful the characters who make up the series are. The only lyrics in the theme song are “I’m going to leave you anyway.” And yet, for a show with such a seemingly bleak view on humanity and relationships, they manage to do what many other shows have failed to do — portray realistic, messy, and yet incredibly rewarding relationships. While last season focused on bringing the characters together and establishing relationships, this season focused on keeping those relationships above ground despite the difficulties faced. Each character had to discover things about themselves and each other over the course of the season and it all led to an incredibly satisfying season finale.

In the season finale, after a somewhat bleak season in which Gretchen struggled with depression while Jimmy struggled to find a way to "fix" her, these two were able to prove that these challenges don’t have to tear you apart. As humans, we are going to go through difficult periods of time and rough patches. What being in a relationship truly means is standing by each other during these times, and coming out of it even stronger. Sure, they faltered many times throughout the season — Gretchen making it clear to Jimmy that she felt absolutely nothing about anything or anyone, including him and Jimmy seeking comfort and stability with another woman. But in the end, despite everything, he chose her and she chose him and neither of them let the struggles control them. It’s because of this that the scene at the end of the previous episode was so emotional. After everything, watching these two characters who have never been "relationship" people come together and pick each other was incredible.

The season finale addressed what happened after they chose each other, making it clear that things weren’t just going to be smooth sailing for the couple from here on out. Like in any relationship, they still have their problems. Jimmy still can’t come to terms with the fact that Gretchen didn’t simply take antidepressants to help with the depression, and Gretchen still finds Jimmy childish and selfish at times. In a drunken speech during the finale, Jimmy aptly summed up what being in a relationship is when he compared Gretchen to a Sunday crossword puzzle — frustrating and challenging at times, but incredibly rewarding in the end. And because of all the issues they were up against this season, it was even more rewarding for both them and the audience when Gretchen told Jimmy she loves him.

While Jimmy and Gretchen spent most of the season hitting wall after wall before finding each other again, Edgar found himself flourishing. For the first time, he was able to prove that he didn’t need Jimmy or anyone else to be successful or happy. On his own, Edgar was able to find success in an improv group and enter into a relationship of his own with a really great girl. It was only when he let Jimmy’s advice or opinion control him that Edgar faltered in his relationship and in his improv group. And while Edgar is on his way to finding his own happiness, it’s clear that he still lets Jimmy’s opinion affect him too much.

After making the huge decision to move in with Dorothy, Edgar faced the challenge of telling Jimmy that he would be moving out. When Jimmy pointed out that perhaps Dorothy had manipulated Edgar into proposing living together, he immediately back-tracked and told her he wasn’t ready and couldn’t do it anymore. Later, when Jimmy told him that he can’t let her get away, he once again listened and ran after her, telling her that just because they aren’t moving in together doesn’t mean they should break up. For so much of his life, Edgar has depended solely on Jimmy and his opinion while making decisions, that he doesn’t know how to make them on his own. As his relationship with Dorothy continues to grow next season, hopefully she’ll help him realize that he doesn’t need Jimmy and that really, following Jimmy’s advice is only detrimental to their relationship.

Even Lindsay, who spent most of the season trying to win Paul back before finally accepting that he had moved on, seems to be taking small steps in the right direction. Very small steps. In a lot of ways, she has discovered herself throughout the season and while she may not be too thrilled with what she found, she is at least attempting to become a better person. Apologizing to her sister was her first big step. But it was not telling Paul that she was pregnant with his baby that truly proved to him that maybe she isn’t as selfish as she may seem. While Lindsay still scoffs at the idea that love is putting someone else’s needs before your own, she unknowingly did this when she decided not to tell Paul about the baby. He found out anyway, though, and it was this that made him realize that he wanted to be with her.

Every character this season has discovered something truly important about themselves as individuals and as part of a relationship. They continue to prove that while the theme song’s lyrics declare “I’m going to leave you anyway,” this doesn’t have to be the case. Relationships are dysfunctional and frustrating but if you truly love the person you’re with, they are also rewarding and so worth all the challenges. If you had told me last season, that You’re the Worst would have me crying at the end of two different episodes, I would have told you that you were crazy.

But they’ve managed to accomplish something truly great this season, combining the comedy we all loved in season one with the emotional difficulties that come along with relationships. And I, for one, cannot wait to laugh/cry my way through next season.

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You're The Worst 2x12 "Other Things You Could Be Doing" (You Stayed) [Contributor: Rae Nudson]

"Other Things You Could Be Doing"

Original Airdate: December 2, 2015

Let’s just get this out of the way: Lindsay is pregnant... from a turkey baster and re-heated sperm? I really hope she got some off-screen action because I’m already at capacity this year for turkey baster pregnancies after Jane the Virgin. Is there any chance that the dad isn’t her ex?

It could be great to see this gang react to the grown up demands of having a baby, but I’m a little wary of pregnancy storylines on a show that is about people who think only of themselves. Would Lindsay even want a kid right now, even with her renewed sense of life after her near-death experience last week? I am doubtful. (Also, why is the only pregnancy symptom on TV morning sickness? I have never met anyone in real life whose first sign of pregnancy was being sick. I know that it’s a real thing, but there are other ways of indicating pregnancy, TV.)

Lindsay’s apology tour was fun, especially when she swooped in on Paul’s date to hand over the divorce papers. But the heart of the episode was, of course, Gretchen and Jimmy.

The last episode left Jimmy on top of a bar with a cute, blonde bartender. Nina is a hot mess, so obviously Jimmy is attracted to her. She is almost okay with boning him on top of her bar while knowing he has a girlfriend, but once she comes to her senses, she wants to do things right. So she agrees to pick him up for a quick getaway and to text him instead of knocking so she doesn’t alert his live-in girlfriend. (You know, the right way.)

When Jimmy gets home, he finds Gretchen there, laying down and refusing to speak to him. Fed up, he takes her phone and texts all her contacts to come over. I have to say, I am relieved that Jimmy finally took real action toward Gretchen. Leaving her alone to suffer wasn’t working for either of them, and while reaching out indiscriminately to all her contacts was maybe not the wisest choice either, I was just so glad he did something to let her know she wasn’t alone. Gretchen remained unresponsive while people came and tried to talk her out of her stupor. When she ran out of visitors she stood (“Hey! You’re erect!”), and in a heartbreaking scene, she told Jimmy that she doesn’t think she’ll fight her way out of it this time. She tells him to go, and that he deserves to have fun, and that it’s okay that he’s not okay with her. And Jimmy leaves.

Like Gretchen, my heart was back on the floor when he walked out the door. Depression in a relationship can be so difficult, and I can’t blame anyone for leaving if they aren’t getting what they need from their significant other. But I also desperately wanted Jimmy to stay and show Gretchen that he loved her even if she wasn’t okay.

But out the door he went, before realizing he made a horrible mistake and diving into the bushes when he sees Nina pulling into the driveway. Nina’s text messages went from 0 to 60 in no time. After he didn’t respond, she kept texting... and texting... and texting.

The way You’re the Worst displays texts on the screen is as much part of the humor as what the texts say. Nina’s contact picture appearing next to her increasingly frantic texts overlaid on the screen as Jimmy hid on his driveway provided visual contrasts and jokes galore. To top it off, when Jimmy finally responded, he used Lindsay’s refrain from a few weeks ago: “New phone, who dis?”

When Jimmy finally gets back inside where he belongs, he sees Gretchen on the floor, and it looks like she’s asleep. When the camera slowly pulled back to show that not only did Jimmy stay, but he built a blanket fort over him and Gretchen, I got a little weepy. Gretchen, visibly relieved, starts crying as she lays her head on his chest.

