What I’m Watching: Crisis in Six Scenes (Penultimate Episode)

Crisis in Six Scenes: Season 1, Episode 5 (B-)

This episode was at least a bit better than previous installments because it finally took itself in a different direction and, smartly, didn’t feature much of Miley Cyrus’ irritating Lennie. The opening scene didn’t have the show’s second most annoying character, played by Allen himself, either, and, unsurprisingly, it was the funniest part of the whole episode. That’s largely thanks to the talents of Nina Arianda, currently starring on “Goliath,” as a wife who started having her husband, played by Gad Elmaleh from “Midnight in Paris,” pay her for sex as a way to keep their marriage going since he needed something to feel transactional. The way that she explained their situation was superb, and it was a great introduction to a better-than-average offering for this not-so-great show. Sidney was as usual concerned with absurd, unrealistic things like having contracted malaria or having an ulcer that the doctors couldn’t detect, and he didn’t even realize that Kay was having him participate in the handoff of a briefcase full of Cuban cash. Despite proclaiming not to jump any place where there’s gravity, he did okay, but then he managed to mess it all up when he seemed all too guilty trying to reclaim the briefcase from the woman who found it in the phone booth, nearly leading to him having to explain to a police officer what the contents were. Alan trying to postpone his wedding was a failure, and it seems that he may have convinced his fiancée that they shouldn’t get married at all, as well as potentially having blown himself up trying to make a bomb. Let’s see how this all shapes up in the finale and if it was really worth the time.