Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 14 – “Gaydar” (2013)


Eh, this one is… iffy.  While there are some strong aspects of it that I like and it does explore a nice message, it feels like its wires got crossed somewhere, and it confuses its own point but good.  Despite some good jokes and a fine finish, this episode is a bit too sloppy to wholly redeem itself.

Rocky is incensed when, on a Sing! set tour, Shania makes the supposition that Rocky’s boyfriend Chris (a grip on the show) is gay.  Similarly, Jane is thrown for a loop by Bryce, another realtor at the same company – his fashion and mannerisms read gay to her, and in her mind, the way he chases after women is callous toward whatever feelings they might have for him.  Bryan and Shania decide both questions can be settled by combining their gaydar and inviting both guys over for a “gay test” disguised as a dinner party.

It’s absolutely true that gaydar is usually based on stereotypical behavior or interests rather than, you know, being attracted to members of your own gender.  I’m not disputing that, and it’s not out of the realm of reason that Shania would be involved in a “gay test” centered around the two men’s knowledge of female Oscar winners, pop hits, and gay icons.  And it even makes a general sort of sense for Bryan to spearhead this as well.  Despite the fact that most of the portions of his test “prove” that his own partner is “straight” – David is hopelessly out of depth with all these references – Bryan does have a history of conflating being gay with an appreciation for gay-coded interests.

Where the waters get muddied is that this whole thing starts in part out of Bryan’s desire to get a christening gown for the baby’s birth announcement and his response to David’s reluctance, insisting that clothes don’t make someone gay, it’s a new world out there, and you can’t always tell anymore.  It makes zero sense that Bryan would be pushing for “identity isn’t based on stereotypes” in the same breath that he’s using Rihanna and Rue McClanahan to suss out Chris and Bryce’s sexualities.  The episode might’ve been able to salvage the theme by giving us more of a wake-up call for Bryan, letting him realize how far his actions skew from his ideals, but we never get that moment.

Still, like I said, there are things I like.  I enjoy the interactions between Rocky and Chris (their last scene together is especially good,) and it’s interesting to see Jane at a complete loss at the concept of a man being metrosexual.  Side note:  Chris is played by Mark Consuelos, who’s more recently played Hiram Lodge on Riverdale, and Bryce’s introduction here is the beginning of a recurring role for John Stamos.  Additionally, David gets a mini-exploration of how society’s homophobia made him behave badly in his youth, out of fear of being “found out” – I’d have liked to see more of that.

Even though Andrew Rannells is tasked here with leading the plot in two diametrically-opposed directions at the same time, he has his fun moments as well.  Some terrific lines, my favorite being his excited delivery on, “If this works, I can repackage [the gay test] with has-beens and sell it to Fox.  Beach house!”  He and Goldie also have a delightful little standoff when he buys her cookies and then decides “they’re too beautiful to eat.”  Plus, it’s a little thing but I like Bryan’s habit of admitting his screw-ups by cheekily blaming them on someone else.  It’s a nice device, because it’s Bryan playing on his vanity/shallowness in a very knowing way.  When he blames someone else, Rannells plays it so we know that this is absolutely Bryan’s sheepish way of admitting he made a bad call, and it becomes a sort of private joke between him and David that we as the audience can share.

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