I know it might not look like it, but for Gretchen, feeling emotion and showing it with tears could be an improvement for her. A symptom of depression can be feeling nothing, so when Jimmy helped her break through to feel something again, it was touching. All I wanted — and I’m sure all that Gretchen wanted, too — was Jimmy to show Gretchen that he was there for her, and that it was okay to feel like she wasn’t okay. It took him a while, but he finally did that with his blanket fort.

Sometimes, when your loved ones can’t get up, you have to just lay down with them.

Other notes:

• Edgar and Dorothy are moving in together! They are very cute, and I’m happy for them. It will be interesting to see how the show moves forward with Edgar even more removed from Jimmy and Gretchen. His last few storylines have been so separate; it would be nice to see them a bit more intertwined. 
• Jimmy’s reactions in the background of the scenes where people were trying to talk to Gretchen were hilarious.
• Next week is the season finale, everybody get ready.

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You're the Worst 2x11 "A Rapidly Mutating Virus" (With Great Conflict...) [Contributor: Laura Schinner]

"A Rapidly Mutating Virus"

Original Airdate: November 18, 2015

No good story works without conflict. As viewers, we need conflict to keep us interested and waiting to find out what happens next. Even comedies, whose primary focus is to make us laugh, need that element of drama. And for a comedy that goes so far as to call itself You’re the Worst, it would be nearly impossible to watch two characters with their lives figured out stay together in a completely functional relationship. Which is exactly why this show hasn’t tried to give us that. Instead, Jimmy and Gretchen have faced some very serious and very real issues in their relationship, all leading to a whole lot of conflict.

All season long, we’ve seen these two characters grow further apart as Gretchen has sunk deeper and deeper into depression. This is something that Jimmy obviously has no idea how to deal with, as up until this point their relationship had mostly been about having fun and avoiding any kind of real emotions. Neither character has ever been especially emotionally available, so throwing something that revolves solely around emotions, or lack thereof, into their dynamic has been quite a change this season. The humor, as a result, has gotten darker and the comedy itself seems to be taking a bit of a back seat, in favor of depicting the real struggles and conflicts that accompany depression.

Everything this season has led up to this week’s episode of You’re the Worst, when Gretchen finally has enough of Jimmy trying to "fix" her and decides to move in with Lindsay. When he confronts her about this, she finally breaks, yelling at him that she literally feels nothing. She feels nothing for him, their relationship, and — gasp — even puppies. Aya Cash has done a fantastic job of portraying the hopelessness that comes with depression, as Gretchen has sunken to the point that literally nothing matters to her. Even being attacked by a gang of angry women and having to pull out a gun to stop them from further mauling Lindsay and the boys evokes nothing in her but boredom. With Gretchen’s downward spiral continuing, the show really has gotten dark but in a very believable way. Gretchen ending things with Jimmy was the natural next step in this progression, as he doesn’t know how to be there for her in the way that she needs him to be.

At the same time, Jimmy himself has been growing more distant from Gretchen, seeking the company of someone who is willing to listen to him and be present in his life — something Gretchen just can’t do. While Gretchen has been completely unavailable to him, he has turned to Nina, connecting with her through similar interests. The past few episodes, Jimmy has really struggled to understand and accept Gretchen’s depression, having no idea what to do about it. Trying to make things better for her hasn’t worked and he doesn’t know what else to do. As much as he may want to help her and have his old, fun girlfriend back, in the end he really can’t "fix" her and needs to accept that. Instead, he turns to someone that he does understand and who understands him back, someone much easier to be with than Gretchen. And despite resisting her advances for most of the episode, in the end Jimmy finally gave into Nina. He is, after all, the worst.

Meanwhile, Edgar, who up until recently was the one who had his life the least together, has been providing most of the light and comedy in the show. For once, he’s the one who is happy in a relationship with someone who really cares about him. And deservedly so, as Edgar is a great guy. But he still struggles to fit in and often falls into the trap of listening to advice from Jimmy, who maybe isn’t the best mentor. For so long though, Edgar has seen Jimmy as more successful and better than him and now all of a sudden, that isn’t really true. Edgar has had most of the success in his relationship because he hasn’t listened to Jimmy so when he decides to take his advice when going to a gathering of Dorothy’s friends, it obviously backfires on him. Dorothy likes Edgar for who he is, something that he isn’t used to. In the end though, he was able to return to the honest and genuine guy he is, winning back Dorothy in the process.

What have you all thought about You're the Worst this season? Let us know in the comments below!

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You're the Worst 2x10 "A Right Proper Story" (The Actual Worst) [Contributor: Rae Nudson]

"A Right Proper Story"

Original Airdate: November 11, 2015

Well, the show can end now. We’ve found out who’s the worst: it’s Jimmy’s family. After Gretchen didn’t listen to Jimmy as explained his foolproof plan of meeting deadlines by mailing something that he definitely didn’t want to get mailed if he didn’t make his page count, Gretchen mailed his family an all expenses paid trip to the U.S. They show up and make themselves at home, which means pulling chairs up to the telly and tuning in to the Eurotune song contest for four days straight and being mean to Jimmy.

Jimmy’s family had all Jimmy’s crassness but none of his charm — “like Alabama English people.” Edgar, Lindsay, and Gretchen all introduced themselves to his family and came away insulted, propositioned, or yelled at. I can definitely see why Jimmy didn’t want them to come visit. Ever.

I can’t believe it took Jimmy four days before he tried to kick his family out of his house. His eldest sister has no redeeming qualities that I could see. Lily was sweet, Fiona at least cared about her job, and Jimmy’s dad finally showed some emotion when he took Jimmy out for a drink and told him he was proud of him. But he also had some pretty bad advice when it came to Gretchen. Granted, Jimmy’s dad is coming off of a divorce he didn’t inform Jimmy about, but still — telling his son that relationship rough patches never get better is not very useful.

And it’s also not true. Not being compatible in your relationship is quite different from loving someone who is dealing with depression, or an illness, or some other circumstance that is personally difficult. On the other hand, Gretchen’s depression will never totally go away. So it is important that Jimmy consider it not just as a phase that she will get over, but as part of — though not the whole of — what being in a relationship with Gretchen means.

There are no easy answers here. Yes, Jimmy likes Gretchen a lot and may even love her, and yes, depression is not something that Gretchen is choosing to have in order to hurt Jimmy in any way. But that doesn’t mean they will be able to make their relationship work. Jimmy still has needs for a relationship that Gretchen may not be able to fill, and he may not be the best partner for her, especially if he doesn’t understand what she’s going through and doesn’t have the necessary patience. One of the reasons I’m loving You’re the Worst this season is because it isn’t shying away from showing certain realities of living with depression, and how it might affect those around you, especially when you love the person who is struggling.

Every time Gretchen pulled the blanket over her head, it made me laugh and made my heart hurt in equal measure. Aya Cash is so sharp, funny, and heartbreaking, and it’s just amazing how many layers she gives Gretchen while still being so hilarious. I have been that girl who hides under blankets when life gets to be too much, and I totally get her inclination. But I also get that Jimmy would be upset if his girlfriend didn’t listen to him and sent mail that led to a family visit he didn’t want, and then wasn’t able to help him with the visit or interact with him in a positive way. That’s understandably frustrating, and it’s easy to see why he was relieved to have someone to talk to when he ran into that girl in the bar. This is why it’s important for Jimmy to have his own network and support system outside of Gretchen — so he can be better to himself and better for her. Hopefully, though, his support system isn’t a cute blond stranger who said she would snog him.

