The Book of Rannells: Another Period: Season 2, Episode 9 – “Lillian’s Wedding” (2016)

I’d previously seen ads for this show on Comedy Central, but I never saw any episodes of it until I started going through Andrew Rannells’s work.  It’s actually quite a bit cooler than I would’ve guessed from the previews, historical jokes mixed with social commentary mixed with sly feminism, all with strong comedic acting.

Sisters Lillian and Beatrice are the Kardashians of turn-of-the-century Newport.  It’s all about money, bling, and sex, each sister going about it in her own way.  While Lillian schemes to marry a geriatric millionaire before he drops dead, Beatrice is forced to do some soul-searching after finding herself on the wrong end of a sex scandal.  Meanwhile, third sister Hortense (not included in the Kardashian comparison above due to her much-maligned homeliness and journalistic pursuits) may have unexpectedly stumbled across love.

It’s very funny, cartoonish at times (there’s a scene of the women’s brother Frederick, evidently having lucked his way into the vice presidency, failing to spell “vice president” at least half a dozen times on a sheet of paper) and always irreverent.  I like the parallels the show draws between the culture of excess/self-absorption/scandal that exists both then and now – for every joke about how different things were in the early 1900s, there’s another that could’ve easily been tweaked from last week’s tabloid headline.

Rannells plays Bertram Fussleforth VII, the grandson of Lillian’s decrepit fiancé and potential thorn in Lillian’s side.  Bertram is very upper-crusty, quite congenial, and constantly keeping Lillian on her toes with comments that could easily be taken as digs or innocent coincidences of word choice.  Bertram is also Hortense’s maybe-beau, an even greater injustice for Lillian – having hitched her wagon to Bertram’s fast-fading grandpa, it seems ludicrous to her that her ugly sister might wind up with the much young/more handsome Bertram.

It’s not too often that Rannells plays a character in a straight romance, so that’s fun to see.  The wooing between Bertram and Hortense is very over-the-top, full of dramatic proclamations tinged with absurd observations.  Bertram is all about Hortense working as a writer and dazzles her with his enlightened views on women, nothing that perhaps women wearing pants shouldn’t be illegal, “as long as her doctor approves.”  I also get a kick out of his interactions with Lillian, especially her increasing aggravation at him amiably calling her “Grandma.”

Recommend?

In General – Definitely.  This is one I’d like to go back and watch from the beginning.

Andrew Rannells – I would.  Rannells is funny here, equal parts blueblood, clueless, romantic, and deadpan goofy.

Warnings

Swearing, sexual content (including incest,) gross-out humor, drinking/drug references, and thematic elements (mostly via the extremely-irreverent jokes.)