What I’m Watching: How to Be a Gentleman

How to Be a Gentleman: Season 1, Episode 8 “How to Upstage Thanksgiving” (B+)

There’s nothing quite like a Thanksgiving episode in June, but if it’s a chance to see more of this show, then I say it’s welcome. Jerry’s continued presence in the Carlson family life is definitely peculiar, and Janet and Mike trying to introduce the nickname “Uncle Jerry” did a good job of getting him scared, forcing him to stress the casual nature of such a spending such a momentous family holiday together. Andrew faking sick to get out of dinner obviously had some sort of ulterior motive, and getting back together with Lauren was a bit of a surprise. It’s fun to see Janet and even Mike express their hatred for her, siding with Andrew and looking out for his best interests when he clearly can’t see straight. His David Beckham ponytail was particularly lamentable and embarrassing. We knew that it was easy to take advantage of Andrew, but it turns out that Lauren is much worse than that. She proved to be extraordinarily self-centered and manipulative, testing out her current compatibility with Andrew before breaking off her current marriage. I enjoyed how Bert tried to get Andrew to realize that he wasn’t seeing clearly, bringing back a particularly volatile ex-girlfriend to show him how awful a bad relationship can be. Their proposed trip to Vegas sounded pretty awful, but at least Bert knew better than to shoot washing machines while driving a rented Ferrari for an hour. It’s good to see that Bert does have Andrew’s back, even if his methods are, at best, unconventional.