Craig Reviews GCB: A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

*SPOILER WARNING*


I can’t help but feel a little disappointed by this episode of GCB, even though it was as entertaining to watch as ever. The plot was the problem this week, as it all but stalled for some reason, and outside of one notable exception everything reverts back to where we started by the end of the episode. The comedy is great as usual, with a lot of big laughs, but it can’t carry the show completely. The episode was very predictable, and on a show all about the supposed secrets of this community predictable is not really where you want to be.

 The episode opens on Amanda wearing trousers to church, along with the briefest glimpse of her kids, who seem to be very good at disappearing.  It’s not exactly the most interesting set-up to open an episode with, but apparently it’s some sort of crime. A crime that somehow ends up getting Amanda a job working with Blake and Cricket on a fashion line they’re re-launching. Yes, it’s silly, and the fact that Amanda keeps her job at Boobylicious is a pretty clear signpost that it’s going to be a very temporary arrangement. Amanda flourishes in the job, because apparently all you need in order to design jeans is to look good in them yourself, but Cricket is clearly not pleased about sharing a workplace with her, though she puts on a front for Blake. When the jeans are criticised by an ‘anonymous’ internet forum user, it’s pretty clear where the story is going, and yet the episode really drags it out. Amanda gets Heather’s new bloke, who she apparently also became firm friends with while nobody was looking, to do some slightly illegal digging on the username that’s trashing the jeans, and eventually comes up with a phone number. The show attempts to pull off a big reveal when Amanda calls the number and discovers that it was Cricket, but it was so obvious throughout the entire episode that this just didn’t work at all. This little plot thread did at least provide some interesting insight into Cricket and Blake’s relationship, which is fast becoming one of the more interesting aspects of the show, but sure enough by the end of the episode Amanda is back at Boobylicious and Cricket has Blake to herself again.

"Ohhh, you're not typing at all!"

Gigi has a monopoly on the actual substance in this week’s episode, and even here it’s spread a little thin. Her previously unmentioned best friend, Burl, and his wife, Bitsy, return to Dallas after a trip giving out bibles from their yacht in third world countries. They’re fun characters, with Gigi and Bitsy’s passive aggressive encounters providing some of the best comedy of the episode, but it eventually comes to light that Burl has returned home because he’s too unwell to travel anymore. This unfortunately didn’t quite hit the emotional heights that I think it was aiming for, we’ve only just met Burl and frankly at just four episodes in we barely know Gigi, so there’s not really any investment in the characters at this point. Bitsy’s death at the end of the episode did manage to pull off one of the few surprises this week had to offer, and was also one of the funnier moments. She was interesting enough in this episode alone that her death had an impact, and it hopefully opens the way for some more development between Gigi and Burl. Elsewhere Carlene is relegated to subplot this week as she attempts to befriend the Vaughn family in order to get behind enemy lines and steal Amanda’s laptop, eventually succeeding. However, after walking in on her son masturbating she has a change of heart, and realises that what she’s doing is wrong. Yeah, I’m not sure how that works either, but it was pretty funny. Indeed, for the most part, she’s just as hilarious as ever, but the claws aren’t really out this week, which is a shame.

The most disappointing part of this episode was Sharon’s storyline, especially after she had such a great episode last week. Early in the episode we find out that Sharon and Zach are seeing the hot Pastor for couple’s counselling, and when they have a falling out after church he recommends that they lead separate lives for the week, and switch roles. It’s fun to watch, and Sharon making googly eyes at the Pastor (did I mention he’s hot?) is hilarious, but essentially all she does this week is build flat-pack furniture, which leads her to the same revelation that she already had at the end of last week’s episode. It just feels like an episode’s been wasted, when it could’ve been better spent developing Sharon, who I still think is absolutely the best character on the show, a bit further.

So, this was not the most successful episode so far. The show remains a joy to watch, but the plot here was muddled and unfocused, which is a shame even if it mostly turned out to be redundant anyway. GCB remains a firm favourite on my weekly watching list, but I think it needs to start doing bigger things. Some darker secrets being unleashed might just provide the driving force that show is lacking at the moment. Hopefully next week we’ll get back to some good old-fashioned drama!