You're the Worst 2.12: "Other Things You Could be Doing"

Chris: This is it. This is the episode that put You’re the Worst on a higher pedestal for me and this was made me determined to do a review series about it with the ultimate goal of trying to get as many of my friends hooked on this show as I am. Specifically, the moment I’m mostly referring to is the blanket tent scene that was all in the build up which made this seemingly simple moment resonate on such an emotional response with just about everyone I’ve talked to that has watched the show. No, the moment doesn’t fix Gretchen but it did make her finally feel something again, something she had been desperately tried to do over the course of the last few episodes and had reached the point where she assumed she would be like this forever. This doesn’t absolve Jimmy for wanting to go to the cabin weekend retreat with bar girl but he does finally do something right by just being there. In my own thankfully brief experience with depression, simply being there for the individual that’s suffering is really all anyone else can do and is ultimately way more impactful and meaningful than any attempts to fix or get rid of the depression. I am not ashamed to say that I openly ugly-cried the first time I watched this episode both because it was such a relief for Gretchen to finally feel something but also it felt personal in that tent. It felt as if you were the one that watched someone you love suffer for so long or if you were the one suffering. You’re the Worst did an amazing job to bring the audience in as if they were part of the moment themselves (and not in an icky way like LCD Soundsystem). This was probably the 3rd or 4th time I’ve watched “Other Things You Could Be Doing” and it still manages to hit emotionally.

Alexa: There goes “You’re the Worst” unexpectedly making me bawl my eyes out again. Despite giving into temptation with Nina, it’s obvious that Jimmy truly loves Gretchen and wants the best for her, even if it doesn’t involve him. Sure, the intervention from friends and other random characters may not have been the most successful, but it was a thoughtful effort on Jimmy’s part. He spends the entire day trying desperately to help her in his own uniquely Jimmy way. And when he ditches Nina to build Gretchen a blanket tent and she realizes he stayed by her side to ride out this episode with her, my heart exploded and the waterworks flowed freely. I don’t think I would have predicted that kind of grand selfless gesture from season one Jimmy, but he’s grown a little along with his feelings for Gretchen. Still, it feels totally in character that he would hide from Nina rather than confronting her like an adult and telling her he changed his mind. This show does an outstanding job walking that fine line between staying true to these characters as they slowly grow over time.

Joel: At some point in the show there was going to be a “grand gesture” in this relationship. Earlier in the show I would have said that there was going to be a “grand romantic gesture” but now that we’ve gotten to the moment where said gesture actually happens, it’s not really something that falls under the “grand romantic gesture” category. Instead, it feels like something so much more. Jimmy’s building of the fort at the end of this episode doesn’t feel like a romantic moment, but instead one of compassion and caring. It does, without question feel like a moment born out of pure, unquestionable love. There’s no question that this moment works in every way imaginable.  This was the sort of show that wouldn’t be able to pull of a standard “grand gesture” moment, and this manage to hit all the emotional points that it’s supposed to while still feeling distinctly true to the show.

Throughout this story arc, we’ve gotten sad Gretchen, we’ve gotten angry Gretchen, we’ve gotten bored Gretchen, and we’ve gotten devoid of emotion Gretchen. But in this episode, we’ve gotten a thoroughly defeated and broken character. For the first time, Grethen talks about her depression in a way that Jimmy can latch onto. Gretchen talks about not being able to “flip herself back over” as she describes it, and for the first time it seems, actually gives Jimmy an idea of what’s going on.

Jimmy’s final attempt to “fix” Gretchen in this episode consists of bringing in pretty much every character in the show to talk to her. Of course, in keeping true with the show’s theme of everyone in the show being the worst, every character is more focused on talking about whatever’s going on in their lives instead of focusing on Gretchen. As usual Sam is the highlight, though Vernon throughout this season has grown into one of the funnier side characters, and really has a few great moments here. The one real stumbling moment of the episode is the return of the character of Rob from the episode “LCD Soundsystem” a few episodes ago. Honestly Rob feels the most out of place here, adding nothing to his character or the humor of the entire sequence. Instead his appearance feels like it takes away a bit of the impact that the earlier episode had, and the character would have worked better as a single appearance. Still the sequence as a whole is great, and I could have listened to at least ten more things that Lindsay had to apologize for.

Obviously this doesn’t work, but it sets up a contrast for Jimmy’s actions later in the episode. What we have here is an elaborate sequence filled with every character they could cram into it, but at the end, the final moments are just Jimmy and Gretchen alone in the tent. Yes, I’ve been calling the moment the “grand gesture,” and yes that blanket fort looked like it probably took a while to build, but the important thing that Jimmy did is that he was there. Everything that Jimmy has done for Gretchen, from planning an elaborate Sunday Funday, to calling everyone in her phone is nothing compared to that final moment when Gretchen says “You stayed.”

Being there, for whatever is sometimes the right thing to do and sometimes the only thing you really can do. In the next moment Gretchen starts to cry again, but Jimmy doesn’t get frustrated. He doesn’t demand an explanation for what’s making or sad, or tries to make her happy. Instead he stays with her for whatever she needs from him and however long it takes.  As with every single recap in this storyline, we have to once again address how good of an actress Aya Cash is. It’s a two word line, but you can see every thought, and every emotion that Gretchen is experiencing in that moment, and you feel the emotions unfold. At every turn, this show has asked a lot of Cash’s acting ability, and she’s knocked it out of the park at every turn.