About a Boy - Episode 1.05 & 1.06 - About a Plumber & About a Bublé - Review

As About a Boy goes on, it definitely seems to be finding its footing more and more. The best episode to date was last week’s “About a Plumber,” and the most recent episode, “About a Bublé” continued down that positive path.

Television is oftentimes about families. Not necessarily nuclear or related families, but a group of people that spend most of their time together, who drive each other crazy and help each other out. (Aside from that, TV’s mostly murder and the subsequent solving of that murder). “About a Plumber” was the first episode of About a Boy that really showed what the three neighbors had become, and presumably what they will continue to be -- an odd, slightly-dysfunctional family. Although Marcus is still hopeful that his mother will date Will, it becomes clear in this episode that Fiona and Will don’t have to get together to still act as a pseudo-family unit. The two act as amicably divorced parents to Marcus, as they bicker and cooperate to help him out. Although it’s clear that Will is not actually parenting Marcus, he starts to take on a more fatherly role without intending it (always assuming that they interacted “kid-to-kid,” not taking into consideration the fact that he’s 6+ feet tall). In the weeks past Will has often denied any sort of interest in the strange boy next door, seeing him as a last resort buddy or a burden, but in this episode he was disappointed to stop hanging out with Marcus when Fiona says that they’re getting too close. It’s nice that they’ve gotten to the point where Marcus is someone that Will actually wants to be around, and it’s clear that they both benefit from their relationship.

Hopefully the show will stay away from any sort of romance between Fiona and Will, whose total incompatibility would lead to a very messy future for everyone involved. The furthest they could probably go and get away with it would maybe be like a drunken, one-time kiss. Their new partnership in helping with Marcus is really great, and is sure to provide many more conflicts (like Will explaining sex to Marcus without Fiona’s permission), and cooperation. Speaking of Fiona’s potential romantic life, Leslie Bibb is back as Dakota. She tries to set something up for Fiona, whose sexual escapades are rather inversely related to Will’s -- that is to say, non-existent. Since the amount of men that Fiona knows in San Francisco is very small, Dakota breaks Fiona’s sink to bring over a plumber who then goes on a pretty disastrous date with her. Although it didn’t work out very successfully for Fiona, it was nice to see Minnie Driver get some more screen time -- if you’ve got her, use her.

“About a Bublé” slowly continued Will’s path toward more mature adulthood, when he meets his “perfect woman,” Sam. Sam happens to be a doctor, which I found quite interesting since Will-portrayer David Walton had a guest arc on New Girl last year as a doctor named Sam. But I digress. After rushing Marcus to the emergency room after he threw a knife into his foot, Will sees the hot doctor and immediately tries to impress her. Everything goes wrong, as it is wont to do in sitcom world, when Marcus, trying to help, tells her that Will writes songs for Michael Bublé. As soon as Will doesn’t deny it, he’s stuck in his web of deceit. The big difference between Will-from-a-couple-weeks-ago and Will-today is that he actually tries to make things right, but his failure comes when he doesn’t correct further misconceptions about his songwriting. He comes clean in the end, playing his one hit “Runaway Sleigh” to an ER waiting room full of ill, injured, and drunk people. It looks like Sam will be back in the future, so hopefully Will will try and maintain his honesty in the future.

Fiona and Marcus also “grew up” a little in their own ways. Due to Fiona’s new job at what seems to be the weirdest toy company ever, Marcus is allowed to be home alone after school. He doesn’t fair quite as well as Kevin McCallister, however, and within minutes of gleefully entering his empty house and the freedom it offers, stabs himself in the foot with a knife. Fiona once again gets caught up in her obsessive parenting, monitoring Marcus on webcams while he’s at home alone, but luckily realizes that perhaps she’s being just the tiniest bit crazy.

Both of these recent episodes were fun and promising for the upcoming installments. I hope to see a lot more fun familial stuff between Will, Fiona, and Marcus before the season’s over.

What did you think of the episodes? Which was your favorite? Do you think Will and Fiona should or will ever have a romantic relationship? Does the cutesy theme song get stuck in anyone else’s head? Let us know below!

About the Author - Kimberly

Kimberly is a college student studying Writing for Film & TV, and a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.