Will Beverly Be Able to Save Her Marriage? Review: Episodes - "Episode 1"

Episodes, S2 E1 – “Episode 1”

Air Date: Sunday, July 1, 2012, 10:30 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

Last season, Episodes was an entertaining romp, and if what I’ve seen of season two is any indication, we’re in for even more fun! Many shows have revolved around what goes on behind the scenes of a TV show but in my opinion, Episodes does it best. It’s an intelligent mockup of sitcoms—highly entertaining with smart writing and excellent comedic timing by the show’s four major stars: Matt LeBlanc, Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and John Pankow.

Will Beverly Be Able to Save Her Marriage? Review: Episodes - "Episode 1" 1

Will Beverly and Sean be able to work together?

For those of you who didn’t watch the show last summer, writers Beverly Lincoln (Greig) and husband Sean (Mangan) are wooed to Hollywood from their native England to do an Americanized version of Lyman’s Boys, their hit TV show across the pond about a corpulent boarding school headmaster. Much to their chagrin, they are forced not only to rename the show—Pucks!—but to retool it so Matt LeBlanc, playing a hilarious fictionalized version of himself, can take the lead role as a hockey coach. Pankow stars as the capricious and tempermental network exec, Merc Lapidus, whose assistant Carol Rance (Kathleen Rose Perkins) is also his secret lover, and Beverly’s friend and confidant. Co-starring on Pucks! is Morning Randolph (Mircea Monroe), your typical sitcom hottie—a ditsy blonde.

Will Beverly Be Able to Save Her Marriage? Review: Episodes - "Episode 1" 2

Sean tries to remain professional as he listens to Matt on the set

The second season picks up four months after Beverly’s foolish bedroom tryst with Matt following her argument with Sean about his feelings for Morning. Beverly realizes what a huge mistake she made seeking comfort in Matt’s arms…or bed, as the case may be…and now has to fight to save her marriage. In “Episode 1,” Beverly and Sean are living separately as Sean wants no part of her—despite how well they work together on set—nor does he wish to resume his off-hours friendship with Matt—which is a real shame as I particularly enjoyed their camaraderie last season. I hope this doesn’t last long. The problem is the three now have to work together if they want Pucks! to be a success.

Thoughts and Observations:

Merc takes Carol ring shopping. A step in the right direction, yes? No, since the ring is Merc’s gift to his wife Jamie (Genevieve O’Reilly) for their anniversary. Carol is shameless when she tells Beverly Merc should give Jamie one of her old rings since Jamie can’t see anyway, and give her the new ring! I like Carol and Beverly’s friendship. It reminds me of my relationship with my best friend, where we can tell each other everything and not be judged.

The headlines of the critics’ reviews of Pucks! are pretty damn funny, or perhaps it’s Mangan’s delivery that had me chuckling so much. The New York Post’s reads, “Pucks! Sucks,” while Entertainment Weekly says “Le Blanc Shoots a Le Blank.” The other comical portion of this scene revolves around Beverly and Sean’s assistant, Wendy (Scarlett Rose Patterson). As Sean reads the headlines aloud, each time Beverly responds with derogatory comments—such as “asshole,” and “idiot”—Wendy pops her head in the doorway to see if Beverly needs her. It’s subtle humor like this that makes Episodes so easy to like. Kudos to Patterson for her portrayal of the dumbest assistant ever!

Will Beverly Be Able to Save Her Marriage? Review: Episodes - "Episode 1" 3

Sean is so excited about his surprise birthday celebration

Everyone at the network is super excited about Pucks! despite the negative advance reviews the show has received. Even so, Merc throws a screening party at his home for the premiere, which provides for some highly entertaining moments. As Jamie hands out popcorn, not only does Carol point to Jamie’s hand while mouthing “That’s the ring!” to Beverly, Merc stands behind Jamie miming, “You’re so hot,” and “I want to fuck you!” to Carol. I hope the visually impaired don’t take these jokes the wrong way because this is comedy in its highest form. Then there’s an incident between Matt and Jamie. All I’ll say is it looks like he’s going to have his hands full with her as the season progresses, which should be amusing. Something tells me Matt is going to have to learn how to juggle both his boss and his boss’ wife.

Memorable lines:

Sean to Matt when Matt tries to confide in him: “I’m not still pissed. Because that implies that a time will come when I’m not pissed. I will always be pissed. With you, I’m in a constant state of pissed.”

Matt, about the ratings: “Take that, Myron Blum of the Boston Herald with your ‘I don’t know who this show is for.’ It’s for everyone but you, cockface!”

Matt to Sean: “I gotta say. Gettin’ jerked off while you’re watching yourself on TV—actors work their whole lives for that!”

It is so wrong for Sean and Beverly to be living apart. It’s clear they belong together so I don’t understand why Sean hooks up with Morning. She’s the antithesis of what Sean wants and needs in a woman. I hope this is just a one-night stand because anything more would be so wrong on so many levels.

Tune in to Episodes Sundays at 10:30 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

Check out the show’s homepage at http://www.sho.com/sho/episodes/home. Like Episodes on Facebook, and follow the show on Twitter using hashtag #Episodes; tweet star Stephen Mangan @StephenMagan.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!