This is a really fun episode. It has some forward momentum on one of the big plots, features some outrageous jokes (as usual,) and has quite a bit of screentime for Matthew. All in all, it’s a winner.
When budget cuts necessitate teams of three instead of two for science-fair projects, Nick and Andrew wind up partnering with Missy, an excitable girl who shares a mutual crush with Andrew. At Nick’s urging, Andrew decides to go for it (despite his palpable trepidation,) but then Nick finds himself feeling like the third wheel. Meanwhile, Jessi and Matthew team up for the science fair, bringing in Jay as an easy mark to make fun of.
Some good stuff in the Nick-Andrew-Missy plot. Andrew and Missy are both pretty funny in describing the physical symptoms of the stress caused by their crush (probably not too many love duets include the line, “I’m a gassy, rashy mess,”) and I enjoy seeing what Nick goes through as he watches Andrew with Missy. Even though Nick has never minded when the shoe’s been on the other foot and he’s the one sidelining Andrew for a girl, he doesn’t have a good time of it here. And now that Andrew has an actual girl to like who likes him back, the Hormone Monster is, naturally, in rare form. I love everything to do with his dicks in this episode – no, that plural is not a typo – and I love his rage-filled line, “I will burn this place down and fuck the ashes!”
(Adding this into the original review I wrote: I do need to mention that Missy, a mixed girl, is voiced by Jenny Slate for the show’s first three seasons. However, as the protests were going on this past summer, Slate decided to step down from the role. Moving forward, Missy will be played by Ayo Edebiri.)
But the B-plot with Jessi, Matthew, and Jay is my favorite, and not just because Matthew so rarely gets a chance to be part of the action instead of just commenting on it. They’re a fun trio of characters to put together. Jessi is often portrayed as the girl the guy ends up really falling for in a rom-com, the smart, not-too-girly best friend of the guy who was there the whole time and who’s more beautiful than she knows, and she is a lot of those things sometimes. But she’s also really sharp, and that can give her a mean streak when she’s around people that she knows can’t keep up with her, a quality that really comes forward when she hangs out with Matthew. That might seem like a weird thing to enjoy, but I like that Jessi’s not always sweet, that she sometimes likes to show off her withering sarcasm and can end up saying things she later regrets. It adds more dimension to her character, and I’ll admit to grinning when she declares, “I feel like I’m my most authentic self with you, Matthew.”
And Matthew himself is great here. Putting such a put-together character next to a bundle of crazed energy like Jay is a riot, and Matthew and Jessi bait the hook to mess with Jay perfectly. And Andrew Rannells’s line readings here are impeccable. I laugh at him fake-encouraging Jay when Jay wonders if gay and trans are the same thing (“You should tell people that,”) and I adore his pitch to Jessi about doing their science project on Jay – “The Delusion of Illusion: The Lonely World of a Child Magician!” There’s also a Girls shout-out that gets lampshaded and Matthew derisively uttering the phrase “geisha giggle,” which can’t be a thing that happens very often.
I’d love to see more Jessi-Matthew team-ups next season. I’d be a little wary of the show making him her gay bestie, but they manage to avoid that trope in this episode – rather than just being Jessi’s bitchy gay accessory, Matthew leads the plot along with her, and they both make things happen.
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