You're the Worst 4.7: "Not a Great Bet

Chris: I’m really not a huge fan of these stand-alone episodes, they all have an extra layer of cringe featured in it. Not a Great Bet doesn’t quite take the uncomfortably awkward cake away from the neighbor episode but it comes close with the closed mall/cat food dare scene. It’s a pretty good showcase for Gretchen’s mindset and how isolated she’s been long before her move to LA and how that’s self-centered to the point where she forgets key details of past friendships or lack thereof. The one optimistic point in all this is that maybe through this experience added to her therapy and her breakup, she seems like she had a moment where she realized her self-centered isolation and that she should move on like her childhood friends have.

Alexa: I haven’t loved any of the bottle episodes “You’re the Worst” has done. Like the neighbor episode in season 2 and the Vernon/Paul episode in season 3, this is a detour from the season’s main story arcs that’s more unwanted interruption than enlightening character study. That said, it does still provide some additional context about Gretchen’s upbringing and personality. It seems that her troubled ways began at home, not when she escaped from home, and it’s clear her life in LA hasn’t actually changed her that much. Heidi’s assessment of Gretchen as a shape-shifter, someone who adjusts her personality based on whoever she’s with, is pretty spot-on. We saw that most blatantly in season 1 with her parents and in more subtle ways since then. It’s sad how much Gretchen has isolated herself from other people emotionally, and the one person who genuinely knows her best has now pushed her away. But she has shown a capacity for growth with her therapy, and perhaps this interaction with Heidi will change her perspective.

Joel: I still maintain that “LCD Soundsystem” (The neighbors episode) is one of the strongest episodes of this show from a creative standpoint. That episode is able to introduce a two new characters in a never before mentioned relationship, and develop it in a way that we’re quickly invested in these new character, and their lives. The episode is then further elevated, as Gretchen, and eventually Jimmy’s lives are threaded into the lives of these new characters with their relationships and status in life informing one another. It seems that as a direct result of the success of this episode, each season has tried to recreate the “side episode” feel with diminishing returns.

“The Seventh Layer” (Paul and Vernon in the woods) was still an interesting exploration of these two side characters, but it didn’t have the same impact on the season overall the way the previous season’s “side episode” had. Unfortunately, this episode feels like another step down. For the first time, it really feels like the main storyline has to grind to a halt and wait while this side story plays out. Maybe it’s the episode’s placement in the lineup, but it really feels like this episode it out of place. By the end of the episode it also feels like we haven't gained anything from the events of that particular episode.

Gretchen is obviously not at her best at this moment in the story, but she has clearly grown over the past several years, through her relationship with Jimmy and her work in therapy. This would have been a great moment to highlight Gretchen’s growth by having her interact with those who knew a younger version of her, but for this episode Gretchen seems to regress into the character she was earlier in the series. Then, the major reveal of the episode, that nobody ever gets a chance to know the real Gretchen, has been obvious since her parents showed up way back in season one. There’s been numerous times that this characterization of Gretchen has been reinforced with her morphing her personality to fit whatever situation she finds herself in. This episode treats this moment as a major reveal of character for Gretchen, but it honestly fell flat, leaving the episode feeling like little more than a missed opportunity.