While I
remember initially finding this to be another so-so episode, it’s improved each
time I’ve watched it and I now like it quite a bit. A sweet story put together well, with some
nice dramatic acting from multiple cast members and some terrifically-funny
bits.
The start
of the episode backs up a little to the pre-Goldie-and-Shania part of the guys’
lives, when they got their puppy as “training wheels” before having a baby
(I’ve haven’t mentioned the puppy or the older dog before, but even though they
get very little attention on the show, the series does do a decent job of
keeping them present – they’re not the type of family-sitcom dogs who disappear
for months on end and only pop up when they’re needed.) In the present day, however, the puppy is
sick, and a trip to the vet leads to Bryan and David both being worried and
disagreeing over the best course of action to take. Meanwhile, Goldie’s ex-husband helps her
through a tough situation.
The
health scare with the puppy is a smart plot, because it opens the door for
exploring some good themes, particularly 1) how David and Bryan react
differently during a crisis and 2) the way they relate the situation to their
unborn child and think about the possibility of an emergency with their
kid. It gets into hypotheticals about
the future in what would obviously be a billion times worse/scarier, but that
comparison doesn’t take away from what they’re feeling in the present,
either. Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha,
and Georgia King (who plays Goldie) all have nice chances to show off their
dramatic acting.
But
despite some definitely serious things happening, this is also a really funny
episode. First, there’s just the fact
that Harvey Milkbone is an objectively-amazing name for a dog. And between Shania’s Maggie Smith obsession
and brief Taylor Swift impression (less accurate than some of her others, but
still funny “…Ignoring that I’m the common denominator in all my failed
relationships!”), Bryan getting his Terms
of Endearment on at the vet, and some amusing fellow pet owners in the
waiting room, there’s a lot more to enjoy as well. Also, it’s less strictly funny, but I
additionally enjoy the small note of Goldie’s sex drive being cranked up due to
her pregnancy hormones for much of the episode – it’s nice to get some focus on
a woman’s sexual pleasure during a time (pregnancy) when society generally
doesn’t think of her as a sexual being.
Andrew
Rannells is great here. In addition to
the aforementioned strong drama and Terms
of Endearment bit, I also like how much fun Bryan is adorably cuddling his
puppy at the vet while ridiculously telling him to stay away from a depressed
labradoodle during his stay. Plus, there’s
his wonderful deadpan line to David, “I can tell by your tone that [911 for
dogs isn’t] a real thing,” and, apropos of nothing but delightful, a snippet of
his anecdote about the time Sir Ian McKellen totally came onto him at a
7-Eleven.
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