Even HBO Max sitcoms need transitional episodes. This first of this week’s episodes carries over plotlines from last week without really introducing anything new: Whitney’s interest in biochem and her biochem lab partner grows, Bela’s dealing with the aftermath of having cheated on Eric with a stand-up comedian, Leighton’s still chasing a girlfriend twin, and Kimberly’s latest venture puts her at odds with the boy she pursued and the girl she got promoted.
Leighton is working overtime to maintain high status around her “doppelbanger,” Tatum, who everyone agrees is cooler than her. But that backfires when Tatum disses Leighton’s involvement in a sorority, and she tries to cover by saying she runs with a wild crowd. Tatum wants to tag along, and suddenly she has to find a cool party to attend with her crush. Jocelyn, the nosey girl on her hall, comes in clutch with details about students planning to sneak into the campus art gallery and party there. At first, the chic, underground gallery party does impress Tatum. Leighton lucked out, IMHO. When someone tells me they’re going out with their crazy party friends, sipping wine and White Claw in a museum is not exactly what I picture. I probably would have gone to a lot more parties in college if that were the case!
But then Laird, the art intern who threw the party, happens to know Tatum and does not happen to know Leighton. She’s caught in a lie about knowing the organizer and bolts. Personally, I would have just looked that hipster square in the face and said, “LAIRD! Jocelyn’s told me so much about you!” But Leighton panicked. Tatum later assures her that she likes her and they smooch. Maybe Tatum should stop saying things like “yikes, I’m sorry” about sororities and calling them “basic and fake” to Leighton’s face if that’s the case. It’s not that hard for most people to read the room and gauge whether something is and is not important to a person before insulting it. It’s polite! Leighton wouldn’t feel the need to impress Tatum if she wasn’t actively expressing her unimpressed … ness.
Meanwhile, Kimberly and Jackson are still in the throes of their new sexual relationship. Her suitemates can hear her yelling awful things that range from dorky and cute (“wowee zowee”) to dorky and vile (“keep thrusting your penis, it’s happening”). Like, don’t save her … but save her. You know? Clearly, she’s doing something right. But at what cost to the rest of us? At work, she’s approached by her student worker union rep and informed about an upcoming strike. Student food workers on campus haven’t gotten raises in over thirty years, and they’re calling for a boycott. Kimberly is all in and quickly takes over by planning a rally and inviting Whitney’s mom, Senator Chase, to speak and negotiate with the school President. This puts her in conflict with her new boss Lila as well as Jackson. Lila doesn’t want to risk her managerial position by protesting, but ultimately shows up in disguise. Jackson didn’t realize that Kimberly expected him to support her by protesting the dining hall but ultimately buys her takeout as an apology.
While Senator Chase is on campus, she meets up with Whitney in her biochemistry lab and tells her she set up a summer internship at the National Institute of Health. Whitney, however, turns her down. People treat her differently when they know she’s there because of her mother. She wants to get an internship on her own merits. Andrew (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ son Charlie Hall) sits silently in the background. (Then he asks for a selfie.) Later, she apologizes for potentially appearing ungrateful, and her mom says not to stress it. What kind of parent would actually be upset that their child wants to apply themself?
Senator Chase does have bigger fish to fry. To promote the rally, Kimberly has her pose with a plaque dedicated to one of the school’s founders and repeat a quote of his about the importance of labor. But neither of them realizes that said founder was a slave owner. The labor he’s talking about is not exactly something they should champion, and the internet is already dragging Senator Chase for appearing thoughtless and tone-deaf. I think this is a relevant, funny premise for a college campus-set sitcom in 2022. But it is wild that Kimberly suffered zero consequences for getting the Senator in trouble like that. Sure, she offered a solution, and the Senator’s involvement does get the school to meet the union’s demands, but she’s the one who should have Googled the founder, not a busy Senator. She’s going to keep failing up, isn’t she?
Bela, on the other hand, suffered consequences galore for her actions. After deciding to take her secret hook-up with Dan O’Connell to her grave, Eric finds out and confronts her about it. It turns out Dan told his writer’s room that he hooked up with an Essex student and word got back to Eric. That guy is definitely on notice for bragging about sleeping with a teenager, but that’s not Bela’s problem at the moment. Eric dumps her, and after apologizing to him and his dads and begging for forgiveness a third time, he deletes her number.
She’s not great at apologizing, but Eric doesn’t want to hear any of it. We may never know if Bela was going to say something slightly more helpful or productive along the lines of “I was stressed about getting an internship and wasn’t thinking clearly” because Eric is over it. She just tells him that she wishes it never happened and that she needs to be forgiven because she feels awful. Eric rightfully says that she should respect his hurt feelings before asking him to make her feel better.
He then accuses her of chasing after Dan’s approval when Eric liking her was no longer enough, which is not how I would interpret what happened. I’m curious as to whether or not the writers are on Eric’s side here. Bela’s actions were motivated by her career aspirations, not a desire to be liked by boys. That’s a sexist oversimplification on Eric’s part. She worked hard to connect with Dan and felt the stakes rise when Eric swooped in, name-dropped The Catullan, and did something desperate. The way I see it, Bela has become so focused on sex and sexuality that she sees it as a special skill on her resume. I might not go so far as to diagnose her with a sexual compulsion, however, she’s got some issues she should probably work through. She also doesn’t have a fully developed frontal lobe. None of these characters do, and I need to keep reminding myself that before I’m too harsh with my judgment.
I’m bummed about this! Eric and Bela used to be so good at communicating three episodes ago. It was nice to see a casual relationship in a comedy not get dragged down by jealousy and cheating. This genuinely hurts to see. I’m also bummed that Whitney hooks up with her lab partner Andrew at the end of the episode. It happens, unsurprisingly, after he insults Senator Chase’s policies and admits to going for the internship she turned down. Please, please don’t let this blow up in Whitney’s face. I get it. He’s cute when he’s not mean. College isn’t forever. I would be fully on board if it were the only relationship on the show built on insults and undermining, but it isn’t! It’s just not great as a trend. Maybe this relationship will successfully be casual, she says, idly applying clown makeup.
Electives
• Eric has a friend who works on Dan O’Connell’s show? Why the HECK did he need to use Bela to get an introduction to him? Bela is still in the wrong on, like, so many levels, but this whole conflict just seems so unnecessary that I feel bad for her regardless.
• Oh, hey, Mr. Andrew Rannells, a.k.a. character actor Tuc Watkins as one of Eric’s dads.
• Please go back and watch Senator Chase’s apology a second time. There is an extra in the background who is enthusiastically cheering at just the wrong moment to be hilarious. He’s fully fist-pumping the concept of Googling.
• Jackson not feeling the need to support Kimberly and boycott the dining hall is the first time I’ve liked him all season. Finally, a flaw. He’s a human being.
Say “Leighton, Tatum, and Laird” five times fast, I dare you.
