Welcome back to my weekly review and recap of “You’re the Worst.” To catch up on previous coverage, click here.
A quick review of You’re the Worst to follow. Apologies on the late review, life threw me for a bit of a tailspin this week and I don’t know about you, but the days positively flew by, so the review is going to err on the brief side of things.
All things considered, technically this is a fantastic episode of television, keeping up with You’re the Worst’s decision to tackle Gretchen’s depression head on, continuing in showcasing her in tail spin mode, falling deeper and deeper into her own relentless oppressive head space. From afar, I can appreciate the shows direction with the episode, especially as it provides a fantastic half hour showcase for Aya Cash, and anytime Justin Kirk shows up on my screen I’m happy, but boy did this episode leave me feeling hollow.
It makes sense that from everything we’ve seen from Gretchen, particularly in season two, that she would spot the seemingly hip and cool couple down the street, who have held onto their sense of fun while also being responsible home owners with a child, and latch on to them. She believes that she can changer her life course, that she too can have the ideal situation. We’ve seen her so often fear becoming an adult who would rather let Jimmy take control as she lives out of plastic bags, but we’ve also seen her insecurity, and her want for her and Jimmy to work out. This, coupled with Jimmy’s oppressive belief that he can “fix her”, and she’s ready to live vicariously through Rob and Lexi.
This included stealing their dog, irritatingly named Sandwich, and pretending to find him and return him to the couple hours later, edging her way into their house for a glass of wine and playing the part of concerned neighbor. You can physically see her hackles rise when Jimmy arrives, as he’s unable to play a role. However, his genuine excitement over Rob and Lexi’s tree house is infectious. His going to take a look with Lexi opens up for an integral scene though, one with Rob and Gretchen where the former begins to awkwardly hit on Gretchen, and immediately, her vision of this “cool” (but really, obnoxious) couple is shattered. Rob is just as lonely, just as disenchanted as Gretchen is, and this is heartbreaking to her after she’s projected such hope on to them.
Cash truly is remarkable in the closing moments as the camera pans slowly up to her, beginning to silently sob as Jimmy’s mutterings turns into toneless noise. She’s not okay, and it can’t be too much longer before she and Jimmy talk about everything unsaid.
Technically, great. Emotionally, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I keep on foolishly hoping for the hints of Jimmy and Gretchen and their relationship in season one, when the whole point of this episode, and in large part, this season, has been about moving forward, for better or worse.
People have seemingly had strong reactions to the episode, so let me know in the comments what connected so well.
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8/10
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