You’re The Worst Recap: S3E7 “The Only Thing That Helps”
By Emily Scott
This week’s episode of You’re the Worst features Jimmy finding closure, Lindsay finding a solution, and Edgar finding something that helps. Also: Ben Folds.
These last couple of episodes of You’re the Worst have knocked it so far out of the park that it shouldn’t be a surprise that this week was just…regular. I mean, you can’t hit homers all the time, right? Still, after a harrowing exploration of Edgar’s PTSD and a frantic, hilarious, and epic adventure, a relatively solid but not excellent episode comes as a bit of a let down. That’s not to say there weren’t great parts, though! Let’s break it down.
You’re the Worst, Screencap via FXX
Gretchen and Jimmy
The storyline around Jimmy’s father’s death has really not been compelling to me at all so far. Maybe it’s because the events are proceeding in a predictable manner. First, Jimmy shrugged it off like he didn’t care. Then, he claimed he got joy out of the knowledge that his father was gone. This episode works toward the next logical step, based on what we know of Jimmy’s relationship with his dad – anger.
After receiving Jimmy’s dad’s ashes in the mail, Jimmy tries to throw them out, ignoring the written request for a memorial service. Ultimately, though, Gretchen walks in on him talking to the ashes. He even reads parts of his unfinished novel to him, as though still seeking his approval. Gretchen insists that Jimmy hold the service to find closure. “If you don’t deal with your emotional crap, it can mess your shit up later!” she tells him, as if she’s just started believing this fundamental truth – which, she might have. It is Gretchen, after all.
Jimmy rages when he discovers his father wrote his own eulogy, claiming responsibility for Jimmy’s writing career and forgiving Jimmy for “rejecting” him for years, when in reality it was the opposite. Then, Jimmy learns that his dad knew he was dying the last time they saw each other, which builds resentment in him. He ends up carrying out his dad’s last wishes – for his ashes to be scattered at the house of Tony Shalhoub – angrily and with disdain.
“If you don’t deal with your emotional crap, it can mess your shit up later!” – Gretchen
The crux of what bothers me about this storyline is that the sentiment just…doesn’t seem real. YTW has done amazing things with its character’s personal tragedies. Gretchen’s depression and Edgar’s PTSD have been handled with real sincerity. This plot point appears to be their way of giving Jimmy something serious to deal with, too.
But Jimmy’s grief is packaged in cardboard. There are no surprising details that ring true. Like Edgar’s frantic glance at a bag of trash, wondering if it’s an IED. Or Gretchen’s middle-of-the-night crying jags in her car in the second season. Those details are what humanize these people. They make them real. Jimmy only has clichés: resenting his dad for neglecting him as a child, wishing his dad had told him he was dying so he could have closure. I would love to see a meaningful exploration of grief and mourning from You’re the Worst. I just don’t think this is it.
Edgar
Edgar learns in this episode that getting a “green card” – the legal documentation for medical marijuana in California – will jeopardize his VA benefits. His scene with the VA clerk could have been more clearly written, but the gist of it was this: marijuana is federally illegal. The VA is a federal agency. So, even though it is legal in California, Edgar did not serve in the “army of California,” which apparently pays in “avocados and screenplays.” Using marijuana could compromise his benefits. He gets the card anyway.
Possibly the most prominent theme running through this whole season is taking responsibility for one’s own happiness. Edgar encounters the idea from the tow-truck driver in “Twenty-Two,” who encourages him to find something that helps him with his PTSD. Edgar has found something that helps. But I worry about what will happen if (and when, let’s face it) the VA catches him. Earlier in the season, Edgar felt a kinship with the homeless vets on his block. He told Dorothy they could be him. He’s right.
You’re the Worst, Screencap via FXX
Lindsay and Paul
Ah, yes. My favorite couple. Lindsay is also at least attempting to take ownership over her life and happiness. In the last episode, Lindsay asked Paul to allow her to sleep with other men. She clarified that she would let him watch, and he ultimately said yes, reluctantly. The consequences of that conversation play out here.
When Lindsay presents Paul with a guy she found on a swingers website, he tried to back out of the agreement, claiming he felt too uncomfortable with it. Lindsay dejectedly agreed to keep their marriage monogamous. In the next scene, while Paul is hilariously making Lindsay watch C-SPAN, they get an unexpected visitor – the guy from the website. Paul reveals that he wanted to surprise her with him. He knows it’s important to her, and he is trying. But as Lindsay and swinger-dude start to make out on the kitchen counter, Paul is again, predictably, visibly uncomfortable.
I commend Lindsay for taking a stand for what she thinks will make her happy. I also want to give a shout-out to Paul for doing his best to compromise. I’ve accused him of selfishness before, and I’m happy to say he pleasantly surprised me. But it is painfully obvious that any time one of these two is truly happy, the other is so very, very miserable. Let’s all hope for a solution to this mess. Or for a really, really funny progression of it.
Ben Folds
Alt-rock singer/songwriter and YTW guest star, Ben Folds (Photo by Lester Cohen/BBMA2016/Getty Images for dcp)
Yep, I’m throwing Ben Folds his own section here, because he was the best part of this episode. Ben Folds (yes, that Ben Folds) meets with Gretchen in order to hire her for his PR. And he’s insanely nice. When he draws a quick doodle and an autograph on a napkin for a fan’s son, Gretchen is totally perplexed. When he shows up to Jimmy’s father’s funeral, flowers in hand, offering to play the piano, she can’t believe it. At first I wondered if this was a clever foil to the “worsts.” Was this how Gretchen would learn that being nice is an option? That greeting people kindly and offering sincere condolences is actually a pretty normal thing to do?
But alas, even Ben Folds has his ulterior motives. Over a merchandise table that he sets up at the funeral, he reveals to Gretchen that he hired someone to play adoring fans and paparazzi. He just moved to LA and needed to generate buzz – which is probably why he asked the mourners at the funeral to hashtag his performance on social media. This makes Gretchen infinitely more comfortable working with him, but it complicates the message of his presence. It turns out, Ben Folds is not as altruistically kind as we believed. Maybe…we are all the worst?
Next: You’re The Worst Recap: S3E6 “The Last Sunday Funday”
But seriously, think about how great would it be if Ben Folds became a recurring character on this show. From our mouths to Stephen Falk’s ears, y’all.