Family plan.
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…
Hooray! The adorably repugnant Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) are back for a new season of neglected feelings, selfish motives, and hilarious anti-hipster vibes with “The Sweater People,” which saw the two feverishly trying to shuck normal relationship conventions by keeping themselves in a non-stop storm of drunken debauchery.
With the two now living together, one can surely expect, at some point, an uproarious culture clash. Jimmy, for all intents and purposes, is the adult while Gretchen is the scatterbrained packrat. But aside from Jimmy sneaking a coaster under her drink, this episode wasn’t about that. It was about the sheer amount of noise, pain, and blunder the two of them were willing to bring upon themselves so as to not feel like they’re in a stable, domesticated relationship. A game of chicken where neither of them want to let the other know that they’d actually appreciate a quite night at home with good book and a roaring fire. And so it went. Night after night, forcing themselves into doing endless shots, mounds of cocaine, and “butt stuff.”
And the best part of the “The Sweater People” was that this dilemma never got solved. Conventional rom-coms would eventually have the two come to terms and settle in for an evening at home, no matter how uncomfortable it would make them feel. But in this premiere, every time these two seemed to find common ground they almost instantly put their guard back up and fled back into a haze of booze and drugs. And that’s basically where we left them. Inebriated and chasing after a guy who stole their Zoiddle Maps car – which they themselves had stolen a day earlier. I believe Jimmy even landed an elbow drop on the guy.
So if anyone was wondering if You’re the Worst would settle in for a sophomore slump, you can rest easy. It’s still as rambunctiously vile as ever. With some really funny lines that just instantly pop. “Are you a little boring yesterday diaper face?” springs to mind. As does most everything Kether Donohue’s Lindsay says, because she’s magic. But also “Sleepy bitches lose the right to use normal people phones,” from none other that Brandon Mychal Smith’s Sam. Some really sharp, biting word combinations here.
Meanwhile, Desmin Borges’s Edgar – the show’s solitary gentle soul (even though he may have blown up a school during the war) – pined away for Lindsay. While Lindsay secretly schemed to get pregnant via a used condom and her freezer. I don’t know what the future holds for any of these wandering souls, but You’re the Worst has keen enough eyes and ears to keep the bile flowing at just the right pace. Not enough to turn people off by being overly “edgy,” but with enough intent and drive to make it feel like something special in the current TV comedy landscape.
As if the show itself may have been rebelling against the concept of a normal comedy, You’re the Worst returned with a very funny, delightfully warped Season 2 opener featuring a scared, emotionally crippled duo inflicting great pain upon themselves in an attempt to remain unconventional.
