Review: 'Happy Endings' - 'You Snooze, You Bruise': Baby, baby, let me sleep on it
Dave goes to the gym, Jane learns to relax, and Alex revives her inner bully
Max (Adam Pally) gets his "Goonies" on in "Happy Endings."
A quick review of last night's "Happy Endings" coming up just as soon as my bottom half is selling fuzzy burritos in the parking lot outside of a Widespread Panic concert...
Last week's "Happy Endings" was one of the best episodes the show has ever done. Last night's, unfortunately, was one of the weakest they've done in quite some time. They're at a point now where it's practically impossible for them to do an episode where I don't laugh — as I did at Max's weakness for bad boys, Alex turning bully again, and some of what Brad was up to — but it's the first episode they've done in a while that felt kind of hacky and like something you'd see on 17 other sitcoms.
In one case, it was, in fact, something I'd seen on another sitcom only last week, as the Jane plot was pretty much beat-for-beat from the "New Girl" story where Jess gets Schmidt to relax and everyone's life falls to hell as a result. This was a slight improvement on that, in that Brad's complaints about what his life had become (the haircut line in particular) were so absurd ("Happy Endings" uses cartoon logic far more than "New Girl," which at least attempts to take place in the real world), but it's still something I've seen done far too often, and rarely well.
And though I think the show has made some improvements in how it uses Dave this season, it's mainly been in how the rest of the group responds to him, and how he can't get them to recognize what is so obviously cool about him. Putting him in a story where he was largely interacting with guest star Bobby Moynihan took that element away and just made it a story about Dave, and Dave is... boring. Until the writers can unlock his hidden awesomeness the way they did with Alex, the goal should be to make sure any Dave story involves him dealing with at least two other main characters, if not the whole group, at all times.
What did everybody else think?
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March 22, 2012 at 9:51AM EST Reply to CommentYeah, not the funniest, especially coming off last week's a-MAHZ-ing episode.
But I LOVED the end tag with Jane and Brad strutting into the lobby of their apartment building to a crowd of adoring neighbors set to the tune of Ice Cube "It's A Good Day". Awesome.
Tc
March 22, 2012 at 9:52AM EST Reply to CommentIt was worth watching just for that final tag - most ballet married couple ever.
Tc Wow. Baller.
March 22, 2012 at 9:52AM ESTJobin I hope they continue this trend. Last week's slow mo walk of the entire group to Run DMC was awesome too.
March 22, 2012 at 11:10AM ESTM.A.Peel
March 22, 2012 at 9:58AM EST Reply to CommentLiked Penny's throwaway "cool cool cool"
Allie
March 22, 2012 at 10:07AM EST Reply to CommentFelt like Bobby Moynihan was underused! I love him on SNL...
matt_webb_mitovich
March 22, 2012 at 10:10AM EST Reply to CommentDan called this episode the answer to "How much Dave is too much?" It was also the answer to "How much of Max's over-the-top cartoon character of a buddy is way, way, way too much?"
Col Bat Guano Yeah,that was one gay stereotype too far.
March 22, 2012 at 10:24AM ESTjcpdiesel21 In addition, I really did not like Max in this episode. It was amusing for him to harbor a crush on the bully, but I didn't like the way he was mostly unsupportive of Dave as a friend as a result.
March 22, 2012 at 10:26AM ESTJobin JCP,
March 22, 2012 at 10:36AM ESTI didn't have a problem with how Max was acting.
He was supportive of Dave and how he had to deal with the bullying problem, and he was self-aware that bullying was awful, and that his attraction to it was wrong.
jcpdiesel21 Great points, Jobin. You're right, he did end up being supportive. I guess what rubbed me the wrong way is that his inappropriate crush completely overshadowed this.
March 22, 2012 at 12:59PM ESTshiny but not happy
March 22, 2012 at 10:16AM EST Reply to CommentWas there an intentional nod to TMNT with a character in one scene saying Rocksteady and then the next scene someone saying Bebop? Was it just me?
Doug Yes, it was intentional (according to the writers): https://twitter.com/#!/happywrites/status/182655940544311296
March 22, 2012 at 12:20PM ESTRP
March 22, 2012 at 10:18AM EST Reply to CommentI wish they did less Dave-Bobby Moynihan, and showed more of bully Alex coming back to life. That would've been more amusing. But Jane + stretchy pants + nachos = hilarious.
Jobin
March 22, 2012 at 10:26AM EST Reply to CommentThey really need to fix this Dave problem.
I have hopes that they can do it based on what they have been able to do with Alex, but they may just be painted into a corner with Dave.
