Oh man,
this show just goes for all the things. You wouldn’t necessarily think so on
the face of it, but this is a packed episode – I’m guessing that, with the way
the season was split, these back four are just going to keep ramping up.
Mo and
Dawn find themselves on a fraught double date, with spinning plates of secrets
wobbling from every side. Tiff decides she wants to have a baby, but Blair is
more interested in Roger and his campaign as election night arrives.
I know
that episode summary doesn’t sound all that exciting, but that’s because there
are a lot of details left out for spoiler reasons. We’ll start with Tiff, who
handles the broader comedy and action – she agrees to Blair’s terms that she
“try out” parenting first by babysitting, and it goes as well as you expect.
This is, after all, the woman who promises Blair that she’ll “do all the work
of hiring the people to do all the work” when it comes to child-rearing. Plenty
of laughs in this plot, featuring a pitch-perfect capper at the end that’s
well-foreshadowed without being overly predictable.
Meanwhile,
Mo and Dawn’s whole plot is filled with moments of gold. The interactions
between the characters – Mo, Dawn, Connie, and Marcus, with a bonus appearance
from a fifth character – are great throughout. We get good continuity
references, effortless comedic chemistry, and a nice reeling out of the
tension. I don’t know if this technically counts as present-day commentary,
since I’m sure this conversation has been going on for centuries, but the plot
also features a debate on whether civil rights call for “civility” – I know the
episode was obviously written and shot before the current protests, but my mind
immediately flashed to the bad-faith arguments that protesters are “going about
it the wrong way” and “hurting their cause.”
The Blair
stuff is topnotch too. Again, you wouldn’t necessarily think it from reading
the description in the summary, but it’s great. First, Andrew Rannells is
hilarious as Blair and Tiff discuss children, especially his disgusted entreaty
for her not to “infantilize” the semen cup she wants him to use. Meanwhile, the
election stuff features really strong scenes between Blair and Roger, as well
as Blair and Keith. Blair and Roger’s relationship is so interesting. Neither
of them are good people and they’re both using each other, but at the same
time, both do genuinely care for each other. This episode continues Blair’s
reckoning from last week (and, I suppose, earlier in the season too) about just
where he and Roger stand. Not that there isn’t comedy as well – there’s also a
fun appearance from “the big man in the sky,” a.k.a. Roger’s father-in-law.
Even
though Rannells can always bring the comedy, I love it when we get to see his
more dramatic chops too, and that’s exactly what this episode offers. We see
Blair in some vulnerable moments, as well as moments of him lashing out and
being ruthless in an attempt to cover his vulnerability. Rannells does
tremendous work with just his facial expressions.
I won’t
say much about it here, but the very end of the episode is a disappointment to me. I feel like the show thinks it’s a
shocking cliffhanger, but in truth, it’s more a cliché “faux-shocker.” For a
show that pulls a lot of great surprises, that’s a bummer.
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