*Spoilers from episode 8.*
We’re closing in on the end of the season, and this is solid penultimate episode. While the plots are mostly pretty separate, the ending ties things together in a way that looks to be leading straight into the finale. And there were some major developments in episode 8—which didn’t feature Andrew Rannells or Peter Capaldi, so I didn’t review it—that have me even more excited about this season.
When the stress of his parents fighting makes Andrew start wetting the bed, they take him to therapy. Seamus has finally gotten to Elliot, and Nick doesn’t like his dad under his grandpa’s influence. Jessi feels insecure and jealous after her dad’s girlfriend has her baby. Matthew starts to realize how much Jay has changed since they’ve been going out. And while Missy is excited to keep going after her first kiss with Elijah, he doesn’t know how to tell her he’s not interested in that.
Andrew’s plot is uncomfortable in the right ways. For all the jokes about him being forced to wear diapers, his dad’s anger and insults are demoralizing. The Gloubermans’ therapy session is really well done. And yes, Jessi’s storyline involves her imagining(?) her demon half-sibling threatening to replace her, but it also shows her reaction to her dad looking at the new baby and vowing to “do it right this time.”
I started to suspect this earlier in the season, but episode 8 confirmed it: Elijah is asexual! Or at least, he’s figuring out he’s on the ace spectrum, and this is the identity that makes the most sense to him right now. The show is doing a great job with this storyline, and I’ll definitely have a lot more to say about Elijah in a later post. When Missy invites him over for “dot, dot, dot,” he gets nervous—as one of his two(?) Hormone Monsters frantically points out, “Dots are suggestive.” I’m anxious to see where this storyline goes in the finale.
In episode 7, there was a reckoning between Elliot and Seamus, and now Elliot seems fully won back to Seamus’s side. He’s back to his toxically masculine days as a Scottish nipple-twisting champ, and both he and Seamus are infecting the Birch house with their intensity and macho-ness. When Nick’s mom expresses concern over Elliot’s behavior, Seamus snaps, “He finally got his testicles back from the jar that you’ve been keeping ‘em in!” I certainly can’t say I like Seamus, but Peter Capaldi continues to play him very effectively—I’m a little unnerved whenever this mean, sour old man is onscreen.
Meanwhile, we have some nice material for Andrew Rannells in what’s probably Matthew’s best episode of the season so far. While his storyline is still very focused on Jay, it’s squarely about Matthew this time around, as Matthew slowly starts realizing that he’s turning Jay into something he’s not. I believe the swan-and-wolf analogy for these two was something that started last season, and Matthew has a dream sequence here that really leans into that angle.
Although we can see that some of Matthew’s effect on Jay isn’t for the better—“Ooh, let’s not say ‘domesticated,’” he urges while discussing the issue with Jessi—it can be pretty funny. As Jay enthuses about the “hair fork” Matthew gave him, I love Rannells’s deadpan delivery of, “It’s a brush, honey.” And I appreciate that, as soon as Matthew realizes what he’s doing, it freaks him out and he has to figure out how to stop it. As I’ve said before, this relationship really demonstrates Matthew’s growth as a character. The Matthew of season 1 wouldn’t have wanted Jay to still be himself. Again, I’m curious to see where the finale takes this story.
No comments:
Post a Comment