Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Go On: Boyfriends, Imaginary Towns, and Food

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When I hear Matthew Perry say "Danny," I think back to Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip... anyone else?

This was a strange episode. Basically, Ryan grief-eats, co-group member Danny realizes just how much he has lost, and Lauren introduces her live-in-boyfriend-of-three-years to the others. Ryan going crazy eating wasn't very interesting. I don't know that I even noticed Danny in the group before, so that was slightly intriguing, though it didn't hold up in the end. And, Lauren... well... nothing really happened. Everything she does (like last episode's real estate test) is a short-term situation that resolves quickly. Now, I know that this show is not a drama, but it's not really working as a situation comedy so much as a naturalism comedy, which is not its goal (at least I don't believe it to be). But if we don't start having the characters interact more or at least show both of Ryan's worlds regularly, this show is going to need a compass to get out of the woods!

Go On "Big League Chew" (S01E06): Ryan and the group see Lauren on a date at a restaurant. [it's time for their monthly get-together already??] Before Wyatt and Lauren move to another restaurant, he tries to guess everyone in the group, and gets all of them right except Anne and Yolanda. [I was SHOCKED that Lauren would break confidentiality like that!] To even things out, the group asks Lauren to bring Wyatt to the next session, where he's open and tells tons of stories about Lauren. [I really liked how Ryan sorted them on the whiteboard, haha!] After Wyatt leaves, the group confronts Lauren - they find it weird that, in three years, the couple has never discussed marriage... the group even thinks that she's not in love with him. [aww.] So, Lauren tries to prove to the group that she and Wyatt are in love, but once Ryan explains the love he had with Janie,Lauren has her doubts. [I think this was supposed to be a really sentimental moment... which it was not.]

Ryan gives Danny a ride home, learning that Danny's coping mechanism (to deal with living with his wife, her baby, and her babydaddy) is to have a dream town in his head called Harborville. [whoa.] Ryan makes him realize how terrible his life really is, and the duo go spraypaint the guy's car. [what was that scene with the Founders' Festival??] 
Photo by: Justin Lubin/NBC
Ryan is grief-eating, and it gets in the way of his radio show. Ryan decides to confront it by getting a bike, but what really helps is the group showing up at his place with random foods (like a Kit-Kate lasagna and waffle batter) to eat/heal with him. [I think that the group is entirely too co-dependent, though!] In the end, Ryan deals with it by imagining himself pigging out on pies in Harborville. [hahaha.]
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