The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 17 – “Rocky Bye Baby” (2013)

I have a hard time taking this episode seriously.  While there are episodes that are sloppier or more heavy-handed than this one, this is the worst offender when it comes to “a specific topic comes up randomly, and the guys are all in to a ridiculous degree.”  Sheesh.

Bryan and David request no gifts for their baby shower, but when that request is roundly ignored, they decide to take all their gifts to a nearby children’s shelter, where they’re dazzled by an adorable infant in need of a placement.  This sets their wheels turning on the subject of adoption.  Meanwhile, Shania worries that Goldie feels left out at being the reason for, but not the recipient of, the baby shower.

It honestly kind of boggles my mind that, with the birth of their first child two months away, the guys start thinking about adopting (and adopting ASAP!) essentially on a whim.  First, it’s a serious instance of, “Slow your roll, guys – start taking care of your baby first and then think about if you’re ready for more.”  I get that sometimes people can have life-changing epiphanies in a moment/fate intervenes/etc., but this doesn’t feel like that.  Despite some lip service to the contrary, it feels much more like the child-rearing equivalent of an impulse buy, which does not seem like a winning arrangement for a young child.

Second, they mention, “Yeah, yeah, long process, blah, blah,” but again, the show doesn’t take that all that seriously.  As the director of the shelter points out, it’s not like a trip to the pound where you just pick out a cute one and bring them home.  While the guys’ hearts may be in the right place with the desire to share their blessings with a disadvantaged child, acting like they can select a kid, “put [her] on hold” during the aforementioned long process, and then wrap her up to go is simply absurd, and the episode’s good points have a hard time overcoming David and Bryan’s immaturity on this subject.

My favorite Bryan bit here is a recurring gag about him getting all starry-eyed over a ludicrously-decadent and impractical baby gift, longing to keep it even though he and David have already agreed to donate the presents.  I much prefer that sort of shallow, materialistic Bryan to the one who seems to think spur-of-the-moment adoption is 1) a thing and 2) a good idea.  Every time he melts over that insane gift, I chuckle a little more.