What I’m Watching: Party Down

Party Down: Season 2, Episode 8 “Joel Munt’s Big Deal Party” (B+)

This is a particularly fun episode for a number of reasons. Having Henry leave the position of leadership allows him to return to a far more relaxed, sardonic comedic partner for Casey is a wonderful thing, especially because it helps to scoop Ron out from his rut and give him back his treasured authority that didn’t really do anything anyway. Casey’s reaction to all of the attempted shows of manliness was very entertaining throughout. What was great about this episode in particular was the invocation of the code, which had not just frequent troublemaker collaborators Roman and Kyle giving their revenge plan their all but also involved both Ron and Henry. Of course the plan to give Roman’s nemesis a champagne glass filled with urine didn’t exactly work out, but it was still fun to see all of the males on the team contributing. Casting Paul Scheer, who I know from “30 Rock” as Kenneth’s nemesis Donny the Page, as Roman’s former writing partner was fun, and it’s rare that someone is actually so seedy that they make Roman seem sympathetic. The storyline of the sci-fi writer was a perfect fit for Roman and Danny’s rivalry, and I loved the way it all played out, even though Roman’s cooperative act didn’t work out for him too well in the end. Lydia’s infusion of cocaine gave her an intriguing energy that made her a hoot for the entirety of the episode, whereas she’s mostly just seemed strange for no reason up until now, and it was good to see her having a great time on the sidelines.