Round Two: Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer: Season 1, Episode 2 “Lunch” (B-)

There’s no denying that this show is both idiotic and entertaining, probably to equal degrees. This episode was a blast to watch but it’s completely absurd, rivaling “The Brink” for the zaniest comedy currently on television. I like that there’s young romance brewing which was nearly disrupted by an unfortunate bathing suit soiling incident, and fortunately Coop was there to save the day by donning the dress and deflecting attention from Kevin’s embarrassment. Waving the soiled underwear at Donna while still dressed as a woman with no explanation was among the most ridiculous moments of the episode, following the hilarious appearance of Yaron the Israeli counselor, who I did not recognize as David Wain, director of the film that spawned this series. There were a handful of familiar faces in this episode, particularly Elizabeth Banks’ journalist colleagues, who included Jordan Peele, Paul Scheer, and Jayma Mays. Banks is definitely an asset to this show, posing as a counselor despite her actual age of 24 and hypnotizing everyone with the way she dresses and her rebellious attitude. Michaela Watkins was also an enjoyable guest as Rhonda, Claude’s assistant, who did not help the relationship woes of Ben and Susie. Molly Shannon’s Gail and Christopher Meloni’s cook Jonas are pretty crazy, but nothing really compares to Amy, the girl who emerged from the bathroom a wholly different woman. And of course the episode ended with Mitch falling in to the toxic sludge, which might not be so toxic since Greg sampled it with his finger and a spoon.