This week on You’re the Worst, Vernon and Paul take a road trip, giving us greater insight into two of the show’s greatest and least fortunate supporting characters.
For all my gripes about You’re the Worst this season, I haven’t given up on its abilities. And episodes like “The Seventh Layer” are precisely why. Stephen Falk and co. have given us an in-depth look at the two most miserable characters on the show. And in doing so, they’ve given them voices they didn’t have before.
In any other episode, we only ever see Paul in the context of Lindsay. We can tell when he’s unhappy or uncomfortable, but we don’t hear him talk about it, not really. He can’t tell Lindsay his true feelings, so we don’t get that from him either. Likewise with Vernon, he only ever appears as a footnote on someone else’s problem. Most often he’s seen with Becca, another character we don’t know well. But when Vernon does talk to the other characters alone, he often does so clandestinely, as Becca stifles him. In this episode, though, it all comes out, for both Vernon and Paul.
You’re the Worst, Screencap via FXX
Paul has accompanied Vernon on a road trip to acquire a bassinet for his forthcoming spawn, but when they stop for gas, Vernon intentionally puts diesel in the car, instead of regular. The ensuing events are half-“Odd Couple,” half-“Comedy of Errors.” Even with our limited understanding of these two supporting characters, we know that they are very different. This is set up very early on in this episode as well. Paul’s wet-blanket insistence on being home in “two hours and twelve minutes” is juxtaposed with Vernon’s aggressive harmonica playing.
But when the car breaks down and they get lost in the roadside woods searching for water, they discover that they are much more alike than they thought. First and foremost, they both married “mean-ass sisters” who are “lucky to take our dope-ass names.” Vernon casually bad-mouths Becca, but Paul stays out of it, at first. But then the stress of the situation, including the knowledge that he’s missing Lindsay’s time with Raul, gets to him. He snaps.
You’re the Worst, Screencap via FXX
Paul divulges to Vernon that he is a “cuck,” and he and Vernon begin to swap wife horror stories. Until Paul deduces from the gas station receipt that Vernon put diesel in his car, causing it to break down. When he confronts Vernon angrily, what could have been an accident is confirmed as a strategy. “I panicked! I don’t want to go home!” he says. It’s that desperate. Vernon would rather break down on the side of the road for a few hours than go home to his pregnant wife.
Ultimately, that’s what their half-baked plan to drive to Mexico is based in. Paul, who was always sad but voiceless to us, and Vernon, who always just seemed indulgent of Becca’s demands, share this. They are miserable. And the idea of running away from it all is so enticing that they almost really go for it. But after a perceived near-death experience, Paul realizes, “I really want to be a father.” And Vernon, after freaking out about the loss of the bassinet, decides not to go either.
But I would not have been mad if they had, honestly. I would have been sad for their exit from the show, but part of me feels bad for them. They almost escaped! I know it’s a comedy, and I know it’s called You’re the Worst. But in a show with this much self-awareness around how its characters’ terribleness effects the people around them, you can’t help but feel sympathy for the less-worse.
“I believe there is someone out there who will love me.” – Vernon
But there’s hope here. Up until now, Paul was living a straight-up lie. At least Vernon occasionally acknowledged how terrible Becca is. But Paul was still trying to make it work; accommodating Lindsay’s demands because he wanted to be a “good husband,” ignoring her many and varied humiliations of him. But Paul is empowered by Vernon’s attitude about his marriage. Vernon really makes him face the things he doesn’t want to face; Paul even admits that Lindsay might have stabbed him on purpose. And for Paul to admit to himself that his marriage is in shambles? Well, that’s the first step, right?
And in the end, Vernon makes it clear that as of now, his return home is only temporary. He wants to make sure arrangements are in place and that he has his passport and such before taking off to Mexico. Vernon is obnoxious and bro-ish and goofy, but his declaration of intent says a lot. “I believe there is someone out there who will love me.” He later clarifies that he hopes she’s a hot Mexican woman. But the sentiment still stands.
Next: You're The Worst Recap: S3E8 'Genetically Inferior Beta Males'
And my guess is that this will empower Paul to stand up for himself in his relationship. Vernon promises to let Paul know when he’s about to flee for the border, just in case he changes his mind. And I really think Paul might. Maybe not if he had a child. But if Lindsay makes good on her intentions to get an abortion? And if she doesn’t tell him about it, as I predicted early this season? It might be enough for Paul to take ownership of his own happiness.