You're the Worst: 3.2: "Fix Me, Dummy"

Chris: Well the interesting facts just keep coming with this season with the debut of Gretchen’s therapist who also happens to be Poussey from Orange is the New Black and it’s great to see her not having to wear a jumpsuit. While the death of Jimmy’s father will be the major story of this season, Edgar’s PTSD is the main issue much like Gretchen’s depression was in the previous season. It’s like the show is taking every character’s major but solvable problems and knocking them off one by one. Edgar’s condition isn’t something new but this is the first time it’s really been front and center. Right now, Edgar is in the stage of where he thinks he can be off his meds and be okay because it’s preferable to not being able to perform in the bedroom. This is common solution many people take with any problem, Gretchen even tried it herself last season and led to the majority of her emotional outbursts and eventually feeling nothing. It’s easy to sit here and wish Edgar wouldn’t refrain from communicating and taking things into his own hands but it’s a process most people have to take before they realize they need any sort of assistance. It’s like an alcoholic staying sober, if it’s forced on them by others then it’s less likely to take but if the alcoholic realizes their problem and wants the help, they have a higher chance of staying sober and getting to the root of the problem. Edgar has to go through this process even though it’s making him be a bit of dick to Dorothy.

Alexa: There goes “You’re the Worst” with another unexpected gut punch at the end of the episode. Opening the mail was actually a triumphant experience for Gretchen. It seemed like she was having her first real breakthrough since starting therapy by facing that one fear and then BAM. Jimmy’s dad is dead and probably has been for who knows how long since Gretchen refused to touch the mail. Surely she’s going to tell him the truth, right? Overall the therapy scenes were compelling and well executed, even if Gretchen was beyond rude to her therapist and then tried to stalk her. That poor therapist is one patient woman. But the decision to go to therapy isn’t an easy one, and the reality that there are tactics you can use to help yourself can be hard to swallow when you’ve resisted it for so long. It’s understandable why Gretchen would get defensive about that before accepting help, though of course she takes it to her own unique extreme. I hope we continue to see some progress from Gretchen, even after the mail fiasco. And I’m glad Edgar is getting more of the spotlight this season. The show has briefly touched on his PTSD, but never explored it to the extent of Gretchen’s depression. It’s refreshing to see the show tackle that as a serious issue, and acknowledge that being a veteran is a key part of Edgar’s identity.

Joel: I’m glad to see that Gretchen’s depression is continuing to be a subject that the show addresses. It would have been easy to compartmentalize that story arc as part of season two and then move forward with another obstacle for the characters to overcome now that Gretchen is “better.” Instead we get to see Gretchen actually confronting her issues and see that, as the show says in this episode, getting better is a lifelong process.

The bulk of this episode centers around Gretchen’s experiences with her new therapist, which were genuinely incredible moments. I really like the setup for these interactions, and I hope we get to continue to follow Gretchen’s work with Justina, the therapist, because these moments were not only great bits character wise they were also incredibly funny. Samira Wiley does a great job at creating a character for Gretchen to play off of. Her therapist character is one that is immediately able to handle Gretchen and Jimmy’s initial awfulness. Though these two are the center of the universe as far as the show is concerned, it’s clear that their particular brand of terrible is nothing new for Justina. She’s able to take every moment, every insult, every left turn in stride, and counter. At the same time she doesn’t have that “unconventional methods” type of personality that would be so easy to do on a sitcom like this. Instead, everything that Justina does feels like it would be how a real, professional therapist would react to being confronted with Gretchen’s issues.

Speaking of addressing your problems instead of ignoring them, the effects of Edgar flushing his pills in the last episode is starting to be noticed now. Edgar has always be the “nice” character of the show. While everyone else has been selfish, mean, rude, or any other negative personality trait you can think of, Edgar has been none of these things. He’s been messed up due to his time at war, but we’ve never really seen that have a negative impact on his life. We’ve been told that his PTSD is the reason his life has fallen apart, but from what we see in the show, Jimmy being mean or doing something stupid has had a stronger negative reaction in the life of Edgar than anything else.

But now, it feels like, for the first time, Edgar has taken an action that will have long term negative consequences. So much of the conflict we see in the show comes from the characters self destructive tendencies. So much of the strife that people like Jimmy have to deal with in this show are a result of something they’ve done themselves, and now, for the first time in the show at least, Edgar has done something that's going to hurt him more than help. It’s hard to watch, because the show has done such a good job and helping you to see things from Edgar’s point of view. You see every moment that plays into this decision. It easy to follow the thought process, and you can even see how you might do the same thing if you were in his situation. But, ultimately, Edgar is going to suffer as a result of his actions. We see a little bit in this episode, but it’s clear that this is just a tiny bit that’s foreshadowing struggles to come.