2 Broke Girls, S4E16 “And the Zero Tolerance”: A TV Review

Did anyone else know that this is the second episode of 2 Broke Girls that Fred Savage, of that-little-kid-being-read-the-story-in-The-Princess-Bride fame, has directed? The first being last week’s. I don’t think there’s been any discernible spike or dip in quality, but it is kind of neat. I also feel like I need to mention that he’s 38 years old and his Wikipedia picture is of him at age 13.

This week the show decides to completely do away with the “Current Total” at the end of each episode by blindsiding us with the fact that Max and Caroline’s account is below zero. I’m going to spoil two of my feature at the end of this review to just lay it on you, because they go from a Current Total of $975 to a brand new low of -$14. And no, there are no solid explanations as to how this happens. Caroline mentions that their business loan payments are eating away at them, but the fact that she mentions it in passing makes the fact that they lost almost a grand in a week pretty jarring.

Their salvation comes in the form of the pastry school character you’ve all been clamouring for! Sorry, it’s not Deke. No, it’s also not Judy with the Booty. It’s John, AKA Big Mary, Max’s large gay classmate who was given a handful of lines last season. When the going gets tough the tough get a third job, and so the two girls are off to try their hand at working for The High, the new restaurant opening out of the High Line Park in Manhattan.

At this point the episode kind of . . . falls to pieces. There’s at least one laugh-out-loud moment, which I one hundred percent give them full credit for, but as far as the narrative it gets pretty unwieldy. Two different plots are introduced, and they neither reach any sort of satisfying conclusion nor interact with one another significantly. They are:

• Han, Earl, Sophie, and Oleg all showing up at the restaurant to support their friends/coworkers/employees.
• the never before mentioned fact that Max “can’t bake not baked”, which leads to her very short search to locate weed. Vaguely reminiscent of “Wasted Talent”, an episode of Family Guy where Peter could only play the piano while drunk.

The former isn’t really wrapped up at all, though it is far funnier. Max somehow finds some way to quiet everyone down and it is literally never explained. As far as the former, she gets weed from Rico in the kitchen and that’s it. There’s no frantic search for drugs or any indication that she wouldn’t have been able to do her job without being on any substances. Caroline merely finds out that she’s sober and insists she do something to correct that fact. I don’t think it takes up even three minutes of the episode as a whole.

It’s a mess. That’s all I really have to say about that. We end things and Caroline gets promoted from waitress to hostess and Max gets to keep being a pastry chef [those were the jobs they were working I did not mention that earlier]. I’m sure we’ll find out next week how they’re managing to juggle all three at once, probably with a Time-Turner or something like that. Harry Potter nerds, you know what’s up.

Before I put a solid cap to things I want to very quickly shine a little light on the LGBT characters in this episode. Big Mary [they call him that more often than John] appears to be interested in Han, and very explicitly refers to him as a “she”. I’m not going to claim to be any expert on gay culture, but is that common at all? It felt wrong to me. There was also the chance at a subplot when he’s sent to the kitchen, ostensibly because he’s not as attractive as Max is. This isn’t really followed up on, though. Also the owner of the restaurant, Joedth [the D, T, and H are silent] is portrayed as being in a lesbian multi-generational relationship, which is . . . progressive, I guess? She doesn’t appear to have any strong affection for her significant other. Either way, both appear to be the latest semi-regular cast members to grace our screens. It remains to be seen whether they’ll last anywhere as long as Luis, who has essentially evaporated into thin air.

Current Total: $975.

New Total: -$14. This is literally the lowest the total has ever been. The lowest it has ever been prior to this was back in Season 2 Episode 18, when it was a single dollar.

The Title Refers To: Allie, Joedth’s girlfriend, who shows up to the restaurant opening both high and drunk. Possibly also a reference to Max, though there is never anything said about a zero tolerance policy at The High.

Stray Observations:

• Modern Family did a drone episode almost four full weeks ago. Catch up, 2 Broke Girls.
• “I mean, if I wanted to be spied on I’d change my name to Achmed and buy a condo near the airport.”
• “Cupcakes. Buy cupcakes! BUY CUPCAKES!“
• The show’s philosophy encapsulated in an exchange between Max and Joedth: “Everything you just said offended me.” / “That’s my brand.”
• Big Mary’s three elder siblings all came out to his Mormon parents.
• For someone who’s emotionally attached to her pearls Caroline sure hasn’t been wearing them much lately.
• “Do I have any weed? Let me check my hump.”
• “Wow, this dishroom is cleaner than Chris Christie’s plate after lunch!” There was a very audible “WHOA” from a member of the studio audience at this joke.
• “If i could act I’d sell the restaurant and get cast in two-line roles as the doctor in any network television show!”
• “GIRLS LOOK, OLEG IS WEARING HIS NAPKIN AS A PARTY HAT!”
• “I’m gonna go have sex in the ladies room, unless you two prudes have a problem with that, too.”
• “Excuse me, can I get a latte and a red wine. ‘Cause I got a vicodin stuck in my throat.”
• “Bill Cosby has ruined it for all Black men over 70 who are just trying to buy a gal a drink.”
• Maybe It’s Maxoline: Retiring this post next week if nothing new happens.
• 2 Broke Girls Cheesecake Menu: Oh, yeah, Caroline and Max try to seduce Joedth after finding out she’s a lesbian.