Meanwhile, Lindsay got out of awkward family time by going to help Gretchen’s client Sam with a wardrobe crisis. Her storyline was quick but cute as she helped Sam come up with a diss track. In my opinion, the more Kether Donohue sings the better, and it was a nice bit of light silliness to balance the sadness and meanness of Jimmy’s family visit and Gretchen barely hanging on.

I like Gretchen a lot. So, like Jimmy, I want her to feel better soon. But that’s not how depression works, and I love that this show is pushing through and continuing to show her pain, long after it is interesting or comfortable for viewers. That mirrors what depression is like in real life, and there is a lot of great storytelling there, if the show is brave enough to tackle it.

Other notes:

• Hello hello! I’m filling in for Anne this week. Happy to be here.
• “Fancy Dames, the strip club? Last time I saw you, you were reading Harry Potter.” “I did get a tattoo of Dobby the house elf on my —”
• “She’s got no arms, that’s why we call her Carrie. Her real name is Beth.”
• “Alright English people. Cover your skin. We’re going outside.”
• Locally sourced flamingo eggs made me laugh so much. 
• Who among us hasn’t had an existential crisis at a grocery store? Fiona’s realization that she has given so much to her grocery store while other, better grocery stores she couldn’t even imagine existed across the pond had her collapsing in the aisles. 
• Gretchen’s reaction to finding out Fiona was only 36 was one of the best parts of the episode.
• Chris Geere was also really great this episode. His delivery was on point and so funny while still displaying the emotion and pain he was feeling about his family and Gretchen. Jimmy yelling at his family was cathartic, funny, and sad all at the same time. When he paused in telling his father that he desperately wanted his approval, what was left of my heart crashed onto the floor. 
• “The last horse in our town was used to make Jell-o for the lunatic asylum.”

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You're the Worst 2x07 "There Is Not Currently A Problem" (Stains on the Outside) [Contributor: Anne]

"There Is Not Currently A Problem"

Original Airdate: October 21, 2015

I could start from anywhere in this review, because it doesn't matter; all pathways in this episode will lead to the discussion of Aya Cash's unbelievable, Emmy-worthy performance –– from her disdain of "theater girl" Dorothy to her rage-filled rant, to the more serious issues on which "There is Not Currently a Problem" hinges.

If we're ending up there, why don't I first talk about the elements that allowed Aya the opportunity to give her best performance on this show to date? Those elements, by the way, being every single part of this show. The humor is probably the most opposing force to Gretchen's clinical depression, which makes it all the more impressive that the show can dole it out in spite of, or perhaps because of, the dark subject matter. Jimmy's inability to understand The Lion King is a classic favorite that sets up the episode as being a truly great one, but the greatness continues with Vernon (who would have guessed he'd become a favorite of mine?!), the use of "rando" by pretty much everyone to describe Dorothy, and even Gretchen's rant, which attacks Edgar's PTSD, Dorothy's "tweener" status, and Jimmy's "plight as a writer." The writing of this episode is incredible, to the point where even the background music of Honey Nutz and Shitstain's diss track is hilarious ("I hate him more than white people love The Wire").
 
What sells humor? The characters. This compliment has two paths; first, the humor is so drenched in what we know about the characters (even the new characters, like Dorothy) that jokes are made funnier. As I've mentioned, Vernon is especially hilarious because of his special vocabulary ("osteoporos" is great, but my fave will forever be "commune tabes"). In addition, the delivery by everyone is so perfect that the most basic of sentences are hysterical. Chris Geere is especially notable for delivery –– he's able to elevate his voice to giddiness, lower it to total disdain, and do verbal backflips for imitations (in this episode for a classic New Yorkian). Obviously, though, everyone nails it, especially here; Kether Donohue's high voice is the perfect complement to her confessing to drinking soy sauce and whatever she performed on Malcolm Jamal-Warner at Barney's Beanery. In fact, in the scene in question, Lindsay is comforting Gretchen, so Kether is asked to be both comical and compassionate at the same time in her delivery. (Which she does.) And while I could go on, believe me when I say that there is no member of this cast whose delivery is not equally satisfying and nuanced, from Edgar's "I didn't know it was a school" to Dorothy's "Avaca-don't"s to Paul or Sam or any of the other characters.

I've mentioned the quality, the nuance, in every element so far, so allow me to discuss these same things in terms of what the actors delivered on a dramatic level. Their expressions changed at the micro level! The camera work also gives these smallest of actions significant weight, such as when Jimmy notices Gretchen's fidgeting and Lindsay notices Dorothy's hand on Edgar's knee. But even in extended shots –– Gretchen's rant, or Lindsay's comforting speech, or Gretchen's confession to Jimmy of her depression –– the actors are fully engaged in their material. Perhaps my favorite example of this is Chris Geere's face during Gretchen's confession. It's a million things moving rapidly, as Jimmy processes Gretchen. He smiles at her while she's talking about how she has it handled, but he does not look happy, not at all, and his facial expressions react just as sensitively to this prognosis which means so much to Gretchen and to Jimmy's continued relationship with her. It means that she's comfortable enough to wear her stains on the outside, but it also means that he has to accept stains which will never go away, and the ache he feels that she has stains to handle at all. Chris Geere wears all of these on his face in an astonishing way.

Maybe it's because he gets to work alongside someone who brings out the best in him, because here we are, finally, to the leading lady of the half-hour. Look, everything I've said –– the writing, the delivery, the characterization, the micro-actions –– all of it is true in Aya's performance. Gretchen is so fully-realized that this revelation –– something that we are learning about for the first time as well –– falls in line with what we know about her while still being truly surprising. Often, writers will pull rabbits out of hats for the sole intent to shock us and subvert our expectations. This was never, ever the case with Gretchen's clinical depression. For one, the trope-y expectation that the show presented us (that Gretchen had a "side bitch," specifically, Ty) never felt right, and for another, her depression only sharpens her motivations in past episodes. Why is Gretchen "scared of this [relationship] shit"? Maybe because she's afraid that she will never be comfortable enough to share her darkest secrets with Jimmy –– for what their relationship actually entails.

The most important part of Gretchen's reveal –– and of Aya's performance –– is obviously the depiction of clinical depression and mental illness. This is what all of the news articles about this show will mention, and it would be wrong of me to not make mention of it myself. As someone who can at least tangentially relate to Gretchen, I adored what I saw; I felt as if the words coming out of her mouth were words that I've thought or words that others have confided in me.

We're all afraid of being messed up, we're all afraid to be sad without any reason why, we're all afraid of the idea that some things in life, like plague-causing vermin, do not have a fix, that we are haunted by these mean, sad, destructive thoughts. We're all afraid, mostly, that these rough moments –– these inexplicable, irrational phases –– will ruin relationships, or that these rough moments make us unworthy to have the relationships that we truly do deserve. Isn't that why Gretchen lashes out at the end? She considers herself a mess that no one can understand or fix, so why are they even still around?

But Lindsay remains, because she loves Gretchen. And Jimmy remains, because he loves Gretchen, although as he watches the new mouse enter his home, we know that the discussion is not over between the couple. And while that's contrary to how television normally works (most shows that would dare to discuss this would end the episode without a second mouse), it's not contrary to life. This is a major hurdle for both Jimmy and Gretchen to face. It's not a problem solved in 22 minutes; it's a problem Gretchen's faced her entire life. Jimmy's love may help –– in most television shows, it would redeem her and "fix" her –– but I don't think that will be the case here. That coda on an already excellent discussion of clinical depression is significant for the characters and the plot going forward, and the absolute right choice for the show to make.

