After mainly getting to know Nick and Andrew last time, this episode puts a big spotlight on Jessi, and the show demonstrates that it’s interested in looking at what girls go through with puberty as well. At this point, the beats are fairly well-trodden, but the execution is strong, and you feel for Jessi as she drags her way through an incredibly-rough day.
Nick and Jessi are trying to navigate their maybe-feelings for each other in the midst of everyone’s expectations about them, with Andrew feeling left out. Big things happen on a field trip to the Statue of Liberty, especially for Jessi, who finds herself totally freaked, ill-equipped, and majorly embarrassed at getting her first period. With everything going on, “becoming a woman” doesn’t sound like that great of a deal to her.
Again, the kids and their predicaments here are almost painfully relatable. Nick and Jessi’s awkwardness at being thrust into a “couple” status they’re not sure they’re ready for rings very true to life, as does Jessi’s panic at trying to deal with her first period in a public bathroom – stocked (or not) by an apparently-woman-hating janitor. That said, the episode strikes a great balance between feeling very real and over-the-top absurd; best Hormone Monster line this time around is, “Every orgy needs a witness.”
There’s also a good sideplot involving one of the supporting characters, fellow student Jay. Jay fancies himself a budding magician, and as he plots to make the statue disappear, he winds up on the wrong side of some security guards. It kicks off sharply, with one guard asking the other, “You keeping an eye on that little brown kid?” and the other replying, “Of course I am – he’s a little brown kid,” and things get better from there, equal parts bold and insane.
As for Andrew Rannells, Matthew has quite a bit to do in this episode, in his self-appointed role as bitchy Greek chorus. I get a kick out of all his droll pronouncements, and here, he has disdain to dish out for everybody. I love his genuine thrill at wondering “which of these dopes forgot their permission slip,” and it’s fun that he brings binoculars to the Statue of Liberty for the express purposes of observing and mocking tourists from above. While he has some good drive-by digs just ‘cause, he also helps fuel some of the conflicts in the episode. He’s the first one to interrogate Nick and Jessi on their relationship status – his summation of them as a couple is fantastic – and as you might imagine, he’s not an ideal person to be sympathetic about Jessi’s predicament.
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