Various comedy reviews for January 7-13, 2018:
CBS' Mom - Episode 5.10 "A Bear and a Bladder Infection"
The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Episode 3.09 "Nathaniel Gets the Message!"
In 2018, it's impossible to watch every scripted show out there. There are over 450 of them. It's even more impossible to even provide adequate coverage of some of them. Great shows slip through the cracks. Some shows take awhile to figure themselves out. So as a way for me to provide more coverage, I'll just be writing some paragraph reviews of the various shows that aired new episodes from January 2-6, 2018. Enjoy!
Mom - "A Bear and a Bladder Infection"
When Christy's long-distance relationship begins to fizzle, she seeks the company of a former fling. Bonnie tries to give up coffee. Directed by James Widdoes with story by Eddie Gorodetsky, Marco Pennette & Britté Anchor and teleplay by Gemma Baker, Adam Chase & Susan McMartin
Overall, it's a good thing that Christy's personal life has been on the forefront this season. That's kinda always been the case. But there was also one stretch where Christy was in school but the show never visited her in that location or told stories about that. She's dated several men but none of them have really lasted beyond a couple of episodes. Bonnie has had some serious love interests. And now, she has stability with Adam. In fact, the show may be struggling to find some new story to tell with them - hence her weird subplot where she tries to give up coffee which is only such a minor detail of this episode. The audience should want Christy to find that kind of love as well. It's just difficult to see Patrick or Cooper as a viable option for her. She wants things to work with Patrick but needs sex from Cooper right now. This is a pleasant episode. But it also feels like filler. It plays into the broad aspects of these characters. That's not uncommon for shows in their fifth seasons. There just isn't anything all that new or amusing to Christy trying to have relationships like men do only to be annoyed when Cooper develops more feelings for her. It plays things a little too childishly which is a little odd and annoying. Mostly, it just sets up Christy going to see Patrick which could be a big deal. Or it could be nothing. It's hard to decide right now. B-
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - "Nathaniel Gets the Message!"
Rebecca discovers the powers and limitations of altruism as a new, unexpected bromance forms between two other characters. Written by Elisabeth Kiernan Averick and directed by Kabir Akhtar
These most recent episodes have focused a lot on Rebecca repeating the same mistakes over and over again. She has always been obsessed with love. And now, she's realizing just how problematic that compulsion has been for her. She wants to be done with love entirely. This hour opens with her breaking up with Nathaniel because their relationship really is getting in the way of her mental stability. He doesn't see a problem but she has been down this path enough to know what this current behavior leads to. Sure, it's a little repetitive storytelling. But it's also important to see Rebecca struggle as she addresses these issues. She wants to be a good friend for Valencia and help her with her struggling business. But she also feels the need to be open about this being a marriage destined to fail. She does that not really caring about the consequences for her new job or her friendship with Valencia. In the end, she feels like she keeps asking the same thing of her friends over and over again. She wants to break that pattern. But her offering up her eggs to Darryl just seems like the behavior escalating once more. Meanwhile, it's hilariously funny to watch Nathaniel and White Josh become friends. It's a strange and unexpected character pairing that works wonderfully well because of what has been going on with both of them. "Fit Hot Guys Have Problems Too" is just a terrific performance that brings Josh in as well. There are no easy solutions or ways forward for any of these characters. They are all struggling which is quite fascinating to see at this stage of the season. B+
The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Episode 3.09 "Nathaniel Gets the Message!"
In 2018, it's impossible to watch every scripted show out there. There are over 450 of them. It's even more impossible to even provide adequate coverage of some of them. Great shows slip through the cracks. Some shows take awhile to figure themselves out. So as a way for me to provide more coverage, I'll just be writing some paragraph reviews of the various shows that aired new episodes from January 2-6, 2018. Enjoy!
Mom - "A Bear and a Bladder Infection"When Christy's long-distance relationship begins to fizzle, she seeks the company of a former fling. Bonnie tries to give up coffee. Directed by James Widdoes with story by Eddie Gorodetsky, Marco Pennette & Britté Anchor and teleplay by Gemma Baker, Adam Chase & Susan McMartin
Overall, it's a good thing that Christy's personal life has been on the forefront this season. That's kinda always been the case. But there was also one stretch where Christy was in school but the show never visited her in that location or told stories about that. She's dated several men but none of them have really lasted beyond a couple of episodes. Bonnie has had some serious love interests. And now, she has stability with Adam. In fact, the show may be struggling to find some new story to tell with them - hence her weird subplot where she tries to give up coffee which is only such a minor detail of this episode. The audience should want Christy to find that kind of love as well. It's just difficult to see Patrick or Cooper as a viable option for her. She wants things to work with Patrick but needs sex from Cooper right now. This is a pleasant episode. But it also feels like filler. It plays into the broad aspects of these characters. That's not uncommon for shows in their fifth seasons. There just isn't anything all that new or amusing to Christy trying to have relationships like men do only to be annoyed when Cooper develops more feelings for her. It plays things a little too childishly which is a little odd and annoying. Mostly, it just sets up Christy going to see Patrick which could be a big deal. Or it could be nothing. It's hard to decide right now. B-
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - "Nathaniel Gets the Message!"Rebecca discovers the powers and limitations of altruism as a new, unexpected bromance forms between two other characters. Written by Elisabeth Kiernan Averick and directed by Kabir Akhtar
These most recent episodes have focused a lot on Rebecca repeating the same mistakes over and over again. She has always been obsessed with love. And now, she's realizing just how problematic that compulsion has been for her. She wants to be done with love entirely. This hour opens with her breaking up with Nathaniel because their relationship really is getting in the way of her mental stability. He doesn't see a problem but she has been down this path enough to know what this current behavior leads to. Sure, it's a little repetitive storytelling. But it's also important to see Rebecca struggle as she addresses these issues. She wants to be a good friend for Valencia and help her with her struggling business. But she also feels the need to be open about this being a marriage destined to fail. She does that not really caring about the consequences for her new job or her friendship with Valencia. In the end, she feels like she keeps asking the same thing of her friends over and over again. She wants to break that pattern. But her offering up her eggs to Darryl just seems like the behavior escalating once more. Meanwhile, it's hilariously funny to watch Nathaniel and White Josh become friends. It's a strange and unexpected character pairing that works wonderfully well because of what has been going on with both of them. "Fit Hot Guys Have Problems Too" is just a terrific performance that brings Josh in as well. There are no easy solutions or ways forward for any of these characters. They are all struggling which is quite fascinating to see at this stage of the season. B+
