Chris: We get our first look at how Jimmy processes things both in his fear of being in a serious relationship but at the same time, his insecurity over Gretchen’s side relationship with Ty. Jimmy shuts down in the shower when Gretchen mentions getting a key to simply let herself in later and even when she offers a simple explanation, it still bothers him. And honestly, I don’t think Jimmy would reconsider and give the key (to Sam to give) to Gretchen if Jimmy hadn’t found out about Gretchen’s weird situation with Ty. So all in all, it’s a battle between Jimmy’s two conflicting insecurities that are both far from resolved. Finally, I don’t care how unlikely it would be that Edgar would catch up to Jimmy that quickly on a bicycle, when Edgar pulls up to Jimmy’s window and shows his disappointment over Jimmy tearing up the bag to look through Gretchen’s phone makes me die laughing every time.
Alexa: This episode illustrates that beneath Jimmy’s and Gretchen’s thorny exteriors are a host of insecurities. They’re still convinced that this thing between them is just fun and not at all serious - certainly not a relationship. And maybe it’s still not that serious at this point, but it’s clear they have some actual feelings growing beneath the surface. While talking to Lindsay about how she asked Jimmy for a key to his place, Gretchen starts to question whether or not she did on some level mean something by it beyond just getting back in to pick up her stuff. And Jimmy is obviously not cool with Gretchen seeing someone else even though they’ve never had a conversation about being exclusive. Jimmy and Gretchen cling to how different and messed up they are, but I’m beginning to think they’re no more messed up than any of the rest of us. Also, Sam is such a scene-stealer and I hope to see much more of him. His comic timing and delivery are spot-on. And have I mentioned how much I love Edgar? I could not stop laughing watching him staple that paper bag over and over.
Joel: As the show continues to revel in how messed up Jimmy and Gretchen are when it comes to love, romance, and relationships, I like how it takes time to show them be really competent at some things. This is probably more true for Gretchen than Jimmy, at least in this episode. There’s a really great moment where Gretchen has to deal with an emergency at her job, a client has said something inappropriate that’s about to get published, and Gretchen is fantastic at it. In a single scene, we see Gretchen take control of the situation in a way that leaves no doubt that she is more than capable of handling herself. Often times, when we have characters who are designed around the idea of being terrible people, they’re pretty universally terrible. They’re bad and everything they touch, and they usually only progress through a series of hilarious situations where they’re failing upwards.
Gretchen isn’t exactly being a great person here. Her job is to cover for another pretty terrible person who said a terrible thing, but it’s fantastic to see the reason she has that job is because she’s really good at it. As a result, we have a character that feels more like a real person. She obviously doesn’t have her life together, nobody does on this show, but her life isn’t falling apart to an extreme where it’s no longer realistic. These pockets of competence, really help to make these characters feel more like real people instead of cartoon versions of themselves.
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