And Andrew Rannells is back! The penultimate episode of the season is a little scattered. It feels like there’s maybe one too many plots going on, and not all of them are well-defined enough to anchor their part of the story.
Girls5eva have finished recording their new album, but the high quickly falls as they realize their label doesn’t have much interest in promoting it. Wickie latches on to a “normal” that she decides is a one-man focus group and pumps him for advice on how to create their own traction on the album. Dawn isn’t feeling well and is convinced something’s wrong, while those around her figure it’s either stress or her hypochondria kicking in. Elsewhere, Gloria and her recently-reunited ex-wife are looking for a new place, but Kev (who’s an aspiring realtor on the side) thinks Gloria’s less committed to the reunion than she professes.
As you can see, there’s a lot going on there. I enjoy Wickie’s plot pretty well. Her opportunistic dealings with her one-man focus group, a friend and colleague of Dawn’s husband, is a lot of fun. He’s a “lunch lord” (which he insists is the male term for “lunch lady,”) and there are some amusing cafeteria-food jokes thrown into the mix. And I like the contrast between Wickie’s drama/shallowness and his “basic” sensibilities, which put him in touch with the common man. At one point, Wickie breathlessly says, “Wow. You’re like if Anaheim was a person.”
That Dawn plot feels like of tacked-on and not super original. The stuff with the label is amusing, especially when their point person shows them the finished album. So reflective of the direction of the industry—“It’s just for show. Everything is digital now, but I wanted you to have something to hold.” Meanwhile, the Gloria plot feels kind of forced. She’s been all in on missing her ex pretty much since day one, and while it’s not unrealistic that actually getting back together with her couldn’t match the fantasy she’d built up in her head, the show didn’t really lay any groundwork for the storyline before this episode.
But even if I’m not crazy about Gloria’s storyline, Andrew Rannells is a lot of fun in it. Kev is doing his best to hustle as a “celebrity realtor,” but he’s put a lot more effort into the pizzazz part of job than actually understanding real estate. He measures floor plans in boy-band dance moves and sings inaccurate snippets from popular songs, explaining, “It’s not the original tune, so I don’t have to pay anyone.” And Rannells and Paula Pell have always played well off of each other. The conceit here is that Kev recognizes his own relationship with Summer in Gloria’s and thus realizes she’s not as all-in as she professes. My favorite line comes when Gloria snaps, “I love her, and I am not pretending to be happy!”, and Kev replies, “That’s a direct quote from my wedding vows.” Rannells’s delivery is so low-key but simultaneously pitch perfect—he has such good command over when to go over-the-top vs. understated.
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