The other
plots are more hit-and-miss for me today, but it’s a strong episode for Elijah,
and when it comes to The Book of Rannells, that’s what we’re really looking
for, isn’t it? I’m glad to be getting
into this storyline more.
Hannah
and Fran get into it over differing grading philosophies, with one student’s
essay becoming the unfortunate battleground for their conflict. Adam continues to undermine Jessa’s attempt
to establish boundaries, and she finds it increasingly difficult to hold her
ground. Marnie is upset when Desi starts
a big renovation project in their apartment that, in her mind, proves he has no
real understanding of her concerns and what she wants. Elijah prepares for a date with the “quite
famous” newscaster Dill Harcourt, in which he nervously looks forward to
meeting some of Dill’s friends.
In other
words, all kinds of relationship stuff.
This is one instance where I pretty definitely side with Hannah over
Fran. Regardless of how one feels about
the mechanics of writing, it would be unfair to tell students a particular
assignment wasn’t being graded on spelling/grammar and then do exactly that,
and as long as Hannah follows through on her intention to focus on mechanics in
other assignments, there’s nothing wrong with having this one focus more on
creativity. Fran marking up one of her students’ assignments isn’t
okay. Of course, this being Hannah, even
though she is in the right this time,
the way she decides to handle it leaves a lot to be desired.
The
Jessa/Adam plot is super-frustrating.
She’s been going out of her way to avoid him, probably precisely because when they do the “we’re just
friends” thing, he keeps overstepping.
Now, she’s been intentionally going to women’s-only AA meetings to stay
away from him, and he follows her anyway – not cool at all, and I hate that
this kind of behavior so often gets rewarded in stories like this. It doesn’t even matter that Jessa is keeping
her distance in part because she’s trying not to give in to her own real
feelings for Adam, because she should have the right not to see him if that’s
what she chooses. Creepy.
I don’t
have a lot to say about Marnie and Desi here.
There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance from Vella Lovell (Heather
from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as one of
their neighbors, and I do like the way this plot winds up interacting with
Hannah’s when she and Marnie get together to discuss their respective
relationship woes. Also, the warning
that Hannah should stay with Fran “or [she’ll] end up alone – just like Cher”
cracks me up.
And now,
onto Elijah! This is a fully-formed
episode subplot that’s all about him – as I’ve said, Elijah really doesn’t get
many of those, and it’s just one part of an ongoing storyline. We get classic Elijah during a pre-date
conversation with Ray: the way he uses
coffee-shop utensils in a way that no one should, the way he self-importantly
states he can’t disclose the name of the celebrity he’s dating and then
immediately does just that, and of course, the way he fawns at the thought of
which of Dill’s famous friends he might be meeting at dinner. All of this is just Elijah all over.
But one
thing that I love about this character is that he defies pigeon-holing. In Andrew Rannells’s hands, Elijah always
feels consistent and believable, but that doesn’t mean he’s just one thing. When he gets to that dinner, Elijah still has
celebrities on the brain and is constantly looking to the door to see who might
be coming in, but now that he’s actually in the situation, it all manifests
differently. Now, Dill is the one to
bring up aspects of his fame while Elijah pretends to demure. Now, Elijah nervously tells cute-but-silly
stories from his childhood. Now, Elijah
wonders what kind of thing he and Dill really have, unsure of where his place
is with this guy. Elijah is generally so
vain and self-absorbed that it’s always a surprise to see his insecurities
bubbling up, and it’s a good reminder that he has potential beyond being
Hannah’s best friend. As the plot
continues and we see other parts of Elijah and Dill’s evening together, Rannells
is terrific all around and plays well off of Corey Stoll.
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