What I’m Watching: Suburgatory

Suburgatory: Season 1, Episode 8 “Thanksgiving” (B+)

This holiday-themed episode proves to be probably the show’s best and most consistent outing to date, featuring some excellent character interactions and a decent amount of unexpected supplementary drama. This was a brilliant showcase for Cheryl Hines as Dallas, spouting off a number of terrific lines, including “Even if I’m not doing something fun, it’s probably fun” and “That kind of hair is all wrong for a dead body.” Offering to take her to lunch anywhere if she got her hair straightened was a nice gesture, and it prompted some immense cleverness on Tessa’s part, garnering her a trip to New York City. It’s been easy to forget that Manhattan is really not that far away, yet it just seems like that because Tessa has been banished to the suburbs. Dallas’ excitement about buying counterfeit bags and shoes off the street in the city and her desire to buy the painting in the museum were quite hilarious. George being in Manhattan with some woman was a huge surprise, and it definitely irked Tessa more than anything, ultimately earning her a trip to Manhattan for some traditional black-and-white milkshakes. That was considerably more bearable than the suburban obsession with this “Gobble, Gobble” festival, which proved uncomfortable and ridiculous. I enjoyed seeing a brief snapshot of Noah’s family, with Gillian Vigman as his spiteful wife and his daughter Jenna, who was born prematurely so that they wouldn’t have to cancel their cruise, and I’d love to see more of them. At the Shay home, Lisa’s naked attempt at defiance was very funny, and one of its most memorable moments was Ryan’s somehow comprehensible pep talk about Ace Ventura.