It's a new year which means I'm tinkering around with my formats in hopes of increasing my writing output. What this means for regular readers is I'm making my "I Got Thoughts" point-form format the standard on all my recaps because that's the direction things were heading in anyways so why not embrace that? I'm hoping that shift will allow me to get in more recaps of more shows (though regular coverage of more than the five or so shows I currently cover regularly seems unlikely) and also allow focus on more non-recap blogs. For non-regular readers, this is probably all nonsense so let's get down to business.
-Throughout it's first two seasons, Man Seeking Woman was largely confined to the perspective of it's main protagonist, Jay Baruchel's Josh Greenberg. Sure a couple times of year we might focus on Josh's sister Liz (Britt Lower) or best friend Mike (Eric Andre), but as the titular Man, Josh had our focus most of the time as he navigated his way through the nebulous world of dating in your late-20's. This meant that the majority of the women Josh dated throughout the show were more one-dimensional plot device for whatever aspect of dating Baruchel and company wanted to ridiculously exaggerate that week than actual character with a perspective of their own (The two major exceptions being Josh's ex Maggie in season 1 and love interest Rosa in season 2). This was mostly fine when Josh was jumping from relationship to relationship, but with season 3 changing focus to Josh being in a long-term relationship, keeping things to his perspective would've gotten very problematic very fast. Thankfully the writers recognized this and give the majority of the episode to newcomer Lucy (Katie Findlay), immediately establishing her as Josh's equal in this crazy world and someone worth rooting for.
-My primary experience with Findlay so far was from How To Get Away With Murder in which I spent the majority her time on the show annoyed with her character so I was a little apprehensive when I heard she was joining the cast of Man Seeking Woman as essentially the co-lead. My doubts were immediately squashed in the first sequence though as we follow Lucy through a horrible day that becomes a pretty good one after her first date with Josh. Findlay is instantly endearing, playing Lucy as the same kind of down-to-earth neurotic goofball Josh is. By the time she's silently threatening the friend she tried to kill to keep quiet (which sounds less endearing and goofy than it was) I was thrilled that she'd be around for the entirety of the season.
-Findlay and Baruchel also have terrific chemistry, which is a must if they're going to focus the season around them. We don't hear anything that happens on her first date with Josh, but what we see is instantly appealing and you can see how this date would make a day that included being set on fire and attacked by a puma a good one.
-The idea of a boyfriend who overstays his welcome in a shared apartment as a metaphor for illegal immigration is a clever one, but it's also an analogy that falls apart once you actually start thinking about how ridiculous the comparison is so the "Apartment Illegals" sequence fell kind of flat by the time border security has been erected around Lucy's apartment. It's a good stab at being topical certainly but there isn't really a strong point to ground the sequence in so it feels empty. The bit about Josh not speaking the language (of The Bachelor) was pretty great though, and the great chemistry and natural bond between Josh and Lucy really sold the moment when she decides to move in with him despite her roommates protests (It's dangerous, there's drugs there and they really haven't been dating that long, the other great joke of the sequence).
-The rest of the episode which shows how Josh's apartment becomes Lucy's apartment before finally becoming Josh and Lucy's apartment fares much better. The sequence of Lucy turning into Walter White and dropping all of Josh's belongings into Sulfuric Acid is a good bit that grows funnier and more absurd as it escalates. Like all the great Man Seeking Woman sequences it takes a relatable emotional truth (Lucy wants to her impress her judgmental former roommates but she also wants to feel more at home in the apartment she moved to on a whim at the expense of Josh's identity) and amplifies it to ridiculous extremes until Lucy is trying to actively kill her sweet former roommate who accidentally walked in while they were dismembering Josh's old futon. Findlay's casual callous delivery of "If the currents don't get her, the sharks will" as Robin jumps into the river to avoid being shot (again) is a thing of beauty.
-One of the advantages of having two leads this season is we understand both sides of the Josh and Lucy conflict. If Lucy was a one-off character, we'd be on Josh's side as his home is invaded and changed beyond recognition and less importantly, he becomes an unwitting accomplice to attempted murder. Because we see these events from Lucy's point of view though, the situation becomes a much more emotionally scenario about the difficulty of co-habitation and the episode becomes richer as a result.
-How did it take them until season 3 to make Mike a cult leader? The moment Liz started warning Lucy about how dangerous and charismatic Mike can be, I realized how obvious and brilliant that move was. Also, whoever decided that Mike's cult compound should be in Guy-ana deserves a massive raise.
-After being in a relationship of his own last season and having that not work out so well, Mike is back to his old "Bros before Hos" ways. There are really only so many variations that Man Seeking Woman can do on the "Mike gets in the way of Josh's relationship" story but they still can pack a punch. The key is that Mike always really wants what he thinks is the best thing for Josh, but what he thinks is the best thing tends to be the opposite even if it is very alluring.
-There aren't a ton of huge laughs in the cult section of the episode but Eric Andre throws himself into Mike-as-cult-leader with a furor that single-handedly make the segment succeed. The "drink the vodka-spiked Kool-aid shots" bit at the end once the compound is "infiltrated" by Lucy is also terrific, as is Mike showing up later back to normal and gravely admitting that things went bad at Guyana with no details or explanation.
-Man Seeking Woman doesn't go for heart-warming very often but the ending shot (minus the tag) of the two vanity plates with Josh and Lucy's name marking their apartment as we hear the two happily showing off their new futon was a well-earned moment. Dating is hard but being in a relationship is much harder. The two are probably going to have bigger obstacles to face than a messy apartment, but as long as they can keep finding ways to compromise and come together, the end result will be worth it.
-Also Mike not believing something like a futon could exist was my favourite small joke of the episode.
-I doubt I'll write about Man Seeking Woman every week but my TV schedule is still pretty light so I'm happy I was able to do it here. This is a great show and while this episode wasn't perfect, it made me very excited for the season ahead.
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