Season 4 Episode 05: Employee of the Bearimy

[enemyofperfect]

Getting ahead of things for once, have a reaction post!

I might be able to watch tonight's episode when it airs, but please go ahead and get as spoilery as you like in the comments in any case -- I'll set aside all the notification emails until I'm caught up, I promise.

I look forward to everyone's commentary!

Comments

[author_by_night]

Maybe it was that I was actually hoping for some Tahani and Eleanor bonding, and I got the opposite, but I really didn't like how Eleanor treated Tahani in this episode. I saw her point that Tahani has skills she doesn't, but at the same time, she treated Tahani the way Michael treated Tahani in season one, IMHO, except Michael was actually evil. Is Eleanor supposed to be backsliding into her old ways here, under pressure?

I did like that Tahani said, at the end of her speech, that she still wanted to be useful, but Eleanor did not acknowledge at all that she'd been harsh. Especially as yes, Tahani had a lot, but she also had manipulative parents, then lost them when she was young, a deeply unhealthy relationship with her sister, and I don't think she really had true friends, as much as her name dropping might indicate otherwise. I don't mean to be all Rich People Have Problems Too here, I realize Eleanor had challenges Tahani didn't, but Tahani also had to make her own way IN her on way.


It might just be me, though? Again, I was hoping we'd see more friendship between Tahani and Eleanor (especially as we haven't really gotten it since season one!), so the polar opposite might have jarred me a little more than it would've otherwise.

I thought Michael and Jason being able to save Janet like that was a bit too easy, but it's a comedy, so it's fine. They're towing the line between getting a little darker and still remaining somewhat light. Which I can appreciate.

In general, I love that this show has stakes, but doesn't go super dark. I... don't really think it could go much darker without going the other way, due to how much it already toes the line. If it weren't a comedy,we'd have to focus on the darker implications.

[jadelennox]

I agree that Eleanor was unfairly harsh, but I also like that they haven't all become perfectly redeemed characters. It wasn't as narratively satisfying in the immediate, but sometimes when they are too good I feel a little thrown out of the story.

On the other hand, I really liked that they had established last week that the demon goo gun doesn't actually kill them permanently, because it kept the stakes of that low enough to make me happy.

[erinptah]

It's not just you! Especially with Michael's casual reference at the beginning to "I gave Eleanor and Tahani their memories back." Tahani should have lots of memories of dealing with high-stakes stressful situations -- not to mention working together with Eleanor.

They should've been a seamless team from the start of the episode, instead of having to re-learn how to work together and appreciate each other as if from scratch :(

...also! I never expected the writers to put a whole lot of weight on Eleanor's "I might have a legit crush on Tahani" realization from the s1 finale -- she's clearly all-in for Chidi at this point, and Tahani knows it -- but it should've flavored the episode in some way. For a start, you'd think Tahani would have feelings about "oh no, I've had some kind of romantic connection with all three of the humans I started off with, and yet now I'm the only one of them who's single."

About the rescue plot, I also felt like it was a little too easy for all the buildup it got, but the whole "nobody tries to catch them because everyone thinks it's staged for the presentation" trope was very good.

Other good bits:

-- Ted Dansen doing Vicki's over-the-top impression of Michael (he gets to do the evil grin again!)
-- "OhhhHHHhhhhHHH diiiIIIIiiiIIIIp!"
-- Apparently the lakehouse scenes were filmed at a place where it had just been pouring rain, and they weren't even sure it would clear up enough to shoot that day. You'd never know! Amazing behind-the-scenes work there.
-- Derek actually being plot-important in a good way, where he's sustaining the neighborhood, and struggling with it but earnestly doing his best
-- Derek having a martini glass full of Scrabble pieces
-- All the Janet-baby actors glitching
-- Demonic swearing: "What in the name of Kevin Spacey's Christmas message trying to get back on House of Cards are you doing?"
-- Solving the "keep Chidi from noticing anything suspicious" problem by talking him into a blindfolded trust walk
-- "The whatever spoon is actually only used with certain kinds of jellies"

Not sure if good yet:

While I was watching, I was frustrated that this subplot was taking up all the neighborhood screentime, so the moral development of the New Test Humans got sidelined. (Again!) But after thinking about it for a while...and catching up on the podcast, where the guests keep saying Nobody Has Guessed The Final Twist Yet...I bet that's on purpose. We're supposed to be feeling the lack. It's building up to something.

(No idea what yet, but this is officially Point #1 of my theory.)

[yourlibrarian]

Derek having a martini glass full of Scrabble pieces
-- All the Janet-baby actors glitching
-- Demonic swearing: "What in the name of Kevin Spacey's Christmas message trying to get back on House of Cards are you doing?"
-- Solving the "keep Chidi from noticing anything suspicious" problem by talking him into a blindfolded trust walk
-- "The whatever spoon is actually only used with certain kinds of jellies"

Yes to all this.

[yourlibrarian]

I was rather surprised that the episode took the opportunity to present conflict between Eleanor and Tahani rather than sisterhood as well, especially since Michael and Jason did do some bonding in their way. One thing it also set up by doing so is that Michael and Eleanor are leaders since each one was managing the others as well as trying to solve a problem.

In a way, I saw Tahani's complaint as the writers hanging a lantern on how they really haven't developed her the way they have the other characters. Because up until this season I'd say that Jason was also underdeveloped but so far we've seen him really coming into his own in the last episodes. So far that hasn't happened much for her, so I'm hoping this will change.

[erinptah]

I definitely felt like they were lampshading the fact that Tahani hasn't had anything to do this season, but with a whole episode to go, they could've just...given her something to do :(

And yeah, Jason's getting some good material, at least.