The Book of Rannells: Welcome to the Wayne: Season 1, Episode 13 – “Swap Shop Hop & Bop” (2013)

Andrei isn’t as big a focus in this episode as he’s been in the last few, although the end adds another layer to his mystery.  For the most part, though, this is a side adventure, and while Andrei’s not precisely part of the gang, he’s certainly gang-adjacent and is around even when the story isn’t immediately about him.

Everyone is geared up for the Wayne’s annual Swap Shop Hop & Bop, a building-wide swap meet and dance.  While Ansi dreads the prospect of selling his stuff, Olly looks forward to starting some kind of collection and Saraline relishes the idea of closing the most audacious deals possible.  When a seemingly-useless hunk of old metal reacts strangely with some old clothes Andrei is selling, the kids realize it may not be so useless after all – now, if they can just get it back.

Another fun episode, somewhat of a detour from the more arc-based recent episodes, but as I said, it moves the needle a bit during the climax.  I enjoy the kids’ reactions to the comparatively-mundane event of the swap meet.  Everyone is immediately in character – of course Ansi would be twitchy, Saraline would be eager to show off her bargaining superiority, and Olly would have no idea what he was looking for but perfectly sanguine that he’ll find it anyway.  There are fun details thrown in, like one of the spy’s henchmen selling carved replicas of famous animal sidekicks or a running joke about an old man hawking “overpriced disco balls.”

I continue to be impressed with how quick the humor is on this show.  “It’s so selfish of you to think only of yourself!” – “How else am I supposed to think only of myself?” is a terrific exchange, and I’m also fond of this great summation:  “That thing is after this thing, so this thing must be something” (with, of course, the response, “It’s good to be specific!”)

Andrei is reeling from the revelations of the last episode, which have him feeling depressed and nihilistic – a prime state of mind for deciding to unload all his old stuff.  Rannells’s dejected performance is funny here, with Andrei lugubriously lamenting the meaninglessness of existence while trying to flog his clothes, harpoon, and “sharp pillow” (an awesome sight gag.)  I love him telling a resident to “just take them all [his old clothes] – they smell like loneliness and vampire.”  But even as he’s dismally draping himself across his swap-meet table, there’s still a little of the old Andrei blasé reaction to ridiculous things – another great line of his is, “Someone told me you have to take the past and turn it into a laser, or something, but we’ve already had like three pep talks, so just go do that.”

And yeah, the ending adds a new wrinkle to the proceedings, one that could potentially put Andrei at odds with the kids; I’m curious to see what happens next.