Chris: We don’t talk about about the technical aspect of You’re the Worst because so much of the discussion is taken up by the actions of the characters and rightfully so. However, this episode is a technical fun ride with the long, coordinated, single takes with such a large amount of moving parts. Good thing the entire cast gets gradually more agitated as the episode progresses because I’m sure shooting an episode like this can cause people to be tense which is unlike most episodes. This is one of my favorite episodes and for once, it’s not because of the story or the jokes but it’s all about how blown away I am on how perfectly each shot works and how fantastically the cast and crew worked together to create a remarkable episode.
Alexa: This episode is remarkably well executed. The back half of the season has focused largely on the escalating tensions between the three central couples, and the change in filmmaking style in this installment is a clever way to keep those conflicts going through a fresh lens, without feeling stale or redundant. Everything about the wedding celebration is immediate and increasingly intense. An episode shot like this requires perfect timing from the cast and crew, and the whole team absolutely nails it. The single shot style makes you feel like you’re along for the ride, and each encounter grows steadily more uncomfortable to watch, just as it would if you were to stumble upon a heated argument at a real party. Lindsay unapologetically dumping Paul in front of a complete stranger is agonizing, and I sank deeper and deeper into the sofa as Jimmy and Gretchen revealed their harsh worst fears about each other. If I were going to show “You’re the Worst” newbies a random episode of the show to illustrate why I love it so much, this episode might be the one.
Joel: Obviously, the first thing you need to mention when talking about this episode is the impressive technical achievement of filming the bulk of the episode in extended single takes. From commercial break to commercial break, the entire act was a single take, save for a few minutes at the very end and the cold open. It’s cleary impressive that the show was able to pull the entire episode off just in that everything was able to happen at the right time in the right order, but the show didn’t make it easy. So much of the episode is about following the action as it moves room to room. While there are plenty of extended takes featuring a group of people more or less hanging out together, this one has everyone on their feet moving about almost the entire time. This adds to the contract of Jimmy and Gretchen standing so still in the moments that they reveal hidden fears that they have about one another. It would have been a fine moment of storytelling regardless, but the stillness of that moment contrasted by the somewhat frantic movement of the entire episode made the moment resonate that much more.
Another example, it would have been easier to put this episode in a less crowded setting. We’ve already had episodes where everyone is trapped in Jimmy’s apartment, and this episode could have been that but in a single take. It would have still felt technically impressive, but setting the whole thing at a wedding reception makes for a better story. It forces moments like Lindsay and Paul’s eventual blow up and highlights how Edgar and Dorothy are on different paths. Again, having your “one take” episode be one that featured this many extras makes it harder on everyone from a technical standpoint, but again, the end result is a better episode. As impressive as getting the massive single take sequences done, from a technical standpoint, it’s even more impressive that it was never used as an excuse for why this thing couldn’t happen, or that moment wouldn’t work. The technical is impressive, but it’s even more impressive that it managed to do all of this without ever compromising the story.
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