The Cool Kids airs on Fridays at 8:30 pm EST on FOX.
Director: Robbie Countryman
Writer: Jon DeWaltand Allison Bosma
With every episode, I like The Cool Kids more. In this third installment, the characters have gelled together and it is the funniest episode yet. It starts with Hank and Charlie trying to get their game on at the weekly wine and cheese reception. Let’s just say that “crash and burn” is putting it nicely, so both Margaret and I laugh at their expense. Hank’s come-on lines are truly atrocious and Charlie chooses to offend the woman he hits on and then has no idea why she’s upset. To put all these women out of their misery, Margaret suggests they try online dating. Hank is originally skeptical but Charlie is all for it. Too bad he’s a conspiracy nut who brags about his kills in Vietnam. Not big sellers in the dating world. (Hank chooses to go the opposite direction by posting naked pictures of himself.) In order to encourage their friend, Margaret and Sid decide to create a fake account to flirt and raise Charlie’s self-esteem. However, it all escalates quickly when Sid gets way too into his alter ego.
Highlights:
The consistent humor throughout is by far the biggest plus in the episode. I laughed hard several times and was chuckling throughout. It feels like with this and the last episode, the show has hit its timing stride. In part, this is because Vicki Lawrence and Leslie Jordan feed so well off of each other. You can feel them having a great time and relaxing into the characters, which makes them dynamic to watch. At times, the writing borders on ridiculous but these comedy legends pull off everything thrown at them. Plus, there is a great twist in the middle that really worked for me.
Lowlights:
While the Margaret and Sid interactions were golden, the characters of Hank and Charlie are still hit or miss. In fact, Charlie was less appealing in this episode for me than in the previous two. It feels like they are trying too hard to make him fit a stereotype. Hank is also still stereotypical and all the sexual harassment jokes are getting stale. I get that they are from another decade, but it feels like neither of these two ever had a date in their lives. Watching them try to score is just painful. This episode is also unnecessarily crude too often, which adds little to the humor.
Grade: B
Episode Awards:
Best Reason to Watch - the humor
Best Character Interaction - Margaret and Sid
Best Moment - the twist
Most Cold - Margaret at the end
Worst Acting - "that's right"
Worst Pick Up - Charlie and that’s saying something because Hank is awful
Biggest Huh? - “You elbow like a praying mantis.” Unless you’re talking martial arts, what does that even mean?
Biggest Oops - Margaret's mistake
Quotes:
“Are you my appendix…”
“Can’t you just feel the heat?” “Yeah, this room is humming with sexual energy. Oh wait. I think it might be that guy’s oxygen tank.”
“Don’t talk about killing anyone and I shouldn’t have to keep saying that.”
“It is the one drawback of online dating, but other than that it is fantastic.”
“Mystery solved.”
“We’re not writing a porno version of Gone with the Wind.”
“You skipped a whole lot of steps there.”
