You're the Worst 2.11: A Rapidly Mutating Virus

Chris: Jimmy finally got the idea that Gretchen's depression isn't going to be an easy fix and in typical fashion, he takes the path of least resistance. He hits it off with a girl with access to a lot of booze and they have common interests and, presumably, isn't dealing with a mental illness. It's a disappointing feeling to watch Jimmy kiss bar girl at the end of this episode because you'd like to think Jimmy has progressed in the 2 seasons that we've watched but alas, he is one of the worst. As much as he has changed for the better, Jimmy still has that me first mentality that gets in the way time and time again. Gretchen, however, continues to self-medicate and tries to handle her depression on her own and ends up making matters worse for both herself and everyone around her. This episode proves that in both of our main characters, their current course of action is getting them nowhere positive.

Alexa: The fact that Gretchen’s reaction to the events of this episode is boredom underscores how much her depression has escalated. She seems numb enough throughout the episode, but when she casually pulls a gun on the angry fans attacking Sam and Lindsay, she is so detached it’s unsettling. She can barely take care of herself at this point, much less invest in a relationship. But still, every time Jimmy gets his flirt on with Nina, I just want to shake him and beg him to hang in there, even though I know Gretchen isn’t making it easy. Jimmy may not be the most sensitive guy, and he’s certainly been oblivious to the severity of her depression at times, but I wish Gretchen would let him in rather than pushing him away. As much of an airhead as Lindsay can be, she is surprisingly empathetic and supportive of Gretchen’s mental illness. But I think it’s Jimmy she needs most right now, and he’s too busy shoving his tongue down stupid Nina’s throat. I’m once again grateful to Vernon for easing the tension a bit, this time with his bizarre financial problems. Vernon really irked me in season one, but the writers have really figured out how to use him effectively in season two, and I find myself looking forward to his absurd shenanigans.

Joel: Every bad thing that I’ve been dreaded for half of the season finally happens in this episode. You’re the Worst has done a fantastic job of being able to walk the line where I’m sympathetic to both characters while simultaneously frustrated at both characters for how they’re handling this situation. Jimmy is trying to do what’s best for Gretchen. From giving her a fun day to “get her out of her funk” to giving her space to cry in her car, Jimmy wants to do whatever he needs to do to “fix” Gretchen. Of course “fixing” isn’t the right approach, and it’s frustrating for Jimmy to even try and fix Gretchen. Of course Gretchen is trying to make Jimmy happy by pretending that he did in fact “fix” her up until the point where she can’t even muster the energy to care anymore.

The portrayal of Gretchen’s mental state has been incredible in this whole run of episodes, but this episode has a few really great moments that continue to drive the point home. For example, while the bulk of the scenes in the radio station focused on Sam and his “feud” issues, Gretchen was still there, present in the scene. We’ve seen Gretchen at her PR job before, and we know that she’s fantastic at it. With that in mind, we are able to contrast the PR Gretchen that we know to what we see here as she tries to course correct the interview. While Gretchen is still quick on her feet and tries to take control of the situation, something is obviously missing from the moment. It’s not even that easy to point out exactly what is lacking, and Gretchen coming up with bad examples is mostly played as a joke, but the Gretchen who is “on” for things like this is noticeably absent.

Obviously the other big moment for Gretchen in this episode is pulling the gun out to break up the fight. The later description of feeling “bored” during these events, helps to underscore where exactly Gretchen is mentally at this point. The brawling scene continues to escalate as it goes on, with more fighters getting added to the mix, more people getting hurt, and the intensity level rising with each additional bit. Gretchen herself is the one who intensifies everything even further by adding a gun to the situation, but emotionally she remains unaffected. We get this whole scene with that continues to get bigger and more over the top, and the entire time Gretchen remains completely numb to it all. Her moment telling Lindsay that she felt board, is really the first time she has communicated what she’s going through to anyone. Yes, she’s said that she’s clinically depressed, and she’s said that it’s not something that Jimmy can “fix” and thanks to some incredible acting we have a good idea of what Gretchen has been feeling over the last several episodes, but this verbal communication feels like a genuine moment that we haven’t really gotten from her before. Of course, Gretchen feels like she can express this to Lindsay in a way that she can’t express it to Jimmy. Lindsay has clearly seen Gretchen suffer with this before. In a strange way this makes Lindsay better at helping Gretchen than Jimmy, as he has no idea what he’s supposed to be doing, and his ideas may be well meaning but are, so far, terrible. So, this leads to the biggest breakdown yet between the two.

Everything here comes to a head due to a lack of communication. Because being one of those “sweater people” couples who check in on each other, is the terrifying death trap of mediocrity and normal people, both Gretchen and Jimmy have gone out of their way to avoid open and honest communication past the point of no return here. Even in the final, breakup moment of this episode, it’s still not really clear if they’ve actually broken up. I’m sure if you look back on their fight toward the end of this episode, you can see how there will be two different interpretations of the events. And this brings us to Nina.

Knowing the basic concept of the show (terrible people trying to date each other) you have a pretty good idea from the get go, that at some point the show is going to address the idea of being attracted to someone else while being in a committed relationship, and more importantly, the possible fallout of those feelings. You can call this cheating or not, depending on how you interpret the fight that takes place between Jimmy and Gretchen earlier in the episode. However, while I’m sure that will be addressed more later in the show, what I want to address here is the character of Nina and the role she plays. At this point in the show, Nina has appeared in a few episodes already, and clearly gets along with Jimmy. What’s really great here is that the show makes Nina feel like a complete person. While in this case she is meant to be a piece of the story between Jimmy and Gretchen, she feels like she exists beyond that role in the show. We get moments where we learn about NIna’s backstory, or about her hopes and dreams. Even if you’re here for the relationship between Gretchen and Jimmy, it’s still easy to find Nina to be a likable person. She’s funny, she’s sweet, and she can verbally spar with Jimmy. It’s easy to see how in a different timeline these two could have ended up as a couple.

Jimmy, for the record, doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself here. To his credit, he very much wants to be a good guy and do the right thing here, though in practice he’s fails much more than he succeeds. Jimmy doesn’t know how to handle liking spending time with Nina while wanting to be a good, loyal partner to Gretchen. And to be fair, Jimmy doesn’t know what exactly is going on with Gretchen at the moment, as has recently gotten some poorly timed advice from his father, in a father/son talk that was good for their relationship, but might have been bad for his relationship with Gretchen. Jimmy tries to give Gretchen space because he thinks she needs it. He tells Nina he has a girlfriend though it could have possibly come up sooner Jimmy wants to do the right thing, but he doesn’t know what that is, and nobody will tell him. Unfortunately, you don’t always get someone who will tell you the right thing is. Sometimes you have to make your best guess, and just accept that your best guess might be wrong. Jimmy is wrong a lot in this episode, but his downfall doesn’t necessarily come from him being wrong, but from his getting upset that nobody told him the right thing to do in the first place. And there may not be a “right” thing for Jimmy to do here. There isn’t always a “right” thing. But that’s something that you have to learn to cope with, and in this case, Jimmy hasn’t yet.