What I’m Watching: Suburgatory

Suburgatory: Season 2, Episode 9 “Junior Secretary’s Day” (C+)

It’s episodes like this that make me doubt my loyalty to this show. Tessa getting her wisdom teeth out seemed like a good setup, having her get hopped up on the pain meds and start thinking that aliens were invading was a little silly. Only on this show could the sight of Fred wrapped in tinfoil and an essence-stealing photograph of George and Dallas actually be real, making Tessa’s paranoia all the more intense. Fred planning a fake business trip to convince Sheila that he was still gainfully employed and that he was once again winning his award was extreme but typical for the wacky Shay family, and it was somewhat entertaining to see Ryan try to be nonchalant about his plan to go over to Tessa’s and Lisa tell George that she really didn’t care. Ultimately, it sounds like Sheila was well aware of Junior Secretary’s Day, likely enamored with Fred for going to such lengths to convince her that he was still successful. The rat poison plot was a bit ridiculous, and while George is usually funny when he’s backed into a corner by his weird neighbors, this wasn’t the most creative instance of that. I’m glad to see that, at Lisa’s urging, Ryan is continuing to pursue Tessa, helping her to wrap a makeshift splint of sorts around her head so that her teeth wouldn’t hurt as much. He may be stupid, but his speech was actually quite moving and passionate, and maybe there’s hope for Ryan and Tessa after all.