There's nothing about the reveal that I don't love and admire, and again I am hard-pressed to find a show that does everything as well as You're the Worst does. It's a playground for someone like me. Its humor is sharp, its central couple makes sense both as a dynamic and as two individuals, and the show trusts me to appreciate the devastating reality over the television, tropey reality I'm hardwired to expect. No show plots as deliberately, moves the camera as cleverly, and features actors so, so on point, week in and week out. But for this episode in particular, the ovation is for Aya Cash, who by bravely portraying Gretchen's struggle to wear her stains on the outside has somehow transcended every benchmark of a show that already transcends those around it.

Stray Observations:

• Because I heard this episode would be a big deal, I watched it live, and guys, The League. Yikes.
• I do not trust Dorothy and her notepad. I'm getting some "guy from NCIS: LA" vibes.
• I'm very sorry about my absence last week. This past week has been a mess (I'm on the job hunt and dealing with midterms), so I couldn't get reviews out in time. Anyway, it's better if I didn't, because this episode is much more interesting to comment on than "Side Bitch," which, despite being a great episode, definitely was a stage-setter for this one.
• The only thing I have to say about "Side Bitch" now is that I am actually confused by Jimmy's face at the end of that episode. Why is he smiling, happy that Gretchen doesn't have a "side bitch," and then by the beginning of the next episode is troubled by what is clearly wrong with her?
• I MISS FLO FROM PROGRESSIVE, OKAY?
• "Improv is the lowest form of comedy. That whole school of yours is just a bunch of actors so janky looking  no one will write lines for them so you have to make them up yourselves!" "Oh, shit!"
• "Seriously, Jimmy, I feel such empathy for you, being a writer! I mean, everyone feels sorry for  kids forced to work in the diamond mines in Sierra Leone, but where is the telethon for the noble writer? Bravely drinking coffee! Spilling his blood to get his feelings out, filling two, maybe three whole pages before his heroic effort is cut short by the desire to watch internet porn! Or get a snack!"

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You're the Worst 2x05 "We Can Do Better Than This" (Plastic Success) [Contributor: Anne]

"We Can Do Better Than This"

Original Airdate: October 7, 2015

What is the next step?

The unfortunate thing about life is that you are often prohibited to stand still. You can try to; you can avoid reality or you can make conscious, wrongful decisions that push you against the current. You might even be successful if you surround yourself with people who do the same.

But that success is temporary. It's fake. And it is within this plastic success that most of our characters choose to stay for this episode.

EDGAR

I say "most" because, thank goodness, Edgar is moving forward! Unlike his friends, Edgar has always seemed to want to move forward; he recognizes his shortcomings and works to fix them. The problem with Edgar is that he has the most reason to be thrown back into the past given his post-traumatic stress disorder. That PTSD led him to a heroin addiction –– a way to alleviate the pain from the war, yes, but also a distractor from handling that pain appropriately.

That's why watching Edgar in this episode was a relief. So often I've wondered why Edgar hangs out with the people he hangs out with; he's clearly the best out of them, and yet he receives the worst treatment by all of them (see Gretchen and Jimmy's behavior towards his improv announcement). Seeing him in a new environment –– with friends who think he is funny and a love interest who thinks his story is fascinating –– feels like a reward that was a long time coming.

I get that what Tall Nathan did was meant to be kind of a dig against Edgar, because Edgar made him look bad in front of Dorothy, but I'm so happy that he did. Dorothy is probably not going to last long –– if I know romantic comedies, she is an obstacle between Edgar and Lindsay –– but I actually wish she would. I think that her presence could not only give Edgar the attention that he rightfully deserves but also make Lindsay and Edgar's relationship more interesting than a "will-they-won't-they."

LINDSAY

Lindsay has a chance at moving forward in this episode, discovering that when she stops obsessing about men, she finds an interest in politics. I loved that Lindsay found so much passion when she just stopped worrying about her romantic situation, even if everything she said was silly; it made me realize how little we know about Lindsay outside of how she perceives herself as a romantic partner, and how much of a shame that is.

When she hears about Amy –– who is hand-signing at Beyonce's concert –– she falls back into her pattern. She knows she can't reach out to Paul, so instead she gets drunk and looks for Edgar, who has always been her fallback (but has also, more significantly, been her closest friend through all of this). I don't know the extent that either of them realize their strong connection with the other; I think that the party messed things up, considering that Edgar was used and Lindsay was kissed at the most inopportune time.

But I think that no matter what they realize, the fact that Edgar was not there for Lindsay when she reached out to him will affect her feelings towards him. She may be using him as temporary relief from her difficult situation, but when she figures out that she needs him, it will change the story.

JIMMY

Jimmy is going to write an erotic novel! 

Jimmy's writer's block has been a major part of the second season of this show, and I think justifiably so. I've mentioned in the past how I felt that writing was often used in television and movies as a reflection of the character in question, and I think that with this episode ––  which seemingly has given Jimmy the purpose he's been looking for ––  we can see that.

It may seem silly or wrong that the novel that Jimmy wants to write, the one that he is most talented at writing, is an erotic novel. I think it's perfectly in line with what we know about Jimmy, and I hope it sticks as the work that gets him famous. His first book, Congratulations, You're Dying, was written immediately after Becca broke his heart. That book is a reflection of his feelings for her; it is cynical and flowery. It's real, which is why it is critically well-received. But it is also a reflection of closed-off Jimmy, which is why it is unpopular.

An erotic novel, on the other hand, is classically Jimmy. When Gretchen discovers his "Erotic Tales," written when he was 11 years old, she says: "This is the most Jimmy thing you've ever done." (It really is.) But after teasing him, she discovers that he could find success writing something along those lines.

I also love in Jimmy's subplot that Gretchen also appreciates that Jimmy will potentially write the NCIS:LA novelization. I love that Jimmy chides her for giving the show grief pretty much just because everyone likes it; not only is that a message you don't often hear from characters, especially those like Jimmy. It indicates that Jimmy is gaining respect for things that he would have otherwise made fun of, too (as his stint with improv comedy also shows). And the fact that the NCIS:LA novelization is difficult for him to write. There's a show "bible," there's hundreds of hours of footage, and –– as Killian says ––  the plot Jimmy constructs doesn't really "track." 

So it does seem like Jimmy's moving forward. Right? As Edgar is doing by telling his story to Dorothy, Jimmy is using his past to his advantage by writing a book inspired by what he wrote when he was 11. He's accepting himself in a way he hadn't previously done. He's moving forward.

But what will he do now that he knows Gretchen's leaving? I don't see him confronting her about it, though he may. And if he doesn't–– and she doesn't mention it –– then how much forward action can Jimmy really have?

GRETCHEN

Gretchen is kicking and screaming against moving forward. Gretchen is kicking and screaming against intimacy, against vulnerability, against falling in love.

I think it's interesting that Gretchen is the one who suggests that she and Lindsay find other things to talk about besides men, and yet Gretchen is the one who dismisses every idea of how to do that. She's against politics, against talking about strong women, against talking about women they already know. She's the one who derails Lindsay from politics by showing her the picture of Amy, and she's the one who lets Lindsay fall back into the very patterns that Lindsay was trying to shake.

Look at how many times I wrote the word "against" in those two paragraphs. It has to be exhausting for Gretchen to be playing a lie. Her entire occupation, too, is fabricating a big fat lie, and even that is exhausting her. How exhausting must it be, then, for her to live in such a lie?

This episode is titled "We Can Do Better Than This" because of a quote referring to how Gretchen and Lindsay only talk about men. Obviously, though, the quote and the title are about much more than that, in the same way "All About that Paper" was not just about money.

