2 Broke Girls - And the 80's Movie - Review: "Big Reba Comes to Town"

Welcome back to my weekly reviews of 2 Broke Girls! Today we are looking at the follow up to the big two part premiere:

“And the 80's Movie” opens a few weeks after the premiere ended and Max and Caroline's dessert bar has now opened. Caroline wants to attract a trendy clientele, so they go to a bar to poach some customers. The only person who shows up to their bar, however, is the bouncer Max befriended, as well as her arm wrestling club. Caroline tries to kick them out, but they only agree to leave if Max or Caroline beats their leader, Big Reba, in an arm wrestling match. Max loses, but Caroline ends up winning after Max and Sophie yell all the terrible things about her life to make her angry and find some hidden strength. Additionally, Max and Randy continue their sexting relationship, Sophie and Oleg struggle with not being able to have sex, and Han and Earl fight over a stool in the diner.

Let’s start with the dessert bar! I mentioned last week that I was bummed they rushed the dessert bar opening, but was glad that it was stalled for at least 14 business days and we could see a little bit more of the struggles of getting open. When the episode started, I definitely was disappointed to find out that they’ve already opened. I feel that because of this, we missed a special moment where the girls were proud of everything they have accomplished in the last 5-6 years. That being said, I did like how now that they’ve officially opened, they are still struggling to find customers, illustrating that their journey is, of course, not over and that triumphant moment will still (hopefully) come. I also thought it was a pretty hilarious choice to have members of an arm wrestling club become their new regulars. 2 Broke Girls is an especially fun show because it leans into the random, hipster culture of Williamsburg to give us unique stories (90's Horse Party, Deke’s dumpster apartment, to name a few). This choice also gave us a scene that I think will be one of the classic scenes of the series when it finally ends: Caroline arm wrestling.

Moving on to Max and Randy’s developing “non-exclusive, long distance, sexting thing.” I’m continuing to love this storyline because it feels totally realistic. Max is a sexually charged, unorthodox person with commitment issues and it would make sense that rather than dealing with her break up feelings, she would want to continue some kind of casual relationship with Randy. Though I don’t necessarily want them to break up, I think if/when this sexting relationship ends, it will hit Max hard and we’ll see a lot of personal growth from her in terms of dealing with her emotions. Of course I don’t want her to get hurt, but I love seeing characters I care about learn and grow. At the same time, I would be ecstatic to see them end up together because their chemistry is pretty great and their relationship was definitely a highlight last season. Only time will tell, I suppose!

In terms of the B-Story, I was so glad to see Earl and Han have their own little storyline! Though it was just fighting over a stool, I feel as though their characters never interact or have storylines together. Usually they have episodes dedicated entirely to their characters, or they randomly pop into episodes about Max and Caroline’s business, so it was great to see them have a mini storyline separate from Max and Caroline. Sophie and Oleg, on the other hand, weren’t as much of a presence. Their parenting storyline has the potential to be the best part of the season, so I hope we get to see some of that as soon as possible. Luckily, it looks like the next episode (airing tonight) should be full of that!

Overall Grade:
B+. Though I’m still bummed we missed so much of the progression of the dessert bar opening and Sophie and Oleg didn’t have much screen time, this was a funny episode with a quirky premise and some nice storyline progression. Also, Caroline’s face while arm wrestling is everything I never knew I needed.

Favorite Quotes:
Oleg: Oh my god, everything is turning me on. I just walked in on an elderly lady in the bathroom and almost lost my mind.
Caroline: What were you doing in the ladies’ room?
Oleg: Alright, fine, it was a man!

Caroline: Fight, Max! Put your back into it!
Max: My back’s shot, haven't you seen my front?!

Caroline: Max, what are we gonna do?
Max: I think it’s pretty clear. You’re going to have to arm wrestle Big Reba.
Caroline: Can’t I just marry her?!

Also - everything Max and Sophie yelled at Caroline to fuel her rage. That entire sequence was priceless.

How did you feel about the third episode? Glad to see the dessert bar open? Let me know in the comments!

About the Author - Doug Greer

Doug Greer is a TV obsessed Leo from the Bay Area. His TV origin story begins in 7th grade, when his friend lent him her Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs and 144 episodes (and 9 days) later, he was hooked for life. All time favorites include (but most certaintly not limited to) everything Joss Whedon, Charmed, The 100, Nikita, Battlestar, and anything with a laugh track. More recently, Doug produced and help write a webseries for The CW called CW FanTalk and also produced webseries for actors such as AnnaLynne McCord and John Lehr. For the 2016-2017 season, Doug will be reviewing 2 Broke Girls and The Good Place.

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