Black Monday was off this week for the Super Bowl, so
we’re back (briefly) to The New Normal
for The Book of Rannells. More on the
misadventures of coked-up 1980s day-traders soon!
I enjoy
this episode quite a bit. While the
three main plots are connected by the same theme (fears, and the facing
thereof,) we’re never clobbered over the head with the parallels. Add in some good humor and strong character
moments, and it all adds up to not a bad little episode.
As the
baby’s due date nears, David urges Bryan to get more involved in the process,
not just coasting on David’s expertise as a doctor to take care of
everything. He’s less thrilled when Bryan’s newfound involvement leads him to sign
the two of them and Goldie up for a natural birthing class, but David endeavors
(barely) to be open-minded. However,
when a videotaped birth gets a little too real for Bryan, he questions his
ability to cope in the delivery room. In
other news, Goldie enlists Bryce to help her take a big new step, and an
encounter with Shania leaves Rocky unsure of whether or not she can handle a
new challenge in her life.
Both the
subplots are pretty decent – I’m a fan of dorky Goldie, which we get a little
of in her scenes with Bryce, and like I said, both show Goldie and Rocky
dealing with fears and insecurities without tying so strongly into the theme of
the main plot that it creates a “this episode is brought to you by the letter
F” feel. Instead, it’s three variations
on the same theme that each play out in their own way and bring a little
something of their own to the table. I
also get a kick out of Bryce’s frank admission to Goldie, “I think your nana
basically catfished me.”
But the
A-plot is definitely my favorite. It all
feels very in character for the guys.
It’s within Bryan’s wheelhouse to ignore the medical stuff because he
assumes David has it under control, as well as believable that, having been
urged to learn more, he jumps on alternative birthing methods. And we were told back in the pilot that Bryan
“faints at the sight of vaginas,” so it’s not too surprising that being
confronted with the actual “blood and sweat” of childbirth would freak him
out. Meanwhile, it’s like David to
begrudgingly go along with Bryan’s plan and then find himself all but unable to
carry out his own plan of pretending
he’s just a regular dad instead of a doctor, constantly making interjections
during the birthing class that show off his own Western medical knowledge
(although his attempt to give himself a different non-medical backstory is
hilarious.) If I have a complaint in
this storyline, it’s that there’s zero consideration given to what Goldie might
want as the person who’s actually having the baby, either from the guys or from
Goldie herself – feels like a plothole.
The
episode gives Andrew Rannells the chance to take Bryan through a range of
stuff: bored disinterest, gung-ho enthusiasm, squeamishness, embarrassment,
dismay, disappointment, frenzy, and of course, stepping up to confront his
fears. And all the while, he keeps
tossing out good one-liners like referring to the birthing class’s “throwaway
shoes” or lamenting that no one faints “except anorexics and housemaids on telenovelas.” Really enjoyable work here. Side note – I also like Bryan’s interactions
with the other dads in the class. We
don’t often see Bryan in a situation of being around straight guys, and it’s
nice to see him accepted into their group without any muss or fuss.
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