Please Like Me - Babaganoush (Season Premiere) - Review: "Questionably Relatable"

Oh... this show, man. Only after being able to relate about 95% of an episode to my own life is when I really start to question if I am secretly Australian too. At the very least Josh Thomas has been able to make me feel like I'm not alone in acting certain ways. Maybe I was thinking about "Eggplant" (3x01) too much but I expected to be swept off my feet for this premiere? Instead, certain scenes and ideas left me a little sick. It was only one or two scenes that made me feel this way, otherwise I really enjoyed the episode! It was no "Eggplant", then again, so few premieres are. Let's talk about it.

I had extremely mixed feelings about the cold open. On one hand, I was so excited that they did an extensive "previously on..." bit, and I was very excited to have the theme song back in my life. I loved that Josh and Arnold were at a drag bar of sorts, but then it went south when Kyle was introduced. I don't know if they're gonna bring him back again in another episode but I sincerely hope they don't. I know that Josh and Arnold want to try the open relationship thing, but after Ben exploded in their faces I figured Arnold wouldn't want to try again, at least for a very long time. Alas, he's diving right in with Kyle, who wants pretty much nothing to do with Josh. I mentioned that I related to a lot of this episode, and lot of Josh himself, but I have never related to any TV character more than I have in that scene. Feeling excluded in your own group of friends that you either helped create or planned yourself? Yeah, I got that a lot in my childhood. It was just so awkwardly done that, while I 'enjoyed' the sex scene, I just could not stop gritting my teeth and yelling into my pillow in the name of Josh. On the other hand, they integrated that threesome mess with Tom and Ella, and I've gotta say, I'm liking more and more as we get to see more of her. She doesn't shave her armpits, and before everyone cries "angry feminist", I admire her for it. And I'm starting to warm up to her and Tom being together, which I'll talk about more later on.

Then Josh and Arnold unwind the morning after, and it confused me a lot. Because, on one hand, it was really cute seeing Arnold care about Josh. But, on the other, Arnold was practically begging Josh to not be mad about this, which he clearly was. So the way Arnold reacts later on doesn't really make sense to me. Anyway, afterwards Josh is headed to Mum and Hannah's, but on the walk there, he's talking to Ella. She has been writing her thoughts down so she can remember them later; she's so adorable! And he arrives there to find Mum and Hannah cleaning the house a bit. I was bummed to see that this was their only scene in the episode, but it was really funny. Mum's throwing out all of Josh's teddy bears, and he's starting to feel like Andy from Toy Story 3, so he grabs them and doesn't want to let go of his childhood. Hannah has an excellent quip in this scene of, "Yeah, real men don't have memories, Josh." The point of this scene was to bring up that Josh doesn't really want to have kids, but his parents and friends were kind of hoping that he would one day. The show is making it clear that these people are adults now, so obviously the question of kids will come up. It's dealt with in an "in your face" kind of way. I'm not sure how I feel about it. But I can tell you how I feel about Josh on the bus to Alan and Mae's dancing to "Geronimo" while making his teddy bear twerk! That was hilarious, and some are calling it Josh's best acting to date. I must say, though, the gesture of making the bear twerk could be seen a much different way...

He arrives at the dinner party, unfortunately late, much to everyone's dismay. Let me tell you, I was just as nervous as Josh and Arnold were because the last time we saw Arnold's dad was pretty terrifying. But I do love Arnold's mum. But you know who I loved the most in this ordeal? Mae! She's hilarious, I think she should have her own spinoff, or at least an episode or two dedicated to just her. She carried the scene effortlessly with awkward stories of pretty awful things that she did. Alan, of course, was laughing, but Arnold's parents felt bad and are obviously very different people to Josh's parents. But then, in the worst scene of the night, and in my opinion the entire show, Josh and Arnold step away from the madness to talk. But they don't really talk. They're arguing loud enough for the adults to hear, but it's not constructive. They're facing the problem Connor and Oliver are facing on How to Get Away With Murder. They're angry and resentful and they're not communicating properly with one another. Instead, they're holding things in to be used as a grudge later on. But the most despicable thing about this scene was Josh trying to kiss Arnold in order for his dad to see. Pardon my French, but what the fuck was that? That could've had serious repercussions. This does not seem like something Josh would ever do in the canon of the show. Sure, he makes fun of Arnold sometimes and ignores his wishes when he thinks he would benefit from trying something new. But this? This was deplorable. Much like Coliver, I wouldn't blame Arnold for not wanting to be with Josh after that. I liked how it was comedy relief before this. I liked how Josh was concerned about the tension between Arnold and his brother. I just cannot get behind anything that happened after that.

Josh, on the bus ride home, phones up Claire! Yay, thank goodness for this scene to save the episode after that mess! It's a wonderful scene with the notion of kids being brought up again, and their friendship being put into question. Claire's also seeing a man named Warren, who I suspect isn't all that great. I think she should get a girlfriend instead, but that's just me. Anyway, they're wondering about their futures, and it's all beautifully done. Then the show is closing on a very good proposition. Tom is making a quinoa slice for Ella, and he's trying to tell her something important. I've never really cared all that much for Tom. He's kind of been a character who's just "there" for me, although I do enjoy his friend with Josh. Which made this an even more important scene. He explains that he wants to be a better person, for himself and for Ella, and while he's living with Josh he can't do that because Josh wants him to be shitty. So he asks them to move out together, expecting Ella to say no, but she's just as eager as he is. Poor timing for Josh, though, who has had a rotten evening. When Tom breaks the news to Josh, he has a great line of, "I'm sick of things ending. Like, it's sad how Harry Potter finished." Leave it to Josh to always try to find the humour in any given situation. I'm really happy for Tom, this could work wonders for his character. But I'm worried about Josh; what will he do with the house to himself? Tom jokes that Arnold can move in now, but Josh replies that he hates him. It's a poignant and fitting ending. Things are ending, but they're also just beginning.

I really did enjoy the episode, to be fair. There were just a few scenes that were really troubling for me. I think the only possible way, moving forward, that Josh and Arnold can have a healthy relationship with one another is to actually talk to each other. I think they need to drop the open relationship thing and actually try to give themselves a chance to be happy with one another. If they can do that, there's no stopping them. Unfortunately, with this show, you never quite know what's around the corner...

What did you think of "Babaganoush"? Did the threesome stuff make you head spin? Didn't that family dinner make you feel like you were on a roller coaster? How do you think this will affect the rest of the season? Please (like me) feel free to leave a comment down below!