It's titled "We Can Do Better Than This" because Gretchen, Jimmy, Edgar and Lindsay all know they should be moving forward. In many ways, they're trying, and in some ways, they are succeeding. But unless they fully commit towards growing up –– if Edgar continues improv and Dorothy, if Lindsay moves on from Paul, if Jimmy and Gretchen are honest with each other about what they feel –– then they can do better than what they're doing.

Until then, it's just plastic success.

Stray Observations:

• I liked this episode more than the episode before it, though I've never truly seen this show have a bad episode. This episode reminded me a lot of "Crevasses": there was good Jimmy and Gretchen interaction, Edgar stood up for himself, Jimmy worked on his book, and there was a lot to unpack.
• My one critique of this episode is that some of what is going on is a little bit too much to believe, especially Amy signing for Beyoncé and the end of the scene at the frozen yogurt place when Lindsay just drops her food on the floor. Both of those were unnecessary flourishes.
• "Men are mean and they hurt my brain."
• "No! Don't you dare look away, you naughty baker boy."
• One thing that this show always nails? Its music selection. The song at the end is called "Hold the Line" by Jack and Eliza; it fit perfectly with the scene both lyrically and with respect to the mood.
• Chris Geere, by the way, killed the last moments of the episode. Especially this season (and I suppose as a result of being with Gretchen) Jimmy has been very goofy ("Dogs don't eat na-chos") and to see real concern flicker on his face was really well done.
• Aya Cash continues to slay, though. Her best delivery was of "sausage wallet" or of "No! ... Yes?" when Jimmy finds her reading his book.
• Another thing this show always nails is the way they do texts. I don't think any other show does it better (remember when Jimmy has to text all of his old girlfriends in season one and the texts come flooding in?)
• I loved that Jimmy, and the credits, called Female Executive "Female Executive." It was very meta. (Hi, Mary Grill, previously seen on The Mindy Project and VEEP!)

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You're the Worst 2x04 "All About That Paper" (Lay Off Me, Would You?) [Contributor: Anne]

"All About That Paper"

Original Airdate: September 30, 2015

I said in my recap of last episode's You're the Worst that I was nervous. Now do you see what I mean?

I have no idea where Gretchen went, though I think we're meant to suspect that it's Ty that she's returning to; not only because we have no idea where else she would go but because Stephen Schneider is hilarious in the role and he would be fun to see again. Also, I have to assume Gretchen's not going anywhere noble. She's using the phone specifically designed for "garbage people" and is leaving Jimmy in the lurch (and, in effect, the audience as well).

So why did Gretchen do it? I think that You're the Worst did the best job possible in setting the stage for something that they really didn't set the stage for at all. For example, we didn't hear Gretchen ever voice her hesitation, nor do we see long, lingering looks at the ends of scenes to point to us her train of thought.

Instead we are left with two things. One, on our end, is the fact that this episode deliberately toys with our suspension of disbelief. Did anyone else feel that things were too good, too saccharine, between Jimmy and Gretchen? That there was something a little too tender about the plot that they were sharing –– specifically, that Jimmy and Gretchen promised they wouldn't check in with each other but checked in with each other anyway, and at the end of the day Jimmy says, "Aren't you happy we didn't check in with each other?" It seems almost impossible that these two characters, who have been kicking and screaming their entire courtship against falling in love and other permanent adult fixtures, would be so okay with this. The scene before the one where Gretchen leaves ends in a fade-to-black –– something you see on a laugh-track, cutesy sitcom, not You're the Worst.

The only outward moment that pointed towards Gretchen's leaving was one expression that occurred so quickly that it only really came into itself in retrospect –– when Jimmy takes Gretchen's six-month check without pause and cashes it in. She's made a six-month commitment; he's accepted it within seconds, without any fuss.

So, in a sense, this episode is "All About That Paper." This moment is the turning point that verifies our own discomfort with Jimmy and Gretchen's domesticity; it's the moment when Gretchen understands totally what trap she has fallen into and what she is hard-wired to run away from.

But it's not just about the paper, obviously. It's about the recurring pattern that we've seen in the first couple of episodes where Gretchen and Jimmy are fighting against their own permanence. Jimmy had his moment two episodes ago, when he watched Gretchen move into his apartment with ease. He didn't run, though. But Jimmy's biggest flaw isn't that he's scared –– at least, not like Gretchen. Jimmy is more the hopeless romantic than Gretchen is. Jimmy is the one who tried to propose to Becca; Gretchen is the one who broke up with him whenever she believed he wanted to propose to her.

Remember the first episode? Jimmy said that he "didn't believe in" love; Gretchen said she was scared of it. In a story like Jimmy's, love surprises and ultimately redeems. Jimmy doesn't believe in love because he has never before experienced someone accepting him entirely for who he is; his belief is that love makes you into a "boring normal," when in reality love is finding someone who you don't always have to be presenting to –– which is boring but, said another way, undramatic. Comfortable.

In a story like Gretchen's, love terrifies.

The worst part is that Gretchen's fear directly challenges Jimmy's cynicism. If she runs away from him, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy for him that not even someone like Gretchen can leave his heart unbroken, and an encouragement that he should continue to isolate from others. 

"All About That Paper" also comes up for Jimmy in the form of the money he gets from the writer who asks to spend a day with him. He takes the guy's money but doesn't buy into what the guy is selling him –– the big writer-y gestures and projects or the book the guy has written. This is similar, I think, to Cory and Gretchen in the last episode –– that one character is introduced to intentionally remind us how much our main characters have changed from their worst selves –– and the conclusion of this episode (and Jimmy's confidence in his writing) is more about showing that for Jimmy, writing is never a chore or an activity he engages in because of his pretentiousness –– it's something pure and raw. So Jimmy, who has always felt socially shunned, has found an outlet in writing. Jimmy needs money, and is "all about that paper," but isn't willing to give up the reasons why he started writing in the first place to make it.

Paper comes up for Lindsay, too –– in the form of the divorce papers sent to her by Paul. This, also, is about more than just the piece of paper; it's about more than the stated "irreconcilable differences." It's about why they got married in the first place, why Lindsay started to become unfaithful, why Paul decided to become unfaithful, and the romantic moments they have shared since they separated. Paul isn't breaking up with Lindsay just because of irreconcilable differences; it's because he is trying to get rid of the part of him that is still holding onto her.

I have to confess that I didn't like this episode of You're the Worst that much. While it was funny and followed the same tight structure that previous episodes have, I felt that the four plots going on (Jimmy and the writer; Gretchen and the "rap beef"; Lindsay and the insemination attempt; Edgar and the improv) were all too broad and silly.

But maybe that's all in service of the final scene, which was shocking and devastating –– made better by Aya Cash's silent performance and the accompanying music which hammered in the themes You're the Worst has been showing us all along: "Lay off me, would you? / I'm just trying to take this new skin for a spin."

Stray Observations:

• PAUL IS STILL THE WORST. Sure, he told Amy about sleeping with Lindsay, but I bet he didn't tell her about watching Lindsay in the last episode!
• With that being said, if the insemination attempt is successful, I will be a lot less impressed with this show. She froze the hours-old sperm, microwaved it, put it in her wine cup and then used a turkey baster –– there's too much implausibility for this to seriously work. I would so, so much rather Paul/Edgar find out about the attempt than for Lindsay to become pregnant and then get an abobo. But with all this baby talk lately I can see that being the direction the show goes in. I don't really like babies on TV, but I would feel so icky if Lindsay revenge-impregnated herself and then got a guilty abortion.
• (I would also just hate Lindsay, then, which would be a shame because she was redeeming herself for me!)
• I still, forever, and ever, love Gretchen's rap crew. The beef was over-the-top, but I always love their brand of over-the-top.

