2 Broke Girls, S5E20 “And the Partnership Hits the Fan”: A TV Review

Cue the 7th episode of 2 Broke Girls featuring Ed Quinn’s Randy and I’m feeling a lot less gracious than I was last week. While that installment focused on just how far Max’s boyfriend would go to prove his devotion to her [entering her apartment and stepping on the dangerous Nail Patrick Harris, for one] this week chooses to, well . . . do more of the same.

I actually spelled out in that review what typically happens with Max’s romantic partners, i.e. that: “as she grows closer to them the increased intimacy makes her uncomfortable, causing her to want to pull away.” While earlier episodes have revealed that Randy is just in town for the month he reveals to both girls that he’s actually considering becoming a partner at one of the law firms in the city.

This is obviously a huge step, him looking to actually work and live in NYC full-time, and as a result Max takes some drastic action. Or rather, her body does. 

That last paragraph ended a lot more dramatically than it needed to, especially before a break, but in actuality she has an excellent reason. Randy invites her along to a meeting at a very exclusive, exceptionally pretentious restaurant called Beak that serves such delicacies as “the ortolan bunting bird, roasted and eaten whole”. This cornucopia of bizarre, formerly feathered food is the tipping point to a night that already had her feeling queasy as she contemplates her relationship growing more and more serious.

Given my very recent visit to Mandarin Buffet and how a friend of mine reacted to eating too much, what Max does in the bathroom is something I can sympathize with. It’s also something that Caroline [and Caroline alone] is able to personally witness as she goes in after her friend.

After the two girls climb out of the bathroom window and escape Max fully admits to Caroline just why she thinks she’s getting so sick: “I’m not used to rich anything. And if this is Randy’s world, bird bones and pretentious people, then maybe my body’s telling me I can’t take it.” Mere moments later and he’s caught up with them, telling Max that she’s brave for accepting the invitation and that they’re different yet so right for each other.

I’m skimming over a lot, but as I mentioned it feels like more of the same. While last week I mentioned a lot of optimism over what Randy could do while on the show, those hopes didn’t come true this week. Max is still growing as a person but we’re not really sure to what end. Are were merely building up their relationship so that it hurts much more when it falls apart? Will her opening herself up stick, causing her next relationship to be that much easier? Will she simply revert back to her old self, essentially reestablishing the status quo?

Those are a lot of unanswered questions, but ultimately I’m disappointed by how simplistic the plot was. Besides what was mentioned Caroline-and-Max-are-good-friends, yet another well-worn narrative on the show, is enacted yet again when the former is the only one who enters the bathroom. This leads to Sophie and Oleg choosing them as the godparents to their children since they clearly care about one another so much.

There are only two episodes of 2 Broke Girls in its fifth season, and it remains to be seen if Randy will make it to the end, or if we’ll be given any proper resolution to the Dessert Bar they keep discussing. Either way, they’re going to need to make it big to pull viewers back in for Season 6. I’m back for it either way, but I’d prefer it to be the best it can possibly be.

Current Total: $250,072.

New Total: $250,072. That sweet, sweet movie money remains unspent.

The Title Refers To: Caroline refers to Max’s meal with Randy being emblematic of their partnership with one another. There could be a play on words with “shit hits the fan”, except that as far as I know Max only vomits and never defecates.

Stray Observations:

• Some great lines from Han in the cold open: “You know, this isn’t Hooters; the ‘V-bomb’ isn’t usually battered around the work place.”
• “Yesterday you said your cat was ‘too cool’ to hang out with me. So which is it? Because I am free tonight.”
• The live audience was pretty noisy tonight, whooping for Sophie’s pregnancy and for Max and Randy locking lips.
• Perogies and public hanging, two old Polish traditions.
• Max jokes about having venereal diseases, which is actually likely if she really were as promiscuous and irresponsible as the show keeps telling us she is.
• Randy’s trainer was in gay porn. That’s a joke that people laughed at.
• Randy himself has tickets to Hamilton in seven years.
• “We walked across a bridge for this? This is basically our apartment except our wild birds are alive.” Max is unimpressed by Beak’s decor.
• Leila, one of the partners at the law firm, shares that her wife Lei is a star on Instagram. “See, I talk about your accomplishments.”
• Apparently Orange is the New Black message boards are the new lesbian Tinder.
• I am typically not in love with Kat Dennings’ delivery, but “Can’t wait to get that bird foot in my mouth” was flawlessly spoken.
• Fifth Course: Tiny poached noisy scrub bird with fiddle ferns and fermented egg. It sounds gross so it must be good.
• “I think it’s beyond sick. I lost bone mass in there. My shoes are too big now.” Poor Max.
• “Well, if something were to happen to us, let Max do the breastfeeding, ’cause I don’t want the kid to starve.”