You're the Worst 4.11: "From the Beginning, I Was Screwed"

Chris: Jimmy has spent the majority of this season trying to prove something to the people around him but mostly to himself. It’s been pointed out in almost every episode that Jimmy fancies himself a sophisticated writer and is trying to portray himself as above erotica even though he wrote an erotica novel and apparently has a real talent for it. So in this episode, when Jimmy fails to elevate himself on the show, he relies on Gretchen because she’s the one person that doesn’t care that he writes erotica, judge him for it or challenges him whenever he claims that other people weren’t on his level. Gretchen is an easy fit for Jimmy and vice versa because Jimmy probably would’ve loved her French presentation. I hate Max almost since his first scene at the beginning of the season, everything about him and his character annoys me. However, Edgar does unload his entire military experience in one moment which triggers Edgar’s fear of being seen as only a damaged vet and that causing someone to treat him differently.

Alexa: Can we please, please have more Ben Folds on this show? Specifically more adventures with Ben Folds, Sam and Shitstain? Every time they weren’t on screen this episode I desperately wanted them to come back. This version of Ben Folds is a complete mess, and watching Sam and Shitstain deal with his shenanigans is hilarious. (Side note: We may have some weird laws about when you can purchase alcohol on Sundays, but we do in fact have mixed drinks in North Carolina.) Elsewhere, the contrast between Gretchen’s interactions with Boone and Olivia at international night and her exchange with Jimmy at the bar is stark. She and Jimmy just understand each other in a way no one else does. Seeing them together again after being apart for so long is bittersweet because for all their issues, their relationship is oddly beautiful. They may not be great at verbalizing it, but their love for each other is so apparent in the way they look at each other and talk to each other. But given Gretchen’s relationship with Boone, things are bound to only get more complicated for her and Jimmy before they get better.

Joel: I almost couldn’t do it. I almost had to turn this one off and just skip the whole thing. Gretchen’s presentation on France was “Scott’s Tots” levels of uncomfortable. There are a lot of uncomfortable moments in this show, many of them intentionally so, but this particular one was frustrating, because this episode seemed so quick to throw logic out the window for a chance to put a character in an uncomfortable situation. Gretchen can’t understand that clearly this is an exercise for Boone’s daughter? Boone spelling it out for her wasn’t enough? Beyond that,  Gretchen suddenly doesn’t know that it’s a bad idea to perform a strip tease for her boyfriend while his daughter is watching? I can see the show giving that thought process to Lindsay, but as often as Gretchen gets herself into uncomfortable situations, this feels like they had to rewrite the character for one scene just to justify her actions here.

And what’s frustrating is that it didn’t have to be this broad. You have Gretchen think she’s getting away with sliding some innuendos into her french presentation for Boone and Boone getting upset because his daughter's old enough to pick up on those kind of things, and you still achieve everything that you wanted with this moment. You get the awkward, uncomfortable moment, you get to show Gretchen clearly not knowing anything about children, and you still get to show Boone as a good guy for looking past Gretchen’s shortcomings and seeing her potential (something they’ve been trying to make a running theme for this season). Instead Gretchen appears obtusely oblivious to acceptable social norms, and Boone ends up looking like an idiot as well for looking past the incident so quickly.

It’s a shame because the other storylines in this episode were able to portray similar uncomfortable moments so well. Edgar unloading his war experiences on Max, and Max realizing that he asked for more than he could handle was a great setup for upcoming conflict, and Jimmy accidentally insulting the host of his quiz show by way of Lindsay felt right in line with how these characters continue to be their own worst enemies. Unfortunately, the whole Gretchen storyline here sticks out like such a sore thumb, that it casts a bleak shadow over the rest of of the episode.