The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 2 – “Sofa’s Choice” (2012)

Episode 2, I think, improves a fair amount on the pilot.  It runs with the better aspects of the pilot while smoothing out some of its rougher parts, and on the whole it feels tighter and flows better.  This is a fun one.

While waiting to see if Goldie’s implantation took, David and Bryan both have their own mini-freakouts about how their lives will change if they become dads.  After David’s straight buddies with kids demand to know why he’d wreck the good, carefree thing he has going, David starts to worry if he’s really ready.  Bryan, meanwhile, has a hard time coping when he discovers a permanent-marker drawing on his couch, presumably made by Goldie’s young daughter Shania.

The guys doubting their readiness for fatherhood is realistic and relatable, even if it seems like they would’ve (and probably should’ve) done more of this before starting the actual process of conceiving a child.  And though it’s only the second episode, their reactions seem fairly in character for both of them – David tries to reason his way through it, like he thinks if he can just be in control enough, he can logic the issue away, and Bryan is fancifully dramatic but ultimately gets things figured out.

The episode is also helped by the delightful weirdness of Shania, her obsession with Grey Gardens, and her fantastic Little Edie impersonation.  It’s one of the most noteworthy things I remember about watching the show back when it first aired, and I still love it.  It’s just such a wonderfully-offbeat quirk for a child to have, and it’s the start of Shania being very much her own sort of oddball, which offsets the typical precocious-kids archetype.  Additionally, Jane isn’t less offensive here (she makes an especially ugly crack about Obama, that we used to have presidents who would’ve owned this president,) but there’s less of her, which makes it easier to take.

Bryan and David’s relationship continues to be a highlight.  You lose sight of how many TV couples, especially on sitcoms, only seem to stand each other for the last two minutes of any given episode, so that when you see two characters that clearly love each other a lot, it really pops.  Sure, they disagree, bicker, and tease, but the love is always first and foremost.  Is episode 2 too soon to show a flashback of their meet-cute?  Probably, but it’s so lovely and cute that I don’t mind, goofy hair and all.

The show is figuring out Bryan’s character a little more, and Andrew Rannells plays it wonderfully.  I love the knowing cheek they give to his vanity, musing that he’s decided he’s not going to age because “it just seems so expected.”  Bryan’s interactions with Shania are great in this episode too, both his “dad practice” in trying to talking to her about the couch issue and their unexpected bonding.  They have a fun back-and-forth and just seem to get each other, making for an entertaining dynamic on the show going forward.