Holiday episodes are weird. On a show like Happy Endings, you have to ask the audience to suspend disbelief a little in order to get everyone together for a big Thanksgiving dinner where goofy hijinks take place. In the “real world” (as opposed to The Real World, which we will get to momentarily) it would be a little unlikely no one in a late-20s, early-30s group of friends would go home to spend the day with their family. This leaves you with two options: You can either try to explain the situation (“My parents are going to Hawaii without me! You guys are my real family!”), or, alternatively, you can just say screw it, sit them all around a table with a sex swing at one end, and let it ride reality-be-damned. I prefer the latter. Especially if it involves one of the characters standing the turkey up and making it pop and lock.
And now, the highlights:
- Do I love that all the characters met on an unaired season of The Real World? Yes. Do I love that Brad had dreads and Max did a confessional where he said of his then-current relationship with Penny, “There’s so much sex…and it’s all hetero”? Also yes. Do I plan on continuing to ask myself questions to bring these points up? Maybe.
- Brad did not like Jane at first, mostly because she was a total hot tub bummer. Although maybe that’s a little unfair. We all know they edit those shows to make you seem like a jerk when you really just love your wife.
- Max came out of the closet on television with his mouth full of food, and the subtitles said “I’m Greg” instead of “I’m gay.” This pleases me.
- I could have watched Max and Brad argue about the dishes for a solid 5-10 minutes. They are easily my favorite pairing on the show at this point.
- RELATED-ish: Here is the cast of Happy Endings ranked in order from most-to-least likely to become a bankable movie star: Damon Wayans, Jr., Adam Pally, Elisha Cuthbert/Eliza Coupe (tie), Casey Wilson, Zachary Knighton.
- We officially have a Dave problem. I tried very hard to give a single crap about any of the Native American-style atrocities that happened to him during the episode, and I just couldn’t do it. The only thing he brought to the table all night was the line “I am going to use this as an opportunity to educate — perhaps enlighten — all you white people, and throw an authentic Thanksgiving,” because it led to this…
- Personally, I prefer “Jerkovich” to “Kerkobitch.” You are welcome to disagree with me on this point. You will be wrong, but you are allowed to be wrong if you want. This is America, after all.
- The Battle for My Heart between Alex and Jane rages on: On one hand, Alex has to eat every 20 minutes or she gets lightheaded, takes naps with her eyes wide open, and was responsible for the aforementioned turkey dance. On the other hand, Jane is an insane person who brought a fully brined and cooked turkey to someone’s Thanksgiving dinner, and instructed her husband to wrap the other one in a rug and throw it in the river. HOW CAN ONE POSSIBLY CHOOSE?
- Note: There was a “Hologram Hall & Oates” joke in last week’s episode and I somehow neglected to mention it in the recap. I have been furious about it ever since. I apologize.
Feel free to leave your favorite moments and quotes in the comments. We’ll close out with this quote from Penny. I concur wholeheartedly.