How can you transition boring Dave from being the "I want everyone to know how cool I am" guy to being an interesting character? If he gets interesting, then he is no longer "boring Dave" striving to be cool.
Alex as a childhood bully? Fantastic. I hope her "bullying" abilities are something they try to tap into from time to time going forward.
bigperm33
March 22, 2012 at 10:26AM EST Reply to CommentI am glad this was recognized as a bad episode. After hearing repeated good things about the show, I finally got around to watching it last night and other than the joke about dressing like you are from goonies, I didn't laugh once. Maybe now though Ill give it another shot.
Rinaldo
March 22, 2012 at 10:50AM EST Reply to CommentI find myself having the opposite reaction. I thought this was just about as brilliant as last week's. I've never cared a bit if a sitcom story line has been seen on another show (it's almost impossible for that not to be the case, at this point in time), as long as it's executed well, and I thought this was. Nonstop delight for me.
LJA
March 22, 2012 at 11:27AM EST Reply to CommentYeah, swing and a miss. I'm glad I went ahead and gave Bent my live viewing. I did think Max's "bad boy crush" was funny, though.
ChampSkins
March 22, 2012 at 11:38AM EST Reply to CommentI thought the episode was pretty funny. Truthfully, there hasn't really been an episode this season I haven't liked.
I mean cmon... Penny recognizing Max dressed as Josh Brolin from Goonies and he loving it, then Brad trying to say he noticed it too??? Genius!
Owen
March 22, 2012 at 12:59PM EST Reply to CommentI agree that this one one of their weakest episodes. And yet I still enjoyed it more than the best episodes of 90% of other sitcoms. That's the definition of a favorite show. I love hanging out with these characters.
Also, for me Happy Endings will go down in history as the sitcom that makes eating hilarious. Usually with Alex, but this time with Jane and the nachos. The way they escalated that joke was perfect: eating over the couch, dropping olives on the couch, to Jane pulling a massive glob of nachos into her mouth. That's how you make a very simple premised joke work.
Jim And then her horrified realization at the end: "Did I eat nachos?".
March 22, 2012 at 1:40PM ESTdmstorm22
March 22, 2012 at 1:19PM EST Reply to CommentYeah, it wasn't as good as last weeks, but I still really liked it for just these three things:
1.) The Tag
2.) Alex being a Bully
3.) The idea that Max and his friend were positively sure that Patrick Henry was gay.
erinpayton
March 22, 2012 at 1:39PM EST Reply to CommentYeah, same for me--not my favorite, but still mostly fun. Even when it's not that funny, I still enjoy everyone. I find Dave, while not super funny, incredibly endearing (it's the actor's portrayal of him that I enjoy) so I just like seeing him around.
I wish they'd spent more time on Alex and her bullying--she took to that like a duck to water! You could totally see her as a mean girl in high school! LOVED the tag, as Brad and Jane are just perfect for each other, and super bada$$.
Jim
March 22, 2012 at 1:42PM EST Reply to CommentI thought that for a show which is transmitted into my home for free that it was pretty good.
yrwehere
March 22, 2012 at 2:28PM EST Reply to CommentI cracked up when Max's friend said, "JAVAAA!"
Peter Villa
March 22, 2012 at 3:24PM EST Reply to CommentSurely it was no coincidence that Barry (Bawwy) from Big Bang Theory popped up talking about Berries i the secret garden.
mgrabois
March 22, 2012 at 5:55PM EST Reply to CommentHere's the tag of Jane and Brad walking into the building lobby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVWEFf7PQEM
Sana
March 22, 2012 at 7:22PM EST Reply to CommentThe haircut line was probably the best part for me - "I look like Gene Wilder. I'm a monster" - Brad, as always, killed it! I loved the way he laughed when he realized that he could do anything
March 23, 2012 at 9:20PM EST Reply to Comment*"It Was a Good Day"
Ellen
March 24, 2012 at 12:48AM EST Reply to Comment"veggie burritos," not "fuzzy burritos," right? (and surprisingly accurate)
aap71 but the pouty way Wayans Jr. pronounced 'veggie' garbled the word, so fuzzy was how it sounded to the writer's reasonable ears.
March 24, 2012 at 11:44AM ESTEllen No, I get it--I rewound it several times to catch it myself.
March 25, 2012 at 11:21AM ESTSorry for double post earlier--
Brad and Jane kill me! Eliza Coupe is brilliant.
Ellen
March 24, 2012 at 12:49AM EST Reply to Comment"veggie burritos," not "fuzzy burritos," right? (and surprisingly accurate)Write a comment...
Stefan
March 24, 2012 at 2:45AM EST Reply to CommentWhat was the song used during homo slowmo?