Chris: Rejoice! It’s the first Sunday Funday episode, a wonderful tradition that is featured in every season of YTW (or at least alluded to). As with the first one, Sunday Funday puts the main four characters in funny or extreme circumstances but it’s useful in the sense of at least one character works through some issue that had plagued them in previous episodes. This being the first season and the focus is on the Jimmy/Gretchen relationship, that’s the meat of the first Sunday Funday.I really do like the Genesis/James Bond/breakfast food as a debate avatar for having Gretchen choose between Ty and Jimmy and this episode actually does put the issue to rest for pretty much the entire show. Sunday Funday is essentially YTW’s version of Community’s paintball episode. However, YTW does this in a way so that something within the season-long arch is actually accomplished or progressed so Sunday Funday doesn’t feel like a chore that we have to go through every year. Finally, I can’t express enough how much I hate Thomas Middleditch’s character in this episode but I’m suppose to so good job on him.
Alexa: I’m so happy to hear that Sunday Funday is going to be a recurring thing because I loved this episode. As Chris mentioned, it’s such a great combination of fun hijinks and character development. For every shopping cart race, there’s a moment of personal growth. I was surprised to see how vulnerable Jimmy became when he found out that Ty wanted to take Gretchen to Tribeca. It furthers my theory that even if these guys are ostensibly “the worst,” they’re actually big softies. He obviously cares about her, but he showed it in a way that still feels authentically Jimmy. Even if he’s opening up, he’s doing it on his own terms. Sunday Funday is also the first time we’ve seen the core group of four as a cohesive ensemble. They’re no longer just Jimmy and Gretchen and their respective best friends, but they’re evolving into a new friend group of their own. It really is a joy to watch these four personalities play off of each other, and I can’t wait to see how that dynamic evolves going forward.
Joel: For the first time in this show we have an episode where all four of our main characters are really together as an ensemble. We’ve had Jimmy and Gretchen hang out. We’ve had moments of Gretchen and Jimmy hanging out with their respective friend. We even had some time last episode for Edgar and Lindsay to have a “sidekick meetup,” but this is really the first point where these four people make up a group. This episode feels like the most “sitcom” episode of the series so far. You can take the idea of a gang of characters having a day where they squeeze all the fun out of the last day of the weekend, and drop pretty much any group of sitcom characters into the story and have it work out. Even the plot of the hipster group of characters following them around and someone becoming sworn enemies with the leader of the hipsters feels very much like a sitcom. And that’s ok. You’re The Worst is, after all, a comedy show. It might not be your traditional sitcom, but it can still take a sitcom scenario and do a really good job with it. It’s funny, it’s silly, and it balances just enough over the top aspects about it. Thomas Middleditch plays a great antagonist as the leader of the hipster group, in a perfect villain for this episode. I wouldn’t mind seeing that character crop up every now and again.
In many ways this could feel like a standalone episode of the show that could go almost anywhere in the season. Really, the only plot point that comes up is the possibility of Gretchen going to Tribecca with Ty and having to confront his feeling about that. This particular episode is lighthearted and silly all the way through, but it does feel like Gretchen and Jimmy’s relationship is progressing. The two characters got together because it was convenient. Then they stayed together because it was enjoyable. But now they’re starting to become important to one another. Jimmy’s feeling are important to Gretchen which is why his thoughts on Ty are the deciding factor on her not going. It’s important to Jimmy, and Jimmy’s feeling are important to Gretchen. It’s a great way to show how their relationship is evolving a step at a time.
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