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Episodes’ Season Finale
Jaimie Lapidus
It’s been an intense season of Episodes full of issues that manifested themselves in painful yet hilarious ways. On Sunday’s season finale, all those issues came to a head. The issues are starting to repair themselves in a way that’s very ungraceful, yet very funny. It worked quite well. The episode opened with another one of Beverly and Carole’s exercise running sessions. This time, it wasn’t quite as repetitive, but the dynamic still isn’t very interesting. Nonetheless, it did move the story forward. As Carole is venting about her job offer from Elliot Salad, she starts to realize she could never betray Merc, which doesn’t seem to make much sense considering he does very little to contribute to their relationship and has been a terrible boss.
Over the course of the entire season, Merc wanted to get away with immoral behavior. Carole watched it happen because she loved him. Carole especially laments the fact that he is still married to Jamie, who Carole considers to be a “saint.” Beverly seems hesitant to concur that Jamie is a saint, but then admits that she knows about Jamie’s affair with Matt. The exercise session is a little more interesting than usual at this point. Instead of going over the same issues with Sean and Beverly as they do on every run, the focus shifts to gossip about Jamie and Matt. Now, the viewers have a reason to pay attention. Carole insists that she has to tell Merc about the affair, but Beverly begs her not to for fear of losing her job and Sean. Carole finally agrees to keep quiet after Beverly threatens to tell Merc about Carole’s meeting with Elliot. There was probably a better way to reveal the details of Matt’s affair to Carole. The scene was sloppily written with too much dialogue.
Episodes: Beverly Tries Dating Again and Merc’s Job is in Jeopardy
Elliot Salad
In the first season of Episodes, the Lincolns’ marriage fell apart. Throughout this season, their communication has been awkward, yet they certainly bond over work and their mutual disappointment in Matt. As Sunday’s episode opens, Matt wakes up with Labia at his side and immediately puts his hands over his eyes in despair.. His remorse shows that he can show human qualities, but also has a personality that Sean and Beverly feel compelled to chastise repeatedly. Sean, Beverly, and Matt are able to enjoy each other’s company, even though at the main reason is to point out Matt’s shortcomings.
It’s very clear that Matt cannot take control of his own life. Sean goes into Matt’s dressing room and sees that Labia is in the room. He walks out quickly and calls for security, only to have Matt tell him that he brought her into work. Once again, Matt cannot understand the consequences of his actions. Sean jokingly reflects fondly on the memories of Matt ruing the Lincoln’s marriage. Sean and Beverly seem to have a civil and enjoyable relationship within the work setting. It’s been enjoyable to watch the Lincolns’ relationship evolve, but it hasn’t been smooth.
Episodes: The Lincolns’ Relationship Slowly Recovers
This week, Episodes was very blunt and was filled with both serious and absurd conflicts. The show opens with Matt entering his house late at night to find his stalker, Labia topless in his kitchen. He is shocked that she even found a way into his house. Labia has a very calm response to Matt’s anger. She is very aware that Matt does not like her, but she does not care. She is just excited to tell him that she made cookies. Labia still thinks of Matt as a childhood crush who kept her spirits up when she had cancer. She uses her cancer as a way to get sympathy from Matt. Matt tries to calm her down somewhat nicely. He explains that she had cancer, but she survived and is now healthy. Under the circumstances, Matt has no problem screaming at her to get out of his house. She then says that she would die for Matt. He acknowledges, almost regrettably, that she did not die. Finally, Matt threatens to call the police. Labia promptly puts her clothes on and leaves. The beginning was not particularly relevant to the rest of the episode, but it did a great job setting up Matt’s bitter attitude that he would have for the rest of the episode.
Episodes: A Stalker, a Trip, and a Misunderstanding
After the end of last week’s Episodes, it looked as though Sean and Beverly’s relationship may be on the mend. However, the show is quick to demonstrate that none of the characters’ relationships are even remotely healthy. Sunday’s episode began with Matt and Sean in a diner as Sean starts staring at an attractive female customer behind them Sean urges Matt not to turn around. Of course, Matt proceeds to do so immediately. He then notices that the woman is Labia, his internet stalker. He can’t afford to be nonchalant as Sean asked. Instead, he is “very chalatnt.” When Matt confronts Labia aggressively, Labia mentions that Sean and her have been in touch on Facebook. Matt had told Sean to “unfriend” her but Sean doesn’t know how. Labia is weirdly accommodating and explains to Sean how to “unfriend” people. She assured Sean that she would help him remove her as a friend by posting instructions on his Facebook wall.
Episodes Takes A Dramatic Turn
So far this season, Episodes has been enjoyable, but relatively simple. When last week’s episode ended with Merc Lapidus taking a phone call at his own father’s funeral, it’s not surprising that the following episode would be a bit cynical. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t funny. It just got darker than usual. In a way, it’s good for the show. It demonstrates that it can expand its tone. However, those who were looking to laugh without having to think will be disappointed.
The fourth episode of the season opens with Merc and Carole discussing the ratings of Pucks!, which have been steadily declining. This isn’t so much a well directed or well acted scene as much as it is a way to comment that they are in a show about a show. When Carole says that she and Merc are always running into problems with the show’s that are failing, Merc quips rather angrily,”Why don’t we make a show out of it.” This is obviously meant to call attention to the premise of Episodes, but it doesn’t work well. The running joke continues to be the network’s disdain at the success of an unnamed show about a talking dog. It can get a little old, but Episodes’ sense of good and bad television premises should be commended.
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