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You're the Worst 2x03 "Born Dead" (Enliven Me) [Contributor: Anne]

"Born Dead"

Original Airdate: September 23, 2015

“Born Dead” made me anxious. The entire episode was centered around death and life, both the literal and the figurative. Vernon was born dead; Mimi died in an appalling bicycle accident. It made me anxious to encounter so many discussions centered around death in a series that, only one week ago, featured its two main characters racing on electric wheelchairs in the local mall.

It makes sense that You’re the Worst would do this, though. I’m reminded of Stephen Falk’s seasonal structure and the fact that the first act is approaching its close. With that close comes the introduction of issues that, of course, will frame the entire season: there’s the kiss between Edgar and Lindsay, most notably, but also the recurring reminder for Gretchen and Jimmy that they are more human than they realize and crave attention (either from their friends or from each other). There’s Paul’s lingering look at Lindsay as he is hugging his girlfriend, Amy.* The use of death so liberally in this episode is just a reminder that death is only the absence of life, and these characters are far less dead than they believe they are.

Take Vernon’s speech to Jimmy. Vernon was born dead for 15 minutes and he now feels that this is the moment in his life he regrets the most. Jimmy, meanwhile, has been living in the shadows of a rough childhood: an uncomfortable home life, a terrible time at school, and the construction of a big wall that separates Jimmy from any serious emotional attachment.

That wall is what makes Jimmy so pretentious, unbearable, and emotionally unavailable. At his core he is not really “the best” — I can’t imagine any version of Jimmy that didn’t call a child’s artwork “derivative” — but he’s so much more than what he has become as a result of how he’s been treated and how he’s conditioned himself to accept this.

I mentioned last week that there is something to be said about writing in stories; when a character is a writer, it almost always is a reflection of the main plot (for example, any character who writes a book that mirrors their life, or any character who writes a news article that is supposed to be about How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and instead is about falling in love. Way to stay on assignment, Andi!).This is a) because real writers are too focused on their story to really try to develop an entire other one and b) because we as readers or viewers don’t really care about the content of the novel — we care more about the characters who wrote it and what their novel reflects about them.

Jimmy’s critically-acclaimed but ignored novel is called Congratulations, You’re Dying. According to Vernon, though, Jimmy hasn’t even begun to live.

I was surprised, but happy, to see Jimmy warm up to Vernon. I don’t want it to be permanent, but I think that the interactions between them were honestly some of my favorites in the entire series, for this reason: I never thought I could care about Vernon until this episode. He’s always been a fascinating character to me — I think I read a review once that called Vernon a guy stuck in the past, the saddest character on the show — but with this episode, he gained dimension. He became the sort of person that wasn’t just the butt of the joke but the giver of advice and a person who could actually, plausibly, have something in common with Jimmy. Like hating Paul.

Vernon acts the way he does because he’s always been trying to stay alive. This is a character trait that has been mostly milked for laughs, and in a welcome way; I love trash juice and “commune tabes.” But it’s also a driving force in his life that is fascinating to me. At least he knows that trying means more than allowing yourself to remain dead.

And Jimmy is so explicitly hellbent on staying one way that it is surprising to him when, despite himself, he enjoys Vernon’s company, laughing at his jokes, playing darts with him. At the end he snaps out of it, but of course the implication is still there: even though Jimmy wanted to hole up during the party, Vernon got through to him, and even though Jimmy wants to keep his house the way it was, and even though Jimmy wants to keep things as they are, he can’t help himself from trying to stay alive, because his defeatist, defensive shell is falling apart. For the first time in his life, Jimmy is surrounded by people who love him, and his journey toward maturity is helping him grow to love them too.

What about Gretchen? Her story’s not that special in sitcom land on the surface; in a story like this, she was never going to reunite with people who no longer defined her, and she was no longer going to identify with the worst version of herself as shown in Cory. I like that at least Gretchen continued to reject her adult friends’ lives even as she realized what a mess Cory was. She is in limbo; like Jimmy, she’s changed so much without realizing it, but she is not fully changed.

In keeping with the themes of life and death, I think Gretchen’s story connects because she shuns her friends with babies. Babies are literally a representation of new life; they are also, as Vernon says, anchors whose connection sustains you. I don’t think this means that Gretchen’s going to be popping out a kid anytime soon (though how crazy would that be?!); I see it more as an exaggeration of the sort of metric that Gretchen should work towards. Not babies, necessarily, but more the creation of a family, to the point where she one day will choose her loved ones over alcohol and heavy drugs, both acting as distractors (as the first episode makes clear).

So basically, life and death — despite being mentioned by characters — boils down to that central conflict. Will Gretchen and Jimmy keep fighting the tide, or will they let themselves be vulnerable with each other, acknowledge their love for each other, and become alive with each other?

Where does that leave Edgar and Lindsay and Paul and Amy? Their situation is a lot stickier and more complicated. Lindsay has a major emotional moment that deepens her already very deep character. She acknowledges that she is a bad person, that this is not a quality to be celebrated, and that she is afraid that she is the worst of them all. It’s her treatment of Edgar that makes her feel so guilty along with the presence of Amy, a genuine angel.

I love that she reaches out to Edgar. I thought their kiss was smokin’ hot, but I think there’s something to the idea that Lindsay’s connection to Edgar isn’t meant to be sexual, at least not for a while. Lindsay’s life and her choices since the beginning of the series have been rooted in sex. For her, sex is a distraction from major emotional turmoil, and connecting with Edgar here is more an expression of intimacy than any time we’ve seen her having sex on the show.

That’s why Edgar’s action is so confusing and heartbreaking. It can be interpreted both ways: for Edgar, this is his way of reaching out, of explaining to her without words that he loves her as she is. It is an expression of tenderness. However, it comes at the exact worst time, and it comes without any reasoning of why that is the last thing Lindsay needs at the moment. From her perspective, (and increasingly from mine) it’s kind of cruel that he responds to her raw moment of sadness with a romantic advance rather than a shoulder to cry on. And immediately after, she schemes with him to continue kissing to make Paul jealous — so the two very raw actions from these two characters get washed away because of Edgar’s poor timing, and the significance of both is not fully realized. Their connection is cut off; they are not fully alive, and with Paul’s watching eye, I’m worried that it will take a lot before both Lindsay and Edgar return to that vulnerable moment.

I have to say that I am so excited about this episode. I think of the three it is my least favorite, just because “friend group doesn’t work” is very trope-y, but these differences are so small and my enjoyment of each episode (from a non-writer, less verbose angle) is practically equal. I love this show, and am continually impressed by how it approaches storytelling. Because of my high regard for how it tells a story, though, I’m scared of what’s going to happen next. These characters all had flashes of self-discovery this episode, realizing that they have changed and are teetering on the line between life and death. I’m just scared that they’re going to have to die before they can truly live.

