Take Three: Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer: Season 1, Episode 3 “Activities” (C+)

This show is just as hilarious as it is absurd, and that’s its saving grace. I think the biggest laugh-out-loud moment of the entire episode was Coop chanting “Maria” before blowing the shofar, which it turns out Donna gave to just about everyone at camp, not just the boyfriend she occasionally spends time with but never really fully engages with in serious conversation for more than a moment. This show is all about mocking conventions, best done by the kids being in the bunk all of a sudden and Lindsay firing away on her typewriter on her lap while taking notes about the haunted house at the edge of camp. I don’t even know what to say about Mitch coming back to life as a can, and Jonas’ memory regression techniques that allowed him to spit out the code were definitely eccentric. This show’s universe got a whole lot bigger with the sudden involvement of President Reagan and an assassin, played by none other than Jon Hamm, tasked with taking out Beth and Greg, who have stumbled upon information they shouldn’t have ever learned about, putting them in the crosshairs of the government. I wish I was enjoying the plotline with Josh Charles and Marguerite Moreau a bit more, and the same goes with John Slattery’s tyrannical direction of the play that does not seem at all stage ready. Overall, this show is a zoo, but it’s a wildly entertaining one that tries very hard to push envelope to side-splitting effect at every juncture.