You're the Worst Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Crevasses
Caralynn Lippo
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Don't be a "gump" like Paul – make sure you're regularly watching this criminally underrated show, which just gets stronger by the week.
You're the Worst Season 2 Episode 2 builds on the very strong season opener "The Sweater People," continuing the onslaught of sidesplitting and memorable one-liners, while simultaneously developing all of our main characters.
On a macro level, the dialogue throughout Crevasses was incredibly strong. All four leads and even minor throwaway characters were granted flat out hilarious one-liners (of note: "hot puss," everything the security guard said, "cart paralysis").
This likely has to do with the fact that Crevasses, like the season premiere, was penned by show creator Stephen Falk, who wrote some of the best installments of season one.
Sales clerk: Did you find everything you need?
Gretchen: Why. yes I did, thank you. And, like, 20 things I didn't know existed. Little dryer balls that beat the shit out of your clothes? A banana holder? Get off the counter banana, you fancy now. And I'm gonna make my own soda! Can I make champagne? Don't know, gonna try.
The relationship issue du jour (though that phrasing tends to make the series sound formulaic – it's not, in the slightest), like You're the Worst Season 2 Episode 1, dealt with Gretchen's and Jimmy's intense discomfort cohabitating. Specifically, Gretchen's feeling that Jimmy is resisting assimilating her into his now-shared home, relegating her to live in the "crevasses."
The show flips the "man-child" stereotype on its head with the character of Gretchen. It dawned on me that, though both Jimmy and Gretchen are distinctly childlike in their mentality and behavior, it's really Gretchen who displays that typical man-child trope which is normally ascribed to male characters only.
Can you think of another comparable female "man-child" (a woman-child, I guess we'll term it then)?
I definitely can't. Her lack of adult "things" (toothbrush, towels, pajamas) and the literal disaster zone of her own apartment last season all point towards Gretchen fitting into this trope.
That was the major storyline. The two minor storylines dealt with Jimmy struggling with his writing, and Edgar acting like a poor sap around Lindsay.
Jimmy's writing has mostly been treated as joke-fodder, but one of the strengths of You're the Worst are its blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpses of the real human people beneath these caricatures of humanity's dregs. Jimmy's self-consciousness and uncertainty when it comes to his writing is one of these things.
So, too, is Edgar's habit of random, soul-baring outbursts. Probably the most upsetting recent outburst was his recalling having a great time at a football game with his drug-dealing older brother. Yes, the one-off line was played for laughs, but it was also a character-building, humanizing moment.
Now, before I get into some of your various offensive packages, I'm reminded of when my older brother Salazar took me to see a Raider game. We were so far away but to me it was like being on the field and then he sold cripe to a Charger's fan in the men's room and we used the money to go to Applebee's!
Edgar
The tone of this show is so off-kilter, and I mean that in the best way – the irreverent, strange, dark humor that Falk so often employs is what makes the series stand so far apart from any other half-hour comedy currently airing. It's what makes it the perfect modern rom-com.
I have to wonder if Lindsay is going to get any of these major character-building moments. We did kind of have a few of those last season, with Lindsay's incessant competition with her sister Becca and the comments made about their mother finally paying attention to Lindsay when she got married.
However, Lindsay is (for all intents and purposes) a significantly worse person than any of the other three combined. She's self-centered and manipulative. I was surprised that they didn't even half go for the idea of Lindsay being ignorant of Edgar's feelings for her; nope, Lindsay is 100% aware and taking full advantage of those feelings to get things.
Lindsay: That's why you need stuff, Gretch. To stake your claim. Get your shit up in those crevasses. Besides, stuff is the best. You can never get lonely with stuff. And there are so many examples of stuff: ice cube trays shaped like high heels, towels, smaller towels for your butt, chairs, which I guess are also for your butt...
At some point, Lindsay, while a consistent laugh riot, is going to become unredeemable. I really hope that doesn't happen, because all four characters are so engaging and complex at the moment. If we don't see a peak of silly, stupid Lindsay's actual soul at some point, she's going to become a caricature of herself, I think, and I'd hate to see that happen because Kether Donohue is a gem.
Stray Observations
- I hate that we live in a world where this is even noteworthy, but I have to say: it is so refreshing to see a regular-sized female on TV. Bless you, Kether Donohue, and your actual-human-woman bod!
- I loved the reappearance of Steve Agee (Gretchen's upbeat pizza delivery man of last season; now a mall security guard). His whole "I'm happy where I am!" shtick and his repeatedly getting set off on a potential new career path by both Jimmy and Gretchen now is really funny. I wouldn't mind at all if this became a thing.
- "Or, if you prefer, 'hot puss.'" I literally cannot stop laughing at this line. The delivery was perfection.
- Speaking of perfection: Aya Cash (and her "mean cartoon eyebrows") is a phenomenal face actor. Seriously, the woman can have me in stitches just reacting with her expressions. In particular, I'm thinking of the way Gretchen's face drops when the Towels & Things cashier makes the mistake of mentioning the need for storage right before Gretchen bolts out of the store.
- Jimmy's face when Gretchen hugs her fake "boyfriend" was also too funny.
What did you all think of "Crevasses"? Chime in with your thoughts and remember that you can watch You're the Worst online, right here at TV Fanatic!
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