Stray Observations:

• *Another reason I didn’t like this episode is because I don’t like that Paul glanced at Lindsay. I am sure the reason is because it’s less believable that he could leave his relationship without any baggage, but on top of emotionally cheating on Lindsay, cheating on Amy in the first episode, and bringing Amy to Gretchen’s party in this one, I’m beginning to think Paul is a huge scumbag and not in a fun way. Love is putting someone else’s feelings before your own but you kind of suck at it, dude!
• Kieran was back, and again was just the best. My next season one fave I would love to see is Flo from Progressive, the bookstore owner!
• Gretchen and Jimmy both looked amazing this episode, Edgar looked very sexy and Lindsay looked so beautiful, especially in the tearful scene she shared with Edgar. I feel like I will say this every review.
• Jimmy wins delivery with the cold open.
• Lindsay and Gretchen telling the runner that she dropped something is so mean, but very funny.
• I adore the recurring bit about Jimmy and coasters. It’s so specific and weird.
• Also, these friends are bad! Like, peek-a-boo, I’ve 180’d on you and now I’m going to judge you for the person you’ve remained and also bring my baby to a party without telling you in advance and also act all uppity?!
• I apologize greatly for the delay. Of all the free time I’ve had this week, most of it has gone to sleeping. I hope this review made up for the wait!

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You're the Worst 2x02 "Crevasses" (And Crevices) [Contributor: Anne]

"Crevasses"

Original Airdate: September 16, 2015

I didn’t notice until after my second viewing of “Crevasses,” but how clever is it that the characters switch between two very similar-sounding words that have completely opposite meanings? A “crevice” is a narrow opening of fissure; a “crevasse” is a deep, open crack. And there it is that we find our characters, navigating the every day in major ways.

This is what You’re the Worst has always done; the entire first season is the evolution of Gretchen and Jimmy’s love story as they become accustomed to the permanent presences of one other, which culminates in an accidental move-in that aligns with their feelings more closely than either realize. Unlike the first episode of season two, which finds Jimmy and Gretchen on a similar plane, “Crevasses” analyzes their individual reactions to co-habitation and what that means in their fight against adulthood, permanency, and emotional commitment.

I am most excited to talk about Jimmy. At the beginning of the episode, Jimmy’s agent (The Office’s David Wallace, looking quite handsome here if I may say so myself) tells Jimmy that he needs to get his writing butt into gear. Jimmy insists that he’s not fighting against his fears — that the next great idea is “just around the corner.” So he goes to the mall to try to prove this but accomplishes absolutely nothing, apart from some intriguing ideas about Nazi war criminals.

I adore that Jimmy’s first book was critically praised but not widely sold; like Jimmy, his work is high-class but not necessarily palatable to everyone. And as Jimmy struggles with writing a second time, it’s hard not to see the parallels that exist in him trying to be with Gretchen without accepting his love for her. Writing is a skill that requires a vulnerability with one’s audience; obviously, so is loving. Even as Gretchen accepts him — even as she wants to live with him, not around him — Jimmy's difficulty in accepting that and his reluctance to be totally vulnerable with her, hinders his ability to love her. Hence his control freak, “Gretchen’s corner” nonsense.

With all of that in mind, what does this episode teach us about Jimmy? He doesn’t get any writing done; when he is alone at the mall, he reeks of desperation, looking to anyone he can to get inspiration. Remember the episode after he and Gretchen broke up, when he couldn’t write anything? This episode indicates that if he fails to let her in, he will experience similar troubles.

The best part of the mall scenes were, of course, when Jimmy and Gretchen were together. There is something about their combined energy that is magical and fun. Contrasted with those scenes alone, Jimmy is a totally different person with Gretchen — not nicer, really, but better, like it is that relationship that allows him to enjoy himself instead of being miserable all the time. There are scenes included for no other reason than to put forward the idea that Gretchen and Jimmy are compatible, whether it’s Gretchen’s trolling of Jimmy during Trivial Pursuit or their efforts to make a Bloody Mary by themselves.

Maybe it’s for that reason that Jimmy’s gesture to Gretchen at the end of the episode is so meaningful. All during the episode when he is alone you have him talking in goofy hypotheticals, and then when he is with Gretchen, he has to confront the real. Gretchen tells him as much when she accuses him of only reacting to her presence in the theoretical, while she is left with nothing. Basically, she’s all-in and he is only tolerating her presence.

I can’t help but be reminded of “Crimes and Misdemeanors and Ex-Boyfriends,” an episode of The Mindy Project that has a similar conflict (male protagonist resists female protagonist’s moving in and resolves the issue with a piece of furniture). Both episodes imply that growing used to someone else’s presence in your life is a process, often made difficult by past fears and hesitations.

Where “Crevasses” is different from “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” however, is in its final scenes. The Mindy Project ties the issue up in a nice bow; the third season made its point about Mindy and Danny through many small conflicts that began and ended in 22 minutes.*  Because You’re the Worst has fewer episodes per season, and because Stephen Falk follows a three-act structure in each season, the ending of “Crevasses” is not as cut-and-dry.

Gretchen brings up, seemingly out of nowhere, what I am sure will be the main theme of this season: Paul’s statement that “love is putting someone else’s needs before your own.” She says this after Jimmy opens his dresser to her and even goes out of his way to buy her a Klüf that is adorably jacked up. As she asks Jimmy for help moving more of her stuff in, he takes a glance back to the nightstand with anxiety. Love is putting someone else’s needs before your own, and in that gesture, Jimmy proved as much. But if you see that Jimmy took the crummy jobs his agent suggested, rather than writing the work of art that he is destined for, there is reason to be concerned for Jimmy and Gretchen going forward. He loves her, clearly, and his inspiration is approaching, but he isn’t going down without a fight.

Just because most of the characterization centered around Jimmy doesn’t mean there’s nothing to say about Gretchen. While Gretchen is more grounded than Jimmy and seems to know more of what she wants, her fears are just as prevalent and valid. The most notable moments of Gretchen’s come when a) she looks at the wedding dresses and Jimmy whisks her away and b) when, in her game with Jimmy at the mall, she says that she “loves her [fake] boyfriend.” These actions are in the same language as long-term commitment, and unlike Jimmy, this doesn’t seem to be what fazes her.

But she still isn’t able to buy anything at Towels ‘n’ Things, and that’s after we see the difficulty it took her to enter the store in the first place. Gretchen may seem more balanced than Jimmy when it comes to their relationship, but the tangible details of it are scary to her: the storage space, for example. The college freshman list is a distraction — a set plan on “how to succeed as an adult in a long term relationship” — but by the end of the episode Gretchen, despite demonstrating signals of desiring long-term commitment and reciprocated love, kind of puts all the responsibility on Jimmy (note that Jimmy is the only one who actually makes any forward action this episode). This points at some tension within Gretchen that will likely lead to trouble between her and Jimmy later on. (As a rom-com writer, I would say that Gretchen is afraid that what she and Jimmy have “isn’t real” — that Jimmy doesn’t want her there — while Jimmy is more afraid that in the long run he and Gretchen will meet a devastating end. These sound similar and manifest themselves in similar ways, but they are not identical!).

Meanwhile, Lindsay and Edgar continue to be a thing, and I think thematically they are doing exactly what they are meant to do. Jimmy and Gretchen are two similar forces whose small differences provide tension; Lindsay and Edgar are on two sides of a see-saw, looking to even each other out.

Well, at least in the case of Lindsay. Lindsay was kind of in poor form this episode, down to the wing sauce on her face, and I agree with the gay guys at the bar that Lindsay’s treatment of Edgar is gross. I actually hope that she doesn’t realize the extent of her manipulation (she does write it off as “he’s helping me because I’m hurting,” which is actually not 100% true) and Edgar is just the person who has been there for her when she needs someone.

I do appreciate that Edgar’s infatuation with Lindsay began when she sang Kate Bush, though — that means that Edgar’s fixation with her begins at her first moment of true vulnerability, where it was revealed that there was something behind her besides being a serial cheater and just generally the worst. I also think considering his speech to her in the first episode — that only brave men have a chance with her — he will find the vulnerability in her before long.

