What I’m Watching: Better Off Ted

Better Off Ted: Season 2, Episode 5 “The Great Repression” (B+)

This special January 1st installment was a nice bonus episode. Another hair-brained scheme from Veronica to circumvent legal and institutional practices by classifying sexual harassment as a disease made for a hilarious chain of events. The absurd behavior that came about as a result was quite amusing, especially how Veronica and Ted actually liked it. There were some fun quotes, including “I don’t know what that means but it’s flipping my switches” from Veronica and “that’s the sound of me deflecting your whiny bitching.” Linda’s speech about her being a sexual harassment defender was pretty hilarious as well. It was great to the long-absent Merrin Dungey, formerly Francie on “Alias,” as the woman who filed the complaints against Linda and Ted. She played Naomi in the “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off episode, but the role was recast by the time “Private Practice” became its own show. This is a fitting role for her, and it’s fun to see her react to both Linda and Ted, and also entertaining how they both accidentally let out the words “don’t fight it” while talking to her. The supporting plotline with Phil and Lem trying to save their beloved robot was nice as a counterpoint to all the craziness upstairs. The best line of all was Phil’s declaration that the basement was “like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre if they massacred the chainsaws.” The fury of the janitor trying to claim his territory was enjoyable as well.