I just admire the screenwriters of this show. They've been so honest, so on point and so surprising for 4 seasons, and managed to find yet another unexpected approach for this episode. Breaking all laws of the genre with wit and taste. Beautiful.
5 Reviews
It says a lot about my life that I wish I had a relationship like this
rottentowers-6302722 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Sometimes you hear or read other peoples' thoughts about something and just wonder what kind of thought process they have. We are talking about a show that charts the progress of a mentally ill couple with a small group of mentally ill friends from friends with benefits to a couple with children and jobs they actually want to be in. If a show like this felt the same in season five as it did in seasons one or two, that would be bad writing. The rub is that we live in a world where some people expect their television to be like that of the 1980s, a half hour of gabs and routines where the characters never change and the same jokes are repeated over and over.
If you are one of these people, You're The Worst was never for you, and there is the door over there. We will gladly refund your money, to quote one of Taylor Tomlinson's best moments. Although the episodes make it easy to interpret the timeline as being continuous between seasons, that is, episode one of season four takes place immediately after episode thirteen of season three, or a year passing between seasons, the fact remains that people change, and TV with season after season after season of people not changing in fact has a shorter shelf life.
Anyway, I fondly remember watching the first ten to fifteen minutes of this episode and becoming incredibly confused. I even hit the back button on my remote control and checked that I had, in fact, selected episode one of season five of You're The Worst. And not long after I resumed playback, Gretchen pipes up and starts correcting elements of Jimmy's version of events. Both of them are lying their bits off, of course, but Gretchen's lies and Jimmy's lies vary in subtle ways that an attentive viewer can use to determine where the contributions come from.
One subtle feature of this episode that is lost on some people is that throughout the rest of the series, we have a couple whose relationship is kept healthy by the two halves telling themselves they can leave at any time. It is in the theme song, for crying out loud. The season is predicated on the idea that Jimmy and Gretchen are giving up the thing that has kept their relationship as healthy as it has been. And revealing how that works out is beyond the scope of this review, but a couple who lie so much about how they met to someone whose job is literally to optimise the romantic factor of their wedding is clearly not as committed to getting married as they think they are. Three seasons ago, imagining this couple being engaged was an impossibility.
If I had to tell someone what the story of You're The Worst was about as if it were a continuous one-season series as opposed to five, I would say that this is the story of a small group of people learning, and learning to deal with, the truth of themselves. Many, many people are afraid of the truth, and the truth for people suffering from mental illnesses, particularly ones who have suffered for decades, is a monster that makes the Incredible Melting Man look like a Cabbage Patch Kid. Gretchen has to deal with the truth that she will never be able to have a positive relationship with her parents, Jimmy has to deal with the truth that his histrionics are going to limit the number of people ready to continue knowing him for more than a year. And even beautiful truths, such as the potential of spending the rest of one's life with one of the most amazing women who ever existed, may be frightening.
Watching Jimmy and Gretchen invent a sloppy, completely idiotic story about how they met when you have already played kissy-kissy with the ugliest truths about your life is like watching people act out your fantasy of how the rest of your life will play out. The laughs we have about what the wedding planners are thinking in response to the tale spun by Jimmy and Gretchen are icing on the cake.
One article about my favourite episode of You're The Worst speaks of how that episode raises the bar for discussion of mental illness in fiction. Well, that applies to the whole show. It is a pity that there are no characters in the show that have bipolar disorder, because listening to a man or woman in a manic episode storying a wedding planner along about how they met their soon-to-be spouse is the only way one could top this routine.
No, this is not my favourite episode. Nor is it the best. But as an introduction to the insanity that is the final season, it is the ultimate "welcome" to people who have grown along with the show and understand that growing is an essential part of the story.
If you are one of these people, You're The Worst was never for you, and there is the door over there. We will gladly refund your money, to quote one of Taylor Tomlinson's best moments. Although the episodes make it easy to interpret the timeline as being continuous between seasons, that is, episode one of season four takes place immediately after episode thirteen of season three, or a year passing between seasons, the fact remains that people change, and TV with season after season after season of people not changing in fact has a shorter shelf life.
Anyway, I fondly remember watching the first ten to fifteen minutes of this episode and becoming incredibly confused. I even hit the back button on my remote control and checked that I had, in fact, selected episode one of season five of You're The Worst. And not long after I resumed playback, Gretchen pipes up and starts correcting elements of Jimmy's version of events. Both of them are lying their bits off, of course, but Gretchen's lies and Jimmy's lies vary in subtle ways that an attentive viewer can use to determine where the contributions come from.
One subtle feature of this episode that is lost on some people is that throughout the rest of the series, we have a couple whose relationship is kept healthy by the two halves telling themselves they can leave at any time. It is in the theme song, for crying out loud. The season is predicated on the idea that Jimmy and Gretchen are giving up the thing that has kept their relationship as healthy as it has been. And revealing how that works out is beyond the scope of this review, but a couple who lie so much about how they met to someone whose job is literally to optimise the romantic factor of their wedding is clearly not as committed to getting married as they think they are. Three seasons ago, imagining this couple being engaged was an impossibility.
If I had to tell someone what the story of You're The Worst was about as if it were a continuous one-season series as opposed to five, I would say that this is the story of a small group of people learning, and learning to deal with, the truth of themselves. Many, many people are afraid of the truth, and the truth for people suffering from mental illnesses, particularly ones who have suffered for decades, is a monster that makes the Incredible Melting Man look like a Cabbage Patch Kid. Gretchen has to deal with the truth that she will never be able to have a positive relationship with her parents, Jimmy has to deal with the truth that his histrionics are going to limit the number of people ready to continue knowing him for more than a year. And even beautiful truths, such as the potential of spending the rest of one's life with one of the most amazing women who ever existed, may be frightening.
Watching Jimmy and Gretchen invent a sloppy, completely idiotic story about how they met when you have already played kissy-kissy with the ugliest truths about your life is like watching people act out your fantasy of how the rest of your life will play out. The laughs we have about what the wedding planners are thinking in response to the tale spun by Jimmy and Gretchen are icing on the cake.
One article about my favourite episode of You're The Worst speaks of how that episode raises the bar for discussion of mental illness in fiction. Well, that applies to the whole show. It is a pity that there are no characters in the show that have bipolar disorder, because listening to a man or woman in a manic episode storying a wedding planner along about how they met their soon-to-be spouse is the only way one could top this routine.
No, this is not my favourite episode. Nor is it the best. But as an introduction to the insanity that is the final season, it is the ultimate "welcome" to people who have grown along with the show and understand that growing is an essential part of the story.
Surprisingly bad episode
nvnnklc201110 January 2019
The show jumps the shark...again
interestingstuff27 September 2022
This episode tells me that writers of this show totally ran out of ideas but they didn't want to end the show either so they tried to jump a shark that they already jumped many times before.
Now this doesn't even feel like the same show anymore. There is literally nothing in common between first 2 seasons and this current episode apart from some actors being the same.
Some people just refuse to quit when they are ahead and they drag themselves on and on and on until they paint themselves into a corner where they have to jump multiple sharks just to keep things alive. This episode should be shown in movie schools to teach students what NOT to do.
Now this doesn't even feel like the same show anymore. There is literally nothing in common between first 2 seasons and this current episode apart from some actors being the same.
Some people just refuse to quit when they are ahead and they drag themselves on and on and on until they paint themselves into a corner where they have to jump multiple sharks just to keep things alive. This episode should be shown in movie schools to teach students what NOT to do.
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