The only problem this poses is what Lindsay serves to give to Edgar, who has to be the moral compass of the show. Never mind how he treats Lindsay — his roommates expect him to be on, all the time, getting them whatever he wants. I don’t know if the solution will eventually mean that Edgar has to change in any significant way to demand those things, or if everyone else around him has to change (at least a little) to accommodate for their friend.

I’ve been writing a lot about the thematic implications of this episode, but let me be clear on my opinion of it: I loved it. It was a perfect continuation of what had been presented in the first episode of the season, but with somewhat higher emotional stakes. You’re the Worst has always been incredible at maintaining the funny while amping the consequences. Last year, this led to a great break-up episode with Jimmy and Gretchen. Now, I am excited to say that even though I do not know where these little things are leading, there is no doubt we are careening into the crevasse. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Stray Observations:

• Something I always love about television is when characters laugh at each others' jokes. I think this is something that is often forgotten about in sitcoms, but here it happened (notably) twice: when Edgar says “Mall-den” and when Gretchen and Jimmy are playing “That’s your boyfriend.”
• I’ll never love Lindsay and Edgar as much as I love Jimmy and Gretchen by a very wide margin. However, I do think there’s something in the water; Lindsay did ask about the girl from the bar…
• Chris Geere’s delivery continues to be spot-on, and his excitement at the flying airplane is one of the best moments of the entire episode.
• I loved the music selection in this episode (the scene with Gretchen and Jimmy at the mall, and the scene at the end of the episode). Really beautiful.
• I’m excited to see some heat on Jimmy from a professional standpoint; I wonder what is next for Gretchen?
• ALSO: I loved the callback to Megan Thomas and the very real ramifications that must have had on Jimmy’s career.

* Baby not included.

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You're The Worst 2x01 "The Sweater People" (Re-Expressed Echoes) [Contributor: Anne]

"The Sweater People"

Original Airdate: September 9, 2015

You’re the Worst is hilarious. You’re the Worst is mean. You’re the Worst is daring. All of these are truths we already knew, and all of these are equally true in the second season premiere of the show, “The Sweater People,” which is not just an excellent premiere but one of the best episodes of the series thus far, a consistent and promising beginning to what is certain to be a killer sophomore year.

I have always admired You’re the Worst because of the tight storytelling that shines alongside the rapid-fire jokes. This is a show where every detail is thought out in advance, every episode tells a singular story that feeds into a seasonal arc, and every character is treated as an individual who would exist in real life — where flaws are often ugly, mistakes often unjustifiable, and redemption something that takes a lot longer than the 22 minutes can provide. This is a show that aims not just to be funny or romantic but to tell a story, and in doing so it honors all elements of its storytelling.

For example: in this episode’s A-plot, Jimmy and Gretchen are grappling with how disgustingly normal it is for them to be co-habitating. In retaliation, they take to heavy drinking, heavy drugs, and “butt stuff,” when all either one of them wants to do is relax. This is a story that checks off many boxes of a great sitcom episode: the conflict is character-based; the conflict provides a lot of sources of humor; the conflict is informed by the B and C-plots around it.

But You’re the Worst doesn’t just want to do that — it wants to do more. The conflict is character-based, a feat that is more impressive when considering that these actions from these characters are informed by a season before it. So many sitcoms forget details about their characters or experiences their characters have gone through, because so many situations in sitcoms are funny, forgettable fun. This is not the case with Jimmy and Gretchen, whose central conflict from the first season remains the same (put cutely, the fear of falling in love and all that comes with it) but changes with the environment. These conflicts are re-expressed echoes of conflicts that have already happened. This isn’t a criticism of laziness or a lack of storytelling potential; rather, it is the exact opposite. Because by stating again and again the fears of these two individuals, the show is demanding that more layers are unearthed, more vulnerabilities exposed, leading to (I hope) a raw and earned moment where both characters begin to fix the damage done to them in the past.

Another exemplary touch of You’re the Worst is the humor, often stemming from the same place of deep characterization that the conflicts do. What I mean to say is that the funniest parts of this episode are the funniest parts because we can say: “of course that is just how this character would react.” This is counter to something that is often found in sitcoms where jokes that are delivered could have been said by anyone else in the room, thereby losing both the individual touch and subsequent humor. But what makes more sense to Jimmy and Gretchen then that they’d hijack a Google Maps car while high out of their minds? What makes more sense to Sam then that, after being stranded at a meeting set up by Gretchen, he’d give her a phone meant for “hookers and drug addicts and irresponsible garbage people”? Or that Edgar cries out in his sleep, “I didn’t know it was a school”? This is You’re the Worst at its most economical: making us laugh while informing us about the characters.

And of course the A conflict is informed by the B and C conflicts, which is as it should be — these plots should stress the main message of the episode or influence it in some way, because that is economical and also good television storytelling. What You’re the Worst has done that separates it from similar shows, however, is that the B and C-plots still have weight even when their primary purpose is to inform Gretchen and Jimmy’s decisions.

Lindsay’s suffering post-divorce and Edgar’s pure love for Lindsay are either active forces in the narrative (Lindsay slapping Gretchen in the face; Edgar talking about family plans, which grosses Jimmy and Gretchen out) or indirect commentary on the main material (Paul telling Lindsay that “love is putting someone’s needs before your own”; Edgar telling Lindsay that the people you fall in love with and who fall in love with you are the ones that bother to explore the “unfriendly, treacherous mountain” you are; something about Bagel Bites, I’m not totally sure). Both are true, but they also have the ability to exist separately from the main material. Lindsay is a powerhouse and clearly the most flawed character on the show, and You’re the Worst does a great job reminding us that in her life, she is not the side or supporting character.

(I am still undecided on Edgar, if only because his number one purpose is to be the nicest person ever in a room full of jerks. At least his background as a veteran and his dedication to his job at the gym are signs that his character could become more complex in the future).

As someone who loves storytelling and story structure, You’re the Worst is unparalleled, especially as a romantic sitcom (as opposed to a drama about a meth lord). Meanwhile, as someone who loves jokes delivered by mean people, You’re the Worst is equally extravagant. I can’t wait for what this season has for us!

Stray Notes:

• I loved how Gretchen, Lindsay, Edgar and Jimmy looked in this episode. They were either exceptionally gorgeous or exceptionally handsome.
• Oh, and Paul. I love Paul and I love the actor that plays him. I also love the other theme in this show is that these people are toxic and make well-intentioned people worse.
• Another thing about this show: I love is that this was clearly a first act (showrunner Stephen Falk has talked about how he breaks seasons up into pieces). I love that the conflicts weren’t resolved and that the show had the confidence to not tie up loose ends as many other shows would have done.
• God, Sam is my favorite. The part where he gives Gretchen the phone made me laugh so hard.
• Everyone on this show has the most hilarious delivery and facial expressions, the winners being Lindsay (her entire spiel to Gretchen about how she is a born-yesterday diaper baby) and Edgar (“It was a school”).
• One thing I didn’t love about the episode was the group of people at the bar who gave Jimmy and Gretchen their insane drug. They felt kind of shoehorned in and clunky, despite having good dialogue. (I honestly thought they had sold Jimmy and Gretchen a placebo, though I think what happened was much better)
•  I loved the “Family Plan” guy more than most things on this earth, and I would have done the exact same thing in that circumstance.
• The ending with the hijacked car! The song playing as they did it! Oh, I do love this show so much.
• Where is Kieran!?!

What did you think of the premiere? Let us know in the comments or by tweeting us!

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