Thursday, February 7, 2019

The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 19 – “Blood, Sweat, and Fears” (2013)


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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